The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced its 2019-20 season, which is undeniably one of the biggest there is. It includes eight new productions to go along with a plethora of revivals.

New Productions 

Jonas Kaufmann and Marlis Petersen headline a new production of Korngold’s “Die Tote Stadt” with Simon Stone directing. Kirill Petrenko conducts the production which also stars  Andrzej Filonczyk, Jennifer Johnston, and Manuel Günther.

Performance Dates: Nov. 18- Dec. 11, 2019 & July 19, 2020

Andreas Kriegenburg directs a new production of Hans Abrahamsen’s “The Snow Queen” with Barbara Hannigan headlining. Rachel Wilson, Helena Zubanovich, Peter Rose and Caroline Wettergreen round out the cast. Cornelius Meister conducts.

Performance Dates: Dec. 21, 2020-Jan. 6, 2020 & July 31, 2020

Katie Mitchell directs Bartok’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” and Concerto for Orchestra. Nina Stemme and John Lundgren performance Bartok’s famed opera. Oksana Lyniv conducts the double bill.

Performance Dates: Feb. 1-16, 2020 & June 27-29, 2020

Charles Castronovo, Diana Damrau, Mika Kares, and Igor Golovatenko are set to bring Johannes Erath’s new production of Verdi’s “I Masnadieri” with Michele Mariotti conducting. Carmen Giannattasio sings one performance.

Performance Dates: March 8-29, 2020 & July 1-4 2020

Marko Nikodijević and Marina Abramović team up for a world premiere entitled “7 Deaths of Maria Callas.” The work, which features music by Nikodijević, will reinterpret scenes from Georges Bizet, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Puccini, and Giuseppe Verdi. The work is set to star Abramović and Wilhelm Dafoe as film actors with singers Adela Zaharia, Nadezhda Karyazina, Whitney Morrison, Leah Hawkins, Selene Zanetti, Gabriella Reyes, and Hera Hyesang Park. Yoel Gamzou conducts.

Performance Dates: April 11-14, 2020

Ivor Bolton conducts a new production of Rameau’s “Castor et Pollux” by Hans Neuenfels. The cast includes Emöke Barath, Alix Le Saux, Caspar Singh, Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Guilhem Worms, Anthony Gregory, and Boris Prýgl.

Performance Dates: June 26-July 2, 2020

Wolfgang Koch makes his role debut as Verdi’s “Falstaff” with Kirill Petrenko conducting a new production by Mateja Koležnik. Aleksandra Kurzak, Elsa Benoit, Okka von der Damerau, Bogdan Volkov, and Boris Pinkhasovich also star.

Performance Dates: July 5-14, 2020

Christiane Lutz directs a new production of Thomas’ “Mignon” as part of the Munich Opernstudio. The young cast includes Sarah Gilford and Mirjam Mesak sharing the title role, as well as Caspar Singh, Juliana Zara, Oğulcan Yilmaz, Natalia Kutateladze, and Christian Valle. Pierre Dumoussaud conducts.

Performance Dates: April 1-9, 2020

Revivals

Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Dorothea Röschmann, Markus Suihkonen, Sean Michael Plumb, Michael Nagy, and Manuel Günther perform in a revival of Gluck’s “Alceste.” The production, which premiered during the 2018-19 season will be conducted by Antonello Manacorda.

Performance Dates: June 1-10, 2020

Levy Sekgapane and Ambrogio Maestri headline a revival of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” with Annalisa Stroppa, Sean Michael Plumb, and Roberto Tagliavini rounding out the cast. Diego Matheuz conducts.

Performance Dates: April 15-24, 2020

Selene Zanetti sings the title role in Puccini’s “La Bohème” with Ermonela Jaho singing one performance during the Munich Opera Festival. Elsa Benoit is Musetta while Wookyung Kim and Benjamin Bernheim alternate as Rodolfo.  Rodion Pogossov and Andrei Zhilikhovskyround out the cast as Marcello. Andrea Battistoni and Daniele Callegari conduct Otto Schenk’s classic production.

Performance Dates: Dec. 28, 2019-Jan 1, 2020 & July 21, 2020

Michail Jurowski conducts Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” with Dmitry Ulyanov in the title role, Mirjam Mesak, Andrzej Filonczyk, Burkhard Ulrich, and Brindley Sherratt.

