Name: Festive Opera Gala
Start: 2026-06-19T00:00:00
Location: German Oper am Rhein

Patrick Francis Chestnut

Vitali Alekseenok

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Two peoples find themselves in the barbaric grip of war after Nabucco and his troops attack Jerusalem. The Babylonian ruler and Zaccaria, the leader of the Hebrews, do not budge an inch from their opposing viewpoints in this profound conflict, while the daily grind of war continues to bring new suffering to both peoples. The seemingly hopeless conflict does not even stop at their own families: Zaccaria holds Nabucco's favorite daughter Fenena hostage, while she has long since changed sides out of love for Ismaele and lives among the enemy people. Nabucco's other daughter, Abigaille, envies her sister's happiness and her father's throne and forges disastrous plans...

Nabucco

Theater Duisburg

German Oper am Rhein

In our song matinees, ensemble members and pianists dedicate themselves to the exciting variety of international song art - in the foyer of the Düsseldorf Opera House and, as of this season, also in the opera foyer of the Duisburg Theater!

Song matinee

While the grimy back yards of the Weimar Republic were filled with unemployed singers practicing their skills in the hope of earning enough for a warm meal, night after night the revue theatres of the Kurfürstendamm would present glittering golden dreams to an audience of millions hungry for entertainment. Amid the glitz of the roaring 1920s, the fame of the Comedian Harmonists burned especially brightly: modelled on the American vocal quartet The Revelers, the six-strong ensemble made up of Ari Leschnikoff, Erich Abraham-Collin, Harry Frommermann, Roman Cycowski, Robert Biberti and pianist Erwin Bootz thrilled German audiences with mixture of sassy and entertaining lyrics set to the latest music and sung in perfect close harmony. With hits such as “Veronika, der Lenz ist da”, “Ein Freund, ein guter Freund” and “Wochenend und Sonnenschein” they conquered the concert halls of Europe at record speed and thanks to the modern mass medium of gramophone records they soon became a fixture in living rooms across Germany.

Come­dian Harmo­nists – Best of

The choreographer duo Iratxe Ansa and Igor Bacovich explore the perpetual motion and transience of time. Under the title “Moto perpetuo” - perpetual motion - they develop their own physical language, which emerges from intuition together with the dancers in interaction with stage elements and light, inspired by the symmetries and circular movements in the music of Philip Glass.

Kalei­dos­kop

The spirit summons the forgotten voice of María through a crack in the pavement and tells her story. She was born on a day when God was drunk. “I am María ... María Tango, María of the suburbs, María Night, María fatal passion, María of love for Buenos Aires am I!” - Searching for happiness, she leaves the suburbs, glows, gets high and plays, sells herself and, in death, becomes a mystical figure. As a shadow, María wanders through a world of surreal encounters, tracing life backwards from oblivion to birth - until she finds redemption through poetry. On a holy Sunday.

Maria from Buenos Aires

“What is the price of paradise and who has to pay for it?” asks Belgian choreographer Stina Quagebeur in her new creation "Omelas", which is based on a dystopian short story by Ursula K. Le Guin. Intuitive and urgent, in a composition of organ sound and orchestral force, abstract and narrative at the same time, she creates a journey at the pulse of today.

Orgel­Passion

There's a lot going on in the schoolyard. A storm is brewing. Otto is being bullied by girls, attacked and struck by a yellow lightning bolt. Hannah, Natan and Aziza rush to help their friend. But things get stranger and stranger: a pancake stand appears out of nowhere, a hat too, and then there's the hitchhiker who can make time freeze. What does all this have to do with that parallel world, the floating land, where the super villains are up to no good? The world seems to have gone off the rails. Luckily, the four friends suddenly have superpowers: Hannah's superpower is melody, she can fly high when she sings high. Natan's superpower is harmony and he can multiply. Aziza is incredibly dynamic and fast as lightning. And Otto has the best sense of rhythm and a special connection to explosions. It's high time for superheroes! Only together can they tell good from evil and save the blue pig. The blue pig? Wait...Where did that come from?

The Blue Sow

A trail of violence runs through the cursed dynasty of the Atrides long before this opera begins: Elektra's grandfather fed his own sons to his brother, her father Agamemnon sacrificed Elektra's sister Iphigenia, the desperate mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisth slaughtered Agamemnon with an axe in the bath. The children cannot find peace either: Elektra cannot mourn, desperate and raw, she dwells on her hatred. Like must be repaid in kind, the murderous mother and her lover must die. While her sister Chrysotemis refuses to join her, her brother Orest is to take vengeance for their beloved father: The next generation picks up the axe...

Elektra

The three sailors Gabey, Chip and Ozzie have twenty-four hours ashore in New York. And they don't need to be told twice, because the big city doesn't come calling every day! In the city of great expectations, they soon find themselves on the subway, where Ivy smiles down from a poster as “Miss Subway of the Month” and has Gabey's head spinning. It immediately becomes clear to him that he has to find this woman in the urban jungle. Whatever may come! And so begins a fast-paced journey through the city, that never sleeps, but instead holds so many delights in store that each of the three men is soon chasing his own adventure...

On the Town

Even a rich prince can be quite poor sometimes. The noble Don Ramiro finds out about this when his search for a bride takes him to the house of the notoriously penniless Don Magnifico. His daughters don't give the visitor, disguised as a simple servant, a second glance. It's a good thing that Ramiro finds a sympathetic heart in the unloved stepsister Angelina, known as Cenerentola... Gioachino Rossini composed some of his most beautiful melodies for his turbulent musical theater version of the charming “Cinderella”. Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's legendary production, which has been enchanting audiences since 1974, is as effervescently cheerful as Rossini's light-hearted score.

Cinderella

The impoverished southern belle Blanche DuBois has experienced the downfall of her wealthy family and numerous setbacks and now seeks refuge with her younger sister in New Orleans. In a cramped and aggressive environment, she loses touch with reality, driven by an all-consuming longing and the belief that she is truly special. This tragic story of loss, love and violence awarded American writer Tennessee Williams the coveted Pulitzer Prize in 1948.

End­station Sehn­sucht

Balkis, the Queen of Sheba and fiancée of King Soliman, visits her spouse-to-be in Jerusalem. Here she is introduced to the builder Adoniram, who is to construct a miraculous building for Soliman. She is impressed by his craftsmanship and the two fall in love. When she leaves the unloved ruler for his sake, Adoniram becomes the victim of a murderous intrigue and Balkis can only swear eternal fidelity to him beyond death.

The Queen of Sheba

A sparkling finale with musical fireworks: Once again this year, the Friends of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein guarantee all opera fans a top-class season finale!