The young farmer Nemorino is head over heels in love with the beautiful and rich Adina, but he doesn't dare woo her. In the story of Tristan and Isolde, he sees the solution to his problem: a love potion is needed! When a company of soldiers, led by the macho Belcore, arrives in the village, time is of the essence, as Adina seems to take a liking to the self-confident sergeant. Just at that moment, the traveling physician Dulcamara arrives in the village, praising his medicine, which is supposed to cure all ailments. From him, Nemorino buys a bottle of Isolde's legendary love potion. Admittedly, Dulcamara has sold him nothing but a bottle of red wine, but to the quack's surprise, after a few complications, the drink achieves its desired result and unites the young lovers.

The love potion – L'elisir d'amore

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Symphony concert meets dance floor: Poulenc's Dance Suite, composed for the Ballets Russes, transports its audience to the vibrant atmosphere of 1920s salons. In the ballet "Petrushka," puppetry meets the reality of deadly jealousy, a theme explored by Stravinsky's music with subtle irony and Russian folk dances. The exceptional young guitarist Laura Lootens performs Joaquín Rodigo's popular Guitar Concerto, which transformed its blind composer into a Spanish cultural ambassador and national hero. Chin-Chao Lin, principal conductor of the Klagenfurt City Theatre, returns to Wiesbaden for this concert.

4th Symphony Concert: Petrushka

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden

In the 2026 New Year's Concert, Chin-Chao Lin, as Chief Conductor, invites the audience on a journey of dance. Whether it's the visitors of Parisian cabarets or the 19th-century St. Petersburg high society portrayed by Aram Khachaturian in his Masquerade Suite, whether it's Saint-Saëns' Philistines in biblical Palestine or the Lumbyes visitors to Copenhagen's Tivoli – around the world and throughout history, dancing has been and continues to be practiced on festive occasions. And to usher in the New Year, the most beautiful and spirited waltz melodies by Johann Strauss are a must.

New Year's Concert II

Konzerthaus Klagenfurt

New Year's Concert I

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was just eleven years old when he composed the ballet The Snowman . The piece's musical brilliance caused such a sensation that even the emperor took notice of the child prodigy's creation and commissioned a performance at the Imperial and Royal Court Opera. This year, excerpts from The Snowman, reminiscent of Tchaikovsky's great ballets, will open the Christmas concert, in which the KSO and the City Theater Chorus will strike a festive, contemplative, and cheerful tone—including Mozart's Ave verum corpus and Leroy Anderson's exhilarating Sleigh Ride .

Christmas concert

The marriage of Orpheus and Eurydice is over: Eurydice is bored to death at home, while the rather untalented violinist Orpheus gropes his pupils. Eurydice takes an interest in the virile Aristeus, who turns out to be Pluto, ruler of the underworld. He takes her to his dark realm. Orpheus remains behind, rejoicing at his wife's departure. But he hasn't reckoned with public opinion, which, in the spirit of bourgeois decency, calls on Orpheus to go to Olympus and assert his claim to the gods for the return of his wife.

Orpheus in the Underworld

With a ballet evening that is as brilliant as it is thoughtful, the Slovenian State Ballet Ljubljana and the Klagenfurt City Theatre continue their successful collaboration of recent years. Boléro combines two classics of modern ballet composed for large orchestra with the romantic melancholy of Chopin's Nocturnes for piano. The evening takes its title from Maurice Ravel's most famous work. He created Boléro on commission from the Russian ballerina Ida Rubinstein, but in dance history, Maurice Béjart's 1961 interpretation is considered a milestone. Choreographer Renato Zanella bases his work on Ravel's fundamental musical idea of ​​the struggle for supremacy between rhythm and melody, emphasizing that the beauty of melody rarely emerges victorious in a direct confrontation with the power of rhythm.

Bolero

For political reasons, King Marke of Cornwall wants to marry the Irish Princess Isolde to secure peace between the two countries. However, Tristan, Marke's nephew and vassal, and Isolde fall in love. The basic constellation in Richard Wagner's music drama corresponds to a classic tragedy of love and jealousy, in which personal feelings and social obligations conflict. But Tristan and Isolde's love transcends all social norms.

Tristan and Isolde

With the first symphony concert of the season, the new chief conductor Chin-Chao Lin, together with the Carinthian Symphony Orchestra, traces key milestones in his musical biography. To kick things off, he will transport the audience to the dramatic landscapes of his homeland with the short symphonic poem " The Angel from Formosa" by the Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao, evoking nostalgic sounds. Lin applied for admission to the conducting program at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz with Beethoven's Symphony No. 2, while Mahler's Symphony No. 4, which he wrote in the composer's cottage in Maiernigg, marks his renewed connection with the region where he will now serve as chief conductor.

