The famous chansonnière Sylva is not allowed to marry her noble lover Edwin. His parents arrange for him to be drafted into the army and arrange an engagement to a countess. At the engagement party, the chansonnière suddenly turns up. When it becomes clear that Edwin’s mother also used to be a varieté artist, nothing stands in the way of a marriage between the lovers.

The Csárdásfürstin

Volksoper Wien

On some full moon nights, a sinister storm rages through the Wolf's Gorge. For here, in the middle of the forest, free bullets are cast. With the help of these special bullets, every shot hits its mark, even if one cannot actually shoot. And Max urgently needs such free bullets so that he can pass the shooting test and finally be recognized as a member of the community. Otherwise, he will forever be branded as a failure and cannot marry his girlfriend Agathe. To get the free bullets, however, one must enter into a pact with the devil. From Carl Maria von Weber's romantic opera DER FREISCHÜTZ, a music theater is created for people with and without hearing impairment. For the first time, this co-production of the Cologne Opera and the COMEDIA Theater Taube Actors together with singers on stage sets out to explore the question of how music theater can be made more accessible for people with hearing disabilities. Means of accessibility thereby become an aesthetic component of the total work of art: German Sign Language is used equally alongside singing, spoken language and orchestral music. Music and sounds are visualized, and the sense of smell is also engaged. In this way, the story of the Freischütz is staged in such a form that the opera can be experienced with all senses and accessibility for all to this art form is created.

Free Bullets - The Marksman in five dimensions

Comedia Theater

Today marks a joyous day at the castle. Finally, the wedding of Figaro and Susanna is set to take place, both of whom are in the service of Count Almaviva and are being supported by him. Everything seems perfect - and is, of course, only half the truth. In fact, the Count is after Susanna and tries to play his employees off against each other wherever possible. At the same time, he believes he must keep an eye on his lonely wife, as well as his pubescent nephew Cherubino, who continuously puts him in compromising situations. The longer the crazy day lasts, the less the Count seems to be master in his own house. Only when everyone unites against him are the rules of the game changed. But until that moment arrives, until Figaro and Susanna are finally wed, until the Count and Countess are reconciled, until a genuine plea for forgiveness for wrongful actions is spoken, the most beautiful and profound human comedy in opera unfolds: Mozart’s LE NOZZE DI FIGARO. Here, reason, intrigue, and emotional desire are perfectly balanced when it comes to bringing order to the emotional chaos that has always connected people. For his first Mozart libretto, the librettist Lorenzo da Ponte took on a brand-new and quite delicate drama in 1786, Beaumarchais' French comedy "La folle journée ou Le mariage de Figaro," a critical reflection of the conditions in the Ancien Régime. Mozart embraced the revolutionary idea, after all, he had just settled in Vienna as a free artist, and had a clear vision of how he wanted to live as a citizen in a still feudal world. Far more important, however, are the love and respect that his music shows to every single character on stage, as Mozart ensures that each and every one - whether young or old, privileged or less privileged - receives their due. Mozart's masterful ensemble piece conducted by General Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Katharina Thoma, already known in Cologne for DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, directs this musical comedy that never goes out of style

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Le Nozze di Figaro

Cologne Opera

Professor Beelzebub Irrwitzer is a dreadful sorcerer and poisoner, who takes pleasure in causing a lot of destruction in nature. But his devilish client is not at all satisfied with him this year, far too few Evil deeds, finds Maledictus Made, the devilish messenger. Therefore, at midnight, Irrwitzer's time will run out, unless he quickly manages to secure a few more disasters in the world. Now only the satan-archaeo-lying-alcoholic Wish Punch can help him, which at the stroke of midnight turns all good wishes into their opposite. However, Irrwitzer only has half of the parcel containing the recipe; the other half is with his aunt, Tyrannja Vamperl, who happens to be visiting. She has exactly the same problem, and so both are now brewing the highly dangerous Wish Punch. Fortunately, Tomcat Maurizio and Crow Krista recognizes the danger and they jointly take up the fight against the two villains, even though they initially do not like each other at all. But time is running out and the task is difficult...

