Actor

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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

For Figaro and Susanna, it was supposed to be the most beautiful day of their lives: their wedding day. But their employer, Count Almaviva, who is equally in love with Susanna, does everything he can to delay the wedding. Twenty-four turbulent hours begin, in which the power of Eros throws every character in the play into confusing emotional states. Director Jan Philipp Gloger sets Mozart’s masterpiece in the present day, highlighting the way a supposedly irresistible man gets ensnared in a complex code of conduct designed to prevent abuse of power and sexual assault.

The Marriage of Figaro

The «Japanese tragedy» by Giacomo Puccini shows how the American naval officer Pinkerton embraces Japanese culture, marrying Cio-Cio-San, a young geisha, for the duration of his stay. When he later returns with his «real» wife to take the child he had with Cio-Cio-San back to his homeland, the young woman is left with only one way out. With his ambitious composition, Puccini combined Eastern and Western motifs, producing one of his most successful operas at the start of the 20th century. Director Ted Huffman brings the opera to the stage in stunningly beautiful images and with great narrative tension.

Madama Butterfly

A silk ladder (La scala di seta) enables Giulia to receive her husband, whom she married against her guardian’s wishes, in her room night after night. The fact that three men end up using the silk ladder is one of the unsavory complications of this comedy. Director Damiano Michieletto presents the six-character work as a fast-paced sitcom, true to Rossini’s motto that the everyday must be exaggerated in order for it to become an opera.

The Silk Ladder

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

EPSG:4326

Salome

Opernhaus Zürich

Music theater for children from age 7 by Samuel Penderbayne (*1989)
Libretto by Christian Schönfelder after Christine Nöstlinger
Commissioned by the Opernhaus Zürich

Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig

Opera buffa in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

Le nozze di Figaro

«You will die! A friend will kill you.» – The scene with the fortune teller Ulrica, who prophesies that Count Riccardo will soon meet his end, is just one of many effective scenes in Verdi’s opera Un ballo in maschera. Riccardo doesn’t believe Ulrica, and laughs – but a short while later he is murdered by his best friend Renato during a masked ball. Comedy and horror are also closely linked musically in this score from Verdi’s middle creative phase. The story of an idle, politically weak ruler who is killed at a masked ball is based on the historical case of Gustav III of Sweden. However, Verdi was less interested in historical details than in the effective dramaturgy offered by the triangular constellation between Riccardo, his best friend Renato and his wife Amelia. The emotional drama that takes place in the middle act between Riccardo and his friend's wife is one of the most sensual love scenes Verdi ever wrote – and leads to the fiercest jealousy from Renato, who then joins a gang of conspirators. Verdi wanted to stage his new opera – originally with King Gustav as the title figure – in Naples, but the subject matter was targeted by censors. Showing a regicide on stage was simply impossible in the politically turbulent Italy of the 19th century. In the end, the opera was staged in Rome in 1859, in a historically altered setting. General Music Director Gianandrea Noseda and stage director Adele Thomas devote themselves to Verdi’s score of contrasts, which oscillates between masquerade frivolity and deeply felt melodrama. Tenor Charles Castronovo, who has already sung this role at the New York Met, is Riccardo. Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi makes her debut as Amelia.

Un ballo in Maschera

In the middle of his career, Giuseppe Verdi with «created one of his most diverse scores». Embedded in effective ensemble scenes that oscillate between operetta-like, mysterious oracular magic and dark conspiracy drama, Verdi focuses on the private fate of a politician: Riccardo, the governor of Boston, is in love with Amelia, the wife of his best friend and advisor Renato. When the two are discovered during a passionate nocturnal encounter, Renato joins the conspirators and discovers Riccardo's disguise at the masked ball.

A Masked Ball

To be someone else for one night? Rosalinde, who would much rather have been an artist, isn't the only one who dreams of this. Together with the recently imprisoned Gabriel von Eisenstein, the servant Adele, and the vengeful Dr. Falke, she embarks on a journey to Prince Orlofsky's infamous party, a world where anything goes. Camilla Nylund sings Rosalinde in Anna Bernreitner's production, with costumes by fashion designer Arthur Arbesser.

The bat

plendor and misery lie close together in the life of the courtesan Violetta Valéry. Celebrated as an enigmatic beauty at lavish Parisian parties, she is forced to abandon her great love for Alfredo due to bourgeois conventions. With this opera about a "whore," as Giuseppe Verdi himself called her, he shocked the audiences of his time. His sharp critique is directed against the hypocritical practices of society, while he imbues Violetta herself, on her path of suffering, with the aura of a saint. With keen psychological insight, director Christof Loy draws inspiration from the aesthetics of Verdi's era. Under the direction of Joana Mallwitz, the young Spanish soprano Marina Monzó makes her debut in the title role.

La traviata

For Figaro and Susanna, it was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives: their wedding day. But their master, Count Almaviva, who is equally in love with Susanna, does everything in his power to postpone the marriage. Twenty-four turbulent hours ensue, during which all the characters in this piece are swept away by the power of Eros into confusing emotional states. Director Jan Philipp Gloger transposes Mozart's masterpiece to the present day and shows how a seemingly irresistible man becomes entangled in a web of codes of conduct against abuse of power and sexual assault.

Actor, Singer

Martin Zysset

Events

Upcoming events

May 22 - Jun 13, 2026

A Masked Ball · Opernhaus Zürich

Sep 29 - Oct 25, 2026

The bat · Opernhaus Zürich

Dec 20, 2026 - Jan 23, 2027

La traviata · Opernhaus Zürich

2 - 19 May, 2027

The Marriage of Figaro 2027 · Opernhaus Zürich

2 - 19 May, 2027

The Marriage of Figaro 2027 · Opernhaus Zürich

Past events

14 - 28 Apr, 2026

Arabella · Opernhaus Zürich

Jan 24 - Feb 14, 2026

The Marriage of Figaro · Opernhaus Zürich

Future and recently performed repertoire

Giuseppe in La traviata by Verdi

Opernhaus Zürich

Welko in Arabella by Strauss

Opernhaus Zürich

Goro in Madama Butterfly by Puccini

Opernhaus Zürich

Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart

Opernhaus Zürich

Dr. Blind in The Bat by Strauss

Opernhaus Zürich

Dormont in The Silk Ladder by Rossini

Opernhaus Zürich

Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozar

Opernhaus Zürich

A judge in A Masked Ball by Verdi

Opernhaus Zürich

About

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