The Bayerische Staatsoper is set to enthrall audiences with a captivating array of events, blending the rich tapestry of musical and theatrical art forms. From orchestral tours to rare operatic performances, and from romantic ballets to insightful tours and discussions, this season promises an enriching experience for all art enthusiasts. Highlights include the mesmerizing 'Lady Magnesia', the classic ballet 'La Sylphide', and the heart-wrenching 'Káťa Kabanová'. Dive into a world of artistic excellence and cultural heritage as the Bayerische Staatsoper unveils its meticulously curated lineup.

Exploring the Artistic Wonders of Bayerische Staatsoper's Upcoming Season

Dive into the rich tapestry of events hosted by the Bayerische Staatsoper, where city exploration meets musical brilliance. From ballet classics to insightful opera tours, each event offers a unique glimpse into the vibrant world of performing arts. Join us as we explore the prominent events and artists that shape this cultural odyssey, offering fresh perspectives on art and history.

Exploring the Bayerische Staatsoper: A Journey Through Artful Performances

The Bayerische Staatsoper presents a dazzling lineup of events, each with its unique artistic flair, from city exploration blended with musical life to captivating operatic performances. As we dive into the world of ballet, opera, and cultural dialogues, this season promises to enthrall audiences with both tradition and innovation. Let's explore the highlights, including the poignant 'La Sylphide', the engaging 'Unter 6 Augen', and the iconic 'Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci', among others, creating an unforgettable artistic journey.

Unveiling the Artistry at Bayerische Staatsoper: A Journey Through Events and Performances

The Bayerische Staatsoper's 2024-2025 season is a vibrant tapestry of artistry and storytelling, unfolding across a series of captivating events. From the timeless elegance of 'La Sylphide' to the poignant drama of 'Káťa Kabanová', and the introspective dialogues in 'Unter 6 Augen', this season promises to enchant audiences with its blend of tradition and modernity. As the curtain rises, immerse yourself in an exceptional blend of ballet, opera, and cultural exploration, each event offering a unique experience that transcends time and geographical boundaries.

Unveiling the Bayerische Staatsoper's 2024-2025 Season: A Journey Through History, Innovation, and Emotion

The Bayerische Staatsoper promises an exciting season of opera and ballet with their 2024-2025 lineup. From the poignant 'La Sylphide' to the thought-provoking 'Das Jagdgewehr,' audiences will be treated to a diverse array of performances showcasing celebrated artists and innovative productions. Highlights include a journey through Munich's musical and cultural landscape, engaging discussions in 'Unter 6 Augen,' and the revival of classic operas like 'La Fille du régiment' and 'The Love of Danae.' This season offers a vibrant tapestry of storytelling and musical prowess, promising an unforgettable experience.

Exploring the Heart of Opera and Ballet: Bayerische Staatsoper's 2024-2025 Lineup

The Bayerische Staatsoper unveils a captivating array of performances in its 2024-2025 season. This season promises to blend the timeless with the innovative, offering audiences a rich tapestry of musical and theatrical experiences. Highlights include the romantic ballet 'La Sylphide,' a bold new staging of 'La Fille du régiment,' and the introspective 'Das Jagdgewehr.' With a focus on classical masterpieces like 'Don Giovanni' and contemporary explorations like 'Matsukaze,' this season is set to captivate and challenge audiences in equal measure.

A Symphony of Art: Exploring Bayerische Staatsoper's 2024-25 Season

The Bayerische Staatsoper is set to captivate audiences with its rich tapestry of performances during the 2024-2025 season. From the ethereal ballet of 'La Sylphide' to the dramatic operatic tales in 'La Fille du régiment' and the classic 'Don Giovanni,' the season promises to be a memorable journey through music and dance. Featuring works from renowned composers and remarkable performances by talented artists, each event provides a unique exploration of cultural and artistic themes, promising unforgettable experiences for all attendees.

The Vibrant Symphony of Bayerische Staatsoper's 2024-2025 Season

Munich's prestigious Bayerische Staatsoper is set to host an array of captivating performances that celebrate the rich tapestry of classical music and opera. From ballet classics like 'La Sylphide' to the operatic marvels of 'La Fille du régiment', the upcoming seasons promise an unforgettable journey through the world of music and dance. Each event, featuring notable artists and innovative interpretations, will be staged at some of Munich's most iconic venues. For enthusiasts and newcomers alike, these performances offer a unique opportunity to experience the timeless beauty of classical art forms.

A Gala of Classics: Unveiling Bayerische Staatsoper's Upcoming Performances

When the nights are at their longest, frosty wind and snow storms sweep the land, it is the time of the Koliada – of the pagan winter solstice feast and the Christian-orthodox Christmas celebration in equal measure. In these magical “twelve days of Christmas” the barrier between the human world and the realm of dark beings becomes especially thin. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “true” Christmas song, Die Nacht vor Weihnachten, based on the eponymous story by Nikolai Gogol, also plays out in this very same period.

