The season schedule is now available online at https://www.oper-leipzig.de/en and the sale of tickets started on 1 June 2023. Due to the extensive modernisation of the upper stage machinery and stage management system, the 2023/24 season will begin at the Leipzig Opera House with a performance in the auditorium of two chamber operas by Peter Maxwell Davies. The first opera premiere on stage will be a fresh-sassy new production of Mozart's "Magic Flute" on 28 October 2023 under the musical direction of Jonathan Darlington, staged by Matthias Davids. A further highlight is the premiere of the first climate-neutral opera production of "Mary, Queen of Scots" representing a major step toward sustainability. The music theatre work by the Scottish-American composer Thea Musgrave is a journey into the world of intrigue, scandal and power plays revolving around the young regent Mary Stuart.
Tobias Wolff, Director of Oper Leipzig: "We want to deliver sensuous and compelling music theatre, and we want to do it in a responsible, climate-friendly way. This is an experimental challenge for art and trades alike." That is why as little material as possible is used in this performance. The idea of a production that is climate-neutral has been inspired by the opera in Reykjavik and is supported by Fonds Zero of the German Federal Cultural Foundation.
The Leipzig Ballet also introduces new themes and partners for the 2023/24 season. The Catalan choreographer Cayetano Soto returns with the full-length ballet "Peter I. Tchaikovsky." Ballet Director and Chief Choreographer at Oper Leipzig, Mario Schröder, presents "Giselle" and "Paradise Lost", two large-scale new creations. They will also be featured at the international Ballet Festival in June 2024 with the Gewandhausorchester as a key partner. Guests will include the Akram Khan Company from London and Edward Clug with the ballet of the Slovenian National Theater Maribor. Leipzig will also be represented in the in-depth program of »Leipzig dances!« by e.g. the mixed-abled FORWARD DANCE COMPANY by LOFFT – DAS THEATER, a free production house, or in a gala at the Opera House, and in a cooperative project with Leipzig's club scene. The Ballet Festival is curated by Rémy Fichet, the long-time production manager of the Leipzig Ballet, who formerly began as a dancer at the Opéra National de Paris and continued his solo career at the Leipzig Ballet with Uwe Scholz.
At the Musikalische Komödie so-called Muko (Musical Comedy Theatre), "Hans Sachs" expands the Lortzing repertoire starting 11 April 2024. The comic opera in three acts, directed by Rahel Thiel and conducted by Tobias Engeli, fuels anticipation of the 2026 Lortzing Festival in the City of Music Leipzig. A new production of the operetta "Die Fledermaus" will crown the program at the unique specialised venue for musicals and operettas. A major project will celebrate its premiere in 2024: the Children's and Youth Choir of the Oper Leipzig will perform "Peter Pan", based on the play by J. M. Barrie, at the Musical Comedy Theatre.
Tobias Wolff: "Just as with the projects Future Now and the Stadtteiloper (District Opera), we want to give children not just a stage, but the big stage. Musical theatre by young people for young people is an important part of our program." This is especially true for "360°," the education and young opera department at Oper Leipzig. There is plenty to explore in the way of discussions, exhibitions and pedagogical music theatre programs for audiences of all ages. Inclusive events such as live audio descriptions with a hands-on parcours experience and loud shows are a fixed part of the program, as are the theatre clubs for various generations.
Season 2023/24 with 12 Premieres of Works from 4 Centuries
- 21.09.2023: Majesty & Madness - Peter Maxwell Davis (Opera)
- 14.10.2023: The Producers - Mel Brooks (Musical Comedy Theatre)
- 28.10.2023: The Magic Flute - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Opera)
- 17.11.2023: Paradise Lost - Mario Schröder (Ballet)
- 16.12.2023: Mary, Queen of Scots - Thea Musgrave, climate-neutral (Opera)
- 27.01.2024: Peter I. Tchaikovsky - Cayetano Soto (Ballet)
- 10.02.2024: Die Fledermaus - Johann Strauss (Musical Comedy Theatre)
- 30.03.2024: Der Rosenkavalier - Richard Strauss (Opera)
- 13.04.2024: Hans Sachs - Albert Lortzing (Musical Comedy Theatre)
- 20.04.2024: Giselle - Mario Schröder (Ballet)
- 25.05.2024: Lady Macbeth of Mzensk - Dmitri Shostakovich (Opera)
- 14.06.2024: Peter Pan - George Stiles (Musical Comedy Theatre)
- 21.-29.06.2024: International Ballet Festival « Leipzig Dances! »
Further Information and Tickets
The Oper Leipzig follows the tradition of 330 years of musical theatre in Leipzig: in 1693, the first opera house on the Brühl was opened as the third civic music theatre in Europe after Venice and Hamburg. Since 1840, the world-renowned Gewandhausorchester has played for all performances of the opera and the Leipzig ballet. In addition to today's opera house on Augustusplatz, built in 1960, Oper Leipzig includes the Musical Comedy Theatre, a special venue for musical and operettas. With around 680 employees, it is the city's largest in-house cultural institution and comprises five mainstays: the opera, musical comedy, ballet, their 360° outreach and educational programs, and the craft studios which work for all of the city's theatres.
Tickets for the 2023/24 season are available online or at the Leipzig Opera's Visitor Service. Advance ticket sales for the 2024 international Ballet Festival began on 1 June 2023, ticket requests can be made online. Exclusive travel offers for various opera and concert holidays can be booked via Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH at: https://www.leipzig.travel/en/buchen/staedtetrip-leipzig/travel-offer
