Singer

Considered too realistic at its premiere in 1853, La Traviata remains one of the essential operas in the lyric repertoire. At the end of the first act, Violetta proclaims sempre libera (always free): is this a feminist plea ahead of its time or a tragic illusion? From the ballroom to the confines of the sanatorium, Verdi infuses his masterpiece with ardent music, sometimes breathless, but constantly seeking to free itself from conventions to achieve authentic beauty. Silvia Paoli, one of the great directors of our time, dares a powerful and virtuoso dramaturgical gesture, in total osmosis with the direction of Roderick Cox who brings this iconic score to incandescence, ideally served by the solar soprano of Ruzan Mantashyan and the very remarkable tenor Omer Kobiljak.

La Traviata

Opéra Comédie

A political drama about a bloody seizure of power, namely the rise and terrible fall of the Scottish military leader Macbeth and his wife, are at the heart of Verdi’s opera, based on Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. Barrie Kosky's production is «an aesthetic milestone in the work’s reception» (NZZ). It radically concentrates on the protagonists’ inner perspective in a ghostly jet-black stage space. Gianandrea Noseda navigates Verdi’s bold score. Roman Burdenko and Ekaterina Semenchuk sing the roles of the couple shattered by fears and madness.

Macbeth

Zurich Opera House

Musikdrama in one act by Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
after Oscar Wilde’s play of the same name

EPSG:4326

Salome

Opernhaus Zürich

Everything revolves around Hanna Glawari in Franz Lehár’s operetta Die lustige Witwe: She is emancipated, beautiful, clever and the heiress to 20 million... Vida Miknevičiūtė will bow in the title role in our revival of Barrie Kosky’s opulent production. The Lithuanian soprano began her distinguished career at the International Opernstudio at the Opernhaus Zürich. She can now be heard singing major Wagner and Strauss roles on stages including the Staatsoper Berlin and La Scala di Milano. She appeared as Lehár’s Hanna at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Making his Opernhaus debut at the podium of the Philharmonia Zürich is conductor Ben Glassberg, a young British conductor who has been Music Director at the Volksoper Wien since 2024

Die lustige Witwe

Drame-lyrique in 5 acts by Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré
after the tragedy by William Shakespeare

Roméo et Juliette

Finnish soprano Camilla Nylund thrilled as Brünnhilde in the new Zurich Ring des Nibelungen, and now she returns to Zurich as Senta. Her stage partner here is Tomasz Koniezcny, who will sing the title role in this revival and who celebrated his own triumph in the Zurich Ring when he took the stage as Wotan. General Music Director Gianandrea Noseda, meanwhile, showed with the Zurich Ring that he is a fantastic Wagner conductor. He now takes over the musical direction of this revival production.

Der fliegende Holländer

Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata, to the libretto based on Alexandre Dumas’s novel La Dame aux camélias, about Marie Duplessis, the famous courtesan and idol of Parisian society in the 1840s, is actually the very first major opera treating a contemporary social theme. The work’s premiere in 1863 in Venice was a flop: the audience was appalled that the lead role had been assigned to a courtesan who, what’s more, was portrayed in a positive light. Yet Verdi’s opera soon started garnering plaudits and is now one of the most popular repertoire titles the world over.

La traviata

State Opera

One hundred and thirty years after its premiere in Turin, La bohème continues to hold an immortal place among the most performed and beloved works in the operatic repertoire. Perhaps it is the allure of the seemingly carefree artistic milieu of Paris. Perhaps it is Puccini’s ravishing score, with its recurring motifs that follow each character and render the drama so immediate. Above all, it is surely the timeless portrayal of love – genuine and fragile – in a world where it is too often cheaply traded.

La bohème

The Royal Danish Playhouse

With its subject, taken over from the German collection of ghost stories Gespensterbuch (Book of Spectres), and its dramatic music, Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz  (The Marksman) is a quintessentially Romantic piece, deemed one of the first, and most renowned, Romantic operas.

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Omer Kobiljak

Events

Upcoming events

Aug 29, 2026 - Jan 24, 2027

La traviata · Národní divadlo

Oct 16, 2026 - Feb 11, 2027

La bohème · Det Kongelige Teater

Apr 22 - May 23, 2027

Der Freischütz (The Marksman) · Národní divadlo

Past events

1 - 12 Apr, 2026

La Traviata · Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

8 - 30 Nov, 2025

Macbeth · Opernhaus Zürich

Future and recently performed repertoire

Alfredo Germont in La traviata by Verdi

Národní divadlo

Macduff in Macbeth by Verdi

Opernhaus Zürich

Rodolfo in La bohème by Puccini

Det Kongelige Teater

Max in Der Freischütz by Weber

Národní divadlo

About

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