Die Nacht vor Weihnachten

Max-Joseph-Platz

La Fille du régiment, or the “regiment’s daughter”, is what they call the young Marie, who was found when just a child on the battlefield by soldiers. The troops commit to raising the evidently abandoned girl themselves. A young man of course must soon enter the scene and stir a special interest in her, and the secret of her origins will soon also be revealed. In the best tradition of French opéra comique, with his team of librettists, Gaetano Donizetti created a piece that in a truly original way combines Alpine idyll, patriotic enthusiasm and romantic love with comic situations and heightened conflicts. While Donizetti’s piece was at times extremely popular, the “regiment’s daughter” faded from favour somewhat in the 20th century. It can now be rediscovered, from the famous overture right through to the both amusing and cryptic music, in its first new production at the Bayerische Staatsoper in almost ninety years.

La Fille du régiment

Men don't fall in love with courtesans! That's the opinion of Alfredo's father after his son moves in with the mortally ill Violetta Valéry. In her love for Alfredo Violetta even agrees. She leaves him, dies poor, ill – still dreaming of the happiness of true love. One of Verdi's most beloved operas continues to hold the mirror up to society and its hypocritical morality. An exemplary production! See it!

La Traviata

On September 8 November 2025 in the Nationaltheater we celebrate the start of the new season. The theatre will open its doors in the afternoon and evening, promising so many surprises for one and all. Small and large formats, participatory offers, guided tours and surprising activities for big and small alike illustrate the diversity of the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Bayerisches Staatsballett and the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. Music, dance and theatre invite all interested to join in, lounge a while and look on. After the ballet performance of Der Nussknacker in a choreography by John Neumeier we invite you all to our Jazz-Night – discover the Nationaltheater with music in an extra special ambiance.

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UniCredit OPENING FESTIVAL 2025

Allerheiligen Hofkirche

Munich Residence

“The artist is a man, and he must write for men. … and you will see true hatred and its bitter fruit.” In the Pagliacci prologue, Tonio tells us what this opera is about – it seeks to put the reality of life on the stage. This applies for both works, which will now enjoy their first new staging at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 46 years (1978). Together Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo simply exemplify verismo. The basic situation: A woman is unfaithful. Another reveals this to the husband, and he, spurred on by this woman, takes bloody revenge on the lover. Cavalleria rusticana is about Turiddu, who returns to find his old flame Lola again, but she is now married to the carter, Alfio. Turiddu then consoles himself by seducing Santuzza. But the old love is reignited, and Lola betrays her husband, and Turiddu his girlfriend. In Pagliacci, the plot revolves around Nedda and her husband Canio, the leader of a group of comedians. Nedda’s love for him has grown cold, so she turns to the farmer, Silvio.

Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci

As the template for his opera, Die Englische Katze (1983), Hans Werner Henze turned to a story by Honoré de Balzac from the early 1840s, illustrated by the famous caricaturist, Grandville. The libretto for Die Englische Katze was delivered by the English author Edward Bond, with whom Henze had already collaborated successfully with his previous opera, We Come to the River. If this was a passionate plea against the war, at first glance this animal parable, Die Englische Katze, appears to be apolitical, indeed, even harmless or amusing. The story about the ageing tomcat, Lord Puff, president of a vegetarian-nourishing “Royal Society for the Protection of Rats” and his young wife Minette, who falls in love with another, daring and exciting tomcat, Tom, ends tragically however, and serves as a wicked satire. Minette is drowned by the other cats, Tom is stabbed in the back, just after he has inherited a large sum of money. The insensitive, hypocritical cat society that only looks out for its own benefit gets off scot free.

Die Englische Katze

Is it possible to perform the comic intermezzo “Zerbinetta and her Lovers” and the tragic opera “Ariadne” at the same time? Yes, when you have to. The richest man in Vienna wants it that way. He wants cross-over! Let’s mix up classic and pop – and it works. To the delight of the audience and the recognition of the characters on stage.  One of the handsomest and wisest works of the great Munich composer, Richard Strauss, in a production by Robert Carsen. The joy of Strauss!

Ariadne Auf Naxos

Count Almaviva has himself abolished the iusprimae noctis, or "right of the lord". A fact, however, which does not prevent him from trying to seduce the Countess’s maid, Susanna, just before her marriage to Figaro. A clear case of sexual harassment. But, what happens when the culprit has plenty of money and power? Or, can even bend the law to suit their wishes? Le nozze di Figaro was more than just a comedy back in Mozart’s day. The world portrayed is brim full of criminal machinations and blatant fraud and chicanery by the powerful and almighty. Lorenzo Da Ponte’s libretto based on the scandalous play by the French revolutionary, Beaumarchais, leads the colourful characters of a comedy of the classes into situations so hopeless that emptiness and the desire to die spread to all quarters. And so the Count’s love for his new wife following their marriage suddenly goes ice-cold, although he has just recently spectacularly freed her from the clutches of her custodian. The resourceful Figaro of all people had helped him here, and in gratitude, the Count now employs him as his personal valet, perhaps as questionable compensation for Susanna’s harassment. Hardly conquered, the countess finds herself neglected and longs for either Almaviva's love or her own death. It takes a great deal of intrigue and counter-intrigue to disempower the encroaching count and allow Susanna's wedding to her beloved Figaro to take place after all.

