The German forest is growing on Lake Constance in Bregenz this summer. The production of Carl Maria von Weber's romantic opera Der Freischütz by the visually stunning director Philipp Stölzl (Rigoletto) is eagerly awaited. A devilishly fairytale-like hunter's tale of loyalty and temptation including forest weaving, bridal chorus and wolf's gorge horror. Following the Butterfly success, conductor Enrique Mazzola will once again accompany the Wiener Symphoniker to their summer residence. Meanwhile, Gioacchino Rossini's first great operatic success about the exiled knight Trancedi is on the programme at the Festspielhaus. Yi-Chen Lin will conduct this rarely performed work.

At home in Vienna, one of Mozart's greatest classics is on the programme at the MusikTheater an der Wien: Idomeneo, the King of Crete, questions the mechanisms of power and the role of the family father. David Bates will conduct the work. Vincenzo Bellini's opera Norma also revolves around the question of power and powerlessness and a woman who has to hide her children from the public. A musical drama that Francesco Lanzillotta will tell with the Wiener Symphoniker. The family opera is a new classic. We have the Little Prince and his author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry to thank for phrases such as: "You can only see well with your heart." Gábor Káli will cast the journey to the little asteroid and the Prince's moral realisations in sound.