Opera on the Lake in 2021/2022

Bregenz, 7.6.18. With about six weeks to go before the start of the 73rd season of Bregenz Festival, planning for the productions on the Lake Constance stage has now been finalised as far on as 2022.

The opera on the lake in summer 2021 and 2022 will be Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. It's the first time the opera – premiered in 1904 at La Scala Milan – is being staged at Bregenz Festival. The production will be directed by Andreas Homoki with a stage set designed by Michael Levine. They will both be working at Bregenz Festival for the first time.

The opera continues a series of popular Puccini works that have been performed on the festival's lake stage. After La Bohème (2001/02), Tosca (2007/08) and most recently Turandot in 2015 and 2016, Madame Butterfly will be the fourth opera by the Italian composer, born in Lucca in Tuscany, to feature on the programme.

In summer 2018, Carmen returns to the lake stage, followed by Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi in 2019 and 2020.

"Drama about love, betrayal and renunciation"
"In Madame Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini has created a poignant portrait of a tragic female character, Cio-Cio San, with music of great sensitivity and emotional impact. With the depictions of nature and with Butterfly looking out at the sea, full of hope, Lake Constance is the ideal backdrop for this drama about love, betrayal and renunciation," says the festival's artistic director Elisabeth Sobotka.

The premiere is planned for 21 July 2021 and the final performance of the 2021 season will be given on 22 August.

Rigoletto on the lake stage in 2019 and 2020
As soon as the coming season ends and the Carmen set is dismantled, construction of the Rigoletto stage will commence. As already announced, the Verdi opera on the lake stage in the 2019 and 2020 seasons will be directed by Philipp Stölzl, who will also design the stage. Tickets go on sale on 20 August 2018, the final day of this season.

Three quarters of the 210,000 Carmen tickets already sold
Currently about 75 per cent of the 210,000 tickets for Carmen have been sold. The opera will have a run of 29 performances this summer. The first night is on 19 July. The 2018 Bregenz Festival opens one day before that with the first performance in Austria of the opera Beatrice Cenci by Berthold Goldschmidt in the Festspielhaus.

Madame Butterfly: Powerful, passionate melodiesMadame Butterfly tells the deeply moving story of a Japanese girl, Cio-Cio San, who marries a wealthy American navy lieutenant. For her husband, the love of her life, she adopts the Christian religion, severing all ties with her relations. Thanks to Puccini's powerful, passionate melodies we are able to peer deep into his figures' emotions.

The German director Andreas Homoki has been artistic director of Zurich Opera since 2012 and has additionally directed at major opera houses around the world, among them Bavarian State Opera, New National Theatre Tokyo as well as the Festival d‘Aix-en-Provence.

The Canadian set designer Michael Levine has collaborated with Homoki several times. He, too, has worked at leading opera houses around the world, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (London), the Metropolitan Opera (New York) and frequently also the Canadian Opera Company.

The 2018 Bregenz Festival runs from 18 July to 20 August. Tickets are still available: please visit www.bregenzerfestspiele.com or call 0043 5574 4076.

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