The Volksoper Wien's 2025-2026 season is set to captivate audiences with a blend of timeless classics and contemporary narratives. From the moving retelling of Shakespearean romance in 'West Side Story' to the enchanting musical journey of 'The Magic Flute', the theater promises a diverse array of performances. Audiences can also look forward to historical insights with 'Let's Forget the World - Volksoper 1938', the whimsical charm of 'The Bat', and the introspective 'Cabaret'. This season celebrates the power of storytelling through opera, ballet, and musical theater, offering something for every taste.

A Journey Through the Volksoper Wien's Captivating 2025-2026 Season

Prepare to be enthralled by the Volksoper Wien's stellar lineup for the 2025-2026 season. From the timeless story of 'West Side Story' to the intricate narrative of 'The Magic Flute', each event promises a unique experience. With a mix of operas, musicals, and ballet performances, this season is designed to captivate audiences of all ages. The Volksoper Wien, renowned for its rich history and vibrant performances, continues to set the stage for unforgettable experiences. Here's a look at what you can expect from this year's exciting performances.

Embracing the Stage: Volksoper Wien's Vibrant 2025-2026 Lineup

Leslie Suganandarajah

Annette Dasch

Lionel von Lawrence

Daniel Schmutzhard

Oliver Liebl

Jakob Semotan

Julia Koci

Johanna Arrouas

Ruth Brauer-Kvam

Mila Schmidt

Aleksandar Orlic

Stefan Wancura

Martin Lukesch

Falko Herold

Alex Frei

Axel Ranisch

Thomas Hip

Peter the Newman

Alex Brok

Alfred Mayerhofer

Volksoper Wien

The story of The Magic Flute begins like an adventure: a prince rescues a princess from a dark ruler, accompanied by a birdcatcher and magical devices. But the boundaries between good and evil, light and dark become blurred and the characters are far more complex.

The story of The Magic Flute has been interpreted and reinterpreted in many ways. But one of the reasons it continues to captivate audiences to this day is that it features complex characters, who are portrayed as diverse and dazzling as real people. A mother, for example, who wants to save her daughter – or perhaps uses her as an instrument of revenge. A young woman who discovers a strength within herself she didn’t know she had. A coward who might actually be braver than he believes. A villain who, on second glance, no longer appears (only) evil.

The Magic Flute

It is probably the most popular, but certainly the most Viennese of all operettas: Johann Strauss' immortal Fledermaus. Parties that get out of hand, erotic mix-ups, conspiracies, intrigues and a large portion of schadenfreude: the climax of the classical Viennese operetta era offers ambiguous entertainment in waltz rhythm. And if the social façade crumbles too much, you can still blame everything on the effect of champagne. 

The Volksoper is considered the most Viennese opera house in the city. So it is not surprising that Johann Strauss' masterpiece is practically family silver here. No work has ever been performed more often at the Volksoper. At the beginning of Lotte de Beer's directorship, the performance was carefully refreshed, and a female "Frosch" has since provided a fresh look at a well-known piece.

The Bat

Peter Pan flies back to the Volksoper! The popular ballet for the whole family celebrates its revival and its return to the stage. Vesna Orlić’s loving and playful choreography based on J. M. Barrie’s enchanting novel of the same name transports young and old audiences alike into the world of the boy who doesn’t want to grow up and let us take part in the adventures of Peter Pan, his lost girls and boys, Tinkerbell and the children of the Darling family.

Peter Pan

“She is a statue of beauty when standing or sitting: grace itself when she moves,” the 18th century English writer and artist Horace Walpole wrote about the legendary Queen of France Marie Antoinette. This colourful character from French history inspired the ballet by the French choreographer Thierry Malandain that premiered with his own ensemble, Malandain Ballet Biarritz, in 2019 in the very theatre that Marie Antoinette inaugurated on 16 May 1770 to mark her wedding to Louis XVI: the Opéra Royal Château de Versailles.

Marie Antoinette’s life in Versailles is central to Malandain’s ballet, which the choreographer has created to music by two of her contemporaries – Joseph Haydn and Christoph Willibald Gluck. The piece depicts her arrival at court, her wedding day, the opening of the opera house with Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Persée – as a ballet within the ballet – the attempted escape that would ultimately be her undoing and the infamous parties and balls associated with the Queen.

Marie Antoinette

Jon is a promising musical composer and lyricist, works as a waiter in New York and has been dreaming of a career on Broadway for years. Despite intensive work and the clear vision of reforming musical theater and bringing it up to date, the big breakthrough is a long time coming. Shortly before his 30th birthday restlessness begins to take hold of him. He fundamentally questions his life choices and feels pressure from all sides: his girlfriend Susan longs for a tranquil family life , his childhood friend Michael wants him to get an office job with a secure income … panic.

tick, tick... BOOM! is semi-autobiographical, existential and innovative. Originally performed on stage from 1990 as a one-man show by Larson himself, it was posthumously re-adapted as a three-person play in 2001, and gained wider notoriety no later than 2021 through its award-winning Netflix extension into a feature film. Larson himself was a door-opener and pioneer for a new kind of musical: close to the issues of young people, close to the music of the time. With a pointed staging of the version for three actors, the Volksoper is also breaking new ground and proving once again that it is a creative place with its finger on the pulse.

tick, tick... BOOM!

