About us
People of Oper Köln
The Cologne Opera is one of the great traditional opera houses in Germany. Artistic Director Hein Mulders has been in charge of the theatre since the 2022/23 season. Grand opera, exciting music theatre, world premieres of international standing and the cultivation of classical repertoire works are at the heart of the repertoire. In addition, the Cologne Children's Opera regularly offers musical theatre for young audiences. The heart of the Cologne Opera is the opera ensemble, which is joined by numerous international guests and the opera studio.
The Cologne Opera is a co-operation partner of numerous international opera houses and festivals (Aix-en-Provence Festival / Glyndebourne Festival / Salzburg Festival / Théâtre de Champs-Elysées Paris / Bregenz Festival / Teatro Real Madrid / Theater an der Wien / Opéra Comique Paris and many others).
The international standing of the Cologne Opera has manifested itself time and again since the opening of the opera house on Offenbachplatz in 1957. At that time, Cologne productions such as Weber's ‘Oberon’ with Leonie Rysanek and Karl Liebl and the world premiere of Wolfgang Fortner's ‘Blood Wedding’ were accompanied by guest performances by La Scala in Milan with Maria Callas and the Paris Opéra Ballet, among others. The era of Oscar Fritz Schuh as artistic director and Wolfgang Sawallisch as GMD (1959 - 1964) included the production of Richard Wagner's ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’, directed by Wieland Wagner. During Michael Hampe's directorship (1975-1995), the Cologne Opera established a worldwide network. With the International Opera Studio, Cologne Opera has also had the first institution for the promotion of young talent of this kind in the German-speaking world since 1961.
Together with the Gürzenich Orchestra, the Cologne Opera is a venue for musical theatre of the highest quality. With important premieres and first performances of contemporary works such as ‘Die tote Stadt’ by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (world premiere 1920), ‘Der Zwerg’ by Alexander von Zemlinsky (world premiere 1922/new production 2022), ‘Die Soldaten’ by Bernd Alois Zimmermann (world premiere 1965/new production 2018), ‘SONNTAG’ from ‘LICHT’ by Karlheinz Stockhausen (world premiere 2011), the cathedral city has always provided strong artistic impetus. Since the 2015.16 season, the StaatenHaus in Cologne-Deutz has served as a venue for the Cologne Opera during the renovation of the opera house on Offenbachplatz. Highlights of recent years include the first Cologne revival of Zimmermann's ‘Soldiers’ in 2018, the unabridged performance of Hector Berlioz's ‘Les Troyens’ in 2022, Zemlinsky's ‘The Dwarf’ on the 100th anniversary of its Cologne premiere in combination with Stravinsky's ‘Petrushka’ in 1922, Richard Strauss's ‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’ in 2023 and the world premiere of Ondřej Adámek's ‘INES’ in 2024.