The Marriage Of Figaro

In Das Rheingold, the “eve” of Richard Wagner’s operatic tetralogy, Der Ring des Nibelungen, the course is set for the apocalypse. It will be unleashed by two entirely opposing worldviews exploding into one another. The tragedy of Alberich, who, being mortal, believes he must take everything within his own lifetime. And the drama of Wotan, who in his, real or illusory, immortality must recognise the emptiness and sameness of being eternal.

Das Rheingold

2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Gabriel Fauré. In his day, he was a highly estimated composer of Kunstlieder (art songs) and chamber music, as well as being the Director of the Conservatoire de Paris. His works can now be found in larger instrumentation arrangements on international programmes, and his Requiem in particular. His only opera, Pénélope, will now be performed for the first time at the Bayerische Staatsoper. The plot follows the final chants from Homer’s Odyssey, now a proverb as the eponymous hero’s years of wandering to reach his homeland, Ithaca, after the Trojan War. The opera revolves around his wife, Pénélope, who for years has successfully fought off the machinations of power-hungry men, who seek to usurp the throne of her given up for lost husband, Odysseus. With chamber musical transparency and the use of key themes inspired by Richard Wagner, the composer created a score in which the orchestra is applied thoroughly symphonically, where the human voice’s lyrical melodic expression and comprehensibility of text are front and centre. Director Andrea Breth addresses the question as to whether a reuniting of the regal couple, Pénélope and Odysseus (Ulysses), after years of separation can run harmoniously or must also endure disaffection and alienation.

Pénélope

Prinzregententheater

“Chi è morto, voi o il vecchio?,” jokes the servant Leporello cryptically, after Don Giovanni has murdered “Il Commendatore”. The story of the “punished debauchee” has long since been the stuff of myth. Don Giovanni plays out in a field of tension between heaven and hell, as opposites collide in this dramma giocoso, set among amorous desires and the fall of angels. In this kaleidoscope of situations and characters, there is an absolute absence of clarity, evident alone in the fact that each of these characters lies – either to each other or to themselves. The timeless comedy motifs of role and dress change assume an oppressive ambiguity here. The master of transformation Don Giovanni, this polyerotic hedonist, is hard to fathom. In endless metamorphoses, he appears just as suddenly as he then immediately disappears again. The other characters know – they need him, as a mirror of themselves. And so for Leporello it becomes clear after his master’s death that Don Giovanni leads an eternal life and will affect ours again and again. This Don Giovanni now completes the Da Ponte cycle. “Faust” winner David Hermann stages at the Bayerische Staatsoper for the first time. General Music Director Vladimir Jurowski conducts the piece, in which Mozart threw open the doors to a new world, from which there can be no return.

Don Giovanni

“The artist is a man, and he must write for men. … and you will see true hatred and its bitter fruit.” In the Pagliacci prologue, Tonio tells us what this opera is about – it seeks to put the reality of life on the stage. This applies for both works, which will now enjoy their first new staging at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 46 years (1978). Together Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo simply exemplify verismo. The basic situation: A woman is unfaithful. Another reveals this to the husband, and he, spurred on by this woman, takes bloody revenge on the lover. Cavalleria rusticana is about Turiddu, who returns to find his old flame Lola again, but she is now married to the carter, Alfio. Turiddu then consoles himself by seducing Santuzza. But the old love is reignited, and Lola betrays her husband, and Turiddu his girlfriend. In Pagliacci, the plot revolves around Nedda and her husband Canio, the leader of a group of comedians. Nedda’s love for him has grown cold, so she turns to the farmer, Silvio. 

The somnambulistic piece Matsukaze, a reworking of theJapanese Nō theatre material of the Master Zeami from the 15th century, recounts the unhappy love of two sisters, the salt water maidens, Matsukaze and Murasame, for the courtier, Yukihira. When he must leave one day, he promises them he will return, for his longing will call him back. But, he dies. The two sisters are left imprisoned by their yearning, become ghosts, return to the living again and again. Only a monk can help them out of their entrapment. Hosokawa’s composition transforms nature moods into tender, loving sounds, plays with silence, traces the passage of time and non-passage of intimate feelings, madness, the relationship between past, present and future, between the fundamental connection of human existence and nature. The world premiere was celebrated in 2011 at the Opéra La Monnaie in Brussels. For the Bayerische Staatsoper production, the director duo Lotte van den Berg and Tobias Staab will now collaborate for the first time with the visual, internationally active artist, Alicja Kwade.

Matsukaze

Utopia

A poet has published a poem about a lonesome hunter, who he recently saw in the mountains. Josuke Misugi, who has recognised himself as the mountain hunter, subsequently contacts him. He sends the poet three letters, in which three women that are important for him tell of the long relationship he had with his sister-in-law, Saiko. A relationship of which nobody but they knew, or at least they thought so. Now we learn, however, that his wife Midori has long since known, and in her letter tells of the consequences. In her farewell letter, Saiko herself struggles with her long years of guilty conscience. And Shoko, Saiko’s daughter, also never wants to see her uncle again, as she has learnt of their secret from her mother’s diary. A man between two women – five views of the same facts. Yasushi Inoue’s 1949 novel could be set anywhere, and at any time. Modern people plot against each other, four lives turn out to be lies. At the end, one person is dead, and a successful businessman has become a lonely hunter in the mountains. For this chamber opera, which celebrated its world premiere at the Bregenz Festival in 2018, Austrian composer Thomas Larcher has been developing his sounds from the germ cells of music – a rhythm, an interval, a scale and singing, sometimes almost entirely silent, sometimes exploring the limits of the human voice.

