The fruit of the collaboration between the two great creators, Antonín Dvořák and Jaroslav Kvapil, who were close as artists and friends alike, was a magical, dreamy story of the great, unfulfilled desire of the water nymph Rusalka, a work in which Dvořák’s musical genius reached its apex. The fairy-tale atmosphere inspired the composer to create singular, impressionistic music replete with melodic imagination and masterful instrumentation, a suggestive expression of the play of waves and the reflection of moonlight on the surface of a lake, as well as the overwhelming magic of a fairy-tale dream.

Rusalka

State Opera

And if we were to name the places at which Mozart in person premiered an opera of his and which still function as theatres, the one and only candidate in the world would be the Estates Theatre in Prague. The National Theatre Opera has proudly cherished this unique tradition for decades.

Don Giovanni

The Estates Theatre

L’elisir d’amore (The Love Potion) premiered at Teatro della Canobbiana, Milan, on May 12, 1832. Its score, abounding in charming melodies, is arguably the most pleasing that Donizetti ever wrote in the comic genre. In the first act, the self-introductory tirade for the quack Doctor Dulcamara and his duet with the poor lad Nemorino, who is hopelessly in love with the fickle village belle Adina, are remarkable for animation. Highlights in the second act are the chorus, “Cantiamo, facciam brindisi”; the barcarole “Io son ricco e tu sei bella”; the quartet “Dell’elisir mirabile”; the duet between Adina and Dulcamara “Quanto amore”; and finally the delicate ballad for Nemorino “Una furtiva lagrima”, a stalwart in the tenor repertoire.

L'elisir d'amore

Teatro Malibran

With The Magic Flute, Mozart wanted to write a piece for everyone – the blend of Viennese folk theater, Singspiel, and Italian opera makes it a favourite with audiences to this day. There's something for every taste, from catchy songs and arias to humorous spoken dialogue and fairytale elements. Günter Krämer’s production creates two contrasting worlds: the realm of the Queen of the Night and the temple of the Sun King. Between them travels Prince Tamino, accompanied by the bird catcher Papageno. On their adventurous journey, they traverse primeval forests inhabited by lions, rhinoceroses and snakes. Mozart’s opera imaginatively invites reflection on good and evil, dreams, fears and love. The lovingly crafted, partly mechanical set design creates stage magic. Renowned Mozart interpreter Tomáš Netopil conducts the Deutsche Oper Berlin orchestra. Our ensemble of soloists will enchant with their joy in acting and singing.

The Magic Flute

Deutsche Oper Berlin

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In this new production, Aida unfolds not in the distant world of the pharaohs, but against the backdrop of the modern Middle East — a landscape shaped by political tension, shifting alliances, and the human cost of conflict. At the heart of the opera lies the impossible love between Aida and Radamès, crushed between loyalty, power, and identity.

Aida

Finnish National Opera and Ballet

Is Carmen’s gaze only to be compared with that of a wild animal? The French writer Prosper Mérimée explored this question in his novella Carmen, which was the basis for Georges Bizet’s (1838-1875) final opera, which premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875. Carmen’s air of seduction is both her weapon and her downfall, for in the end she dies at the hands of her jealous lover, Don José. Carmen refuses to be told what to do and certainly doesn’t want to be rescued by Don José in the shifting sands in front of the bullfighting arena. She prefers death to having her life decided by others. In the extremely popular and passionate “Habanera” aria, which is our first encounter with Carmen, she paints a picture of herself: “Love is a rebellious bird that none can tame.” Her indomitable desire for freedom is stamped in her DNA.

Carmen

Semperoper Dresden

Antonín Dvořák’s two most successful operas, The Devil and Kate, and Rusalka, are based on fairy-tale motifs. Blending folk and humorous with lyrical and fantasy elements is one of the typical (and still very popular) traits of Czech drama. Dvořák created a masterly patchwork of contrasting scenes – folksy, breezy, fiendishly fervent and courtly noble.

The Devil and Kate

National Theatre Prague

The classic "Amadeus" is staged as a musical costume drama directed by Sunil Munshi. A captivating story about the genius Mozart and his rival Salieri, whose relationship is characterized by power struggles and jealousy, but also intimacy and a passion for music. The cast includes Philip Zandén, Simon Reithner, Maja Rung, and Andreas T Olsson.

Amadeus

Kulturhuset Stadsteatern

Giacomo Puccini's Turandot blows out a hundred candles. It’s time to celebrate its first century of life with the fairytale setting born from the imagination of Franco Zeffirelli: a record-breaking Arena production, with costumes created by the Oscar-winning designer, Emi Wada.

Turandot

Arena di Verona

POP returns to the most Italian venue in town—the Garibaldina Society—for another U.S. premiere of a sparkling bel canto comedy. Written by one of opera’s most beloved composers, Gaetano Donizetti (The Elixir of Love, Don Pasquale, Lucia di Lammermoor), Il fortunato inganno (“The Happy Deception”) premiered in Naples in 1822 and then vanished for more than 170 years, not resurfacing until 1995 in Vadstena, Sweden. Determined to bring this comic gem to life, Artistic Director Josh Shaw embarked on a wild goose chase—including a trip to Italy—to track down the long-lost score.

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Like POP’s hit 2024 production of Don Bucefalo, the story centers on the outsized personalities, eccentricities, and backstage antics of a small opera company preparing a new production. All the beloved comic tropes are here: young love thwarted by a fuddy-duddy guardian, prima donnas vying for attention, composers and librettists at odds, tenors… being tenors, and of course a clever disguise that sets everything hilariously right. Expect big laughs, playful staging, slapstick, and glorious singing.