Performance Dates: March 20-27, 2020

Varduhi Abrahamyan and Matthew Polenzani lead a revival of Lina Wertmüller’s production of Bizet’s “Carmen.” Golda Schultz and Ekaterina Siurina alternate as Michaëla, while Alexander Vinogradov is Escamillo. Performances are conducted by Asher Fisch.

Performance Dates: Jan. 17-26, 2020

Levy Sekgapane, Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Paolo Bordogna, Teresa Iervolino, and Erwin Schrott star in Rossini’s comic gem “La Cenerentola” with Ottavio Dantone conducting.

Performance Dates: Feb. 29-March 9,2020

Michael Spyres sings Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” with Alex Esposito as the four villains and Michèle Losier as his Nicklausse. Nina Minasyan, Sarah-Jane Brandon, and Elsa Benoit sing the four heroines with Constantin Trinks conducting Richard Jones’ innovative production. 

Performance Dates: Oct. 7 -15, 2020

Christiane Karg, Samantha Hankey, Andrè Schuen, Ioan Hotea, Tara Erraught, and Michael Nagy star in Mozart’s ensemble opera “Così Fan Tutte.” Constantin Trinks conducts.

Performance Dates: June 13-21, 2020 

Verdi’s “Don Carlo” returns to the repertoire with an all-star including Ildar Abdrazakov, Charles Castronovo, Ludovic Tézier,  Günther Groissböck, Anja Harteros, and Elīna Garanča. Andrea Battistoni conducts.

Performance Dates: April 30-May 10, 2020

Erwin Schrott takes on the title role in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” He is joined by Callum Thorpe, Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Frédéric Antoun, Carmen Giannattasio, Luca Pisaroni, Elsa Benoit, and Milan Siljanov. Antonino Fogliani conducts.

Performance Dates: April 29-May 5, 2020

Aida Garifullina stars in Donizetti’s “LElisir d’Amore” alongside Pavol Breslik, Ambrogio Maestri and Andrè Schuen. Joana Mallwitz conducts the revival.

Performance Dates: May 18-15, 2020

Elena Stikhina, Igor Golovatenko, Pavol Breslik, and Alexander Tsymbalyuk star in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” with Henrik Nánási conducting Krzysztof Warlikowski’s production.

Performance Dates: July 17-20, 2020

Anja Kampe, John Lundgren, and Brandon Jovanovich reprise their interpretation in Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West.” Paolo Carignani conducts the 2018-19 production by Andreas Dresen.

Performance Dates: May 9-19, 2020

Beethoven’s only opera “Fidelio” returns to the Munich stage with Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Michael Kupfer-Radecky, Klaus Florian Vogt, Adrianne Pieczonka, Günther Groissböck, Elsa Benoit, and Dean Power. Stefan Soltesz conducts.

Performance Dates: Oct. 24-Nov.2, 2019

Johannes Martin Kränzle and Annette Dasch celebrate the New Year in Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus” with Okka von der Damerau, Galeano Salas, and Sofia Fomina. Friedrich Haider conducts.

Performance Dates: Dec. 31, 2019-Jan. 11, 2020

Michael Volle takes on the title role in Wagner’s “Der Fliegende Holländer” alongside Camilla Nylund, Wookyung Kim, and Heike Grötzinger. Pinchas Steinberg conducts Wagner’s early work.

Performance Dates: June 17-23, 2020

Gerald Finley returns to Rossini’s final work “Guillaume Tell” with Salome Jicia and Michael Spyres. Antonino Fogliani conducts.

Performance Dates: May 17-24, 2020

Patrick Lange conducts Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” in time for the holidays. Tara Erraught and Samantha Hankey alternate the role of Hansel, while Elsa Benoit and Christina Gansch share the role of Gretel. Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke and John Daszak alternate the witch.

Performance Dates: Dec. 7-14, 2019

Bo Skovhus reprises the role of “Karl V” in Ernst Krenek’s modern work. Erik Nielsen conducts the 2018-19 production with a cast that includes Christa Mayer, Gun-Brit Barkmin, Anne Schwanewilms, and Daniel Kirch.

Performance Dates: Oct. 16-21, 2019

Klaus Florian Vogt and Anja Harteros take on the lead roles in Wagner’s “Lohengrin” with Karita Mattila, Wolfgang Koch, and Christof Fischesser joining them. Lothar Koenigs conducts the Richard Jones production.

