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

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

"Take me to the ball!" pleads Cinderella Angelina. However, her wish meets with rejection by her stepfather Don Magnifico and the selfish stepsisters Instead, she is treated like a maid, while the spoiled amily dreams of wealth - although everything is on the brink of ruin. But behind this false world lies a more beautiful one: A prince awaits Angelina and true values ​​triumph over false appearances. In the end, justice prevails: Angelina forgives her family and becomes not only a princess but also as a wise-hearted regent. In LA CENERENTOLA, Gioacchino Rossini combines virtuosic bel canto with the dream of a fairer world. Cecilia Ligorio's enthusiastically received production from the year 2022 returns to the schedule, under the musical direction by Matteo Beltrami.

La Cenerentola

From a deep E-flat major chord, time and space are lifted, and on the waves of the Rhine, a world unfolds with gods, dwarves, giants and creatures of nature. However, the paradisiacal primordial state does not last long: After the Nibelung Alberich is spurned by the Rhinemaidens, he decides to renounce love forever and seize the gold from the depths of the Rhine. From this, he now forges a ring that grants him world power. But the father of the gods, Wotan, also wants to possess the ring. With the help of the fire god Loge, he actually succeeds in stealing the ring from Alberich. However, Alberich curses the ring: Misfortune shall befall its owner - a prophecy that will soon be fulfilled for the first, but not the last time. Richard Wagner created with DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN a parable about the origin and end of the world and realised his radical idea of a total work of art, in which text, music and stage action form a symbiosis. Wagner's endless melody and his leitmotif technique, which he had already developed in DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER and LOHENGRIN, reach an as yet unprecedented complexity in THE RING. With the creation of the RING tetralogy, Wagner also solidified the plan for his own festival theatre as a venue. At the request of his patron King Ludwig II, the premiere of RHEINGOLD took place on 22 September 1869 at the National Theatre of Munich. The audience, which was largely composed of professionals and art connoisseurs who had travelled from afar, expressed enthusiastic applause. Wagner's vision of performing the entire DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN  in his own festival theatre finally became a reality in 1876 in Bayreuth. Director Paul-Georg Dittrich, who has already introduced himself to Cologne with his production of DER ZWERG, will stage a new RING. In RHEINGOLD, he embarks on a search for the childlike origin of the world. What happens when free, yet unencumbered imagination is instrumentalised in a power-obsessed society? The musical direction is under the internationally sought-after conductor Marc Albrecht, who returns to the podium of the Gürzenich Orchestra after DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN.

The Rhinegold

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

Four young, self-proclaimed artists – Rodolfo, Marcello, Schaunard and Colline - enjoy a carefree life in their Parisian garret. Although none of them are getting anywhere with their art, their creativity knows no bounds when it comes to mastering everyday life. Until one day when the neighbour Mimì knocks on their door and brings something completely new into their lives: love, honesty, responsibility. Rodolfo falls in love with Mimì; however, they do not stay together for long, as life moves on. Yet Mimì is terminally ill and cannot simply slip out of Rodolfo’s life again. “La Bohème” captures the entire fullness of life, comedy as well as tragedy, and is a declaration of love to the vibrant city of Paris.

La Bohème

As the court jester to the Duke of Mantua, Rigoletto is no less scrupulous than his absolutist master, who seduces women at will and has men killed on a whim. Rigoletto seeks to protect his daughter Gilda from this world, but the Duke has already set his sights on the innocent young woman. When Gilda gives herself to the seducer driven by love and idealism, Rigoletto's carefully constructed wall of protection collapses, and he himself is made a fool: his belief that he could strictly separate the corruption of court society from his private happiness proves to be a fatal illusion.

Rigoletto

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

“Such a little fat dachshund has never been seen here before,” Goethe’s mother wrote to her son in 1793 about a performance of DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (The Magic Flute) – a remark that reflects how Mozart’s Singspiel quickly captivated a wide audience. At once entertaining and sophisticated, the story follows Prince Tamino and Papageno who face a series of trials to rescue the princess Pamina from the clutches of Sarastro. It journey full of dangers, at the end of which lies the hope for a self-determined future together.

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

In 1847, Giuseppe Verdi was working on a piece unlike anything ever seen on the opera stage. To turn a dark, blood-soaked Shakespearean tragedy into an Italian opera was already a bold undertaking. But to go even further and create an opera that adhered closely to the character of the original rather than to established operatic forms seemed almost impossible. “I believe the time has come to abandon the usual forms and models,” Verdi wrote. Thus he ventured into the creation of a musical drama exploring psychological abysses amid a whirl of crime, guilt, and punishment, under the imposing English title of the original: Macbeth.

Macbeth

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 …

Madama Butterfly

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.

Christoph Seidl

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 3 - Nov 15, 2026

Rigoletto · Oper Köln

Oct 10, 2026 - Jan 2, 2027

The king gives something away · Oper Köln

Dec 13, 2026 - Mar 27, 2027

The Magic Flute · Oper Köln

Mar 6 - Jul 7, 2027

My Fair Lady · Oper Köln

May 2 - Jul 10, 2027

Macbeth · Oper Köln

Past events

May 21 - Jun 7, 2026

Turandot · Oper Köln

1 - 28 Mar, 2026

Le Nozze di Figaro · Oper Köln

Future and recently performed repertoire

Timur in Turandot by Puccini

Oper Köln

Physician in Macbeth by Verdi

Oper Köln

Seneca in L'incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi

Oper Köln

Sarastro in The Magic Flute by Mozart

Oper Köln

Count of Monterone in Rigoletto by Verdi

Oper Köln

Onkel Bonze in Madama Butterfly by Puccini

Oper Köln

Alidoro in La Cenerentola by Rossini

Oper Köln

Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart

Oper Köln

Fasolt in Das Rheingold by Wagner

Oper Köln

Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady by Loewe

Oper Köln

About

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