Name: On the Town
Start: 2026-02-12T19:30:00
Location: Oper Graz

Graz Opera opens its doors to an exhilarating season brimming with diverse musical offerings. From the intimate charm of the Espresso Concert to the adventurous spirit of 'On the Town', audiences are invited on a journey through opera, musicals, and ballet. Art enthusiasts and families alike will find something to enjoy in performances such as 'Rigoletto', 'Snow White and The 77 Dwarfs', and 'La Divina Comedia'. Join us as we delve into the details of this vibrant season and the remarkable talent behind each production.

A Kaleidoscope of Melodies: Discover Graz Opera's Vibrant Season

Oper Graz invites you to a vibrant cultural journey through a series of captivating performances. From the intimate Espresso concert to ballet's reinterpretation of 'The Divine Comedy', the program is designed to enchant and inspire audiences of all ages. Featured performances include Bernstein’s 'On the Town', Verdi's evocative 'Rigoletto', and the whimsical 'Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs'. Each event showcases a unique artistic narrative, blending traditional opera with contemporary elements that promise a memorable experience. With free admission for certain events, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

A Cultural Odyssey at Oper Graz: From Sailor's Tales to Ballet's Bliss

Markus Butter

Veronika Hörmann

Maria Joachimstaller

Wilfried Zelinka

Stefan Birnhuber

Sofia Vinnik

Simon Stockinger

Dennis Hupka

Fabian Kaiser

Clara Mills-Karzel

Ivan Orescanin

Dominika Blazek

Sieglinde Feldhofer

Mathias Lodd

Markus Murke

Falk Witzurke

Christian Scherler

Daniel Käsmann

Marlin Miller

Gihwang Yoon

Dimitri Fontolan

Sangyeon Chae

Di Guan

Ingrid Niedermair-Miller

Kathryn Birds

Adrian Berthely

Marius Burkert

Danny Costello

Sarah Rolke

Michael Grundner

Johannes Köhler

Laura Bruckner

Darko Petrovic

Ballett Graz

Choir of the Graz Opera

Oper Graz

Whether singing, dancing, or instrumental music – you can expect a diverse program in an intimate setting, performed by ensemble members, dancers from the Graz Ballet, members of the Graz Philharmonic, and guests. Admission is free!

Espresso concert

“I want to experience something for once, not just bat my eyelashes” is the motto of the strong-willed, karate-wielding Snow White in Elena Kats-Chernin and Susanne Felicitas Wolf’s powerful version. Supported by the life-size rabbit Richard III and 77 dwarves from the Graz Opera singing school, Snow White succeeds in taking her life into her own hands and escaping persecution by her deceitful stepmother. Lovingly encouraging fun for the whole family with a fast-paced musical mix of classical, musical and pop, cartoon film music and pop songs.

Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs

Cowboys, horse racing and the really big emotions! Emmerich Kálmán’s last operetta, premiered posthumously, brings all this and more to the stage of Graz Opera. Kálmán’s western operetta can be experienced for the first time in Austria in an exciting and emotional production.

Sunshine Ranch, Wild West: For Lona Farrell, ranch owner and horse breeder with Hungarian roots, work comes first. She takes a rather critical view of potential love adventures, although the world of men would love to fall at her feet. When the mysterious cowboy Roy Dexter takes over the vacant position of the overbearing foreman Jim Slaughter and the racehorse Arizona Lady seems to break new records under his care, Lona and Roy find it difficult to hide their romantic feelings for each other. A happy ending is already within reach, if it weren’t for Jim Slaughter and his new dubious boss McDumb ...

Arizona Lady

Four people going through the hell of their own emotions are at the centre of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s masterpiece Castor et Pollux. Choreographer and director Nanine Linning, already known to audiences in Graz as the director of the Giulietta act of The Tales of Hoffmann in the 2023/24 season, once again merges the intrinsic elements of dance and music theatre in the French baroque opera. Her artistic partner on this journey into the human abyss is Bernhard Forck, a specialist in early music.

Castor and Pollux

Chamber Concert 8 »Sounds of Romanticism«

Philipp M. Krenn, director of Schlaflos in the 2023/24 season, is staging Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s melancholy global success, in which the soaring waltz melodies are just as much historical fiction as the timeless portrait of society full of arrogance, calculated intrigues and complex amours. The celebrated Hungarian soprano Polina Pastirchak returns to Graz Opera as the Marschallin, and former ensemble member Tetiana Miyus as Sophie. At her side: audience favourite Wilfried Zelinka as Ochs von Lerchenau.

The Rosenkavalier

5th Music Association Concert

Stefaniensaal

In one of his most famous films – Modern Times – Charlie Chaplin struggles desperately against the monotony of his work on the assembly line of a factory. In one scene, he gets caught up in an oversized gear train while still dutifully tightening the screws – a symbol of the modern world of work and the power of its machines over people. In today’s “modern times”, we too are driven. Many of us are no longer able to relax or unwind without feeling guilty. Every free minute is filled with tasks and appointments: more and more is demanded in less and less time. Social networks also play their part. Dance thrives on speed – but also on calm. The dance evening Modern Times takes a moving look at the rhythm of life and its changes.

Modern Times

With what is probably the most famous fragment in opera literature, four directing teams are presenting themselves for the first time at Graz Opera, immersing themselves in aesthetically completely different universes with very different artistic approaches – film animation, puppetry and choreographically moving bodies. In three episodes, dazzling worlds full of fantastic characters and events unfold. Always at the centre of the action as the protagonist and creator of the scenery: the poet himself.

Hoffmann's Tales (The Tales of Hoffmann)

250 years of independence, 250 years of freedom! On 4 July 1776, the 13 British colonies declared their independence and thus founded the USA: a major step towards freedom and self-determination. What does this freedom look like today, a quarter of a millennium later? Perhaps in The Unanswered Question, Charles Ives was contemplating the contradictory nature of man’s impatience and desperation to find quick answers to profound questions. At any rate, this is how Leonard Bernstein interpreted the structure and musical development of his compatriot’s work. In his own work, the piano concerto-like Second Symphony The Age of Anxiety, inspired by the poem of the same name by W. H. Auden, Bernstein is also concerned with the great questions of humanity, which four lonely strangers ask themselves in a New York bar.

»Freedom! 250 Jahre Declaration of Independence«

In On the Town, three sailors are on shore leave in search of the sights of the city and a charming city dweller to accompany them. Not exactly an easy goal to achieve under time pressure ... Leonard Bernstein’s first musical, staged by musical professional Felix Seiler, offers not only catchy hits, but also humorously drawn characters to fall in love with – and plenty of fun and verve!

On the Town

On the Town

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