The Musikfest Berlin opens with Le Grand Macabre by György Ligeti and at the same time celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele. Ligeti’s only opera is a profoundly-black parable of war and the end of the world, but ultimately humour gains the upper hand and indirectly also helps in overcoming the fear of death. It is therefore no surprise that this satire is one of the most frequently performed works of contemporary music theatre. Nicholas Collon leads the way through Ligeti’s grotesque doomsday scenario as the chief conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, assisted by the Helsinki Chamber Choir and an international ensemble of soloists. Thanks to the Helsinki Festival, Ligeti’s “anti-anti-opera”, as the composer himself called it, will be heard for the first time in Finland just a few days previously.

Opening Ceremony Musikfest Berlin 2026 75 Years Berliner Festspiele

Berliner Philharmoniker

Even a rich prince can be quite poor sometimes. The noble Don Ramiro finds out about this when his search for a bride takes him to the house of the notoriously penniless Don Magnifico. His daughters don't give the visitor, disguised as a simple servant, a second glance. It's a good thing that Ramiro finds a sympathetic heart in the unloved stepsister Angelina, known as Cenerentola... Gioachino Rossini composed some of his most beautiful melodies for his turbulent musical theater version of the charming “Cinderella”. Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's legendary production, which has been enchanting audiences since 1974, is as effervescently cheerful as Rossini's light-hearted score.

Cinderella

German Oper am Rhein

Count Almaviva walks on suitor's feet. The object of his latest desire: Susanna, his wife's chambermaid and fiancée of his valet Figaro. Shortly before the wedding, the young couple has to use all their ingenuity to avoid Susanna's erotic advances from her aristocratic employer - turbulence is inevitable!

The Marriage of Figaro

Theater Duisburg

Every year in December, the anticipation grows for a festive occasion when you can get together with family and friends and treat yourself to something special. Our early Christmas present goes to our most loyal supporters: the members of the Friends of Deutsche Oper am Rhein. The Opera Studio of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Katharina Müllner, will present a special musical programme. Non-members of the Circle of Friends are also cordially invited to experience the concert in a festive atmosphere!

Christmas with friends

Of course, it's much more fun to play than to help with housework! Hänsel and Gretel know that too. It's just a shame that they smash the milk churn during their boisterous games and ruin their dinner. What should the poor family put on the table now? The mother scolds her children and sends them into the forest to look for berries. However, what begins as an adventure soon turns serious at dusk: the siblings get lost and soon fall into the clutches of the wicked witch. Now they have to summon up all their courage and ingenuity to free themselves.

Hansel and Gretel

Two peoples find themselves in the barbaric grip of war after Nabucco and his troops attack Jerusalem. The Babylonian ruler and Zaccaria, the leader of the Hebrews, do not budge an inch from their opposing viewpoints in this profound conflict, while the daily grind of war continues to bring new suffering to both peoples. The seemingly hopeless conflict does not even stop at their own families: Zaccaria holds Nabucco's favorite daughter Fenena hostage, while she has long since changed sides out of love for Ismaele and lives among the enemy people. Nabucco's other daughter, Abigaille, envies her sister's happiness and her father's throne and forges disastrous plans...

Nabucco

Tell me, Pinocchio, what are you saying? You've seen people turn into donkeys? You sat in the belly of a whale? And you've met the blue fairy, who is the very best anyway? You're teasing us! Don't you know that lies have short legs? Uh... Pinocchio, wait a minute! That can't be true! You made up all these stories!

Pinoc­chio

The mermaid Rusalka loves the prince - a human! She wants to risk everything, the loss of her family and her home, to become a human woman. Transformed by the witch Ježibaba, she must face the prince in silence, telling him of her love only through her looks and gestures. If the prince does not fall in love with her, he must die and she must live as an outcast from then on. Rusalka's appearance initially beguiles the prince, but the magical, voiceless creature remains a foreign body in the human world, and eventually her lover turns his back on her...

Rusalka

In 1900, three keepers disappear without a trace from a remote lighthouse in the north of Scotland. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies based his chamber opera "The Lighthouse" (1980) on this unresolved incident, which retraces the events in a mixture of documentation and vision of what actually happened at the time. Maxwell Davies' composition ranges from the roaring waves surrounding the lighthouse to the chant-like arguments between the three keepers Sandy, Blazes and Arthur that lead to the catastrophe.

Der Leuchtturm / Dido und Aeneas

A chalk circle, a child in the centre. Each child's arm is pulled by a woman who claims to be the mother. "The right mother will have the right strength," says Prince Pao - it will be the one who lets go of her child so as not to tear it apart. By the time Haitang is able to hold her child in her arms again, she has an odyssey of injustice under her belt. Abandoned, sold, mistreated, slandered and convicted of murder, it is nothing short of a miracle that justice unexpectedly receives strong intercession here.

Der Kreidekreis

The hotel director is delighted by every feeling that checks in. Because the more different emotions we have as guests, the more exciting it is at the Grand Hotel. But some feelings can be challenging: Anger takes up a lot of space and always needs the largest room. Sadness floods the entire bathroom with her tears. Fortunately, love also comes to visit, bringing joy and laughter with it.

Elisabeth Freyhoff

Events

Upcoming events

3 - 30 Apr, 2027

The Grand Hotel of Emotions · Oper Köln

Past events

Aug 28, 2026

Opening Ceremony Musikfest Berlin 2026 75 Years Berliner Festspiele · Berliner Philharmoniker

Apr 26 - Jul 17, 2026

Cinderella · Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Future and recently performed repertoire

Dew man in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Barbara in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

First Witch in Dido and Aeneas by Purcell

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Anna in Nabucco by Verdi

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Clorinda in Cinderella by Rossini

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Ein Mädchen in Der Kreidekreis by Zemlinsky

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Amanda in Le Grand Macabre by Ligeti

Berliner Philharmoniker

Fox / Owner of Toyland in Pinocchio by Schötz

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

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