Kreation und Tradition
(May 2013)
"Creation" and "Tradition" - two essentially interconnected concepts of any artistic statement - are also motives for the art of dance. Ballet director Manuel Legris has used these concepts as the title of an evening that pursues two different aims. On the one hand, the nurturing of valuable pie...
Ein Reigen (Ballett)
(April 2014)
Against the backdrop of Arthur SchnitzlerÂs drama "La Ronde", the creators of this ballet (choreographer Ashley Page and designer Antony McDonald) evoke the almost explosive creativity which characterised Vienna in the years between 1900 and 1914. Based on real personalities, this ballet brings ...
Der Wildschütz
from Albert Lortzing (April 2013)
The story is similar in some ways to that of "The Bartered Bride": the schoolmaster Baculus suspects he has shot one of the CountÂs roebucks, but the dead animal is ultimately revealed to be his own donkey is considering selling his Gretchen to the Baron for 5,000 talers. "Der Wildschütz", firs...
Rusalka
from AntonÃn DvoÅák (November 2012)
The water nymph Rusalka becomes human because she has fallen in love with the prince. But the stakes are high: she has been struck dumb, and she must win the unconditional devotion of her beloved. The prince returns her love, but her cool manner alienates him. Soon he turns to another woman. The...
Die verkaufte Braut
from Bedrich Smetana (April 2014)
In the 1860s, Bedrich Smetana and Karel Sabina created the Czech national opera par excellence. Marie loves Hans, but is supposed to enter into an arranged marriage with Wenzel, the son of the rich landowner Micha. Marie fights for her love, while Hans on the other hand promises the marriage bro...
Albert Herring
from Benjamin Britten (February 2014)
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Benjamin BrittenÂs birth, the Volksoper is showing his comic opera "Albert Herring". The local dignitaries of a small English town are concerned about a decline in morals and decide to reintroduce an old custom: an outstandingly virtuous maiden is to b...
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Antonia und der ReiÃteufel
from Christian Kolonovits (December 2013)
Since the Little Devil's heart has been possessed by the ugly time-eater, he has had to draw his energy from the stolen voices of children. But Antonia does not want to sing for him! And when his great aunt, the "Urstrumpftante", returns to knit the all-knowing Great Sock, the Little Devil's life...
Kiss me, Kate
from Cole Porter (October 2012)
"Triumphant success of the first musical in Austria" - it was with acclamations like this that the papers welcomed "Kiss me, Kate" in February 1956 at the Volksoper. The masterpiece has remained one of the most popular shows among Volksoper audiences. The last production of "Kate" at the Volksope...
, Maria Happel (Anhilte)©right=Copyright: Dimo Dimov / Volksoper Wien&kontakt=&urheber=&size=88.9)
Gräfin Mariza
from Emmerich Kálmán (March 2014)
KálmánÂs "Countess Mariza" is a love story set against the background of the economic crisis. The impoverished Count Tassilo has entered the service of Countess Mariza, who is surrounded by a host of admirers, as her estate manager. Their burgeoning love is disrupted by the arrival of Tassilo...
, Robert Wörle (Hexe), Daniela Fally (Gretel)©right=Copyright: Dimo Dimov / Volksoper Wien&kontakt=&urheber=&size=144.9)
Hänsel und Gretel
from Engelbert Humperdinck (December 2013)
In this well known opera based on the Grimm's fairy tale, Hänsel and Gretel are sent into the woods by their mother who scolds them for playing instead of doing household chores. They lose their way and must spend the night in the woods. Upon waking they find a house made of sweets surrounded by...
Max und Moritz
from Ferenc Barbay, Michael Kropf, Gioachino Rossini (January 2013)
For the stage adaptation of the 1865 comic strip of Wilhelm Busch, Edmund Gleede chose compositions (ballet music and overtures) by Gioacchino Rossini, a contemporary of the author. Wildly successful upon its world-premiere in Munich in 1984, "Max und Moritz" has since been produced on more than ...
