It’s time to reveal our upcoming season!

New productions of The Bartered Bride, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Don Pasquale and Nabucco. Swedish premieres of Die schweigsame Frau and Märchen im Grand-Hotel. Long-awaited revivals of acclaimed productions of La Bohème and Rigoletto and the first ever performance of the children’s opera Sandvargen. Our postponed production of the spectacular musical Cabaret will also finally have its premiere.
Dance lovers can look forward to shows by three legendary Nordic choreographers: world premieres of new dance creations by Alexander Ekman, Johan Inger and Kenneth Kvarnström – the latter with Ane Brun live on stage. And much, much more!
Welcome to the Göteborg Opera’s 2022/2023 season.

Henning Ruhe, Artistic Director Opera/Drama:
“When I look at our upcoming season, I feel incredibly proud of what we can offer the audience. I hope they all feel the same as me: ‘Wow, I want to see it all!’ This season is packed with unique, rich and varied experiences, offering something special for everyone. A strong theme runs through the whole season: How do we choose the person we want to share our life with, and how free is our choice? Some of the main characters are strongly influenced by social rules and the expectations of people around them, as in the case of Rigoletto and the arranged marriages in The Bartered Bride, Don Pasquale and Die schweigsame Frau. Others are motivated by romantic ideals, such as the quest for perfection in Les Contes d’Hoffmann or the easy charm in La Bohème, or a thirst for power, as in Nabucco. The characters in this season’s two musicals, Cabaret and Märchen im Grand-Hotel, find themselves similarly walking the boundary between free choice and social norms. Our magnificent orchestra takes the limelight in concerts of music by Alfvén, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky and a new initiative for young conductors. And the imaginative child in the new opera Sandvargen, in which philosophical questions are brought to life for a young audience, helps us understand the world a little better. This is perhaps something both we and this season’s main characters need.”

Katrín Hall, Artistic Director Dance:
“In a changing world, dance remains a universal language that takes us beyond the conceivable. The upcoming season is brimming with new challenges. We will open with one of our biggest successes ever: Damien Jalet’s Skid, combined with his latest tour de force, Kites. We are extremely proud to present a new full-evening work by Alexander Ekman involving the entire GöteborgsOperans Danskompani. Another critically acclaimed Swedish choreographer, Johan Inger, presents a new work featuring two rising stars, siblings Imre and Marne van Opstal. And we finally present the world premiere of 12 songs, in which choreographer Kenneth Kvarnström transforms the songs of Ane Brun into dance – with Ane Brun herself performing on stage with GöteborgsOperans Danskompani and the Göteborg Opera Orchestra. We will also continue to expand our horizons with international tours – now to Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, Paris and London.”

• The complete repertoire and more details about each production, casts and artistic teams, in opera, musicals, dance, concerts and regional premieres, regional tours and Skapa (Create) events in the 2022/2023 season: https://www.opera.se/en/2022-2023/
• Press images are available here: https://opera.qbank.se/mb/?h=c77e24ed290c33b920fe86c72237ed27
• Ticket release dates: Subscriptions can be purchased by existing subscribers as of 19 April, and by new subscribers as of 26 April. The big ticket release will take place on 12 May, when everyone can buy tickets for performances taking place between August 2022 and January 2023.
• For press enquiries, please contact press@opera.se, +46 31 10 80 35 (Marie Branner), +46 31 10 80 68 (Emil Rinstad)

SELECTION BY GENRE IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

OPERAS AND MUSICALS:
The Bartered Bride: Opera by Bedřich Smetana. Director Mellika Melouani Melani revisits this Czech national-romantic opera, imbuing it with punky love, strong desires and violent rebellion against traditional norms. Is this a socially critical romantic comedy or a study of the absurd tragedy of relationships? Exuberant, explosive and sentimental, it encompasses romantic arias, lively choruses, Czech folk music, dancers and circus artists.
Premiere 17 September 2022.

Cabaret: Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome – the Master of Ceremonies finally welcomes you to the Kit Kat Club! The musical Cabaret was scheduled to open in 2020, but its premiere was postponed due to the pandemic. Now you can finally step into a bustling Berlin in the fragile final period of the Weimar Republic. There are a limited number of seats for audience members on the stage at this magnificent musical. These seats are expected to be snapped up very quickly. Director: James Grieve. Conductor: David White. A musical by Fred Ebb, John Kander and Joe Masteroff. Swedish translation by Rikard Bergqvist.
Premiere 1 October 2022.

