Festival Debut For "La Traviata"

Bregenz, 19.6.2023. The opera on the lake at the Bregenz Festival in 2026 and 2027 will be La Traviata. It will be the summer festival’s first ever production of the opera. The production will be directed by Damiano Michieletto and Paolo Fantin will design the stage. Both of them will be making their first appearance at the Bregenz Festival. The premiere is planned for 22 July 2026, with the summer 2026 run concluding on 23 August.

La Traviata is one of the most popular and most performed operas wordwide. The Giuseppe Verdi opera received its world premiere at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice in 1853. It will be the first new production on the lake stage under the directorship of Lilli Paasikivi, who takes over as artistic director of the festival in the 2025 season.

Epitome of Italian Romantic opera
“La Traviata is the epitome of Italian Romantic opera,” said the artistic director designate, Lilli Paasikivi. “The story, the music and the characters create an enthralling and powerful evening for the eyes, ears and heart. I can hardly wait to hear those famous melodies on Lake Constance, and I’m very happy that the great storyteller Damiano Michieletto is going to be making his lake stage debut with this popular Italian opera.”

The Italian-born stage director Damiano Michieletto has worked at major international festivals and opera houses, including the Salzburg Festival, Theater an der Wien in Vienna and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. Michieletto has collaborated for several years with set designer Paolo Fantin, who has himself had multiple engagements at leading opera houses around the world.

Rehearsals start tomorrow for Madame Butterfly
Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, which played to capacity audiences last year, returns to the lake stage this summer for its second run. In 2024 and 2025 the festival will be staging Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber. Tomorrow, rehearsals start ahead of the opening night of Madame Butterfly. In all, 26 performances of the opera are scheduled. For some performances there are still tickets available in various categories.

The 2023 Bregenz Festival runs from 19 July to 20 August. For tickets and information please visit www.bregenzerfestspiele.com or call 0043 5574 4076.

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