Das Jagdgewehr

In Leoš Janáček’s opera, Kát’a Kabanová, the eponymous heroine is ensnared at the heart of an ominous mesh of relations. Her domineering mother-in-law, Kabanicha, oppresses and controls her son Tichon, whose marriage to Kát’a suffers massively from heteronomy. Because Kát’a finds no fulfilment in this family, she flees and fulfils her unsatisfied erotic desires in an affair with Boris. As composer and librettist, Janáček bundles the plot of the literary template, Alexander N. Ostrovsky’s drama, The Storm. The libretto largely dispenses with the portrayal of the external social circumstances, from whence Kát’a’s essence and choices are decisively determined. Instead, Janáček traces the development of the title character in a psychological-sensitive musical language. Kát’a’s feelings of guilt increase continuously until they discharge into a public confession as an emotional storm. The turbulent and in places fanciful music opens the space for passages of lyrical grace and allows us to experience the essence of the characters. In Kát’a, director Krzysztof Warlikowski sees an outsider, who is denied a life in harmony with her desires, and at the end prefers death over lies. The destructive power of religion behind it all is not only found in a small Russian town on the banks of the Volga in the 1860s, where the libretto places the plot, but rather can also be seen everywhere all over the world.

Káťa Kabanová

Danae must marry a wealthy man to settle her father's debts. All dream of gold here, and Danae more than all others. A powerful man takes an interest in her and sends another ahead. It would appear the right husband has been found. But, of course his wealth comes with a condition which stands in the way of true happiness. Danae must, Danae can choose between wealth and love, between dreams and reality, between the promises of wealth and riches, and of love and all its happiness. 

The Love of Danae

La Fille du régiment, or the “regiment’s daughter”, is what they call the young Marie, who was found when just a child on the battlefield by soldiers. The troops commit to raising the evidently abandoned girl themselves. A young man of course must soon enter the scene and stir a special interest in her, and the secret of her origins will soon also be revealed. In the best tradition of French opéra comique, with his team of librettists, Gaetano Donizetti created a piece that in a truly original way combines Alpine idyll, patriotic enthusiasm and romantic love with comic situations and heightened conflicts. While Donizetti’s piece was at times extremely popular, the “regiment’s daughter” faded from favour somewhat in the 20th century. It can now be rediscovered, from the famous overture right through to the both amusing and cryptic music, in its first new production at the Bayerische Staatsoper in almost ninety years

Dr. Arnold und Emma Bahlmann, DIBAG Industriebau AG, Rolf und Caroli Dienst, Vera und Volker Doppelfeld-Stiftung, Dr. Dierk und Veronika Ernst, Monika und Karl Ertl, Christa Fassbender, Dr. Joachim Feldges, Freunde des Nationaltheaters e.V., Dietlinde und Carl-Peter Forster, Oliver und Claudia Götz, Regina Hesselberger, Stefan und Maria Holzhey, Dirk und Marlene Ippen, Christine und Marco Janezic, Dr. Hans-Dieter Koch und Silvie Katalin Varga, Christof Lamberts, LfA Förderbank Bayern, Christiane Link, The Opera Foundation, A+Olivia Rogowski, Schwarz Foundation, Dr. Martin Steinmeyer, Georg und Swantje von Werz, Oliver und Kaori Zipse

Aria evening of the opera studio

Aschaffenburg

Blaibach

Cuvilliéstheater

Mertingen

Wie wird in der Oper das unterschiedliche Licht erzeugt? Wer sagt den Sänger:innen den Text ein? - Die „Abenteuer Oper“-Führung beantwortet diese Fragen und soll die Kinder vor allem auf die Welt der Oper und den riesigen Betrieb, der dahinter steckt, neugierig machen: angefangen von der interessanten Geschichte des Hauses bis hin zu den Räumlichkeiten wie der Königsloge, dem Zuschauerraum und dem Bühnenbereich

Kinderführung „Abenteuer Oper"

Alfons-Goppel-Straße

La Sylphide is considered the romantic ballet classic par excellence. This two-act work by Filippo Taglioni, in which the dancers embodied the illusion of weightlessness as aerial spirits, not only marked the breakthrough of pointe dance in the 1830s; together with the white tutus of the ghostly creatures, an image of this art form was created that still symbolises classical dance today. In 1972, Pierre Lacotte, who died in 2023, staged his reconstruction of the work at the Paris Opera. In order to come as close as possible to the traditional Romantic ideals and the style of Filippo Taglioni, Lacotte studied historical images and records intensively. Lacotte's version differs from August Bournonville's version, in that it is characterised by a movement language influenced by the French school. In addition, Lacotte's version is musically based on the original score by Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer.

La Sylphide

„Was Sie schon immer über unsere Oper wissen wollten…“ – frei nach diesem Motto werden sich in dieser neuen Reihe jeweils zwei Persönlichkeiten aus dem „Kosmos Staatsoper“ zu einem Gespräch in der Rheingoldbar treffen. Die Moderatorin Teresa Vogl wird dabei die Gesprächsführung übernehmen.

