Long live freedom! In 1848, when Albert Lortzing wrote his impressive last opera "Regina", was a revolution. And that is exactly what the work, which Lortzing named after his wife, is about: Two politically active factory workers love Regina, the daughter of the factory owner Simon. But they belong to different camps. One of them, Stephan, is a radical rebel who occupies the factory and holds Regina in his power. However, she is engaged to the more peace-loving Richard. In the end, all their lives and the awakening harmony lie in Regina's hands. Lortzing's revolutionary opera was kept under lock and key and censored for a long time. Perhaps its time has now come once again: Time for peace and freedom.

Regina

Oper Leipzig

With Tristan und Isolde, Richard Wagner created his most radical and most sensual opera. Two lovers are drawn into a whirlwind of desire and passion. Their only possible salvation is death. Wagner wrote a timeless, eternal “infinite melody,” or “infinite melody,” that would forever irrevocably change the course of music history.

Tristan and Isolde

“They are rushing toward their own ruin, they who are so confident of their own existence,” prophesies Loge at the end of Rheingold. And then, in Walküre, Wotan becomes painfully aware that he’s borrowed more than he can afford in order to build Valhalla, and confides in his daughter Brünnhilde that his plans have foundered – and that he wishes only for the end. Time and again, Alberich’s curse strikes, always demanding a new sacrifice: Love or power — but never both. Siegmund and Sieglinde, the twin lovers, tasted the power of the Ring, and fell victim to its curse. But one final hope remains, one final chance to win the Ring of the Nibelungs back from Fafner. Siegfried, a new hero, who never learned to be afraid. But this naive child of nature is bound to fall victim to the ice-cold machinations of an ever-coarsening society, in which love, friendship, truth, and loyalty are increasingly disregarded. In the end, a complete collapse of the existing world is the only way to guarantee a new beginning. Wagner’s The Twilight of the Gods describes the transition from nature to civilization, from the world of gods to the world of men, from legend to reality – until the apocalyptic moment when nature returns, with all of her force. The myriad musical motives coalesce in this, the final part of Wagner’s tetralogy. They culminate in Brünnhilde’s immolation scene, when once again the entire world of the Ring passes before our eyes. The Twilight of the Gods is perhaps the most exciting story that Wagner ever wrote: A thrilling psychological tale of love, power, and betrayal, and performing the opera is a tour de force for soloists, choir and orchestra. Ulf Schirmer, former managing director and general music director of the Oper Leipzig, leads the Gewandhausorchester.

The Twilight of the Gods

Embark with us on a musical journey around the world and welcome the New Year with splendour, passion, and joie de vivre. The ensemble of Oper Leipzig will take you from Spain to Russia, from the USA to South America – and of course, to the glittering home of Viennese operetta.

New Year's Eve Gala

For over a century, Engelbert Humperdinck's fairy-tale opera “Hänsel and Gretel” has been enchanting generations of young opera-goers. Not insignificantly, the premiere of this work took place on the night before Christmas Eve. To this day, this beloved opera is performed near Christmastime in many opera houses. After all, Christmas is a time for family, and »Hänsel and Gretel« is a family opera par excellence: While their children's eyes widen in wonder at their first opera experience, parents can reminisce and delight in nostalgia. In this new production, director Birgit Eckenweber, together with her set and costume designer Alexander Mudlagk, sends Hansel and Gretel into a fantastical fairy-tale world that's guaranteed to fascinate. Ah, to be young again!

Hansel and Gretel

Mathias Hausmann, soloist at the Leipzig Opera and internationally acclaimed lieder singer, presents a recital together with Ugo D'Orazio on the piano that examines life in all its facets. In a deeply felt alternation between horror and reconciliation, wit and suffering, they first devote themselves to a selection from Mahler's song cycle ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’. This is followed by Schubert's ‘Three Songs for Bass Voice’, Op. 83, D. 902. Instead of the sombre texts by Johann Mayrhofer, we hear the lively words of the legendary opera librettist Metastasio. The programme concludes with Brahms' ‘Four Serious Songs’, Op. 121. You can look forward to an evening rich in contrasts – thoughtful, haunting and full of human depth.

"Thoughts are free"

Sir John Falstaff is a man who wants it all: money, power, women, pleasure – and control. But in Giuseppe Verdi's opera, it is the women who call the shots. Alice Ford, Meg Page and Mrs Quickly confront Falstaff's audacity with wit and ingenuity, challenging an order that tries to force them into rigid roles and monotonous dreariness.

