The Lehár Festival Bad Ischl is the largest operetta festival in Europe and is unique worldwide in its variety and quality. This summer, under the direction of successful director Thomas Enzinger, musical entertainment theater at the highest level will be offered from July 4 to August 24. And the rainproof and air-conditioned Kongress & TheaterHaus Bad Ischl is not only synonymous with summer retreats, it is also the place where operetta stars such as Franz Lehár, Emmerich Kálmán and Richard Tauber lived and worked during their lifetimes. Bad Ischl - a Mecca of operetta!
Oorpheus in the underworld
When the famous can-can is danced in hell, when godfather Jupiter disguises himself as a fly to seduce his adored Euridice, who in turn gets bored with her husband and is abducted by Pluto, the devil himself, when the Greek gods in heaven become rebels - and all this in front of the eyes of public opinion, then, dear audience, you are in the universe of Orpheus in the underworld.
This masterpiece with the incomparable music by Jaques Offenbach is regarded as the ultimate operetta and is certainly one of the funniest and most frivolous ever written.
Intendant Thomas Enzinger will stage this ingenious, hilarious centerpiece of the operetta and bring it to the stage in Bad Ischl for the first time.
Premiere July 4, 2025
One night in Venice
He is one of Austria's greatest sons and the king of the golden operetta era - Johann Strauss! In 2025, we celebrate his 200th birthday and invite our audience to a dignified celebration and a trip to Venice!
With hilarious comedy of mistaken identities, gondola romance and Mediterranean flair, there is guaranteed to be no dry eye in the house when Baron and womanizer Guido von Urbino invites guests to his legendary masked ball.
With "A Night in Venice", Johann Strauss created an unsurpassable musical masterpiece that makes us dream of bella Italia, glittering balls and romantic nights with immortal melodies such as Frutti di Mare, Alle maskiert, or Komm in die Gondel and loving local color.
Premiere July 12, 2025
The Blue Mazur
With "Die blaue Mazur" we present a Lehár operetta that has never been performed in Bad Ischl in the long history of the festival.
The Viennese Countess Blanka von Lossin is unhappily married to the Polish Count Olinski, who shows too much interest in a dancer. But it is the dance that will bring the couple back together, because when Julian Olinski renounces his exuberant past life, he invites his wife Blanka to the "Blue Mazur" and proves that his heart belongs to her alone.
You can look forward to classical waltz melodies, lively buffo duets and, of course, lively dance rhythms, as the mazurka gave the operetta its name.
Premiere August 8, 2025
www.leharfestival.at
