“If Falstaff got thinner, what would he be?” Sir John Falstaff loves food, wine and women – and urgently needs cash to pay off his debts. Despite his advanced age, he considers himself an irresistible heartthrob and writes two identical love letters to Mrs Alice Ford and Mrs Meg Page in order to get his hands on their husbands’ money. But the two women see through his plan and begin to play him at his own game ...

Falstaff

Semperoper Dresden

It is a game of life and death initiated by the elusive Princess Turandot: each suitor for her hand must solve three riddles. Failure means execution. And so far, no prince has been able to win the great prize. But then a stranger arrives in the kingdom of Turandot, Prince Calaf, who is determined to take on the challenge. When he solves the riddles and claims the princess in marriage as agreed, he encounters a frightened woman who refuses to wed the stranger – and now the princess becomes the tortured one, for she must find out the prince’s name in order to keep her freedom. Unfinished at his death, Giacomo Puccini’s final opera was premiered as a fragment in 1926. This is a multi-layered masterpiece of great emotional intensity, musical brilliance and unique in its use of exotic Chinese melody. French stage director Marie-Eve Signeyrole makes her Semperoper debut with this operatic thriller.

Turandot

Based on Voltaire’s satire „Candide ou l’optimisme“, Leonard Bernstein created a masterpiece of modern operetta about the madness of the world. In a witty and lively mixture of opera, musical and revue, he not only parodies traditional dance forms such as the gavotte, mazurka, polka and waltz, but also slyly sprinkles the score with the operatic quotations.

Candide

Lucia Ashton falls in love with her family’s mortal enemy, Edgardo, and the young couple pledge eternal fidelity. However, Lucia’s brother Enrico is intent on marrying her off to a rich heir. When Lucia finally believes herself entirely abandoned and alone, with even her beloved Edgardo scorning and insulting her, she murders her unwanted husband on their wedding night. With her family grieving at her perceived insanity, Lucia sees this terrible act as a form of liberation, believing herself close to achieving happiness with her lover. Based on the bestselling novel by Sir Walter Scott, »Lucia di Lammermoor« pearl of bel canto opera. Composed by Gaetano Donizetti in 1835, it is a huge challenge for every singer, both musically and dramatically. In his staging for Dresden, Dietrich W. Hilsdorf illuminates the psychological states of the protagonists by focusing on the central human relationships. The ghostly sounds of the glass harmonica underscore the sensitive inner world of an oppressed woman in her fight against the rest of the world.

Lucia di Lammermoor

The wedding of the servant couple Figaro and Susanna is imminent, and everything could be so wonderful, if it weren’t for the lecherous Count Almaviva, who has been stalking Susanna for some time, as well as the vengeful Doctor Bartolo and his housekeeper Marcellina, who all wish to prevent the wedding. After numerous twists and turns, Figaro and Susanna, with the help of the Countess and thanks to an ingenious plan of revenge, finally succeed in thwarting Almaviva using his own art of seduction so that, in the end, all couples are reunited. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s „The Marriage of Figaro“, which premiered at Vienna’s Hoftheater in 1786, is the first of the three Mozart-da Ponte operas. Despite its quick-fire comedic action, the work foreshadows some of the radical ideas of the French Revolution. In his staging, director Johannes Erath takes the audience on a journey through the different epochs of theatrical history from Commedia dell’arte to the modern age.

Le nozze di Figaro

What would a child’s room say if it could talk? A boy goes on the rampage because he doesn’t want to do his homework; his mother, of course, blows her top. When the child vandalises his room and even torments his beloved cat, things take a surprising turn: suddenly, the mistreated furniture, cups, books and animals start to speak! And the child finds himself in a world in which he is forced to think about others.

Das Kind und der Zauberspuk / L’enfant et les sortilèges

Es war eine kleine Sensation. Im Februar 2024 wurde in den Themenkonzerten – vorbereitend auf die Neuinszenierung von Mieczysław Weinbergs Oper Die Passagierin – eine andere, äußerst selten gespielte Oper dieses Komponisten aufgeführt: seine schwarze Komödie Lady Magnesia, pointiert in Szene gesetzt von Theresa Maria Schlichtherle in der Firmenzentrale von Brainlab. Die eigentlich als einmalige Vorstellung geplante Produktion fand beim Publikum so großen Anklang, dass sie nun weitere drei Mal auf dem Spielplan erscheint.