Unter 6 Augen

Rheingold bar-bistro

Es war eine kleine Sensation. Im Februar 2024 wurde in den Themenkonzerten – vorbereitend auf die Neuinszenierung von Mieczysław Weinbergs Oper Die Passagierin – eine andere, äußerst selten gespielte Oper dieses Komponisten aufgeführt: seine schwarze Komödie Lady Magnesia, pointiert in Szene gesetzt von Theresa Maria Schlichtherle in der Firmenzentrale von Brainlab. Die eigentlich als einmalige Vorstellung geplante Produktion fand beim Publikum so großen Anklang, dass sie nun weitere drei Mal auf dem Spielplan erscheint.

Lady Magnesia

Brainlab

In unregelmäßigen Abständen gibt es in der Bayerischen Staatsoper die Möglichkeit, selbst auf einer kleinen Bühne zu stehen.

Wenn du Musik machst, alleine oder in einer Band, tanzt, singst oder Texte schreibst, bist du bei uns richtig. Es gibt für alle, die mitmachen möchten, kostenloses Coaching im Vorfeld (Stimme, Bewegung, Bühnenpräsenz – was auch immer du brauchst). 

Open Stage

Freunde-Foyer

Eine Führung durch das Nationaltheater gibt Ihnen die Möglichkeit, die Oper von einer neuen Seite zu entdecken. Sie vermittelt Wissenswertes über die verschiedenen Abläufe im Haus und über den Aufwand, der erbracht werden muss, bevor es am Abend heißen kann: „Vorhang auf!“ Sie erfahren interessante Informationen über die Architektur des Hauses und die Persönlichkeiten, die die über 350-jährige Geschichte der Bayerischen Staatsoper geprägt haben. Der Rundgang beinhaltet unter anderem die Besichtigung des Königssaals, der Ionischen Säle, des Zuschauer:innensaals sowie, nach Verfügbarkeit, des Bühnenbereichs.

Führung

Führungen Oper

Following a tradition long years in existence, with the Academy Concerts the members of the  Bayerisches Staatsorchester present themselves to their audience as soloists. It is now Emanuel Graf’s turn, who since 2015 has been performing here as 1st principal cellist, both in the orchestra pit and in numerous chamber concerts. On the stage of the Nationaltheater, he will now interpret Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, one of the essential solo pieces for this instrument, about which Johannes Brahms is said to have said: “Why didn’t I know that one can write a cello concerto like this? If I had known, I would have written one a long time ago!” Krzysztof Urbański conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. He made his debut with the Munich Academy Concerts in turbulent times. The second 2020/2021 Academy Concert was converted at short notice into a “Montagsstück”, and therefore performed and enjoyed as a live stream, because of the repeatedly increased pandemic- related protective measures introduced at the time. The young Polish conductor now returns to the Nationaltheater’s podium and brings us a truly virtuoso piece, whose elementary force is still as overwhelming is it has always been. Stravinsky’s ballet, Le sacre du printemps, or “The Rite of Spring”, was the scandal of the day when it celebrated its world premiere.

2. Academy Concert: Krzysztof Urbański

An individual combination of city exploration and musical life.

Tour of the Bayerisches Staatsorchester

Tageskasse der Bayerischen Staatsoper

All peace is followed by war, behind all happiness awaits disaster. Tragedy also shares this universal view, and in his grand opera “Les Troyens”, Hector Berlioz presents it in the face of two women: Cassandra and Dido lose their personal happiness, as it has no place in the struggle between the peoples and heroes, and ultimately lose their life. In the first part of “The Trojans” the seeress Cassandra proclaims the fall of Troy. Being the only one to do so, none believe her. With her entire people, she falls victim to the Greeks’ stratagem. In the second part, Berlioz puts Dido, Queen of Carthage, at the centre of the piece. Her love for the Trojan hero Aeneas turns to hate when he leaves her to found a new Troy.  Berlioz wrote the libretto loosely based on Vergil’s Aeneid. He went his own way with the music, which was never performed in its entirety while the composer lived, to produce grand opéra, spectacular choirs and ballets, along with new form experiments. Les Troyens remains a challenge for musical theatre to this day, and is indeed one of the monumental conceptual pieces of the previous century.

Les Troyens

Nationaltheater

Since its first performance in 1893, Humperdinck's most famous opera Hansel and Gretel has remained constantly popular, becoming over the generations almost synonymous with the first family visit to the opera. "Brother come and dance with me!“ – "Susie, dear Susie" – a dancing brother and sister, the Dew Fairy and the Sandman, the Witch and the parents: a collection of all the fairy tale elements of the 19th century. And yet this is also a tale of hardship, hunger and the desire for abundance with a clear moral: "When the need is greatest, God the Lord puts out His hand!“

Hänsel Und Gretel

In the portrait concerts of the Opera Studio, two singers and a pianist from the Opera Studio present themselves. The program consists exclusively of song repertoire, which is selected by the singers in consultation with the pianists and, along with operas, forms an important part of the vocal repertoire. The portrait concerts offer the possibility to get to know the three artists in their own way and with their history in a nice atmosphere.