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This production is a full Italian night out! Table seating tickets include a slice of Neapolitan pizza and wine as this rarely heard Donizetti comedy unfolds just feet away. It’s opera, comedy, and dinner all rolled into one unforgettable evening.

Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear this “lost” Donizetti comedy!

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Il fortunato inganno

Garibaldina MB Society

After meeting for the first time, the two are in love. Surprisingly, the Spanish King Philip II announces that he wants to marry Elisabeth himself. Elisabeth complies for reasons of state. The liberal Marquis Posa advises his desperate friend Don Carlo to become politically active for a better future for Flanders. However, this puts Don Carlo and Posa in dangerous opposition to the overpowering Grand Inquisitor.

Don Carlo

Vienna State Opera

Amidst golden pyramids and imposing scenery, Franco Zeffirelli's luxurious and fantastic Egypt is back at the Arena with Aida. In this majestic production, a legend is back for seven performances for the 2026 Festival.

Aida Ed. Franco Zeffirelli

Carmen is actually one of the first verismo operas that preceded the “manifesto” of the Italian artistic movement. Its style, and the death of the title heroine, which were at variance with the established opéra comique conventions, seem to have been the reason why the work did not give rise to much public enthusiasm at and in the wake of the world premiere in Paris in 1875. Yet Carmen soon triumphed in other European cities.

Each year, La Scala entrusts a production to the forces of the Teatro alla Scala Academy of Performing Arts: the orchestra, soloists, and chorus are given the opportunity to engage with the main stage in front of the Season’s audience. For 2026, a new production of Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore is planned, conceived and designed to later be adapted as a performance for young audiences. The production offers the opportunity for two important debuts: Marco Alibrando, one of the most interesting Italian conductors of the new generation, recently appointed Music Director of the Nationaltheatre and Staatskapelle Weimar and the musical force behind the innovative Milan-based project Voce all’Opera, is rapidly establishing his career both in Italy and internationally. Maria Mauti arrives at La Scala following her work as a writer and documentary filmmaker, as well as her first opera directing experience with Norma in Macerata.

L’elisir d’amore

Teatro alla Scala

The celebrated actress Adriana Lecouvreur loves Count Maurizio, who keeps his relationship with her a secret. The Princess of Bouillon also desires him.

Adriana Lecouvreur

A spectacular founding of a city: Benedikt von Peters’ spatial staging invites the audience to wander through the supposed paradise city of Mahagonny. Here, there is endless pleasure and everything is permitted, as long as you can pay – «but something is missing!». To escape the emptiness, the inhabitants eat and drink themselves to death, fuck and box their way to the grave. Only in Jim Mahoney does the idea of a more humane existence quietly take root.

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Theater Basel

One of Italy’s greatest composers embraces one of Shakespeare’s most iconic tragedies. Dark, blood-soaked and unrelenting – and essential viewing for any opera lover.

Macbeth

The Royal Danish Playhouse

What awaits Hansel and Gretel after they get lost in the forest? The German composer Engelbert Humperdinck transformed the classic Grimm brothers’ fairy tale into an opera with a libretto by his sister Adelheid Wette. Humperdinck’s music is marked by a masterful portrayal of scenes and settings, overflowing with beautiful melodies. Under his pen, fairy-tale characters come to life: woodland fairies, the wicked witch, and children made of gingerbread. Since its premiere in 1893, this opera has enchanted generations of audiences and rightfully belongs among the ten most popular works of the world repertoire. After a long 36 years, it now returns to Plzeň. Don’t worry—everything turns out well in the end!

Hansel and Gretel

Theater of JK Tyl New Stage

Long before the cinematic popularity of Downton Abbey or the Jane Austen craze, the ruthless inner world of the British landed gentry became the setting for Italian opera. With his 1835 setting of Walter Scott's successful novel The Bride of Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti created a lyrical drama that remains the epitome of Italian Romanticism. Set in Scotland around 1700, the tragedy is also the most famous example of the transformation of the virtuosic bel canto style into a highly expressive stylisation of extreme emotional states and contains what is arguably the most famous scene of madness in Italian opera. Filippo Sanjust’s production, with its painted scenery and spotlights, evokes the atmosphere of an operatic evening from the work’s original era. Michele Spotti, Principal Guest Conductor of Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducts the company’s ensembles for the first time in his new role. As Lucia we encounter the virtuoso Nina Minasyan, and one of the most brilliant bel canto tenors, Xabier Anduaga, returns to our stage as Edgardo.

Lucia di Lammermoor

The world’s most loved and performed opera, Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece, will open the 103rd Arena di Verona Opera Festival in a new production which, for the first time in Arena history, will bring one of the French capital’s most iconic institutions to Verona: the Moulin Rouge.

Rusalka

Národní divadlo

Don Giovanni

Národní divadlo

L'elisir d'amore

Teatro La Fenice

The Magic Flute

Deutsche Oper Berlin

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Aida

Finnish National Opera and Ballet

Carmen

Semperoper Dresden

The Devil and Kate

Národní divadlo

Amadeus

Kulturhuset Stadsteatern

Turandot

Fondazione Arena di Verona

Il fortunato inganno

Pacific Opera Project

Don Carlo

Wiener Staatsoper

Aida Ed. Franco Zeffirell...

Fondazione Arena di Verona

Carmen

Národní divadlo

L’elisir d’amore

Teatro alla Scala

Adriana Lecouvreur

Wiener Staatsoper

Rise and Fall of the City...

Theater Basel

Macbeth

Det Kongelige Teater

Hansel and Gretel

J.K. Tyl Theatre

Lucia di Lammermoor

Deutsche Oper Berlin

La Traviata

Fondazione Arena di Verona