Spring Awakening is a powerful rock musical about growing up, generational conflict, and the turmoil of awakening sexuality. Winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and a Grammy, it redefined Broadway’s themes. Based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play Frühlings Erwachen, it criticizes social morality while exploring sexuality and repression. Wendla, Melchior, and Moritz face strict parents and teachers as well as unanswered questions about love and desire, with devastating results.

Spring Awakening

The famous dancer Rudolf Nureyev has a dog. When Nureyev dies, the strict ballet mistress Marika inherits the dog. The dog growls at her and becomes aggressive. When Marika is unable to place the dog with one of Nureyev’s friends, the animal shelter seems to be the only solution. Until Marika realises that the dog has hidden qualities …

The author Elke Heidenreich wrote a novel about Nureyev’s dog. Director and choreographer Florian Hurler actually knew Nureyev’s dog and the ballet mistress Marika. Peter te Nuyl wrote a theatrical script and text based on their stories. Keren Kagarlitsky created a new score from ballet-, opera- and her own music.

Nurejews Hund

With this new production of the operetta classic The White Horse Inn, director Jan Philipp Gloger sets out in search of the contemporary aspects of the piece, which he recognizes above all in the theme of tourism. Come with us to the region of the Salzkammergut and take a look behind the façade of the traditional eponymous hotel!

In the White Horse Inn

Figaro, the Count’s servant, has become engaged to Susanna, the Countess’s maid. The Count is stalking Susanna. Figaro hatches a plan to put the count in his place. After a “mad day” of disguises, misunderstandings and other comical complications, Figaro gets his Susanna and the Count has no choice but to apologize to the Countess.

The Marriage of Figaro

In the 19th century, Penzance was one of the most idyllic and peaceful little towns on the British isle. Pirates... here?! The kings of English operetta, the writing duo Gilbert & Sullivan, had a knack for humorously subverting their audience’s expectations. With this satirical and subversive “recipe,” they created one hit after another.

The rather absurd plot of The Pirates of Penzance would have done proud even to the British humor of Monty Python back in the 19th century: A young man is not trained as a pilot, but instead apprenticed to the Pirates of Penzance because his hard-of-hearing governess confuses the words “pilot” and “pirate.” Upon turning 21, Frederic should have completed his apprenticeship—if only he hadn’t been born in a leap year! According to pirate logic, that makes him just five years old… From this existential dilemma unfolds a love story between the young pirate apprentice and Mabel, a young lady from the British military aristocracy..

The Pirates of Penzance

Follies, one of Stephen Sondheim’s most personal and touching musicals, will have its first production at the Vienna Volksoper in a production by Martin G. Berger. The Chekhovian work with quotes from the music of the 1920’s to 40’s tells the story of two couples struggling with their life decisions and takes a nostalgic look at a glamorous and supposedly carefree past.

Follies

The young successor to the throne Aljoscha is unhappy and tormented by loneliness. He avoids contact with women, yet he longs for another person. Eventually, he meets a young man – who, in Lehár’s version, is a girl in disguise. However, for Dutch director and artist Steef de Jong, the situation is more complex … He relocates the story, originally set in Russia, to a more universal fairytale world, focusing entirely on the slowly blossoming love story. He uses beautiful drawings and animations, filmed live and projected, creating a work of art that blends operetta and animated film, capturing the melancholy of Lehár’s music while also adding humor and lightness.

Der Zarewitsch

Johann Strauss worked on a ballet based on the well-known fairy tale of Cinderella at the end of his life. Only a fragment of the piece survived. Axel Ranisch and Martina Eisenreich have created their own work inspired by this: In Vienna, 1899, Strauss is working on his ballet, but who is the mysterious librettist? And what does Ida Grünwald have to do with the project, when she is supposed to be merely typing the libretto? The story behind the creation of the Johann Strauss ballet, its storyline, and an unusual Cinderella narrative set in our present day – this fairy tale opera blends timelines and explores themes of self-discovery, emancipation, creativity, and the power of imagination.

Vienna, 1899: Johann Strauss is working on a new ballet. A competition is held to find a suitable libretto, but only one truly sparks the composer’s imagination...

The Cinderella Ballet: The talented seamstress Grete works in her stepmother’s fashion salon. Grete dreams of designing her own clothing, but her stepsisters, Yvette and Fanchon, mock her relentlessly. When the painter Leon enters the salon, everything changes.

Cinderella's Dream

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