"Love is blind," is what is usually said. In Peter I. Tchaikovsky's last opera, "Iolanta," it is different: it is only love that makes the title heroine see. The young woman, daughter of the Provençal king René, has always been blind. But she knows nothing about it. In order to supposedly protect her, those around her keep this from her, as well as the fact that she is a princess. It is only a stranger who rescues her from her paradisiacal world of illusion: the Burgundian knight Vaudémont reveals to Iolanta that she is blind, thus initiating her healing process, at the end of which, through the power of love and thanks to her own strong will, she can finally see.

Jolanthe

Theater Nordhausen

Georges Bizet did not live to see the success of his last opera, "Carmen," as he died just a few months after its premiere, which took place in March 1875 at the Paris Opera-comique. At the time, there was a hail of harsh criticism: the title character, for example, was "obscene" in her unconditional love of freedom, an "incarnation of vice" and should be "banned by the police." The composer and his librettists portrayed the dramatic story of the spirited Spanish woman Carmen and her lover Don José in a drastic realism that was unusual for the time. Carmen, who loves her independence and does not allow herself to be taken over, increasingly frees herself from the possessive clutches of Don José. The latter is drawn into a fatal vortex of jealousy and mistrust.

Carmen

Like no other country, Italy stands for opera as a drama of passions and a place of the highest singing art. It was "invented" in Italy over 500 years ago, and many composers and countless singers have achieved great fame there through it. In this gala we will be bringing the crème de la crème of Italian bel canto to our ears. Among them are Gioacchino Rossini, the master of the comic field and the brilliant coloratura in "The Barber of Seville", as well as Gaetano Donizetti ("Lucia di Lammermoor"). Also not to be missed is Giuseppe Verdi, whose overwhelming emotional music, for example in his "La Traviata", made him world famous. The operas of Giacomo Puccini, the well-known representative of so-called "verismo", are equally immortal. Ruggero Leoncavallo is also congenial with the opera "Pagliacci" ("Pajazzo"). In addition to highlights from the works of these and other composers, there will be samples from the upcoming season, including excerpts from Mozart's opera "Idomeneo".

Italian Opera Gala

The lives of Juliet, daughter of the Capulet family, and Romeo, son of the Montagues, would certainly have been different if Juliet had married Count Paris, who was her intended, and Romeo had married his love, Rosalinda. But things turned out differently: when they first met, Romeo and Juliet fell madly in love. But they knew that a romantic relationship was impossible, as their families had been in bitter conflict for a long time. When the secret relationship was discovered, a fateful fight broke out between Romeo and Juliet's cousin Tybalt, which ended in death for the latter and finally destroyed any hope of a happy outcome for the lovers.

Roméo et Juliette

Culture and Convention Center Meininger Hof

For the New Year, we extend a heartfelt belated congratulations to the birthday boy of 2025: This October marks the 250th anniversary of Johann Strauss's birth. What could be more fitting than a classical Viennese New Year's Concert featuring Austrian musical delicacies? A few contemporaries such as Franz Lehár and Franz von Suppé, and of course other members of the Strauss family, will also be joining the congratulatory crowd. And as a special "icing on the cake," several vocal works will be performed, such as the Csárdás "Klänge der Heimat" (Sounds of Home) from Johann Strauss's "Die Fledermaus" (The Bat) and the Vilja-Lied (Vilja Song) from Franz Lehár's "Die lustige Witwe" (The Merry Widow).

New Year's Concert

Adventure Mine

Cultural and Congress Center

Octagonal House

Early modernist Paris must have been a fascinating place. Where else in the world did such artistic diversity exist? Musical life oscillated between Impressionism and Neoclassicism, jazz and operetta; there were the "old" artists around Camille Saint-Saëns and Gabriel Fauré, the young artists around the Groupe des Six; there were Russians, Spaniards, and Czechs, and of course mavericks like the legendary Erik Satie. The city was thus a true melting pot and, at the same time, a laboratory of sounds.

Julia Ermakova

Events

Upcoming events

1 - 10 Jan, 2026

New Year's Concert · Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

17 - 18 Jan, 2026

3rd Symphony Concert · Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Past events

2 - 30 May, 2025

Jolanthe · Theater Nordhausen

Nov 23 - Dec 14, 2024

Carmen · Theater Nordhausen

Future and recently performed repertoire

Juliette Capulet in Roméo et Juliette by Gounod

Theater Nordhausen

Micaëla in Carmen by Bizet

Theater Nordhausen

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