While writing these lines the news is all about which bank should be rescued, which expropriated. Which party agrees, which doesn't. Will this global crisis, triggered by negligence, unsettle us for years to come, putting the communal system in danger; how will the country, state and city share out the burdens fairly.

And: can, will, must an opera house adapt its programme to current events, to embrace the spirit of the times so as, only then, to justify itself as a living correlation of today's circumstances? Important questions, difficult answers. Hope tells us: the more conscientiously we devote ourselves to our tasks, the closer we get to the core of the works and, in so doing, their universally applicable associations. We are not fairy tale tellers. This dimension of global voracity is new, as is the desire to make a livlihood through speculation rather than so called »honest work«.

Themes like these will probably engage our directors, although every opera creates its own context and cannot possibly deliver commentary on all the themes of the world.

And how will our public react? We now have almost 11.000 subscribers, the highest level yet.

The season's new productions do not include Carmen or Aida, Mozart or Verdi! Their places are taken by contemporary music, baroque and, once again, some rarities. Looking more closely it is a balanced programme, one which should awake interest, precisely because it is marked by fantasy and boldness. It includes: Simplicius Simplicissimus by Karl Amadeus Hartmann, after Grimmelshausen. In this case we will claim the glory a little for ourselves; we were offered the chance to purchase this production by Christof Nel which opened at Stuttgart Opera in 2004, where it was performed many times and then at the Munich Opera Festival. A masterpiece which, looking back on the 30 Year War, anticipates the horrors of the Nazism.

We combine Leoni's veristic rarity L'Oracolo with Puccini's one act opera Le Villi, two jewels being performed in Frankfurt for the first time. After Schreker and Zemlinsky in previous years we come to Korngold and his Tote Stadt: reality and dream influence enigmatic symbiosis. We present the first performances in Germany of The Tempest by Thomas Adès, one of the most talented english composers of our time. Following on from Lear Keith Warner will once again turn his hand at an opera based on one of Shakespeare's plays. Our interest for Britten will be nourished with Owen Wingrave and, after a year's break, we bring baroque back with force: with Vivaldi's masterpiece Orlando Furioso and one of the many versions of the story in the bible about Judith; we believe it is possible to stage Francisco António de Almeida's oratorio Giuditta. Could we have predicted that Arabella would be such a huge success with the public? We hope that another rare opera by Richard Strauss, Daphne, directed by Claus Guth, will also draw such audiences. The dramatic legend La Damnation de Faust by Héctor Berlioz, that brilliant autistic man , will make demands on all our efforts towards the end of the season because our 2010 FINALE series will be dedicated to Berlioz. Operas in concert in the Alte Oper will be Anna Bolena (Donizetti) and La Rondine (Puccini).

And - we begin the Ring! The team is a newly forged one: with, naturally, Sebastian Weigle in pole position. Vera Nemirova will guarantee theatrical instinct, Jens Kilian (the stage designer for our productions of Parsifal, Tristan and Frau ohne Schatten) for visual substance, and Ingeborg Berneth (costumes) will bring her experience gathered in collaboration with many directors and colleagues. We are convinced that the Ring should be forged by one hand, and not many. The first glimpses of the model and the stage design conception give us courage: A Ring - perhaps - from one mould?

We entrust productions to Keith Warner, Christof Nel, now almost classics in Frankfurt, the Nestor of the brotherhood of directors Harry Kupfer, to regular guests like Claus Guth, Anselm Weber, Guilleaume Bernardi and to the younger generation with Sandra Leupold and Wally Sutcliffe. A great theatre talent will direct his second opera: David Bösch - his productions at the Thalia in Hamburg, in Zürich, Essen, and, soon, at the Burgtheater in Vienna and Bochum predestined him to take this step.

New names in the Ensemble: Alfred Kim and Julién Prégardien (tenor), Paula Murrihy and Tanja A. Baumgartner (mezzo soprano), Katherina Magiera (contralto) and Thorsten Grümbel (bass). Some members have left us after many successful years of collaboration: Elzbieta Ardam and Bálint Szabó, Jussy Myllis, Stella Grigorian and Gregory Frank. All are leaving for different reasons, and all deserve the house's gratitude.

Sebastian Weigle will be more present this season. He has already laid his first milestone. My thanks go to the Patronatsverein, Sektion Oper, the many sponsors and institutions who accompany us. This bastion of supporters will continue to guide Oper Frankfurt safely through all dangers during the coming years.

I wish you a stimulating season