Portrait Concert 1

Artist House

Heartache, heartbreak, the whole nine yards – four starving artists – love in a shabby attic loft – the swank boulevards where people live life with a capital "L", but Mimi is destined to die. Her tiny hand: ice cold! Otto Schenk's incredibly opulent, eternally valid production continues to fascinate audiences. All of Paris is magically transported onto the stage here.  So beautiful you could cry!

La Bohème

Whether the word “wave” reminds us of a beach by the sea, the radio or a football stadium – the idea of ​​energy is always in there somewhere. An energy that looks for its path and awakens the impression of liveliness. Waves often spread in circles, going out in all directions from a center point. Waves and circles play a role in a different way in the triple bill ballet program, Waves and Circles – they are extolled, are visible or are tangible.

Waves And Circles

Barrie Kosky affords the “operetta of all operettas” a new look and focuses on its morbid side. The scene is Vienna, city of the golden operetta era, where Die Fledermaus celebrated its world premiere at the Theater an der Wien in 1874. The revenge of the bat becomes a nightmare for Gabriel von Eisenstein and many others. A society, an entire city dances towards the abyss. To take revenge on his friend Eisenstein, Dr Falke, alias the bat, orchestrates a misunderstanding with Prince Orlofsky. A marquis and a chevalier, a countess and budding artists meet here for a raucous party. Glasses clink, relationships are strained, there is loving, lying and dancing. They party ‘til the cows come home, always believing: “Happy are those who forget ...”

Die Fledermaus

Jerusalem and Babylon at the time of Neubchadnezzar around 578 B.C. were the setting of Verdi’s early work, Nabucco. But the Biblical epic about power, love and religion is certainly more than a mere historical drama that might have served as a Hollywood blockbuster, and which places the most stringent demands on the soloists, chorus and stage machinery. Human conflicts are expressed here in highly emotional music and leave an indelible mark, to the present day, on this first, genuinely major operatic success by composer Giuseppe Verdi. Nabucco, the work with the famous prisoners’ chorus “Va pensiero” (“Fly, thought, on golden wings!”), the best-known hymn to freedom ever composed, is a must – and not just for Verdi fans.

Nabucco

The U.S. Forces show their presence world-wide: American Lieutenant Pinkerton has an affair in Nagasaki with Cio-Cio San, "Madame Butterfly". He sails away. She then has his child. Three years later he returns to Japan – accompanied by his American wife and wants to take the child with him. Butterfly commits suicide.

Madama Butterfly

Seeing his love succeed against the will of the parents is pretty difficult in a rural setting. Especially when he is also considered an outsider, things do not look good with the parents-in-law, and there's a lot of money in the mix as well. But what Hans negotiates with Kezal the marriage broker, without discussing it with his beloved Marie, certainly requires a very special kind of chutzpah, and it very nearly goes all wrong – bartering his loved one to a certain person, which turns out through rhetorical trickery to be himself, only becomes evident as a good idea at the end. Which once again proves: The comedy is only a tragedy avoided at the very last minute.

The Bartered Bride

On his futile search for the meaning of life, the ageing scholar Faust makes a pact with the Devil. Méphistophélès buys his soul and promises him eternal youth and love. Faust falls in love with Marguerite, however she soon leaves him. After she has killed their child, Marguerite succumbs to madness, but emerges morally superior from the encounter with Faust.

Faust

Portrait Concert 2

"How beautiful Princess Salome is tonight!". Oscar Wilde's French drama, arranged as opera text by the composer himself, was a stroke of genius of the fin de siècle, a scandal on one hand and an absolute hit on the other, both an artistic and a financial success which allowed Richard Strauss to buy his villa in Garmisch. Salome demands the head of the prophet, John the Baptist, who has rejected her, from her lustful stepfather – and bound by an oath, he cannot deny her. And so the zealous admonisher dies, and with him the princess is undone – "Kill this woman!". Krzysztof Warlikowski is convinced that Salome recounts many of the contradictions of the period of origin, that in this piece, however, much is also dismissed of that which at the time was still the future: "It's not just what's in the work of art itself that is important, whether it be Oscar Wilde or Richard Strauss, but rather the whole context, which Christianity and the history of the 20th century add to this piece."

Salome

A sovereign may do as he wishes. His entire surroundings depend on him, no-one is entitled to contradict him, all must suffer his moods. Only one may hold a mirror to him, is even obliged to criticise the ruler – the jester. But what happens when this fool neglects his most important task and puts himself at the service of the moral excesses exemplified by the tyrant? In his play Le Roi s’amuse (The King Amuses Himself), the French dramatist Victor Hugo went through this starting position with an unscrupulous fun-lover as the king, and a fool whose spiritual deformation has manifested itself in a hunchback.

Rigoletto

Dressed as a man and calling herself “Fidelio”, Leonore surreptitiously gains the confidence of the jailer Rocco and his daughter Marzelline, thus gaining access to the high security tract where her husband Florestan has been despotically incarcerated by Don Pizarro. Florestan is in mortal danger, but this does not intimidate his wife, who is determined to liberate him. Finally, however, the two of them can only be rescued by an emissary from the monarch. At the end, a Utopia in the form of a final chorus sets the stage aglow, not only as a plea for freedom and justice, but also concurrently as a condemnation of the anxieties and restrictions of human existence.

