The Shanghai Grand Opera House has announced its inaugural season, running from Oct. 17, 2026 to Feb. 20 2027.

Featuring 47 productions across 82 performances, the season includes just one Chinese opera, with the operatic program otherwise dominated by Western classics. The news was announced this afternooon at a press conference moderated by Ms Zhang Xiaoding, the General Director.

The sole Chinese opera on the bill is the Shanghai Opera House’s revival of “March of the Volunteers,” a mainstream opera by Meng Weidong set against the backdrop of Shanghai’s left-wing cultural movement in the 1930s that led to the birth of the People’s Republic of China’s national anthem.

It shares the opera program with four Western titles. They include the Shanghai Opera House’s “Turandot,” alongside three productions, all making their Asian premieres. These productions include Teatro La Fenice’s “Tosca,” directed by Joan Anton Rechi; the Mariinsky Theatre’s new “Aida” directed by Giancarlo del Monaco under the baton of Valery Gergiev; and Staatsoper Unter den Linden’s “Der Rosenkavalier,” conducted by Christian Thielemann in André Heller’s Belle Époque production. Traditional Chinese stage forms, from Peking opera to Kunqu and Yue opera, feature elsewhere in the season, but not under the opera banner.

The imbalance is conspicuous for a venue many had hoped would serve as a flagship for Chinese operatic art. Instead, the season’s principal attractions are European: Thielemann leading the Staatsoper Berlin on its first complete tour to China; Gergiev returning with the Mariinsky Orchestra for a Shostakovich symphony cycle marking the composer’s 120th anniversary; Yuja Wang leading the Mahler Chamber Orchestra from keyboard: and Rudolf Buchbinder performing the complete Beethoven piano concertos with the Staatskapelle Berlin.

Dance offers a stronger representation of home-grown productions. American Ballet Theatre returns to Shanghai with Kevin McKenzie’s Swan Lake, while the programme also includes productions by the Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble, Yang Liping’s new “Sanxingdui,” and a collaboration between the Guangdong Modern Dance Company and New York-based choreographer Shen Wei.

The season opens on Oct. 17 with a gala pairing Lü Qiming’s “Ode to the Red Flag” with arias by Mozart, Verdi and Puccini, conducted jointly by Zhang Guoyong, Long Yu and Xu Zhong, starring sopranos Lei Jia, Huang Ying, baritones Shen Yang, Liao Changyong, tenors Shi Yijie, Yan Weiwen and mezzo-soprano Zhu Huiling.

Built over six years at a cost of RMB 3.9 billion (approximately US$540 million), the Shanghai Grand Opera House is China’s newest and third purpose-built opera house (after the Shangyin Opera House and the China National Opera House) and one of Shanghai’s most ambitious cultural projects. It comprises three performance spaces: the 2,000-seat Harmony Hall, the 1,200-seat Soar Theatre and the 1,000-seat multi-functional Open Stage. Together, the three venues provide a total capacity of 4,200 seats, significantly expanding Shanghai’s performing arts infrastructure as the city seeks to strengthen its position as Asia’s performing arts capital.