, Ballett der Wiener Staatsoper und Volksoper, Komparserie der Volksoper Wien©right=Copyright: Dimo Dimov / Volksoper Wien&kontakt=&urheber=&size=145.6)
Guys and Dolls
from Frank Loesser (January 2014)
"The quintessential Broadway Musical" Frank Loesser's most significant work, celebrates its premiere at the Volksoper: Two "impossible" love stories are set in the world of New York's small gangsters: Will Sky Masterson, betting virtuoso, manage to win over the respectable Sarah from the S...
Die lustige Witwe
from Franz Lehár (June 2013)
As the year 1905 came to an end, "The Merry Widow" celebrated its world premiere and thereafter proceeded to win over audiences all over the world. The love story of Hanna Glawari and Danilo Danilowitsch has never gone out of fashion. Marco Arturo Marelli, whose international career began at the ...
, Katharina Straßer (Eliza Doolittle)©right=Copyright: Dimo Dimov / Volksoper Wien&kontakt=&urheber=&size=9.6)
My Fair Lady
from Frederick Loewe (January 2013)
With their 1956 broadway musical "My Fair Lady" Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's melodies "The Rain in Spain" or "I could have danced all night" went round the world. The story tells of phonetician Henry Higgins who turns penniless flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a society lady. The profess...
, Mehrzad Montazeri (Don José)©right=Copyright: Dimo Dimov / Volksoper Wien&kontakt=&urheber=&size=32.9)
Carmen
from Georges Bizet (February 2014)
According to the beautiful and tempestuous Carmen, love is a rebellious bird, here today and gone tomorrow. Don José, loved by the peasant girl Micaëla, is bewitched by Carmen and although she temporarily encourages his advances, she soon becomes bored by him. While attending the bull fight of ...
Tosca
from Giacomo Puccini (October 2012)
Giacomo Puccini pursued clear aims with his masterpiece, which celebrated its world premiere in 1900: "The sentiment in 'Tosca' is not romantic and lyrical, but passionate, excruciating, bleak. Up until now we were gentle, now we want to be brutal."
Nine months have passed since the col...
Turandot
from Giacomo Puccini (March 2014)
Turandot gives each suitor who tries to win her hand three riddles to solve. So far, none have been able to solve them, and have paid with their lives. But Prince Calaf passes the tests and ultimately wins Turandots heart. 80 years after the debut performance the opera was put on stage imaginativ...
Der Barbier von Sevilla
from Gioachino Rossini (February 2013)
Rossini's comic opera, which had its world premiere in 1816, was a work for which he ought to have won several prizes. A prize for speed: "... I wrote the first act in eight days, and the second in another twelve". One for courage: He was daring enough to compete with the great maestro Païsiello...
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Rigoletto
from Giuseppe Verdi (March 2013)
Verdi's seventeenth opera, along with the two other works of his "popular trilogy" ("Il Trovatore", "La Traviata"), enabled the composer to finally ascend to universal world fame. Director Stephen Langridge and designer Richard Hudson have set the action in a world in which absolute power and gla...
Il trovatore
from Giuseppe Verdi (December 2013)
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi, the Volksoper is including a classic in its programme: in the early 1850s, "Il trovatore", together with "Rigoletto" and "La Traviata" set the scene for VerdiÂs worldwide success. The action centres on two brothers who have beco...
, Marina Rebeka (Violetta Valéry)©right=Copyright: Dimo Dimov / Volksoper Wien&kontakt=&urheber=&size=31.5)
La Traviata
from Giuseppe Verdi (April 2014)
The well known tragic love story between the high-class coutesan Violetta and Alfredo, son of a respected Parisian family. With Alfredo the beautiful high-class courtesan Violetta finally finds true love. After a brief spell of happiness enjoyed together Alfredo's father manages, nevertheless, to...