Performance Dates: Nov. 21-20, 2019

Lisette Oropesa brings her acclaimed “Lucia di Lammermoor” to Munich audiences. Pierro Pretti sings Edgardo while Vladislav Sulimsky is Enrico and Bálint Szabó is Raimondo. Antonino Fogliani conducts.

Performance Dates: March 28-April 3, 2020

Kirill Petrenko conducts Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg” with Jonas Kaufmann, Wolfgang Koch, Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, Okka von der Damerau, and Benjamin Bruns.

Performance Dates: July 25-29, 2020

Plácido Domingo and Liudmyla Monastyrska team up for Verdi’s “Nabucco” with Vitalij Kowaljow as Zaccaria and Paolo Carignani conducting.

Performance Dates: July 27-30, 2020

Haydn’s “Orlando Paladino” returns to Munich with Adela Zaharia, David Portillo, and Tara Erraught. Ivor Bolton conducts.

Performance Dates: July 22-26, 2020

Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier, and Anja Harteros return to Verdi’s “Otello” with Adam Fischer conducting. Roberto Alagna and  Claudio Sgura take on the roles of Otello and Iago during the Munich opera festival.

Performance Dates: Sept. 20-28, 2019 & July 12-15, 2020

Simon O’Neill, Anja Kampe, Simon Keenlyside, Johannes Martin Kränzle, and Georg Zeppenfeld bring Wagner’s “Parsifal” with Asher Fisch conducting.

Performance Dates: April 12-19, 2020

Two casts headline Verdi’s “Rigoletto” revival. The first stars Ludovic Tézier in the title role with Erin Morley and Benjamin Bernheim. The second cast during the Munich Opera Festival stars Simon Keenlyside, Rosa Feola, and Joseph Calleja. Andrea Battistoni and Paolo Carignani alternate at the pit.

Performance Dates: Nov. 7-13, 2019 & July 26-28, 2020

Marlis Petersen reprises her interpretation of Strauss’ “Salome” after premiering the new production during the 2018-19 season. She is joined by Wolfgang Koch, Evan LeRoy Johnson, Doris Soffel, and Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke. Kirill Petrenko conducts the revival.

Performance Dates: Oct. 5-13, 2019

Anja Harteros and Sonya Yoncheva alternate the title role of Puccini’s “Tosca” with Joseph Calleja, Stefano La Colla, and Riccardo Massi sharing the role of Cavaradossi. Željko Lučić and Erwin Schrott alternate as Scarpia.

Performance Dates: Oct. 28-Nov. 3, 2019, Feb. 15-23, 2020 & July 7-10, 2020

Venera Gimadieva and Ermonela Jaho star in Verdi’s “La Traviata” with Charles Castronovo and Liparit Avetisyan sharing the role of Alfredo. Jader Bignamini and Giampaolo Bisanti conduct the production with Simon Keenlyside as Germont.

Performance Dates: Sept. 22-Oct. 2, 2019 & Feb. 19-28, 2020

Anja Harteros and Riccardo Massi lead Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” with Okka von der Damerau and Vladislav Sulimsky.

Performance Dates: March 7-15, 2020

Anna Netrebko makes her role debut as Puccini’s ‘Turandot” with Yusif Eyvazov and  Selene Zanetti. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts with Alexander Tsymbalyuk rounding out the cast.

Performance Dates: Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 2020

Pavol Breslik, Günther Groissböck, Selene Zanetti, and Helena Zubanovich headline Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride.” The revival is conducted by Tomáš Hanus.

Performance Dates: Jan. 10-18, 2020

Christian Gerhaher, Gun-Brit Barkmin, and John Daszak headline a production of Berg’s “Wozzeck” with Hartmut Haenchen conducting Berg’s masterwork.

Performance Dates: Nov. 17-25, 2019

Asher Fisch conducts Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” with Pavol Breslik, Kathryn Lewek, Mika Kares, Sean Michael Plumb, Olga Kulchynska.

Performance Dates: Jan. 20-Feb. 8, 2020

Konzert 

Erin Wall, Elza van den Heever, Caroline Wettergreen,  Jennifer Johnston, Okka von der Damerau, Benjamin Bruns, Christoph Pohl, and Georg Zeppenfeld join Kirill Petrenko in Mahler’ Symphony No. 8.

Performance Dates: June 8-11, 2020

Andrea Battistoni and Erwin Schrott join forces for Bayerische Staatsoper’s Opernstudio gala.

Performance Date: July 3, 2020