When balmy summer evenings descend on Vienna and music fills the city, Heumarkt once again becomes the setting for an extraordinary opera event: in July 2026, the Vienna Opera Summer will bring Georges Bizet's Carmen to the impressive opera arena at Heumarkt – the city's only open-air opera and a celebration of grand emotions under the open sky.
Following the highly acclaimed productions of recent years, the festival continues its success story with Carmen, one of the most passionate works in the opera repertoire. Bizet's masterpiece tells of freedom and seduction, of love, jealousy, and destructive obsession. The self-determined Carmen captivates everyone with her untamed sensuality—and draws the young soldier Don José into a vortex of desire and doom from which he cannot escape. Hardly any other opera combines musical brilliance and dramatic power as directly as this one.
A special dramaturgical element lends the evening additional intimacy: as in La Traviata, the "ghost" of the composer guides the audience through the plot. Georges Bizet himself – embodied by Hosea Ratschiller – becomes the narrator, replacing the spoken dialogues and giving the audience an entertaining and informative introduction to the opera. The music remains completely true to the original – a concept that appeals to opera connoisseurs as well as newcomers.
Vienna Opera Summer © MAGMAG Events GmbH
Three internationally acclaimed mezzo-sopranos, Isabel Leonard, Na'ama Goldman, and Ezgi Kutlu, take to the stage in the title role, impressively embodying Carmen's complexity between independence, sensuality, and the abyss. Don José is interpreted by Oreste Cosimo and Dumitru Mitu. The proven leading team remains loyal to the opera summer: Joji Hattori is responsible for musical direction and artistic direction, Dominik Am Zehnhof-Söns for staging and casting, and Jessica Wurzer for choreography. Set designer Manfred Waba is once again responsible for the spectacular stage design, transforming the Vienna Ice Skating Club into an atmospheric opera arena – with the façade of the Vienna Konzerthaus as an impressive backdrop.
Twelve performances make the Vienna Opera Summer 2026 a cultural highlight of the season. Carmen under the open sky is more than just an opera performance: it is a sensual experience combining music, light, architecture, and summer nights—a celebration for everyone who wants to experience great emotions and lively opera in the heart of Vienna.
July 1 to 18, 2026
www.wieneropernsommer.at
