In 2023, Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly will be performed on the lake stage on a total of 25 evenings. As the Opera in the Festspielhaus, the Bregenz Festival will present Ernani by Giuseppe Verdi.

Madame Butterfly

The Japanese geisha Cio-Cio-San, called Butterfly, revels in happiness when the American lieutenant Pinkerton marries her. The love culminates in an enchanting duet. It is a clash of worlds and values, because while Pinkerton feels free and marries an American woman back home, Butterfly, who is full of love, hope and longing, waits for his return for three long years – together with their child. Her well-known aria »Un bel dì vedremo« goes right into the heart. When Pinkerton suddenly returns with his American wife, Cio-Cio-San makes an inevitable decision.

Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, one of the most played operas today, comes to the Lake Stagefor the first time with Enrique Mazzola, who was also responsible for the Rigoletto production, conducting. Director Andreas Homoki, who is the artistic director of the Opernhaus Zürich, and his internationally renowned team use Michael Levine’s magical stage set with its subtle landscape paintings to bring Japanese flair to Lake Constance.

Opera ERNANI by Giuseppe Verdi in the Festival House

On 19 July 2023, Verdi’s ERNANI celebrates its premiere as the Opera at the Festspielhaus. IIn Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi turned the controversial story of a jester’s revenge on his master into an internationally renowned masterpiece. However, six years earlier, he had already composed another gripping drama about love and revenge. The opera Ernani is also based on a play by the French author Victor Hugo, whose text inspired Verdi’s unique style characterized by emotional arias, captivating choir sounds and impressive scenes. Ernani became one of the most played operas of the 19th century.

Orchestral Concerts: Vienna Symphony Orchestra & Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra

While the Opera at the Festspielhaus takes you to Siberia, the Orchestral Concerts bring masterpieces to you, together with the Wiener Symphoniker and the Vorarlberger Symphonieorchester. For a Cello concert by Shostakovich, the Vorarlberg-born cellist Kian Soltani, returns to Bregenz Festival.

• Find Bregenz Festival’ programme for 2023 here