Falstaff

»Der Rosenkavalier« is a “literature opera”, a disguise comedy, a trial about the transience of time, about holding on and letting go. A work of modern times, which looks back to a completely different time, a homage to an invented past: at times melancholic-lyrical, at times in a waltz beat, at times in a comic parlando

Der Rosenkavalier

Two things must be known about Undines, aquatic beings in feminine form; first, they can only attain an immortal soul by marrying an earthly man. Second, if Undine's love is betrayed, she must kill the unfaithful man. When the knight Hugo falls in love with Undine, it seems that happiness is perfect at last, the wedding bells ring, the village rejoices and celebrates. But then Bertalda appears and the lake's water level ominously begins to rise.

Undine

»Either I am terribly mistaken, or ›The Queen of Spades‹ really is the crowning achievement of my life’s work!«, was Peter Tchaikovsky’s verdict on his penultimate opera, which premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg in 1890 and has captivated audiences ever since.

Pique Dame

Conceived as a preliminary evening to Wagner’s interpretation of world mythology, »Das Rheingold« introduces the central themes of this tetralogy: »Only he who renounces the power of love« can form the Rheingold into a ring that promises its bearer power over the world. It is the low E-flat in the strings that gives us the musical manifestation of the idea of a natural primitive state. But once Alberich steals the Rheingold, a chain of events are set in motion: Wotan’s megalomaniacal plan to build a structure representative of gods’ long-lost authority is followed by Alberich’s betrayal at Wotan and Loge’s hand and Alberich’s subsequent curse. The murder of Fasolt by his brother Fafner ensues. Not even Erda, with her wisdom and warning, can stop the chain of events from unfurling.

Das Rheingold

La Traviata is the final work in the Trilogia Popolare, Verdi’s trio of masterpieces written between 1850-52. Once again, he was inspired by an outsider: after the jester in Rigoletto and the gypsy Azucena in Il Trovatore, the courtesan Violetta Valéry -- a woman whose charm surpasses her predecessors -- takes center stage here. The Parisian demimonde is the setting for the story of the unconditional and hopeless love between Alfredo Germont and the terminally ill Violetta. From the very beginning, their love is threatened not only by death, but also by the norms of the society and the honor of a family.

La Traviata

For over a century, Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairy-tale opera »Hänsel and Gretel« has been enchanting generations of young opera-goers. Not insignificantly, the premiere of this work took place on the night before Christmas Eve. To this day, this beloved opera is performed near Christmastime in many opera houses. After all, Christmas is a time for family, and »Hänsel and Gretel« is a family opera par excellence: While their children’s eyes widen in wonder at their first opera experience, parents can reminisce and delight in nostalgia. In this new production, director Birgit Eckenweber, together with her set- and costume designer Alexander Mudlagk, sends Hansel and Gretel into a fantastical fairy-tale world that’s guaranteed to fascinate. Ah, to be young again!

Hänsel und Gretel

Welcome to the mysterious fairy-tale world of the »Magic Flute«! Even the names of the characters sound magical and remind us of our first visits to the opera: Tamino, Pamina, Papageno, Sarastro … Hardly any other work of opera literature includes so many contradictory elements, so harmoniously combined into a coherent entity by Mozart's music . Is his arguably most popular opera an adventure story about growing up? A parable of wisdom, philosophy and friendship? Is it simply about staying true to oneself, like the bird catcher Papageno? He accompanies Prince Tamino, who has fallen in love with a picture of the kidnapped Pamina and plans to free her. We are reminded that the world cannot always be divided into good and evil: the Queen of the Night and Sarastro illustrate this to us through their quarrel over Pamina. On our journey we are also accompanied by three ladies, three boys, a glockenspiel, and a flute that tames even the wildest animals.

Mathias Hausmann

Events

Past events

Apr 25 - Jun 12, 2026

Regina · Oper Leipzig

Mar 29 - Apr 11, 2026

Tristan and Isolde · Oper Leipzig

Future and recently performed repertoire

Father in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Oper Leipzig

Speaker in The Magic Flute by Mozart

Oper Leipzig

Kurwenal in Tristan and Isolde by Wagner

Oper Leipzig

Gunther in Götterdämmerung by Wagner

Oper Leipzig

Giorgio Germont in La traviata by Verdi

Oper Leipzig

Mr. von Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss

Oper Leipzig

Vater in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Oper Leipzig

Donner in Das Rheingold by Wagner

Oper Leipzig

Ford in Falstaff by Verdi

Oper Leipzig

Kühleborn in Undine by Dvořák

Oper Leipzig

About

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