Name: 5th Music Association Concert
Start: 2026-05-12T19:30:00
Location: Stefaniensaal

Graz is set to be a vibrant hub of orchestral and operatic performances in 2026 with a series of concerts and operas showcasing a plethora of creative works and artists. From the grand ensembles in the '3rd Music Association Concert' to the cinematic storytelling of 'Hoffmann's Tales', each event promises a unique artistic experience. As the Graz Philharmonic and renowned artists take center stage, they breathe life into compositions by Janáček, Chopin, Strauss, and more, enriching Graz's cultural landscape.

A Musical Odyssey: Celebrating Diverse Concerts and Operas in Graz

Step into Graz's vibrant world of music and performance with a lineup of captivating events from Oper Graz. From orchestral virtuosity in Music Association Concerts to operatic adventures with 'The Three Musketeers' and 'Hoffmann's Tales', this season offers a rich tapestry of artistic expression. Join renowned conductors, talented musicians, and innovative directors as they bring both classical and contemporary works to life, creating unforgettable experiences in iconic venues like Stefaniensaal and Oper Graz.

A Symphony of Sounds: Exploring Graz's Dynamic Musical Landscape

Graz is set to resonate with a series of captivating musical events that promise to enthrall both classical music aficionados and opera enthusiasts. From the harmonious resonance of Janáček's Sinfonietta and Chopin's timeless piano concerto to the vibrant theatrical rendition of 'The Three Musketeers,' Graz's upcoming cultural calendar offers a rich tapestry of sound and story. Conductors Ben Glassberg and Stefan Birnhuber, alongside distinguished performers like Ilya Shmukler and Xavier De Maistre, are ready to guide audiences through these evocative artistic landscapes. Let's dive into what awaits music lovers in Graz.

Exploring Graz's Diverse Musical Tapestry: An Insight into Upcoming Operatic and Orchestral Events

Xavier De Maistre

Bertrand De Billy

Oper Graz

Graz Philharmonic Orchestra

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

A mixed ensemble of actors from the LebensGroß Theatre Academy and singers from Graz Opera embark on a fight for freedom and justice for all. The specially created adaptation of Ralph Benatzky’s revue operetta offers snappy sounds for gruelling battles and exciting emotions.

The Three Musketeers

This concert program features three masterpieces that impressively reflect the diversity of the Romantic era. The program opens with Carl Maria von Weber's Symphony No. 1, which combines both vitality and melodic beauty. Richard Strauss's symphonic poem "Don Juan" transports the audience into a passionate world of heroic myth. The concert concludes with Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 7, an emotionally intense work that impressively reflects the expressive power of the Romantic era. Sebastian Weigle, General Music Director of the Frankfurt Opera from 2008 to 2023, leads the Graz Philharmonic through this fascinating program.

4th Music Association Concert

Stefaniensaal

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

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.

5th Music Association Concert

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