The selection of premiere performances at the Volksoper opens this year with Carl Zeller's classic "Der Vogelhändler" ("The Bird Seller"), followed by "Häuptling Abendwind" ("Chief Evening Breeze") by Jacques Offenbach and Johann Nestroy. The third premiere, Paul Abraham's exotic revue-style "Blume von Hawaii" ("The Flower of Hawaii"), takes audiences back to the 1930s.

New operatic productions include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' s "Entführung aus dem Serail" ("Abduction from the Seraglio"), Giuseppe Verdi' s "Rigoletto", Sergei Prokofiev's "Liebe zu den drei Orangen" ("The Love of the Three Oranges") and the premiere of the pop opera "Antonia und der Reißteufel" ("Antonia and the Little Devil") by Christian Kolonovits.

The hit musical "Guys and Dolls" returns to the Volksoper stage. As a musical treat, there will be the concertante performance of  Rodgers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific" with an all-star cast: The leading Italian opera bass Ferruccio Furnaletto sings his "dream role" for the first time. The ballet program includes a new production of "Carmen" and Ballett Gala.

The current Vienna Volksoper was opened in 1898 as the "Kaiser-Jubiläums-Stadttheater" and started out as a conventional dramatic theater. In 1903, for the first time the program included operas and lyrical dramas. World-famous singers like Maria Jeritza, Leo Slezak, and Richard Tauber took the stage here, and Alexander Zemlinsky worked here as a director.

For certain operettas and musicals, English-language supertitles convey the plot of the opera to those who do not speak German, because "The whole world loves operettas...!"

Music examples

played by the Volksoper Symphony Orchestra Vienna:

• Johann Strauss: "Die Fledermaus," Overture op. 362
• Franz Lehár: "Komm in den kleinen Pavillon," from "The Merry Widow"
• Emmerich Kálmán: "Grüß mir die süßen, die reizenden Frauen" from "Gräfin Mariza"

Volksoper

9., Währinger Straße 78
U6, Tram 40, 41, 42, Bus 40A: Währinger Straße / Volksoper
Tel. 514 44-30
Vienna-Card - 10%
www.volksoper.at