Fidelio

Portrait Concert 3

Elektra's father: murdered. Her mother and her paramour Ägisth were his murderers. The disheveled Elektra is determined to avenge the parricide. She has the axe for the deed but not the strength. Then her brother Orest appears … Armor-plated emotions! – whipped up by a gigantic orchestra. An aristocratic cast of singers. An enthusiastically cheered staging by Herbert Wernicke. A shattering drama of the Soul.

Elektra

Understanding common requirements is part of the nature of artistic work. From there on progress can be made and new work created. The three choreographers whose works form the Common Ground performance share a connection with the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) in The Hague. Along with a shared artistic conviction, in which humour also has its place, their choreographies are interwoven with connections filled with subtle content – and all of them have had world premieres at the NDT. The first two are inspired by music for string quartet. And the first and third pieces are each based in their own way on the concept of seduction.

Common Ground

Neither balsam, nor medicinal herbs can provide relief to the wounded and ailing Amfortas, ruler of the Grail kingdom. His path to recovery proves to be a complex one. No member of the Grail community can reclaim the spear which inflicted the wound, but only an outsider, a “pure fool”, enlightened by compassion. Only by the tip of this spear touching Amfortas’s wound can he be healed. On his journey of self-discovery, towards his destiny as chosen deliverer, Parsifal is accompanied, not only by the skilful Grail Knight Gurnemanz, but also by the enigmatic and seductive Kundry, who opens his eyes to sensuality and extrasensory experience.

Parsifal

There are few operas, which from the very first bar endure such intense pressure, few in which the temperature swings from ice-cold calculation to overheating in mere seconds. And scarcely any in which private entanglement and personal tragedy are so interwoven with political attitudes in historical accuracy. Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca has electrified audiences since its world premiere. The shock wave emitted by the opera was so strong that decades later many reactions still tend to point to the bewilderment and overpowering of those affected rather than the qualities of the piece itself and its love triangle surrounding the singer Floria Tosca, the painter Mario Cavaradossi and the chief of police Baron Scarpia. The artistic world of the protagonist couple, Tosca and Cavaradossi, is no colouristic ingredient here, but rather defines the profile of its characters – it justifies Tosca’s eccentricity, just as it does Cavaradossi’s liberality and also explains the singer’s pronounced self-confidence: The heroine of the stage becomes a heroine in real life. Scarpia’s appearance must also be understood as the emergence of his unleashed totalitarian power, and his sexual sadism still today as one of the truly scandalous moments of opera literature. The historical detail is certainly no staffage, but rather forms the, “precondition of the conflict between the representatives of two opposing social systems” (Norbert Christen) in a time of crisis. With his mish-mash of musical recognition motifs, which, with the exception of the rigid Scarpia chords, sensitively adjust to the situations, Puccini achieves a new dimension of through-composed operatic structure – in the intensive cohesion of the score, he nevertheless creates islands in which reflection compacts itself into moments of the highest possible arioso intensity.

TOSCA

In honeyed tones, Lord and Lady Macbeth reveal their passionate and bizarre emotions to us. But behind this beauty there lurks an abyss, which Verdi unveils with one of the cruelest dramas in the history of world literature. In their struggle to seize power and retain it once it has been usurped, Macbeth and his lady commit one murder after another. The unwavering nature of their desire imbues their love with a radicality that would have been unthinkable on the operatic stage before this work. “The subject matter of this opera is neither political nor religious: it is fantastic,” wrote Verdi and brought Shakespeare’s play closer to a more “romantic” reading. In actual fact, the witches, ghosts and apparitions, the eerie elements, which dominate the musical and dramatic flow, in short the whole world of this opera can be regarded as an outward image of its protagonists’ inner state.

Macbeth

Portrait Concert 4

Variety is a scarce commodity in the glum little village depicted by Gaetano Donizetti and his librettist Felice Romani – the only prospects beyond the stifling confines of this backwater seem to be the illusion of a hero’s life as a soldier, even if it might lead to an untimely death.

L’elisir D’amore

"If you travel to India and to Central Africa, you'll hear Trovatore.“ Nine years after the triumphant first performance, Verdi's opera had achieved the worldwide popularity that moved the composer to make this comment. The fabric of the opera could hardly be more gloomy: a gypsy who wishes to avenge the death of her mother at the stake, a count who wishes to use the execution of this gypsy to strike at his rival; a horrifying truth that is revealed at the moment of death. All the ingredients of Verdi's dramatic abundance appear here: mysterious sound worlds, harsh contrasts, vocal brilliance, opulent tableaux. The cohesive narrative style gives way to the variation of suggestive musical images with which Verdi served "the most important part of the drama“: revenge.

Il Trovatore

Portrait Concert 5

The two closely related powerful women, whose graves now lie right beside each other in London’s Westminster Abbey, were “Of One Blood”, so of the same blood. Both were of course as conceivably far apart as possible during their lives. Elizabeth I ruled for almost half a century as Queen of England and Ireland, while Mary Stuart reigned over Scotland for a quarter of a century. A bitter power struggle between the Protestant hegemony and the Catholic opposition and ultimately the pressure of parliament forced the English Queen to have Mary Stuart executed.

