"Gisela!" was first performed in the "Maschinenhalle" of the , Gladbeck, Germany, on 25 September 2010 as part of the Ruhrtriennale music and arts festival by the contemporary music ensemble musikFabrik in collaboration with local youth groups and students of the Folkwang University, Essen. The work was commissioned 2008 by the Ruhr.2010 (European Culture Capital 2010) and the Semperoper, Dresden, where it was performed on 20 November 2010. A performance lasts for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The conductor Steven Sloane (who was also the music director of the Ruhr.2010 festival) first performed the work. Pierre Audi directed, the cast included Hanna Herfurtner as Gisela, Fausto Reinhardt as Gennaro and Michael Dahmen as Hanspeter. The Semperoper team included the conductor Erik Nielsen and the director Elisabeth Stöppler, with Nadja Mchantaf as Gisela, Giorgio Berrugi as Gennaro and Markus Butter as Hanspeter.