Les Contes d’Hoffmann: In this new production of Jacques Offenbach’s fantasy opera by director Krystian Lada, Hoffmann’s beloved Stella has left him. He drowns his sorrows in alcohol while reminiscing on the past. In his bereaved state, reality and fantasy merge together. Kerstin Avemo portrays all three of the women that Hoffmann has loved and lost – each of whom embodies different aspects of the same woman. The role of Hoffmann is sung by three tenors of different ages. Joachim Bäckström plays the middle-aged Hoffman looking back on his life. Conductor: Sébastien Rouland.
Premiere 26 November 2022.

Die schweigsame Frau: We present the Swedish premiere of Richard Strauss’s comic opera from 1935, ‘The Silent Woman’, which regales us with powerful music, large ensembles and quiet reflection. The plot, inspired by commedia dell’arte, is virtually identical to that of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, which will be performed on tour in Region Västra Götaland. Conductor Yoel Gamzou. Barrie Kosky’s colourful production from the Bavarian State Opera in Munich was premiered in 2010.
Swedish premiere 4 March 2023.

Don Pasquale: Opera by Gaetano Donizetti. This type of intriguing plot – in which the youngsters trick their elders and love reigns supreme – is familiar from countless operas (such as Strauss’s Die schweigsame Frau, which will also be performed at The Göteborg Opera this season). The director is Annika Lindqvist. In this updated production of Don Pasquale, the title character is stuck in the 1980s while Norina is an independent contemporary woman.
Premiere on 8 March 2023 on the Small Stage. Subsequently touring in Västra Götaland.

Märchen im Grand-Hotel: The Swedish premiere of Paul Abraham’s swinging musical cracker bursting with 1920s flair and dreams of riches, glamour and love. Featuring dazzling dance scenes with tap, tango, minuets, barbershop and slapstick routines. Director Mirja Burlin. New Swedish translation by Fredrik Fischer and Linnea Sjunnesson.
Swedish premiere 22 April 2023.

Nabucco: Giuseppe Verdi’s classic opera Nabucco – with its hit tune Va pensiero (‘Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves’) – is a tale of violence, oppression, reconciliation and the longing for freedom. An all-Italian team headed by director Jacopo Spirei sets the biblical story of King Nebuchadnezzar in a contemporary context, with an oppressed populace protesting against a tyrannical government. Italian conductor Giancarlo Andretta returns to The Göteborg Opera to conduct Verdi’s breakthrough opera. Mats Persson takes the title role.
Premiere 20 May 2023.

Revivals: We also present revivals of Puccini’s acclaimed La Bohème: ‘Tearfully beautiful’ (SR Kulturnytt), ‘Sensational’ (Expressen), ‘Magical’ (DN) on 21 January 2023, and Verdi’s much-loved Rigoletto on 28 August 2022.

DANCE:
Skid/Kites: Both of Damien Jalet’s works for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani will be performed here together for the first time, as was originally intended. Skid (2017), performed on a stage with a 34 degree slope, is one of GöteborgsOperans Danskompani’s greatest successes and is in demand for guest performances worldwide. ‘Yet another peerless masterpiece from GöteborgsOperans Danskompani’ (GP). This spring we presented its sequel, Kites – ‘Hypnotically beautiful singing in celebration of life’ (SvD) – in which the movement is directed upwards amid breezes and strong winds. There are only three performances, so book early while there are still tickets.
Revival premiere 21 August 2022.

Hammer: A full evening in two acts by Alexander Ekman. In his new work, the entire GöteborgsOperans Danskompani – the Nordic region’s largest contemporary dance company – performs together on the stage. Multi-award-winning choreographer Alexander Ekman is bold, unpredictable and innovative, just like GöteborgsOperans Danskompani. Ekman has created some 50 works, which have been performed by almost as many companies worldwide. Hammer will be his third work for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani.
World premiere 29 October 2022.

12 songs +: Dance works by Kenneth Kvarnström and Sharon Eyal. With 12 Songs, choreographer Kenneth Kvarnström presents the music of performer and songwriter Ane Brun in a new guise. With the Göteborg Opera Orchestra, guest musicians and Ane Brun performing live on stage. 12 songs is performed as part of a full evening programme along with the revival of SAABA by Sharon Eyal, which was highly acclaimed at its world premiere in 2021. ‘Clean, brilliant dance’ (GP), ‘Pure joy’ (BT).
World premiere and revival 4 February 2023.

Touched: Dance work by Johan Inger and Imre& Marne van Opstal. After both enjoying stellar dance careers, Imre and Marne van Opstal have gained increasing recognition as a choreographer duo with strong physical expression (their work has already been booked abroad, before even being created). Johan Inger has created works for eminent dance companies worldwide. He has been artistic director of Cullbergbaletten and house choreographer at the NDT. His latest work in Gothenburg was the evocative Falter (2010).
World premiere 31 March 2023.

