A colorful gingerbread house in the middle of the forest, in which two hungry children seek refuge. But there lives an evil witch with gruesome baking recipes. Engelbert Humperdinck's most famous opera is full of contrasts, both on stage and in the music. It combines traditional children's songs with Wagnerian orchestral sound, creating a magical soundscape that captivates both young and adult audiences alike. The fairy-tale opera, in which the siblings successfully overcome danger together, returns to the stage in the 2005 production by Jürgen Rose. It is conducted by the new Cologne General Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

Hansel and Gretel

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

Fleeing from a snake, Prince Tamino enters the realm of the Queen of the night. Three ladies rescue him and are fascinated by him. As the bird catcher Papageno claims to have defeated the serpent, they punish his boasting and put a lock on his mouth. Tamino receives a picture of Pamina, the abducted daughter of the Queen, immediately falls in love with her and vows to rescue her. With a magic flute and a set of bells, Tamino and Papageno set off and face all dangers.

The Magic Flute

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.

EPSG:4326

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

Orlando is obsessively in love with Angelica and tries with all his might to win her over. This causes the wizard Zoroastro concern, as Orlando is neglecting his duty as a warrior. When Orlando finds out that Angelica is in love with the soldier Medoro instead of him, he goes mad with jealousy, hallucinates a descent into the underworld and resolves to destroy everything and everyone. Will Zoroastro achieve his goal and get Orlando back onto the “right path”?

Orlando

The opera “Nils Karlsson Däumling”, based on the children’s book by Astrid Lindgren, tells the story of a little boy called Bertil who has to spend a great deal of time alone at home. In his loneliness, he tries to while away the time. All of a sudden, he hears a soft knocking. Right beside him, in a mouse hole, lives a little thumbling who is as old as Bertil, but only as big as a thumb. Nisse, as the thumbling is called, lets Bertil in on a secret: if he sings a magic spell, he will become just as tiny as he is. No sooner said than done. Bertil and Nisse become friends, and as Nisse is hungry and freezing, Bertil has some wonderful ideas about how he can help him make a cosy home in the mouse hole... This little opera for everyone aged three and up translates the two different spheres – the world of humans and the miniature world of the thumbling – into a composition for soprano and violin. The violin embodies the magical being. The finely arranged mini-opera enables the children watching to actively participate in the plot through song and play. For the first time, the Kinderoper Köln is also using this mobile opera to visit inclusive and fully residential facilities for children with and without disabilities, with special social difficulties as well as intergenerational groups of children and people with dementia. A supporting workshop programme, where the participants themselves are musically and playfully active, supplements the offer for all young and older people who are unable to attend a children’s opera performance in the opera house.

Nils Karlsson Däumling

"Oh, what one often has to hear or read about naughty children!" So begins the famous story by Wilhelm Busch about the naughty brothers Max and Moritz and their pranks. Against impudence and schadenfreude, there seems to be basically no remedy, as Wilhelm Busch already lamented, and in times of social media there are plenty of opportunities to harass others and to get attention for it. The Norwegian composer Gisle Kverndokk and librettist Øystein Wiik look with today's perspective and a great treasure trove of musical quotations on the old story and recount seven equally common and amusing pranks, with which Max and Moritz, in cartoon style, annoy the descendants of Widow Bolte, Teacher Lämpel and Tailor Böck. The last prank of the naughty boys is just one too many as today. But: He who laughs last, laughs loudest.

Max and Moritz

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

Le Nozze di Figaro

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

Three men vie for the love of Elvira: her lover Ernani, Don Carlo, the King of Spain, and Silva, Elvira's wealthy guardian to whom she is betrothed. When Carlo is to be elected as Emperor in Aachen, Silva and Ernani are also among the conspirators. However, the assassination attempt fails, Carlo is elected Emperor Charles V, and wants to punish the conspirators. At Elvira's request, however, he pardons both and ultimately accepts the love between her and Ernani. But the happy ending does not last long, as Silva seeks revenge on Ernani... With ERNANI, Verdi created a gripping drama of power, love, and jealousy based on Victor Hugo's model, using a historical event as the occasion: the coronation of Charles V as Emperor in Aachen Cathedral in 1520. For Verdi, the shocking impact of the plot took precedence over its dramaturgical credibility. The world premiere of ERNANI on 9 March 1844 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice was an immediate triumph for Verdi. After the successes of NABUCCO and I LOMBARDI, this was to be Verdi's definitive breakthrough as a composer. The work quickly spread across Italian stages and was soon performed in London, Paris and Berlin. In the 19th century, ERNANI was one of the most frequently performed operas by Giuseppe Verdi. While the work is still largely bound to convention in its formal structure, the music possesses a previously unheard dramatic force - with choruses that already foreshadow IL TROVATORE, with finely crafted ensembles, with arias full of exceptional cantabile quality, and with gripping, dramatic finales. The conspirators’ chorus from Act III, incidentally, became - even more than “Va pensiero” - the leitmotif of the Italian “Risorgimento”, the national unification movement of Italy. This early work of Verdi, rarely performed today, is now experiencing a concert performance in Cologne under the baton of Giuliano Carella.

Alina König Rannenberg

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 25 - Dec 28, 2025

The Wishing Punch · Oper Köln

Nov 30 - Dec 30, 2025

Hansel and Gretel · Oper Köln

Jan 24, 2026

Max and Moritz · Oper Köln

1 - 28 Mar, 2026

Le Nozze di Figaro · Oper Köln

Apr 11 - May 28, 2026

Free Bullets - The Marksman in five dimensions · Oper Köln

Past events

Nov 30 - Dec 30, 2025

Hansel and Gretel · Oper Köln

Oct 25 - Dec 28, 2025

The Wishing Punch · Oper Köln

Future and recently performed repertoire

Sandman / Dewman in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Oper Köln

Papagena in The Magic Flute by Mozart

Oper Köln

Barbara in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart

Oper Köln

Joan in Ernani by Verdi

Oper Köln

Krista Krakel in The Wishing Punch by Naske

Oper Köln

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