Season 2026/27

With touching and moving stories and sounds, important works fascinate us to this day, even if or precisely because they are several hundred years old. The uniquely unifying power that a melody can develop is exemplified by Ludwig van Beethoven’s setting of Friedrich Schiller’s words “Freude, schöner Götterfunken” from the last movement of his Ninth Symphony: the melody has served as the official European anthem since 1985. To mark the bicentennial anniversary of Beethoven’s death, we will once again perform this pioneering work under the direction of general music director Christian Thielemann. He will also be conducting the premiere of Engelbert Humperdinck’s Königskinder. Together with director David Bösch, he traces out the profoundly human emotions in this opera, composed following Humperdinck’s world success with Hänsel und Gretel. Christian Thielemann will also be conducting two additional works by Richard Wagner in 2027: Tannhäuser for the Festtage and Tristan und Isolde in February.

Our six opera premieres during this season will be framed by two works that spotlight the political dimensions of human action. In Gaspare Spontini’s La Vestale, the protagonist Julia sings gripping melodies about her unshaken faith in human love despite the limitations imposed on her by an autocratic regime. Quite in the spirit of Beethoven, Spontini’s work influenced the subsequent generation of composers, particularly in France and Germany. For several decades, the Italian-born composer was active at this opera house, which was then called Berlin’s Royal Opera, where he was the first to hold the position of general music director. Now Carlo Rizzi will be staging one of the most successful operas of its time; Lydia Steier will be directing the production.

In Giuseppe Verdi’s La forza del destino at the end of this season, the main female character finds herself torn by the conflict between the political interests of her lover and those of her own brother. Vasily Barkhatov, the director of our production of Norma, will return for this production, along with conductor Philippe Jordan, who has long been associated with the Staatsoper.

With the premiere of Francesco Cavalli’s La Calisto, the Barocktage will return to Staatsoper Unter den Linden after a two-year hiatus. This humorous and fascinating work from the early period of opera will be placed in a magical stage world by Stefan Herheim with music performed by the ensembles L’Arpeggiata and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin under the direction of Christina Pluhar. We are especially happy to be able to welcome back Cecilia Bartoli to the Staatsoper for her fortieth anniversary on stage. Together with Les Musiciens du Prince and the chorus Il Canto di Orfeo under Gianluca Capuano, she will be bringing a work that was key to the transition from the Baroque to the Classical period to the stage, Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. Claudio Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and Henry Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas will also be performed by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, which has shaped the Barocktage for decades now.

For the Festtage in the spring of 2027, Manon Lescaut will come to the stage, the opera with which Giacomo Puccini achieved his breakthrough. Bertrand de Billy and Staatskapelle Berlin will dedicate themselves to Puccini’s brilliant melodies while director Johannes Erath presents his second production at our opera house after his success with Fin de partie.

A new opera for children to participate in will be presented at the main hall this coming season. Over the past two seasons, several thousand children have been enchanted by Der Freischütz für Kinder; now a contemporary version of Johann Strauß’ Die Fledermaus especially for children will be presented. These two productions in the main hall will be complemented by many additional offerings for our young patrons at opera and concert performances.

The special Staatskapelle “sound” will be especially highlighted  at our numerous large scale symphonic concerts and chamber performances. As a focus, Christian Thielemann will continue the performances of Richard Strauss’s orchestral songs and Franz Liszt’s symphonic poems. We consider stylistic variety and musical excellence in our concerts to be just as important as in our various performances of the opera repertoire featuring outstanding artists.

You are cordially invited to enjoy music from several centuries, joining us in shared emotional worlds.

Welcome to the new 2025/26 season!
Elisabeth Sobotka & Christian Thielemann

In the upcoming season, General Music Director Christian Thielemann and four guest conductors will once again join forces with the Staatskapelle and outstanding soloists to present both ‘classics’ from the repertoire and rarely heard works. The spectrum ranges from Mozart and Beethoven to important symphonies, overtures and concertos by key Romantic composers to distinguished works of French, Russian, Czech and Hungarian music. Christian Thielemann will continue his exploration of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's compositional oeuvre, and symphonic poems by Franz Liszt, orchestral songs and works by Richard Strauss, and a symphony by Anton Bruckner will also be performed under his baton. Eight double concerts at the State Opera and the Philharmonic Hall will offer excellent musical quality: In addition to encounters with Christian Thielemann, the audience – and certainly the orchestra as well – can look forward to the return of Philippe Jordan and Petr Popelka, as well as Marie Jacquot and Jakub Hrůša, who are guests at the Berlin Symphony Concerts for the first time, and of course singers such as Diana Damrau, Camilla Nylund, Piotr Beczała and Christian Gerhaher, as well as instrumental soloists Sol Gabetta, María Dueñas, Rudolf Buchbinder, Antoine Tamestit and Kian Soltani.