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Tannhäuser in 80 Minuten
from Johann Nestroy (June 2013)
Even before the Vienna first night of Richard Wagner's "Tannhäuser" opened in 1857, the world premiere of Johann Nestroy's opera persiflage "Tannhäuser" at the Carltheater met with spectacular success. Robert Meyer, ingeniously supported by the Neuen Wiener Concert Schrammeln, turns the work in...
 Josef Luftensteiner (Falk), Daniela Fally (Adele), Dietmar Kerschbaum (Gabriel von Eisenstein), Edith Lienbacher (Rosalinde), Ulrike Beimpold (Ida), Daniel Schmutzhard (Dr. Falke), Andrea Bönig (Prinz Orlofsky)©right=Copyright: Dimo Dimov / Volksoper Wien&kontakt=&urheber=&size=66.9)
Die Fledermaus
from Johann Strauà (December 2013)
This quintessential Viennese operetta deserves to be enjoyed throughout the year, and not just on New Year's Eve. Eisenstein evades a summons to serve a brief prison sentence by accepting Falke's invitation to Prince Orlowsky's party. His wife's former beau Alfred is escorted to jail in his place...
Eine Nacht in Venedig
from Johann Strauà (January 2014)
The plot of this operetta by Johann Strauss is as full of twists and turns as the city of Venice itself, and centres on the Duke of Urbino, a notorious womaniser, and his personal barber Caramello, who assists him in all his amorous exploits. In the meantime the ladies, including CaramelloÂs fia...
Ein Sommernachtstraum (Ballett)
from Jorma Elo, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (April 2013)
The multi-layered levels of action in William ShakespeareÂs comedy correspond to the many-faceted stylistic interpretation by the internationally famed choreographer Jorma Elo. Decisive factors for EloÂs approach to this work were its timelessness and the congenial music written for the play by...
Madame Pompadour
from Leo Fall (October 2012)
Leo FallÂs operetta, first performed in 1922 in Berlin, concerns the historic figure of Marquise Pompadour, mistress of the French King Louis XV. With its daring satiric elements and some potential hit numbers such as "Heut könnt einer sein Glück bei mir machen" [Today, someone may find hap...
Candide
from Leonard Bernstein (January 2013)
The satire "Candide" by Voltaire was publicly burned in Geneva after it appeared in 1759. In this work, the French Enlightenment thinker addresses the problem of naive optimism. Leonard Bernstein used the work in 1956 as a basis for one of his best scores; however, a theatrical realisation of the...
Fidelio
from Ludwig van Beethoven (June 2014)
A woman disguises herself as a man to look for her husband, who is a political prisoner languishing in a state dungeon. After his joyful release, LeonoreÂs fidelity to Florestan is celebrated in a song of praise idealising marital love. Did Beethoven choose the ideal of faithful love between ma...
Ein Walzertraum
from Oscar Straus (October 2013)
In Vienna, Helena, Princess of the German principality of Flausenthurn, catches the dashing Lieutenant Niki and then marries him so quickly that the newly fledged Prince Consort takes fright. Even during the wedding celebrations, he slips away secretly and mixes with the people of Flausenthurn. H...
Frau Luna
from Paul Lincke (September 2013)
In Paul LinckeÂs Berlin operetta, three young men from Berlin - Steppke, Lämmermeier and Pannecke - travel to the moon in a "moonship". Frau Luna, the Lady of the Moon, is delighted to see them. At last something is happening in her boring realm - the last visitor was the earth-émigré Theoph...
Salome
from Richard Strauss (October 2013)
The theatre censor forbade Gustav Mahler from including "Salome" in the Hofoper programme. The first Viennese production of the work therefore took place in 1910 at the Volksoper, where the opera now returns 101 years later. At that time "Salome", which was based on Oscar WildeÂs play, offended...
Feuersnot
from Richard Strauss (June 2014)
The mayorÂs daughter Diemut has rebuffed KunradÂs advances. In revenge, Kunrad puts out all the fires in the city; they can only be relit by a hot-blooded maiden. DiemutÂs night of passion with Kunrad (masterfully described by the orchestra) brings light back to the city. Richard Strauss' sec...
