The Chinese princess Turandot is obliged to marry only the man who solves her three riddles - a vow that has already cost countless princes their lives. Anyone who fails will be executed that very night. However, when Calaf, a Tartar Prince, sees Turandot, he cannot resist her enigmatic beauty. He solves the tasks, but the princess refuses the marriage. Calaf turns the game round: In order to avoid the marriage, Turandot must discover his name before dawn - a task that pushes everyone to their limits. The aria "Nessun dorma" marks the opera's dramatic climax. But after the naming of the name, "Love", Puccini's last work ends with the note "e poi "Tristano" - "and then Tristan". The opulent production by Lydia Steier ("Director of the Year" 2024) makes this work into an opera experience full of suspense, passion, and spectacle. Felix Bender assumes the Musical Direction once again.

EPSG:4326

Turandot

Cologne Opera

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.

Ernani

"Oh, what one often hears or reads about naughty children!" Thus begins Wilhelm Busch's famous story about the mischievous brothers Max and Moritz and their pranks. Against cheekiness and schadenfreude, there seems to be no cure, as Wilhelm Busch already lamented, and in the age of social media, there are even more opportunities to torment others and get attention for it.

Max and Moritz

StaatenHaus Hall 2

Stadt Köln

"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.

Envy and hatred reign in Saul's heart. For he perceives in David a rival for the throne: After David's victory over the giant Goliath, King Saul finds himself compelled to welcome David into his house and to honour him as a hero. When his son Jonathan and his daughter Michal side with David, and eventually even his daughter Merab acknowledges the universally celebrated hero, Saul finally decides to remove David from his path. However, David enjoys divine protection. Instead, it is Saul whose star threatens to set. With SAUL, George Frideric Handel turned to a biblical subject from the Old Testament. The subject matter was certainly controversial, as around twenty years before Handel’s arrival in London, Parliament, during the “Glorious Revolution” of 1689, had offered the British crown to William III of Orange and Mary II in order to put an end to the rule of the absolutist King James II. Georg Friedrich Handel had so far achieved one box office hit after another in London, primarily with his serious operas. However, the audience gradually seemed to be tiring of Italian opera. Thus, Händel set out in search of new paths in musical theatre. The genre of the oratorio, which he had become acquainted with during his time in Rome from 1706 to 1709, seemed suitable for this purpose. And indeed, the premiere of SAUL on 16 January 1739 at the Haymarket Theatre in London was a success, not least due to the gigantic choral numbers and the English national language in which it was sung. That SAUL is also dramatic, stage-effective musical theatre is demonstrated by the numerous musical effects with which Handel brings the story of the tormented King Saul to life. From triumphal choruses to whispers of witches to the funeral march that is still played today at state funerals worldwide. The acclaimed production from the Glyndebourne Festival, in Barrie Kosky’s opulent and profound direction, presents the Old Testament fable of envy and resentment set in London during the Georgian era, when indulgence and misery, popular entertainment and humiliation existed side by side. At the podium of the Gürzenich Orchestra stands Rubén Dubrovsky, who has already demonstrated his flair for Baroque music in Cologne with GIULIO CESARE IN EGITTO and ORLANDO.

Saul

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

An heir to the throne is murdered. Shortly afterwards, the world is in flames, the “last days of mankind” have begun. Over 100 years ago, the Austrian writer Karl Kraus documented the developments of the First World War and transformed them into a megalomaniac drama for a “Martian theatre”: “Theatre-goers of this world will not be able to withstand it”, he prophesied. How the world can suddenly slide into war is something Karl Kraus tries to capture in the 220 scenes of his monumental tragedy, along with the interaction of propaganda, media, religion, education and corporate greed that fuels the global conflagration. Street conversations, newspaper reports, advertising posters, slogans and discussions are unleashed by Kraus as satirical bullets.

The Last Days of Mankind

Staatenhaus Köln

Eine junge Frau, die von ihrem Bruder mit dessen Freund verheiratet wird, greift zum Messer, als der Bräutigam sich ihr in der Hochzeitsnacht nähern will. Im blutigen Nachthemd erscheint sie unter den Hochzeitsgästen – und rührt deren Herzen: Sie vermittelt dabei den alle ergreifenden Eindruck, die Stimme des größten Feindes ihres Bruders zu hören, den sie zu lieben scheint, und glaubt – offenbar dem Wahnsinn verfallen – nun Hochzeit mit ihm zu feiern.

Lucy of Lammermoor

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

Love & Loss

Chamber Music Hall

Set in London around 1910, the phonetics professor Higgins is convinced that language determines social status. The subject of his wager is the flower girl Eliza Doolittle, whom he intends to transform into a lady of high society. Higgins becomes a kind of Frankenstein of speech: with Eliza, he creates a being whose language and emotions he manipulates. At first driven by his own ambition, the experiment gradually turns as Eliza changes – her self-confidence grows, and she begins to resist Higgins’s control. What starts as an experiment evolves into a story of self-discovery and independence.

My Fair Lady

At night, a fisherman thinks of the nightingale’s song, which makes him forget everything else. When the nightingale appears, it enchants him with its singing. That same night, an imperial delegation is on its way, sent by the Emperor to bring the nightingale to the imperial court. The nightingale accepts the Emperor’s invitation and appears before his throne. The Emperor has never heard anything more beautiful than the nightingale’s song, which makes him forget all his worries.

The nightingale

In a dispute with Fortuna and Virtù over supremacy over humankind, Amor seeks to prove that love alone stands above all else. Thus Poppea rises to become Empress of Rome through Nero's love for her – and yet: “love” is the wrong word. What is at play is an erotic driving force, through which manipulation is carried out ruthlessly and power is exercised. Whoever loves has already lost, and anyone who stands in the way of Poppea's interests is mercilessly cast aside – Nero's wife Ottavia as well as the teacher and philosopher Seneca. With sensuous delight and without remorse, accompanied by some of the most beautiful and passionate music early Baroque opera has to offer, Poppea and Nero revel in their victory.

John Heuzenroeder

Events

Upcoming events

Jan 24, 2027

Love & Loss · Gürzenich-Orchester Köln

Mar 6 - Jul 7, 2027

My Fair Lady · Oper Köln

May 27 - Jul 18, 2027

The nightingale · Oper Köln

Jun 20 - Jul 17, 2027

L'incoronazione Di Poppea · Oper Köln

Past events

May 21 - Jun 7, 2026

Turandot · Oper Köln

Apr 22 - May 2, 2026

Ernani · Oper Köln

Future and recently performed repertoire

Bang in Turandot by Puccini

Oper Köln

Arnalta / Nutrice / Famigliare I / Damigella in L'incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi

Oper Köln

Witch of Endor in Saul by Handel

Oper Köln

Monostatic in The Magic Flute by Mozart

Oper Köln

Don Riccardo in Ernani by Verdi

Oper Köln

Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady by Loewe

Oper Köln

The Fisherman & First Japanese Envoy in The Nightingale by Stravinsky

Oper Köln

About

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