It’s time to reveal our programme for the coming season!

New productions of Der fliegende Holländer and Don Giovanni. Baroque opera Platée, world premiere of the new opera Mythomania and the awaited Swedish premiere of the smash-hit musical saga Wicked. 

World premieres of dance works by Hofesh Schechter, Tom Weinberger, Emma Portner and Yoann Bourgeois. 

And revivals of successes like Alexander Ekman’s dance work Hammer, the children’s opera Sandvargen, Claes Eriksson's opera debut Viva la mamma and the sensational Pierrot Lunaire with Kerstin Avemo.

This is the 2023/24 season at The Göteborg Opera. 

Henning Ruhe, Artistic Director Opera/Drama:  

“Three hundred years of opera in one season; a unique opportunity to experience the world of opera at The Göteborg Opera. We meet characters that, whether willingly or otherwise, are marginalised by society. The famous surgeon whose constant lies estrange him from society in Paula af Malmborg Ward and Kerstin Perski’s new opera Mythomania. The pair of outsiders in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, the young Senta and the doomed Dutchman himself, and to present it in Gothenburg, where the sea is part of the city's bloodstream will be something special. Mozart’s Don Giovanni puts his lust before all else, and Platée, the eponymous protagonist of Rameau’s baroque opera, wants nothing more than to belong to the greater community but is mocked in the cruellest way. In the season’s big musical, Wicked, we follow a misfit, an insecure young woman who finally rises above it all and literally flies. We follow these and many other characters through their ups and downs, adventures and misadventures, accompanied by wonderful music in many different styles. Our concert season and our other exciting projects also offer unique cultural experiences and I am delighted to invite audiences of all generations to a high-class and varied season 2023/24 at The Göteborg Opera." 

Katrín Hall, Artistic Director Dance:  

“I look forward to a season of euphoric experiences that consolidate our identity and what we stand for: courage, unpredictability, art at the very highest level. Meetings with audiences in the Opera House and on tour in the region and the world. Once again, we will be collaborating with some of the world’s greatest choreographers, while also seeking out new young talent destined to be the stars of tomorrow. Revival premieres for two major successes: Alexander Ekman’s Hammer, which broke records by attracting audiences in the tens of thousands last year, and the pulsating contemporary dance of Hofesh Schechter, who will also be returning to create a completely new work. Yoann Bourgeois, who we remember fondly from the breathtaking Hurricane, returns to 'explore airspace'. It will be at least as exciting to bring audiences new and innovative experiences by perhaps not yet so familiar names: Tom Weinberger, Tali Zavilevich and Emma Portner. But just and google them and you will see what I mean."   

• The full repertoire and further details about each production, casts and artistic teams, in opera, musicals, dance, concerts, regional premieres, tours and Skapa activities for the 2023/24 season: https://www.opera.se/en/2023-2024/
• Press images: https://opera.qbank.se/mb/?h=47167373daf5c6d6a00d427734b0e019
• Ticket on-sale dates: Subscriptions can be purchased from 22 March. Tickets for productions from August 2023 until January 2024 go on sale on 12 April. 
• For press requests, please contact press@opera.se, Marie Branner: +46 (0)31 10 80 35, Emil Rinstad:  +46 (0)31 10 80 68.

SELECTION BY GENRE IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER 

OPERA: 

Mythomania: Having been delayed by the pandemic, it is finally time for the world premiere of the thriller opera by Gothenburg-based composer Paula af Malmborg Ward and librettist Kerstin Perski. Starring Joachim Bäckström as the unscrupulous and duplicitous star surgeon Francis, whose life is actually a castle in the air. His therapist, Nelly, is portrayed by Kerstin Avemo and the Mother by royal court singer Ingrid Tobiasson. Director Clara Svärd and her team emphasise the thriller element of the plot. Who has the courage to unmask a liar that everybody wants to believe? 
Conductor: Andreas Hanson. 
World premiere 8 October 2023 

Don Giovanni: Mozart’s masterpiece about the incorrigible rake Don Giovanni spans exuberant joy and blackest hate. After a lifetime of simply taking whoever takes his fancy, three women join forces to seek revenge. Director John Fulljames, former artistic director of the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, sets his production in a modern luxury hotel. “Seldom have we seen the story of the world’s most famous seducer work so well in a modern environment” (CPHCulture). Singers include Ida Falk Winland, Sofie Asplund, Katarina Karnéus and Susanna Stern. Conductors: Ville Matvejeff and The Göteborg Opera’s house conductor Aivis Greters. 
Premiere 2 December 2023  

Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman): Mythical love in a modern setting of Wagner’s first masterpiece.  Only love can free the ghost ship’s doomed captain from eternal life. The Dutchman is played by Craig Colclough. Rising star soprano Åsa Jäger debuts in the role of his love Senta. South African director Alessandro Talevi’s production is set in modern times, as climate change and rising sea levels reawaken awareness of the ocean’s dangers. Conducted by Alevtina Ioffe.  
Premiere 17 February 2024 

Platée: Baroque opera! A satire on beauty ideals set to the music of Jean-Philippe Rameau. Jupiter tricks the ugly marsh nymph Platée into believing that he wants to marry her. Internationally renowned director Andreas Kriegenburg transforms the nymph Platée into a plain old woman that surely no powerful young man could fall for. Or might he?  As conductor, baroque specialist Paul Agnew brings out the lightness and freshness of the music. The title role is played by the Swede Anders J Dahlin in the unusual voice type haut-contre (countertenor), the predominant operatic tenor voice in French Baroque.  
Premiere 16 March 2024  

Pierrot in the Light of Bach: A long-awaited opportunity to experience Kerstin Avemo’s acclaimed version of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire on The Small stage and around Västra Götaland. “A dizzying experience,” according to Göteborgs-Posten. Now on a double-bill with Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, with dancers also on stage (25 April 2024).  

Also revival premieres of Verdi’s Nabucco directed by Jacopo Spirei (26 August 2023), Tosca by Puccini (27 April 2024), the children’s opera The Sand Wolf (2 February 2024) and Donizetti’s Viva la mamma, directed and with new Swedish text by comedy icon Claes Eriksson (23 May 2024). 

MUSICALS: 

Let’s Fall in Love: A tribute to Cole Porter. The Göteborg Opera musical artist Lars Hjertner and pianist/arranger Per Larsson have created a musical revue based on a selection of Porter’s songs, excerpts from his letters, biographical details and a great deal of gossip. A musical whirlwind with a taste of the jet set, Broadway and nostalgia. On stage: Lars Hjertner, Michaela Sjöstedt and a trio of musicians. 
Premiere 8 September 2023. Touring Västra Götaland, including The Göteborg Opera’s Small Stage.  

Wicked: The tale of the witches of Oz. This is the Swedish premiere of a new production of the smash-hit musical that has taken the world by storm! The Gothenburg production will be the largest in Wicked’s 20-year history, with an expanded orchestra, large ensemble and breathtaking scenery. Feline Andersson makes her debut as the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba. The role of Galinda/Glinda is sung by Anna Salonen. Finnish director Samuel Harjanne has directed a number of major musicals in England, Estonia and Finland. Björn Dobbelaere is the conductor and musical director. Stage and costume designer takis creates a magical but disquieting Oz. Choreography by Gunilla Olsson Karlsson. Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire. Swedish translation by Calle Norlén. 
Swedish premiere 16 September 2023 (runs until April 2024) 

Musical Marathon: 30 years of musicals in 80 minutes. A medley of songs from all the musicals performed on the Main Stage at The Göteborg Opera since the inauguration in 1994 – in chronological order. In total, some 60 numbers from 28 different musicals, from Kristina från Duvemåla and Chess in Swedish, to The Phantom of the Opera and Kärlek skonar ingen (Love Spares No One). By and with the musical trio Duratrion and the house’s musical theatre artists. 
1 January and 5 January 2024 

DANCE: 

In a Heartbeat: A pulsating dance double-bill when two Israeli choreographers with strong bonds to GöteborgsOperans Danskompani each present a world premiere. Hofesh Shechter is a "rock star" in the world of dance and a perfect match with GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, manifested in the roaring success of Contemporary Dance in 2019 (which is revived in August 2023). Shechter shares the evening with a former member of our own company, Tom Weinberger, whose work is a theatre-dance hybrid with elements of the surreal and absurd. 
World premieres 3 November 2023 