Wagners RING an einem Abend
from Richard Wagner (June 2013)
The German magazine "Der Spiegel" paid tribute to the humourist Vicco von Bülow, a.k.a. Loriot, who died in summer 2011, as "the greatest German artist of the present time". The most important work by GermanyÂs greatest opera composer, the "Ring" tetralogy by Richard Wagner, was provided with c...
Das Wundertheater / Der Bajazzo
from Ruggero Leoncavallo (June 2013)
How much does theatre have to do with reality? What truths are conveyed to us by the events on the stage and the reactions of the audience? Hans Werner HenzeÂs "Wundertheater" of 1964, based on an Intermezzo by Miguel de Cervantes, and Ruggero LeoncavalloÂs "verismo" opera "Pagliacci" of 1892 p...
Blaubarts Geheimnis
from Stephan Thoss, Henryk Górecki, Philip Glass (January 2013)
The notorious figure of the wife-murdering knight Bluebeard stands at the centre of the ballet by Stephan Thoss. Using music by Henryk Górecki and Philip Glass, the choreographer explores different motifs in the fairy tale and discovers hidden secrets of Bluebeard the man. The story of Judith an...
, Gernot Kranner (Erronius), Drei Soldaten, Robert Meyer (Pseudolus), Florian Spiess (Miles Gloriosus), Herbert Steinböck (Senex), Dagmar Hellberg (Domina) ©right=© Barbara Palffy/Volksoper&kontakt=&urheber=&size=167.3)
Die spinnen, die Römer!
from Stephen Sondheim (May 2013)
The first Broadway show for which Stephen Sondheim wrote music and lyrics in 1962 was a sensational success: "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". The main role was taken (as in the Hollywood film of 1966) by Zero Mostel. SondheimÂs most frequently performed work is now being produc...
Sweeney Todd
from Stephen Sondheim (January 2014)
After many years of exile, the barber Sweeney Todd returns to his home town of London, in order to take bloody revenge on his tormentor, Judge Turpin. When Turpin escapes him, Todd in his rage becomes a mass murderer, slitting his customers throats. His accomplice, the pie maker Mrs. Lovett, ma...
Märchenwelt Ballett
from Vesna Orlic, Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov (October 2013)
Andrey Kaydanovskiy and Vesna Orlic transfer two literary fairy tales to the ballet stage, designed with both children and adults in mind: both works are based on music by Russian composers and both have a "happy ending". Kaydanovskiy turns to the Andersen story of "The Ugly Duckling" and superi...
, Daniel Behle (Belmonte), Kristiane Kaiser (Konstanze)©right=Copyright: Dimo Dimov / Volksoper Wien&kontakt=&urheber=&size=127.4)
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (September 2012)
The first successful German opera had to make use of concepts such as "Turkish fashion" and comply with Joseph II's instruction to compose a "national musical comedy". Yet Mozart's genius shaped from these requirements an outstanding opus which was the first of his many Viennese opera masterpiece...
, Daniel Schmutzhard (Papageno)©right=Copyright: Dimo Dimov / Volksoper Wien&kontakt=&urheber=&size=136.1)
Die Zauberflöte
from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (February 2013)
Mozart's penultimate opera, and a fairy-tale work that remains popular with young and old alike. The prince Tamino, with the aid of a magic flute and the bird catcher Papageno as his guide, finds the Temple of Isis where Pamina, the woman he loves but has never met, resides. Pamina, daughter of t...
Die Hochzeit des Figaro
from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (September 2013)
In 1785, Mozart and his librettist Da Ponte turned to a revolutionary French play: BeaumarchaisÂs comedy "The Mad Day". The manservant Figaro and his master, Count Almaviva, become opponents when Almaviva starts pursuing FigaroÂs intended bride. The explosive conflict between the nobility and t...