Immediately after its world premiere in 1874, The Bat became a byword for operetta genre. Operetta in Vienna was made after the French model of the popular works by Meilhac and Halevy, who remain famous as the librettists of Bizet’s Carmen

In Cooperation with Mainfranken Theater Würzburg

Parsifal is an amazing and enigmatic work. Did Wagner, at the end of his life, decide to glorify the asceticism he had never practised? Or he kneeled in front of the crucifix, as Nietzshce claimed?

In Cooperation with Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Austria

Romantic love, mortal jealousy and obsessive desire for revenge are the dramatic driving forces of Verdi’s The Troubadour.

The witch Hillary has won two tickets for the opera in a radio game and she is not completely sure whether to be happy or disappointed about it. Opera? What can that be?

At the end of the anniversary season, Opera ensemble of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, conducted by maestro Nikša Bareza, will perform fragments from the most significant works of the rich Croatian opera heritage.

Nikola Šubić Zrinski by Ivan Zajc is one of the rare works of that author that has kept its place on the repertoire of Croatian opera houses. The story describes the death of one of the most famous members of the aristocratic Zrinjski family after the long lasting Turkish siege of Siget in 1566, during which sultan Suleiman the Great died without succeeding to get to Vienna.

Although rarely performed, Mazeppa is considered the most powerful opera by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto, which was based on Pushkin's narrative poem Poltava abounds with correspondences with the composer's life, which make Mazeppa one of his most personal works.

The internal conflict between love and duty is a frequent instigator of the plot of many operas. Bellini's heroine is torn between the sacred duty of serving herown people and the love she feels for the enemy conqueror. She finds the solution in her own, personal sacrifice.

With its tunes and deeply moving story, taken from the real life, La Bohème has earned the epithet of one of the most successful and most renowned operas in general. Libretto was based upon the novel Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger, in which the author describes the world of the students and artists in the Latin Quarter in Paris.

The strongest link between Puccini’s one-act operas might be formulated as variations on the subject of death. The drama of the milieu (Il Tabarro), the study of the soul (Suor Angelica) and the burlesque (Gianni Schicchi) all deal with different aspects of death.

Bizet’s Carmen had its world-premiere in Opera Comique in Paris on March 3, 1875. The theatre was packed with the intention to bring a unanimous public opinion about the new opera which had developed from the court amusement into burgeois property of the Western civilization.

Rossini’s most popular opera is considered the best comic opera ever. The libretto was written by Cesare Sterbini, following Le Barbier de Seville, the first part of the Figaro trilogy by Beaumarchais.

The most popular and most frequently performed Croatian opera Ero the Joker had its world-premiere in Zagreb in 1935 and has not left the repertoire of all Croatian opera houses ever since. Its enormous popularity and international success is the result of the ideal cooperation between the writer Milan Begović and the composer Jakov Gotovac. The exceptional humour of the libretto stems from the perfect vitality of the characters from the Dalmatian hinterland, completed by the richly orchestrated music of lively rhythm. The opera abounds with beautiful arias, duets and ensembles, with the popular wheel dance for the finale.

A perfect way to start a Sunday morning - with a cup of coffee and a cake, followed by one hour of popular chamber music performed by top artists - will be at your disposal in the forthcoming season as well in one of the most beautiful spaces in Zagreb, in the foyer of our theatre.