DORNRÖSCHEN (SLEEPING BEAUTY)

What? Only twelve golden plates at the table, when there are thirteen fairies? This is not going to turn out well! The thirteenth fairy shows up uninvited at the king’s castle, where celebrations to mark the birth of his daughter are underway. The fairy is furious, and in her rage she lays a curse on the tiny Princess Rose: on her fifteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel — and then Princess Rose will die!   The fairy Morphina softens the curse, changing it from death into a sleep that will last a hundred years. The King commands that every spinning wheel in the land must be burned. But it’s all to no avail. On the day of her fifteenth birthday, Princess Rose comes across a long-forgotten spinning wheel. She pricks herself on the spindle, and falls into a deep sleep … as does the whole castle, and everyone within. Can a young prince succeed in forcing his way through the impenetrable thorny thicket which surrounds the castle, and rescue Sleeping Beauty?

Directed by Barbara Palmetzhofer, pupils from the Vienna Boys’ Choir High School Senior Class present an abridged operatic version of the much-loved fairy tale, specially adapted for children.