About the work
Die drei Rätsel (The Three Riddles) is an opera in two acts for children and adults (recommended for ages nine and up) by Detlev Glanert (b. 1960) to a libretto by Carlo Pasquini (German translation: Erdmuthe Brand). Originally conceived in Italian, the work had preview performances at the Cantiere Internazionale d''Arte in Montepulciano, Tuscany; the German-language premiere took place on 12 October 2003 at the Opernhaus Halle. In 2025 the Deutsche Oper Berlin staged a new production.
Plot
In a wild blend of fairy tale and social drama, road movie and grand opera — a variation on the Turandot material — twelve-year-old Lasso, son of the overburdened single mother Popa, leaves the dreary place of his childhood. Equipped with his mother's poisoned cake, he sets off and meets Princess Scharada, who poses him three riddles: if he answers correctly, he may marry her and win a kingdom. Along the way he encounters a wicked wolf in the shape of a wild boar, ten robbers and an odd companion whose coffin becomes their vehicle. In the end the two very different children assert themselves against the adult world and escape over the mountains.
Cultural significance
Glanert combines the fairy-tale with socially critical tones — quirky, witty and with a touch of the eerie. Die drei Rätsel is conceived as participation even in its composition: music theatre by children for children, with a children's and youth choir and an orchestra mixing professionals and young amateurs. The work is among the most performed contemporary family operas in the German-speaking world.