‘Madame Butterfly’ – the famous opera by Giacomo Puccini – is going to be presented on the Bregenz lake stage for the first time in summer. The story is about a Japanese geisha girl’s tragic love. Conductor Enrique Mazzola was already responsible for the performances of Rigoletto’s work and he will continue to conduct the orchestra for the 2022 season. Director Andreas Homoki and his team will be creating the corresponding Japanese landscape aesthetics on the lake shore.

‘Siberia’ – the house opera by Umberto Giordano – also tells the story of a woman’s eventful life in three acts: the tragic tale of Stephane, who was forced into prostitution at an early age and who voluntarily followed her love into a Siberian prison camp only to be betrayed and to die there. She undergoes a transformation from courtesan to lover and dies a heroine. The piece was only hesitantly accepted when it premièred in 1903 but then went on to enjoy worldwide success. The Moscow-born director Vasily Barkhatov will be staging Siberia in conjunction with fellow-Russian, the conductor Valentin Uryupin. Masterpieces by Russian composers are also going be heard in the orchestral concerts – an exciting excursion into the exploration of (Far) Eastern sounds and stories is on the programme for the 2022 festival season.