10.04.2026

CHRISTIANE KARG | Role debut as the Governess in Britten's "The Turn of the Screw"

A young woman takes up a position as governess at the country estate of Bly, where she is to look after the orphans Flora and Miles. Her employer, the children’s uncle, demands absolute discretion. Soon, the children’s behaviour, the inscrutable housekeeper Mrs Grose, and mysterious events in the house give her cause for concern. The governess believes she is seeing the ghosts of former servants Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, whilst eerie forces seem to be taking hold of everyone. In the end, one thing is certain: one person is dead. Everything else remains to be investigated …

Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw is a chamber opera that is as enigmatic as it is striking, its fragmentary structure reflecting the protagonist’s uncertain perceptions. The plot remains fragmentary and ambiguous, like a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. Henry James, whose 1898 novella—influenced by early deep psychological ideas—served as the basis for Britten’s opera, once described it with understatement as a ‘play of strange encounters’.

Already in her role debut as the title character in Dvořák’s Rusalka, directed by Kornél Mundruzcó, Christiane Karg had the opportunity in 2024 to present herself to the Berlin audience as a lyrical and introspective performer whose psychological characterisation and masterful realisation of the intensely physical role concept came together to form an impressive portrait of the soul. The perfect backdrop, then, for another eagerly awaited role debut as Britten’s Governess, for which Claus Guth’s production – first staged in 2014 – provides an exquisitely psychological narrative framework!
 

Cast

Stephan Rügamer, Prologue, Peter Quint
Christiane Karg, Governess
Nicolò Balducci, Miles
Regina Koncz, Flora
Rosie Aldridge, Mrs Grose
Anna Samuil, Miss Jessel

Finnegan Downie Dear, Musical Director
Claus Guth, Director
Christian Schmidt, Set and Costume Design
Sebastian Alphons, Lighting

Staatskapelle Berlin