About
The Heidenheim Opera Festival 2027 (Opernfestspiele Heidenheim) returns from 11 June to 1 August 2027 with a season built around the theme "Sprengkraft" ("Explosive Power"). Staged in the spectacular surroundings of Hellenstein Castle and the Congress Centrum Heidenheim (CCH), the festival combines outstanding musical standards with one of Germany's most distinctive open-air opera settings, where historic architecture and dramatic storytelling come together under the summer sky.
The 2027 programme presents two new productions that unite the worlds of Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi. Wagner's Lohengrin becomes the festival's principal production, performed across both the medieval Rittersaal of Hellenstein Castle and the CCH. The staging is directed by Georg Schmiedleitner, while Festival Artistic Director Marcus Bosch conducts the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, continuing one of the festival's most successful artistic partnerships.
The second operatic highlight is Verdi's I masnadieri, one of the composer's early masterpieces inspired by Friedrich Schiller's drama The Robbers. Presented as part of Heidenheim's acclaimed Verdi cycle, the production continues the festival's long-term exploration of the composer's operatic legacy, offering audiences the opportunity to discover a rarely staged work in a thoughtfully conceived new interpretation.
At the heart of the festival is Marcus Bosch, whose artistic vision has established the Opernfestspiele Heidenheim as one of Europe's leading summer opera festivals. His work with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and the festival's own Cappella Aquileia has earned widespread international recognition for combining musical precision with dramatic intensity. The return of Georg Schmiedleitner, renowned for his acclaimed Wagner productions, is another major highlight of the 2027 season.
Beyond the staged operas, the festival complements its programme with orchestral concerts and special events, creating a varied musical journey throughout the summer. Every performance benefits from the unique atmosphere of the castle complex, where centuries of history provide a remarkable backdrop for some of opera's greatest masterpieces.
The Heidenheim Opera Festival 2027 offers an exceptional opportunity to experience Wagner and Verdi in a setting unlike any other. With ambitious productions, renowned artistic leadership, and one of Germany's most atmospheric festival venues, it promises an inspiring summer for every opera enthusiast.
About the Heidenheim Opera Festival
The Heidenheim Opera Festival (founded in 1964) is a major summer classical festival with its annual program of opera , concerts and many extras . The romantic Knights' Hall at Hellenstein Castle, one of "the most beautiful open-air stages in Europe" (Die Welt). An acoustically excellent Festspielhaus CCH . Opera and symphony unplugged and in an intimate chamber music setting. " World class" (opera glass) in the natural landscape of the eastern Swabian Jura The OH! is a festival of fascinating contrasts.
Since August 2009 the conductor has been Marcus Bosch artistic director of the Heidenheim Opera Festival. Within a short time, Bosch took the festival of his childhood town to national and international renown. The founding of the Cappella Aquileia - Orchestra of the OH! in 2011, the invitation of internationally renowned singers and directors, the collaboration with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Czech Philharmonic Choir in Brno, live recordings and radio broadcasts (SWR, DLF Kultur), guest performances in Switzerland, France and Italy CD releases (cpo, Coviello Classics), the master concerts "Festspiele over the year" - the OH! are today as diverse as they are unmistakably profiled. The festival combines the appeal of a special event with an uncompromising desire for artistic quality.
And with a passion for discovery . The series with the early operas of Giuseppe Verdi, which started in 2016, fascinates experts and audiences alike. The fresh and unbiased view of the hand-picked Cappella Aquileia on the orchestral music of the 19th century opens up new approaches to the great repertoire. The Beethoven series "Music for the Theater" by the OH! celebrates great success.
Today the OH! supported on a broad basis by the festival city of Heidenheim, by cosmopolitan Swabian companies such as Voith GmbH & Co.KGaA, Paul Hartmann AG, Carl Zeiss AG or Stadtwerke Heidenheim, as well as by a broad civic commitment that is second to none. And from a great tradition .
As early as the Middle Ages, Minnesang was verifiably cultivated at the Staufer castle, Schloss Hellenstein. In 1964, the conductor Helmut Weigel laid the modern foundation for the Heidenheim Opera Festival with a first castle serenade. After years of concerts and operas, in 1977 visitors experienced a major opera production for the first time with Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio".
Marco Maria Canonica - artistic director of the festival from 1985 - dedicated the growing festival entirely to opera: exclusively in-house productions, multi-year cycles with operas by Verdi or Mozart or the founding of the Junge Oper Heidenheim with an annually produced opera for children and families - the Heidenheim Opera Festival achieved high popularity and the nationwide charisma of a "hidden champion". Today, Heidenheim is considered the "Glyndebourne of Germany" (...) and enjoys a high reputation among international festival destinations.
