Opera

Depending on how much work they have coming in, the penniless poet Rudolfo and his three skilled artist friends alternate between being strapped for cash and spending money like water. more

A storm rages off the coast of Crete, forcing King Idomeneo, who is returning from the Trojan War, to make an ill-fated promise to Neptune. more

Manon Lescaut enjoys the admiration of men who pine for her. Her brother pursues their father’s plan to protect her from the men in a convent. The affluent Geronte wants to entice her to his world, but... more

Having achieved world fame with Hänsel und Gretel, in his next fairy tale opera Königskinder the composer Engelbert Humperdinck once again confirmed his artistry. Originally conceived as a melodrama, he... more

Hermann, who is addicted to gambling, loves Lisa, who longs for self-determination, comes from a wealthy family and lives in the care of her controlling grandmother, the Countess. more

With its immense richness of musical colour, this is arguably Handel's most famous opera. The fact that the plot draws on a well-known love story – the liaison between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, overshadowed... more

In the summer of 1782, in his twenties, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart celebrated his greatest opera success yet. With Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), he composed an enormously... more

Richard Strauss had his first overwhelming success as an operatic composer with his adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s scandalous and shocking Décadence drama in 1905: it moves between a delicate psychogram and... more

Fate or calamitous accident? Leonora meets her lover Alvaro clandestinely. But they are caught by Leonora’s father, who is decidedly opposed to this relationship. To deescalate the situation, Alvaro tosses... more

Thirty years ago, Lortzing's works were still part of the repertoire, but now they have almost completely disappeared from the programme. This also applies to ZAR UND ZIMMERMANN. Yet the story of Tsar... more

In his last opera, Claudio Monteverdi drew for the first time on material with real historical figures, and thus created the first "sex-and-crime story" in operatic history. Like a political thriller,... more

Set in a faraway island paradise, Georges Bizet tells the story of a love triangle complicated by true friendship. Zurga and Nadir are old friends, but in the past they were nearly driven apart by their... more