Lady Magnesia

Brainlab

Morning routine. The »I« tries to log into their computer. And is laconically confronted by the machine with a question about their state of being: »Not convinced you aren’t a robot. Please try again.« »chasing waterfalls« – the title implies the act of »trying to grasp something intangible« – is a premiere project by the artists’ collective »phase7 performing.arts« from Berlin and the Semperoper. Together with the composer Angus Lee (*1992) from Hong Kong and the Studio for Sonic Experiences »kling klang klong«, the collective is embarking on a music-theatrical investigation of the impact that artificial intelligence is having on our human, social and creative existence. Incidentally, the »I« succeeds in logging into the computer. And in confronting its digital spin-offs in the depths of the virtual world, »I« encounters surprising events, located somewhere between Lewis Carroll’s »Alice in Wonderland« and Stanley Kubrick’s »2001: A Space Odyssey«. And in the end, as in every good story, there comes a fade to black.

chasing waterfalls

The mermaid Rusalka loves the prince and wants to become a human being in order to be with him forever. With her voice, she pays the witch Ježibaba for the transformation and leaves home and family. Rusalka's appearance with the people initially depresses the prince, but the magical, voiceless being remains a foreign body in the human world and finally the lover turns away from her – which means death for him and banishment for her. In his fairytale opera, premiered in Prague in 1901, Dvořák set to music the contrasting worlds of the ghostly flowing underwater kingdom and the distanced stiff royal court with great music-dramatic verve. With the parable-like material about the value of one's own identity, the meaning of the human soul and the transformation of the main character Rusalka from a romantic mermaid to a loving person capable of suffering without a real home, the internationally working director Christoph Loy makes his debut in the Semperoper.

Rusalka

Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)

The opera "Aida" by Giuseppe Verdi is not only set in Egypt and premiered in Cairo, but throughout the history of its origin it is closely linked to the country on the Nile and its viceroy, the Khedive Ismael Pasha. How Verdi initially reacted to the request to compose the opera and how strongly the contemporary developments in Europe and Egypt influenced the work in addition to the interest in archeology, Johann Casimir Eule tells in the opera guide online.

Aida

The Spanish royal court is gripped by an icy coldness: For reasons of politics, the heir to the throne, Don Carlo has lost his bride Elisabetta to his father, the Spanish king. The crown prince is also thwarted in his political ambitions. The king, on the other hand, is powerless against the fiercely devout Grand Inquisitor. It seems that only Carlos’s friend Rodrigo can break free of these political and private constraints. But his bold dream of freedom leads to catastrophe. Giuseppe Verdi explores his great theme, the incompatibility of politics and private happiness, through almost all the characters in this opera, which premiered in 1867. For modern audiences it paints an oppressively topical social panorama. In cooperation with the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Semperoper presents »Don Carlo« in the four-act Italian version of 1884, supplemented by a new instrumental prologue by composer Manfred Trojahn, which sets up the background to the drama.

Don Carlo

Mozart’s most popular opera is a deeply humane story of adventure with heavenly music.

Die Zauberflöte

Kay and Gerta's journey to the Snow Queen and into the depths of the human soul.

The Snow Queen

Is Carmen’s gaze only to be compared with that of a wild animal? The French writer Prosper Mérimée explored this question in his novella Carmen, which was the basis for Georges Bizet’s (1838-1875) final opera, which premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875. Carmen’s air of seduction is both her weapon and her downfall, for in the end she dies at the hands of her jealous lover, Don José. Carmen refuses to be told what to do and certainly doesn’t want to be rescued by Don José in the shifting sands in front of the bullfighting arena. She prefers death to having her life decided by others. In the extremely popular and passionate “Habanera” aria, which is our first encounter with Carmen, she paints a picture of herself: “Love is a rebellious bird that none can tame.” Her indomitable desire for freedom is stamped in her DNA.

Simeon Esper

Events

Upcoming events

Dec 7, 2025 - Jan 8, 2026

The Snow Queen · Semperoper Dresden

Mar 15 - Apr 26, 2026

Das Kind und der Zauberspuk / L’enfant et les sortilèges · Semperoper Dresden

May 1 - Jun 20, 2026

Carmen · Semperoper Dresden

Past events

5 - 27 Oct, 2025

Falstaff · Semperoper Dresden

7 - 22 Jun, 2025

Turandot · Semperoper Dresden

Future and recently performed repertoire

Cosmetic Merchant · Inquisitor I · Charles Edward in Candide by Bernstein

Semperoper Dresden

Dancairo in Carmen by Bizet

Semperoper Dresden

Lovec in Rusalka by Dvořák

Semperoper Dresden

Bardolfo in Falstaff by Verdi

Semperoper Dresden

Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart

Semperoper Dresden

The Wedgwood Teapot · The Old Man · The Tree Frog in L'enfant et les sortilèges by Ravel

Semperoper Dresden

Un Araldo reale in Don Carlos by Verdi

Semperoper Dresden

Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro by Mozart

Semperoper Dresden

Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro by Mozart

Semperoper Dresden

Un messaggero in Aida by Verdi

Semperoper Dresden

Waldkrähe in The Snow Queen by Abrahamsen

Semperoper Dresden

Zweifel, Ego fluens in Chasing Waterfalls by Lee

Semperoper Dresden

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