International tours: In 2022/2023, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani will make guest appearances in Sydney, London, Paris, Taichung, Seoul, Mulhouse, among other locations.

CONCERTS:
The Göteborg Opera Orchestra with soloists, the Göteborg Opera Chorus and guests in four different concerts – one for each season. Orchestral concerts:

• 14 August 2022: Nordiska klanger (Nordic Soundscapes). Music by Hugo Alfvén, whose 150th birthday we celebrate in 2022, and Jean Sibelius. Conductor: Tabita Berglund. Soloists: Ida Falk Winland and Mats Persson.
• 4 December 2022: Vinterdrömmar (Winter dreams), two dazzling works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, including The Nutcracker with texts recited by Marianne Mörck. Conductor Lionel Bringuier.
• 2 April 2023: Messa di Gloria – choral mass by Puccini. Puccini’s mass will be performed at Gothenburg Cathedral and Skara Cathedral (15 April in Skara) with soloists Tomas Lind and Mats Persson, together with The Göteborg Opera Chorus and Orchestra.
• 11 June 2023: Avanti! A concert with favourite arias, choral and orchestral music from Italian operas, with promising young conductors. Avanti! is the finale to a unique master class for young conductors given by Antonello Allemandi. With soloists and the Göteborg Opera Chorus.

Grandi voci. Our series of recitals by great singers continues with names such as Camilla Tilling (16/10/2022), Lawrence Brownlee (11/2/2023) and Maria Bengtsson (14/5/2023).

Twelfth Night Concert and Ball: A concert with music from all the musicals performed at The Göteborg Opera over the years. With musical artists Tobias Ahlsell, David Lundqvist and Anders Wängdahl (Duratrion), together with Julia Carlström, Karin Mårtenson Ghods, Micaela Sjöstedt and the Göteborg Opera Orchestra. After the concert, there will be dancing on the Main Stage to music by the Göteborg Opera’s Viennese orchestra, the Stardust Big Swing Band and the Smoke Rings Sisters.

CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE:
Astronaut: An out-of-this-world dance work for everyone aged 8 and over. Choreographer Carl Olof Berg drew inspiration from the 1960s space race. Astronaut had its world premiere in the 2021/2022 season, when it toured school classrooms in Gothenburg.
Revival premiere 29 August 2022, on tour in Västra Götaland.

Sandvargen: A new children’s opera based on Åsa Lind’s acclaimed, August Prize nominated trilogy, now brought to life with music. This philosophical opera is written by Johanna Fridolfsson and Malin Aghed and directed by Emelie Sigelius. With Åke Zetterström in the title role and Hanna Brehmer as Zackarina. For children aged between 6 and 10.
First performance 16 September 2022 at Skövde Kulturhus. Then touring in Västra Götaland, including the Göteborg Opera Small Stage.

Tinsel and Tumult: This year’s Christmas cheer is assured with a revival of the family musical with extra everything. ‘It has plenty of everything a Christmas musical should include’ (GP). Can the plucky ensemble save the Christmas show before it’s too late?
Revival premiere 14 December 2022.

In addition:

Återskapa (Recreate): Svenne: A show about power, violence and civil courage. A new musical based on Per Nilsson’s August­ Prize-winning novel of the same name. First performance 26 August 2022.
Open house: In the 2023 Easter break, we’ll open up the opera house to welcome inquisitive children and their accompanying grown-ups.
Concert: Göteborg Opera Youth Choruses on the Main Stage on 21 May 2023.
Tvåornas kör (The Year 2 Choir): Hundreds of 8 and 9 year-olds on the Main Stage, in collaboration with Kulturskolan. 2 June 2023.
Filter: a musical theatre work by Jacob Andréas, Rudina Hatipi and Sjöstedt, based on schoolchildren’s thoughts on identity and self-image amid the white noise of social media. For young people aged between 13 and 18. Watch a filmed performance at opera.se.

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE …
Chamber concerts, GO Club(our new club format with music, food and mingling), Mahler Symphony No. 2 with our youth choruses, autumn and spring Skapadagar (Create Days) (packed with free performances and activities), Relaxed performance, GöteborgsOperan på besök (The Göteborg Opera visits) – tours of the local region, Christmas concert in Skövde. There will also be guided tours, introductions, after-performance talks and physical introductions. We’ll also continue our initiatives to attract young and new audiences, including Skapadagar (Create Days), Återskapa (Recreate)and Tvåornas kör (The Year 2 Choir). In addition, we’ll step up our collaborations with local schools, the Red Cross and Save the Children.