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In 2022, the Landesbühnen Sachsen launched a competition for young composers to write a chamber opera based on Mirjam Pressler’s youth novel Malka Mai. This competition was won by the Austrian composer Christoph Breidler. True to the famous novel, Breidler’s opera tells the heart-wrenching story of Jewish doctor Hanna Mai and her child, as they flee from Poland to Hungary in 1943, crossing the Carpathian Mountains to escape deportation. For Breidler, the tale of their escape—and the complicated mother-daughter relationship at its core—unfolds in three parts.

After a devastating decision, Hanna leaves her sick seven-year-old daughter, Malka, in the care of strangers. What follows is a brutal loss for Malka—her family, her home, and tragically, almost her life when she is left behind in Poland. Though Hanna eventually finds her daughter, it is clear that it may be too late for Malka.

In their compelling production, Mien Bogaert and Dennis Peschke powerfully portray how individual stories are swallowed up in times of extreme ideological conflict. Monumental symbols replace human faces, obscuring the identity of the Other and leading to the unimaginable.