Of One Blood

A grand decorative opera on the one hand: ancient saga! War between Rome and Gaul, but Norma is also a psychologically fine-grained chamber play about a highly complex woman in the throes of terrible conflicts: Norma, high priestess of the Druids and mistress of the Roman proconsul Pollione. When she is betrayed, this "Casta Diva", this "chaste goddess" is determined to take revenge. It all ends terribly: a love-death burning at the stake! The madness, ecstasy and beauty of total bel canto!

NORMA

A European woman in the hands of Muslim fundamentalists. A western rescue mission goes awry. Execution by the special unit is a foregone conclusion. But: vengeance is nothing - forgiveness everything! Unfortunately only a very few have the greatness of heart to exercise it. Mozart's contribution to the clash of civilizations and a not-to-be-underestimated comedy for music.

The Abduction From The Seraglio

The people are thirsty for blood. Another suitor for the hand of the sovereign is about to be publicly beheaded, because Princess Turandot is determined never to belong to any man. That’s why anyone who wants to marry her must first solve three riddles. Anyone who fails has to pay with his life. An unknown prince, revolted by Turandot’s cruelty, yet attracted by her beauty, takes on this potentially lethal risk – and solves the riddles. But has he awakened the ice-cold, man-murdering sovereign to love and put an end to her barbarity?

Turandot

Portrait Concert 6

A square in Sevilla. Soldiers are whiling away the time in front of their guardhouse. Micaela enters and asks after Don Jose, who, however, is not expected until the changing of the guard. She says she will return again and runs off as the men laugh at her.

Carmen

In astronomy, the term “constellation” describes the position of the heavenly bodies in relation to one another, and that indeed seen from the earth. This concept can be transposed to works of art very much in general or very specifically with relation to ballets, and so a kind of expedition is undertaken in the Constellations ballet performance. How five or six shorter ballets or ballet excerpts behave with one another, when they are intentionally juxtaposed with each other, is examined here. Laurent Hilaire will select pieces for Constellations, whose choreographers have a special connection with the Staatsballett’s repertoire or whose works have already been shown in Munich. Munich audiences can therefore look forward to seeing both old and fleeting friends once again. The goal here is to spread a new network of relationships across the selected works and work excerpts, both visual and audible.

Constellations

Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding

Richard Wagner wrote Die Walküre as the second of four parts of the powerful musical theatre epic, Der Ring des Nibelungen, which is based on the Medieval Nibelungenlied and old Norse god sagas. Wotan, the highest god, has fathered twins with a mortal woman – Siegmund and Sieglinde. These two in turn have a child, in which Wotan sees his dominion consolidated. His wife Fricka defies his plans and, as protector of the traditional marriage rites, demands Siegmund’s death. Wotan reluctantly agrees, although it will cause a split with his favourite daughter.

Die Walküre

The story of Cinderella, her evil stepsisters, her malign stepfather and her eternal quest for happiness. It all begins with hassles and endless coloratura. But then: Prince Charming arrives! The legendary, effervescent production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle is today a chapter of operatic history: a priceless legacy.

La Cenerentola

Festspiel-Liederabend Jonas Kaufmann

A secretive empire, ruled by a legendary queen – Alcina is all things at once: strong, powerful, clever and beguilingly beautiful. Again and again, she seduces strange men, who follow her call, onto her island, and again and again Alcina hopes without end to find true love. But her dream always ends in disappointment. The traces of past loves are strewn across the land – former suitors are now magically transformed and held captive in the island’s flora and fauna. But when Ruggiero lands on the island, Alcina is convinced – this is the right one! Meanwhile another “man” appears. Ruggiero’s fiancé Bradamante, disguised as her brother, Ricciardo, and searching for Ruggiero. When Alcina’s magic then also begins to gradually disappear, everything goes topsy-turvy.

Alcina

Festspiel-Liederabend Asmik Grigorian

Festival Liederabend Diana Damrau

Rusalka feels trapped in a world from which there is no escape. She is ready to put her immortality on the line in return for a human soul, so she can gain the love of a handsome prince. But she must pay for it with her voice. Muted and liberated from her dark world, she is forced to watch as the prince rejects her in favor of a foreign princess – dooming them both. She cannot live, she cannot die, yet nevertheless at the end, she helps the prince find his death with a “rescuing” kiss.

Rusalka

Festival song recital Christian Gerhaher 1

In a village community that holds firm to archaic customs, the young hunter Max must pass a marksmanship test so he may marry his sweetheart, Agathe. Of all times now when his shooting has been very much below par! Carl Maria von Weber and his librettist Friedrich Kind fluctuate between ghost story, fairy tale, fortune play and interplay between heaven and hell. The plot centres around a diabolical ritual in the “Wolf's Glen”, where a pact is made with Samiel to cast magic bullets that never miss their target. Its composer declared that the opera was celebrated by its world premiere audience in Berlin in 1821 with the, “most incredible enthusiasm”. In the decades that followed, the piece, at the time considered nature-oriented and traditional-romantic, swiftly became one of the most performed operas on German stages. And little wonder it was: In an age with a popular yearning for cultural, national identification opportunities, Der Freischütz offered a projection surface for an ideal community. So what about this opera appeals to director Dmitri Tcherniakov today?

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