Singer

Although she is surrounded by many admirers, Arabella dreams only of the «right one». She finds him in Mandryka, the Croatian landowner. Opera history’s final idealized marriage of love was written on the precipice of disaster: The opera dates to a time of deep social insecurity. The operetta-like tone of Strauss’ «Lyrischer Komödie» is strangely fractured. When it premiered in Dresden in 1933, it was instrumentalized by the Nazis for propaganda purposes. 

Arabella

Zurich Opera House

In his libretto for Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier, Luigi Illica gave the character of Carlo Gérard—once a lackey, now a revolutionary hero—a phrase taken from the Girondist Vergniaud, who was executed in 1793: "The revolution devours its own children." This prominent quote reflects the core of the opera's plot, which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1896: In a powerful historical narrative, it demonstrates how the French Revolution, in the course of its radicalization, also turned against people who had shared its ideals. Among them is the poet André Chénier (1762-1794), who is introduced in the opera as a guest at a nobleman's feast in 1789. In this decadent atmosphere, musically evoked by Rococo allusions, Chénier dares to denounce the social injustices of the Ancien Régime, provoking outrage but impressing the hostess's daughter, Maddalena, and the rebellious servant Carlo Gérard. After a leap in time of five years, we meet these three characters again under completely different circumstances. In her famous aria "La mamma morta," Maddalena describes how her family and possessions were taken from her, and how only her faith in love, to which Chénier once opened her eyes, kept her alive. However, Chénier cannot offer her the protection she seeks from him; as a critic of Robespierre's Reign of Terror, he, too, is acutely threatened. Even Gérard appears to be a victim of the political situation: after shying away at the last moment from exploiting his current position of power to subjugate the passionately desired Maddalena, he remorsefully tries to save the imprisoned Chénier from the guillotine - in vain.

Andrea Chénier

Great Festival House

EPSG:4326

Elias

Opernhaus Zürich

Chamber Opera by Wolfgang Rihm (*1952)
Text by Michael Fröhling after Georg Büchner’s «Lenz»

Jakob Lenz

Romantic opera in three acts by Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Libretto by the composer

Lohengrin

Opera in two acts by Jonathan Dove (*1959) for children from age 7 and up and the eternally young
based on the novel of the same name by Jules Verne, Libretto by Peter Lund
Commission of the Opernhaus Zürich

In 80 Tagen um die Welt

With the children's opera "The Thief Lord," the Zurich Opera House is staging a new performance: the former "Sternen" cinema in Zurich-Oerlikon will become the setting for a gripping musical theatre adventure. In Cornelia Funke's novel of the same name, an abandoned cinema also becomes the refuge of a gang of orphans led by Scipio. Brothers Prosper and Bo find shelter here from their aunt and the persistent detective Victor, who is hot on their trail. A mysterious mission puts everyone in danger. The libretto by Swiss playwright Andreas Sauter will be set to music by three composition students from the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

Baritone

Felix Gygli

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 27 - Mar 11, 2027

Lord of Thieves · Opernhaus Zürich

Past events

14 - 28 Apr, 2026

Arabella · Opernhaus Zürich

Aug 25, 2025

Andrea Chénier · Salzburger Festspiele

Future and recently performed repertoire

Count Dominik in Arabella by Strauss

Opernhaus Zürich

Pietro Fléville in Andrea Chénier by Giordano

Salzburger Festspiele

Ernesto Barbarossa in Lord of Thieves by Composers

Opernhaus Zürich

About

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