Schillers Räuber

Ludger Vollmer created a youth opera based on Friedrich Schiller’s drama Die Räuber [The Robbers] which was premiered in 2009 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Schiller’s birth. This is Vollmer’s third opera following Die Legende von Paul und Paula (based on the film by Ulrich Plenzdorf) and Gegen die Wand (based on the film by Fatih Akin). Schiller’s drama focuses on love, hate and rebellion and depicts the conflict between the two brothers Karl and Franz Moor. Karl – the robber – who is doted on by his father is the personification of freedom and justice. His ’honest’ brother Franz, coldly calculating and unloved, has an eye on his father’s inheritance and resorts to intrigue and murder to further his interests. Vollmer’s enthralling adaptation transports the central motifs of freedom and injustice into the 21st century. The robbers associated with Karl Moor provide one pole – a gang of youths expressing themselves through rap and break dance – which stands in great contrast to the elite circle surrounding Franz Moor who communicate through the medium of classical music. The conflict of both factions is depicted in fierce battles of words with rapid changes of tempi, rap lyrics, classical arias and acrobatic dance scenes.