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

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

A scandalous novel by Abbé Prévost from 18th century Paris tells of the "amour fou" between the young noble Chevalier Des Grieux and the bourgeois girl Manon Lescaut. Both violate morality and law in the name of love and become the most famous couple of their era. Manon is torn between a passionate love and her desire for a life of wealth and security. On the way to the convent, she is matched with a wealthy man by her brother but elopes with her lover. In the house of the wealthy Geronte, to which she returns, she is regarded merely as an attraction, yet choosing the loving Des Grieux and leaving everything behind proves difficult for her. During an escape attempt, she is arrested as a thief and sentenced to exile in the American colonies. Des Grieux, who attempts in vain to save her, follows her into exile, where their shared path ultimately ends in the desert. A tragic love story where love finds no place to unfold. The year 1893 marks a turning point for Italian opera: the 80-year-old Giuseppe Verdi retires from the stage with his last opera FALSTAFF. At the same time, there is no longer any doubt as to who will be his successor: with MANON LESCAUT, Giacomo Puccini experiences his first global success and creates a new Italian opera that reflects the spirit of the age: the emotions are intense and torn, the forms are free, the acts follow one another episodically and obey only the laws of passion. Puccini pays homage to the 18th century in the score, yet the fascination that Richard Wagner's music had on him is particularly felt with particular compulsion in this opera. Richness of colour, dramatic expressiveness, and emotive cantilenas make MANON LESCAUT a very special Italian opera work, with the most demanding tenor role Puccini ever wrote. The new General Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada opens his first season at the podium of the Gürzenich Orchestra with this premiere. Carlos Wagner, a director of international standing, makes his debut in Cologne with MANON LESCAUT.

Manon Lescaut

Carmen is independent and won’t let anyone take her freedom. She makes her own decisions - nobody else! Carmen loves life. She lives entirely in the present, not in the past or the future. Carmen’s love has wings: when she loves someone, it is for precisely that moment and not for all eternity - her interest might turn to someone else the very next moment. Carmen quarrels and fights, she doesn’t shy away from the criminal milieu either, because property or standards of any kind don’t exist for her.

Carmen

Staatenhaus Köln

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

What do we long for when we love? And can another person ever truly recognize our deepest desires – let alone fulfill them?

Hoffmann's Tales

A young hero enters a world full of dangers – without fear, without knowledge of his origins, armed only with a shattered sword as his father’s final legacy. Siegfried grows up far from humankind, raised by the cunning dwarf Mime. When he succeeds in reforging the broken sword Nothung, he becomes a hero of destiny: he slays the dragon Fafner, gains possession of the mighty ring, and drinks the monster’s blood. This grants him an extraordinary gift – he can now understand the language of birds. From them he learns of Brünnhilde, who has been cast into a deep sleep by Wotan. To reach her, Siegfried must pass a ring of blazing fire – a trial that only the truly fearless can endure.

Siegfried

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.

Insik Choi

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 3 - Nov 15, 2026

Rigoletto · Oper Köln

Nov 28, 2026 - Feb 27, 2027

Hoffmann's Tales · Oper Köln

Apr 4 - May 17, 2027

Siegfried · Oper Köln

May 2 - Jul 10, 2027

Macbeth · 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

Ping in Turandot by Puccini

Oper Köln

Macbeth in Macbeth by Verdi

Oper Köln

Peter, broom maker in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Oper Köln

Lescaut in Manon Lescaut by Puccini

Oper Köln

Rigoletto in Rigoletto by Verdi

Oper Köln

Alberich in Siegfried by Wagner

Oper Köln

Don Carlos in Ernani by Verdi

Oper Köln

Lindorf / Luther / Coppélius / Miracle / Dappertutto in Hoffmann's Tales by Offenbach

Oper Köln

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