Vaults of Heaven: Double-bill of world premieres, as choreographers Emma Portner and Yoann Bourgeois each create a new work for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani. Bourgeois has previously enjoyed success at The Göteborg Opera with Hurricane, Fugue/Trampoline and Our Music. His new work is a blend of rhythm, energy, physical challenges and a large element of acrobatics, with parts of the floor covered with trampolines. Canadian Emma Portner rocketed to stardom with choreography for Netflix, the Guggenheim Museum, pop star Justin Bieber and dance companies such as the Norwegian National Ballet. For GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Portner sets out to create a work filled with paradoxes, ironies, metaphors and small miracles.  
World premieres 12 April 2024 

Also long-awaited revival premieres: 

Contemporary Dance +: Shechter’s first work for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Contemporary Dance, which premiered in 2019, once again fills the stage with an intense club atmosphere. The plus sign in the title refers to an introductory dance experience that begins outside the opera house. The choreographer behind the concept is Tali Zavilevich, who is making her Swedish debut.   
Revival premiere 19 August 2023  

Hammer: When Hammer was performed in autumn 2022, tickets sold out. Audiences now have a long-awaited opportunity to see Alexander Ekman’s acclaimed full-evening work on offline harmony and online egotism, life and likes. ”Brilliant” (Tanz), “A world-class show.” (Aftonbladet). 
Revival premiere 12 January 2024 

Astronaut, Carl Olof Berg’s dizzying dance work for primary school children is planned for new performances in Västra Götaland.   

International tours: During the 2023/24 season, the dance company will visit a number of countries, including Germany, France, the Netherlands and Austria. 

CONCERTS:  

The Göteborg Opera Orchestra with soloists, the Göteborg Opera Chorus and guests – this season also performing in the Gothenburg Concert Hall, Frihamnskyrkan and, as always, on regional tours: 

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE: 

A Christmas Carol: Family musical based on Charles Dickens’ classic tale A Christmas Carol, filled with humour, compassion and the odd spine-chilling ghost. The show combines the Dickensian world of the nineteenth century with a festive carnival, Adolphe Adam’s “O Holy Night”, Stevie Wonder and gentle snowfall with flashing disco lights. By Tobias Ahlsell, David Lundqvist and Anders Wängdahl, who also propel the story as narrators. Recommended from 6 years of age. 
Revival premiere 15 December 2023 

The Sand Wolf: This season’s sold-out children’s opera returns. “Spot-on comedy for a young audience” (Göteborgs-Posten). “A mini-masterpiece” (Alba.nu). The children’s opera The Sand Wolf is based on Åsa Lind’s famous award-winning, August Prize-nominated children's book trilogy. The role of the Sand Wolf is sung by opera singer Åke Zetterström. Zackarina is portrayed by musical artist Hanna Brehmer. Opera in one act by Johanna Fridolfsson. Libretto by Malin Aghed. Directed by Emelie Sigelius. On tour in Västra Götaland, including The Göteborg Opera’s Small Stage. For children aged between 6 and 10.  
Revival premiere 2 February 2024  

The Year 2 Choir: Family concert in which hundreds of local eight- and nine-year-olds sing with The Göteborg Opera Orchestra. During the academic year 2023/24, pupils in Year 2 at Gothenburg’s schools will practise and sing under the direction of educators from Kulturskolan, the City of Gothenburg’s cultural pedagogic programme. The Year 2 Choir will be given as a schools’ performance during the day, with 300 children participating in each performance, and as a public performance. A collaboration with Kulturskolan and the City of Gothenburg.  
11 May and 14 May 2024   

Astronaut, Carl Olof Berg’s dizzying dance work for primary school children is planned for new performances in Västra Götaland.  

Skapa Days (Create Days): Three times each season, the Opera House is filled with activities and performances as part of our Skapa (Create) programme. This season’s themes are identity and love, based around productions of The Sand Wolf and Don Giovanni, and who can be considered good or evil, based on Wicked. This autumn’s Skapa Days include Re-create, at which Christofer Elgh’s new chamber opera Alice in Wonderland: The Tea Party will be performed with the youths. During the Easter holidays 2024, we will be holding a family-friendly open house. And much more.  

IN ADDITION:  

Summer stage concert on regional tour; the Gothenburg Culture Festival; the GO Club, an after-work live music venue on the Small Stage; chamber concerts; relaxed performance; An Evening of Operatic and Musical Hits around the region; Christmas concert in Skövde Kulturhus. And, of course, guided tours, introductions, post-show talks and physical introductions. We continue the work of connecting with a new and younger audience with activities such as Re-create, Skapa Dance, Opera in Schools and our children’s and youth choruses. We will also be further developing our collaborations with schools in the region and with Save the Children.