In principle, the season in the three big opera houses in Vienna normally runs from September to June, with (obviously) a two-month summer break in July and August.
- See also:
Check for detailed programmes with the houses directly.
The 2023/2024 season
At the Staatsoper
(Outside the State Opera House)
Vienna’s State Opera House (Staatsoper) jostles with the Met, Sydney and others at the top of the world rankings for opera venues.
The 2023/2024 season begins with a performance of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito on September 4th, 2023, with one of our favourites (Kate Lindsey) in the role of Sesto.
The season ends on June 30th, 2024 with Verdi’s Falstaff. Though July 6th to 11th sees Cecilia Bartoli bring Baroque opera & music to the Staatsoper (with John Malkovich an occasional guest) for the Barocchissimo festival.
Planned highlights include Staatsoper premières of six productions:
- Puccini’s Turandot and his Il trittico (with the gorgeous O mio babbino caro aria in Gianni Schicchi)
- Gyorgy Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre
- Alexander Raskatov’s Animal Farm (the world première was only in 2023)
- Wagner’s Lohengrin
- Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte
(Editor’s note: the Staatsoper does rather nice tours of the building for those who want to look behind the scenes or get a flavour of the place without attending a full-blown performance.)
At the Volksoper
(No mistaking the Volksoper)
The Volksoper 2023/2024 opera season begins on September 1st with the Die Fledermaus operetta by Johann Strauss II.
The opera season ends with Mozart’s The Magic Flute on June 28th and John Adams’s opera-oratorio The Gospel According to the Other Mary on June 30th (with its full Austrian première on June 15th).
Various opera productions enjoy a première at the main house. These include, for example:
- Richard Strauss’s Salome
- Offenbach’s Le voyage dans la lune
- Lass uns die Welt vergessen by Theu Boermans & Kagarlitsky (world première)
- Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow
- Puccini’s La rondine
At the Theater an der Wien
(Pre-renovation!)
The Theater an der Wien 2023/2024 opera season is a little different, since performances take place away from the main house due to ongoing renovation work.
The formal opera season begins with Gaetano Donizetti’s Les martyrs on September 18th and ends on June 23rd with Henry Purcell’s Richard III (based on the Shakespeare play).
Among the many highlights is a notable world première: Antonio Salieri’s Kublai Khan.
Salieri’s opera fell victim to political necessity back in the 1780s, and this will be the first time it has ever been performed in its original Italian text!