Press Day 2026

Delicate tragedy on the lake, absurd satire at the Festspielhaus

Bregenz, 8 July 2026. Two operas, two worlds. With Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata on the lake stage and Leoš Janáček’s The Excursions of Mr Brouček at the Festspielhaus, the Bregenz Festival is staging two fundamentally different operas this season – its 80th anniversary. Verdi’s deeply moving masterpiece is being given on the lake stage for the first time in the festival’s history, while Janáček’s rarely performed satirical opera is to be staged indoors at the Festspielhaus in a visually powerful production by US director Yuval Sharon. Since the middle of June there have been two rehearsals daily for each production. When the Vienna Symphony Orchestra arrives in Bregenz at the weekend, the orchestra rehearsals can begin.