The Wishing Punch

A scandalous novel by Abbé Prévost from 18th century Paris tells of the "amour fou" between the young noble Chevalier Des Grieux and the bourgeois girl Manon Lescaut. Both violate morality and law in the name of love and become the most famous couple of their era. Manon is torn between a passionate love and her desire for a life of wealth and security. On the way to the convent, she is matched with a wealthy man by her brother but elopes with her lover. In the house of the wealthy Geronte, to which she returns, she is regarded merely as an attraction, yet choosing the loving Des Grieux and leaving everything behind proves difficult for her. During an escape attempt, she is arrested as a thief and sentenced to exile in the American colonies. Des Grieux, who attempts in vain to save her, follows her into exile, where their shared path ultimately ends in the desert. A tragic love story where love finds no place to unfold. The year 1893 marks a turning point for Italian opera: the 80-year-old Giuseppe Verdi retires from the stage with his last opera FALSTAFF. At the same time, there is no longer any doubt as to who will be his successor: with MANON LESCAUT, Giacomo Puccini experiences his first global success and creates a new Italian opera that reflects the spirit of the age: the emotions are intense and torn, the forms are free, the acts follow one another episodically and obey only the laws of passion. Puccini pays homage to the 18th century in the score, yet the fascination that Richard Wagner's music had on him is particularly felt with particular compulsion in this opera. Richness of colour, dramatic expressiveness, and emotive cantilenas make MANON LESCAUT a very special Italian opera work, with the most demanding tenor role Puccini ever wrote. The new General Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada opens his first season at the podium of the Gürzenich Orchestra with this premiere. Carlos Wagner, a director of international standing, makes his debut in Cologne with MANON LESCAUT.

Manon Lescaut

How far would you go for your ideals? The French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil spent her brief 34 years of life constantly pushing her personal limits. A strong will that was constantly subjected to failure. Born in 1909 into an upper middle-class Jewish family in France, Simone Weil first studied philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris - as the only woman alongside Simone de Beauvoir - and then worked as a teacher. However, she soon quit her job to work as a labourer in an electrical factory and experience the living conditions of the working class first-hand. But physically she was unable to take the strain. Her endeavours to fight on the side of the Republic in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and to travel from England to France to fight against the Germans in 1942 also failed. Out of solidarity with the victims of the Second World War, Simone Weil finally rejected all food and died of hunger and heart failure in 1943. With “La passion de Simone”, the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who died in 2023, has erected a monument to her. The result is one of Saariaho’s most personal works. She herself described “La passion de Simone” as her musical testament. This is now the third collaboration with the French-Lebanese author Amin Maalouf, which began with “L’amour de loin”. The cooperation with the American opera director Peter Sellars, who staged the world premiere of “La passion de Simone” in November 2006 as part of his New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, has also left its mark on this work. The oratorio for solo soprano, choir and orchestra consists of 15 stations that illuminate Simone Weil’s life and thoughts. The music features Saariaho’s typical impressionistic soundscapes, sometimes dramatically intensified by surprising bursts of percussion. During her lifetime, Saariaho herself argued in favour of performing the work scenically. “La passion de Simone” is now being shown at Oper Köln in cooperation with the Kölner Philharmonie’s “Acht Brücken” festival. The production is to be directed by the newcomer Friederike Blum, who received the Götz Friedrich Prize from Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2023 for her work “Tri Sestry” at the Hagen Theatre. Together with the stage and costume designer Lisa Kruse, she explores the spirit of Simone Weil and invites us to immerse ourselves in her life and thoughts. Christian Karlsen, a specialist in contemporary music theatre and artistic director at the Kaija Saariaho Festival in The Hague, has been engaged to conduct.