Sound paths

High culture and folk culture – are they contradictory, or are they not two different expressions of the same basic human need? Many KSO musicians play in folk music ensembles, and many members of the house choir are active in Carinthian choirs. Some of these will also be performing at the Theaterfest, as will actors who critically examine Carinthian culture. We are also expanding our stage technology show, offering behind-the-scenes insights, and of course, the now traditional costume flea market will not be missed. Another highlight will be the first concert of the new chief conductor, Chin-Chao Lin, with the KSO on the stage of the Stadttheater.

Come in! Vienna Municipal Theatre Festival 2025

The production sold out houses in Belgium, Luxembourg and France; now it is coming to the International May Festival in Wiesbaden. With a clever twist, the FC Bergman collective has transformed the exotic coastal landscape of the pearl fishers of Ceylon into a retirement home. The friends Zurga and Nadir used to be in love with the same girl. To save their friendship, they promised each other to suppress their feelings for Léïla. But now Léïla is returning, and long-suppressed anger, love and jealousy break over the men like huge waves. Past and present blur and can only be separated with difficulty.

The Pearl Fishers

The Italian opera classic as a gripping thriller: The singer Floria Tosca and her lover, the artist Mario Cavaradossi, find themselves in the crosshairs of police violence, political intrigue and deception. For the 125th anniversary of the opera, director José Cortés takes a close look at the well-known material and reveals the depths of human nature.

Tosca: Giacomo Puccini

The sea has always been there - but it has changed a lot from then until now. Who could tell us about it better than a grandfather who has always lived by the sea? His painted letters and various pieces of music take us on a journey through time between ebb and flow, beach and sea, accompanied by the musicians of the Hessian State Orchestra, who make the waves sound with their instruments.

The Whisper of the Sea: Children's concert

"Carmen" is still one of the most popular operas today. At the premiere in 1875, audiences were initially more shocked than enthusiastic, because Bizet elevated the underprivileged - the fatally seductive Carmen and the deserting soldier Don José - to the main characters of his story. Nevertheless, the opera began its great triumph. Even more than one hundred and forty years later, the work fascinates audiences all over the world with its world of smugglers, bullfighters, factory workers, policemen, children and soldiers. In addition to ensemble member Fleuranne Brockway as Carmen, Stefano La Colla, one of the most important tenors on the international opera scene, is a guest in Wiesbaden and is making his debut as Don José. The revival is being conducted by General Music Director Leo McFall.

Carmen: Georges Bizet

Faced with an authoritarian state, opera singer Floria Tosca finds herself in a struggle for her freedom and dignity as a woman and a stage artist. In a spiral of fear and violence, the boundaries between stage and reality begin to blur in a paranoid way.

Tosca

Friendship and music make you strong! In the fourth installment of the popular Elephant Pups series, panda girl Mei Yue receives an invitation to China. But how is she supposed to get to the other side of the world? Luckily, there's the zoo orchestra! With its musical ideas, even the impossible becomes possible.

The Elephant Fart

In recognition of Nikolaus Fheodoroff's achievements, the Carinthian state government has awarded the composition prize named after him in various categories since 2013. Composers of all nationalities and ages were invited to submit works for solo quartet and orchestra for 2025. David Kosviner, born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and living in Austria since 2011, received the award in 2025. His award-winning work, Sentiero, will be presented on June 14, 2026. The KSO and its chief conductor, Chin-Chao Lin, will accompany this world premiere with the three movements for string orchestra by the competition's dedicatee, as well as with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's brilliantly orchestrated Scheherazade Suite.

Chin-Chao Lin

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 8 - May 2, 2026

The love potion – L'elisir d'amore · Stadttheater Klagenfurt

May 30, 2026

The Elephant Fart · Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Jun 14, 2026

Nikolaus Fheodoroff Composition Prize · Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Past events

Mar 8 - May 2, 2026

The love potion – L'elisir d'amore · Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Feb 11, 2026

4th Symphony Concert: Petrushka · Staatstheater Wiesbaden

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in Boléro by Ravel

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Tosca by Puccini

Staatstheater Wiesbaden

Conductor in Symphony No. 2 by Beethoven

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Symphony No. 4 by Mahler

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Petrushka by Stravinsky

Staatstheater Wiesbaden

Conductor in Sleigh Ride by Anderson

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Ave Verum Corpus by Mozart

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Nocturnes by Chopin

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo

Staatstheater Wiesbaden

Conductor in Les pêcheurs de perles by Bizet

Staatstheater Wiesbaden

Conductor in L'elisir d'amore by Donizetti

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Tristan and Isolde by Wagner

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Carmen by Bizet

Staatstheater Wiesbaden

Conductor in Tosca by Puccini

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Le sacre du printemps by Stravinsky

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Masquerade Suite by Khachaturian

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in The Snowman by Korngold

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Les Biches by Poulenc

Staatstheater Wiesbaden

Conductor in The Angel from Formosa by Hsiao

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Sentiero for solo quartet and orchestra by Kosviner

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Conductor in Concerto for violin, string orchestra and timpani by Fheodoroff

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

About

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