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An opera season for Europe: The ARTE Opera Season presents an array of outstanding productions from the continent’s greatest opera houses – some of them classics, some of them exciting new discoveries, with new productions every month, available in six languages. Savour the opulence, the passion, the magic of this unparalleled art form in a brand new season of ARTE Opera – exclusively on ARTE Concert.

The European opera season

Wexford Festival Opera presents the first modern staging of French composer Fromental Halévy's adaptation of Shakespeare's late masterpiece The Tempest. Conducted by Francesco Cilluffo and directed by Roberto Catalano.
 Wexford Festival opera would like to thank the tenor Giulio Pelligra for singing the role of Fernando despite being unwell.

Wexford Festival Opera 2022

A forgotten opera by Fromental Halévy, based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, at Wexford Festival Opera.

Fromental Halévy: La Tempesta

The literary source for Richard Strauss’s opera immortalizing the degeneracy of Herodes Antipas, King of Judea, and his step-daughter Salome, was supplied by Oscar Wilde. It tells of Herodes, who is keeping the prophet Jochanaan captive inside a cistern. Salome tries to seduce him and on being rebuffed, forces her stepfather to serve her the prophet’s head on a silver platter.

Directed by Christof Loy in Helsinki

Rejected by the prophet Jochanaan, Salome forces her abusive stepfather to exact revenge.

Richard Strauss: Salome

Conductor Raphaël Pichon and director Cyril Teste team up to bring Beethoven’s Fidelio to the stage of the Opéra Comique.

Beethoven’s only opera conducted by Raphaël Pichon.

Beethoven's "Fidelio" at the Opéra Comique

Live from the Teatro Real in Madrid, an adaptation of Prokofiev’s flamboyant masterpiece by the ever-radical Calixto Bieito.

Teatro Real, Madrid

An adaptation of Sergei Prokofiev’s flamboyant masterpiece by radical director Calixto Bieito.

Sergei Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel

Watch the rehearsals for the world premiere of the ballet The Pied Piper at the Opéra National du Rhin. Choreographer Béatrice Massin gets to grips with the medieval legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, made famous by the Brothers Grimm. By juxtaposing the baroque style and contemporary dance, she creates an otherworldly fable that celebrates the power music holds over the world and over our imagination.

Opéra National du Rhin

Watch the rehearsals for this otherworldly ballet, based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

The Pied Piper

An anthology of musical novellas performed by young musicians from the Opéra Studio of the Opéra national du Rhin, staged as an operatic walkabout by Émilie Capliez and Myriam Marzouki.

At the Opéra national du Rhin

A walkabout through ten miniature operas.

(Hi)story of Opera

In the Game of Thrones, yesterday’s winners are often tomorrow’s underdogs. Inspired by the Mahabharata at the Opéra National du Rhin, French composer Thierry Pécou creates a spiritual score around the warlike adventures of two branches of the same royal family. A world premiere in a production by Indian choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh.

World premiere at the Opéra national du Rhin

A mythical and spiritual fresco based on the Mahabharata.

Until the Lions

The Lithuanian soprano Vida Miknevičiūtė sings the role of Sieglinde in the new Ring cycle at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. She tells us what she finds particularly challenging about Wagner's music, what characterises the figure of Sieglinde and reveals why you should watch Dmitri Tcherniakov's production no matter what.

Vida Miknevičiūtė in conversation about her role of Sieglinde in the Berlin Ring cycle.

Giacomo Puccini: Turandot

In Staatsoper Unter den Linden’s new production of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen Andreas Schager will sing Siegfried. In this interview he reveals what challenges await him in this staging of Dmitri Tcherniakov, how the Russian director approaches Wagner's masterpiece and which (musical) scenes he is most looking forward to.

Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin

Andreas Schager in conversation about his role of Siegfried in the Berlin Ring.

Andreas Schager sings Siegfried

In the new production of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, baritone and ensemble member Michael Volle sings Wotan. In this interview he reveals what challenges await him in the role.

Michael Volle in conversation about his role of Wotan in the Berlin Ring cycle.

For all those who finally want to understand the plot of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen: In OPERA IN A NUTSHELL, Spencer Britten, a tenor from the opera studio of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, explains the entire plot in 10 minutes. To do so, he sings and slips into dozens of roles, even mermaids and dragons.

Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin

The plot of Wagner's Ring explained in a flash

Opera in a nutshell | Der Ring des Nibelungen

The ballet Giselle became over the years an essential classic of the romantic repertoire choreographed by some of the most legendary ballet masters. For the Ballet of the Opéra national du Rhin, Martin Chaix serves up a resolutely contemporary interpretation that chimes with current issues.

Out with the tutus, in with the perfecto: a resolutely modern romantic ballet at the Opéra National du Rhin

Walter Braunfels - Die Vögel

In this production of The Magic Flute, stage director Johanny Bert brings his background in theater and puppetry to this production. He creates a mischievous tone around the juxtaposition of convention and prejudice with the complicity of conductor Andreas Spering.

Mozart's last opera in a mischievous production in Strasbourg

All videos

The name of this Paris institution stands for a whole subgenre of opera.

Opéra Comique

The most popular of Gustav Mahler's symphonies, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and staged by Romeo Castellucci. A very special production, which promises to stir up the audience at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

A message from director Romeo Castellucci:
The action you are about to witness has the particular misfortune of containing images that, charged with violence, seem to be the cruel likeness of our near reality.
I imagined this work over a year ago.
No one could have foreseen this painful overlapping of art and reality, which today seems like an atrocious prophecy.
How to support today the unconscious exactness of these images on the stage?
But what to do in the face of the irretrievable that theatre represents?
It is essential to accept the pain produced by this concordance, in the light that Gustav Mahler’s Resurrection can represent.
Romeo Castellucci
July 2022
Recorded 13 July in Aix-en-Provence with the Orchestre de Paris and the Choir of the Orchestre de Paris.

Aix-en-Provence Festival 2022

The most popular of Gustav Mahler's symphonies, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and staged by Romeo Castellucci. A very special production, which promises to stir up the audience at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

Resurrection - Gustav Mahler

Mozart, played in the courtyard of the Palais de l'archevêché, has thus remained a fixture of the festival to this day.

Aix-en-Provence Festival

The Dutch National Opera produces world-class music theatre and is well known for its artistically ambitious and innovative productions.

Dutch National Opera

Catalonia’s number one opera house, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, is centrally located on Barcelona’s world-famous boulevard Las Ramblas.

Gran Teatre del Liceu

Founded on the boulevard Unter den Linden in 1742 at the behest of King Frederick II of Prussia, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden is one of the German capital’s most illustrious cultural institutions. 

Staatsoper Unter den Linden

National opera since 1963, La Monnaie maintains a strong multicultural identity.

La Monnaie/De Munt

During Richard Wagner’s seven years here he staged the premieres of both Der Fliegender Holländer and Tannhäuser.

Semperoper Dresden

The opera house on the Gänsemarkt is one of Hamburg’s most important cultural institutions, and one steeped in tradition.

Hamburg State Opera

Thanks to television and online streaming the opera house reaches viewers all over Finland – and indeed all over the world.

Finnish National Opera

As the opera house was comprehensively overhauled in 2012, it meets the requirements of a modern-day theatre in every possible respect.

Lausanne Opera

The Royal Opera House Covent Garden belongs to the crème de la crème of world opera. 

Royal Opera House

The Teatro Real is considered as one of the most important institutions of Spanish theatre world.

Teatro Real

In 2019 the Paris National Opera celebrated its 350th anniversary. 

Paris National Opera

The Bayerische Staatsoper is steeped in tradition and ranks among the world’s leading opera houses.

Bavarian State Opera

Built in 1897, the Teatro Massimo is Italy’s largest opera house.

Teatro Massimo

The Czech National Theatre has three opera houses at its disposal: the National Theatre, the State Opera that reopened in 2020 and the Estates Theatre.

Prague National Theatre

The little town of Wexford, just two hours away from Dublin, is home to an opera festival like no other.

Wexford Festival Opera

Scarcely any other opera house is as tradition-conscious as is the Vienna State Opera.

Vienna State Opera

The Opernhaus Zurich is Switzerland’s largest cultural institution.

Zurich Opera House

Rossini, Bellini, Puccini, Donizetti and Verdi premiered some of their most important works here.