Simone's Passion

Staatenhaus Köln

“Superheldennormalos” is the first community opera to be staged at the Kinderoper Köln. Around 100 children and young people between the ages of ten and eighteen, from, among other things, the ENBE youth centre, Holweide comprehensive school, Helios comprehensive school and Katharina-Henoth comprehensive school, developed the production in various workshops under professional artistic and educational guidance. Starting with the development of the theme and the writing of the libretto to the composition of the music and the creation of the stage and costume design, the “baton” was passed from one workshop group to the next. Finally, children and young people from the Dellbrücker Mauspfad comprehensive school, the Willy Brandt comprehensive school and the Kölner Domchor will also perform on stage alongside the singers of Oper Köln’s International Opera Studio and, accompanied by the Gürzenich Orchestra, will work on the opera with a professional production team. The result is “Superheldennormalos” – an opera about the search for identity, about the fears, wishes and dreams of children and young people, which adults are also likely to relate to. Tamina is out of her depth. At home, she has to babysit her siblings, maintain calm and keep on top of the ever-growing chaos. Though all she wants to do is write, retreat into her own four walls and give free rein to her creativity ... Max struggles every week at football training, where he is regularly picked on by the coach and his team-mates. Nevertheless, Max has a dream: he wants to become a designer and hold his own fashion show. Sammy longs to just be a child again, to feel safe, to dream. She is being drawn deeper and deeper into the pit of depression. Yet all she wants is for everything to be the way it used to be. Wisi spends most of her day looking after other people. And there’s so much to do. There’s the grandma she has to help across the road, the dog that has run away. And then there are Tamina, Max and Sammy, to whom she would like to be more of a friend. Because Wisi has a special gift: she can read people’s feelings. However, at the superhero workshop she learns an important lesson about herself. To direct this special project, which is produced in cooperation with the COMEDIA Theatre Cologne and the Rheinische Musikschule Köln, we have been able to recruit Manuel Moser, who has been head of the department of theatre for young audiences at COMEDIA since 2019. The general musical direction is in the hands of Rainer Mühlbach, director of the International Opera Studio since 2012/13 and musical director of the Kinderoper Köln. A production of the Kinderoper Köln in cooperation with the COMEDIA Theatre and the Rheinische Musikschule Köln.

Superhero Normalos

The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II is a biblical parable of hubris, punishment and catharsis. After all, would we still know his name if he had not made a major appearance in the Third Book of Daniel in the Old Testament? In a speech there, he tells of how, in accordance with a prophecy, he descended into madness, was cast out and lived like an animal. Only the revelation of “God of heaven” brought him back to human society.

Nabucco

"Yaparız biz herşeyi! Together and united we are strong!" the four animals sing and set off for Bremen to find happiness there. They are underdogs, outcasts and individualists: The donkey left his owner standing there when he called him stupid. the dog was disowned by his mistress because he always broke everything when playing. The cat refused to catch mice and was put out on the street. The rooster never managed to control his emotional outbursts and so he was thrown out as a troublemaker. But now they form an unbeatable team that wants to make music together and become famous – "Un pour tous, tous pour un! One for all, all for one!" the four musketeers set off on a journey to the place of their longing. Of course, numerous obstacles appear along the way, and there are also disputes among themselves. This extraordinary children's opera tells how the four idiosyncratic characters learn to overcome their conflicts and their fears.

The Bremen Town Musicians

Die Walküre

Bayreuth Festival Theatre

Once upon a time... there was a king who had three children. In the kingdom, the crown had always been passed on to the son or daughter deemed most suitable to rule. A ring served as the symbol of power, which the king must hand over before his death.

The king gives something away

The composer Hans Werner Henze traveled to Cuba ten years after the end of the revolution. He met composers, writers, and artists, performed one of his own works with the Havana Symphony Orchestra, and was full of curiosity about what music and art might mean to people in this new world. For Henze, his artistic work was always concerned with nothing other than human beings and their pursuit of happiness.

The Little Cuban

“Are you human, or are you a fairy tale?” The water nymph Rusalka is in love with a prince. Only if she is transformed into a human can she be united with him. But the witch Ježibaba binds this spell to conditions: Rusalka must remain silent, and if the prince no longer loves her, she must kill him. The two plan to marry, but the prince is already troubled by her eternal silence, and soon he succumbs to the seduction of another woman. Rejected, Rusalka returns to the lake. When the prince shows remorse, the curse demands its price: one final kiss brings him death.

Rusalka

A Japanese girl, a great love, and a promise that rests on fragile ground from the very beginning. Cio-Cio-San, known as Butterfly, marries the American naval officer Pinkerton. But while he regards the marriage as a temporary exotic adventure, she firmly believes in his love. After Pinkerton returns to the United States, Butterfly waits for him for years – until he eventually travels back to Japan with his American wife to take custody of their child …

Nicol Hungsberg

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 10, 2026 - Jan 2, 2027

The king gives something away · Oper Köln

Jan 18 - Feb 14, 2027

The Little Cuban · Oper Köln

May 16 - Jun 5, 2027

Rusalka · Oper Köln

Jun 6 - Jul 18, 2027

Madama Butterfly · Oper Köln

Past events

May 31 - Jun 21, 2026

The Csárdásfürstin · Volksoper Wien

Apr 11 - May 28, 2026

Free Bullets - The Marksman in five dimensions · Oper Köln

About

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