The lights slowly dim until the audience is shrouded in darkness. Then, finally, the thick velvet curtains open. A figure, half-illuminated, slowly walks, singing onto the stage. The conductor’s hands are poised and ready to command the orchestra as a high operatic voice radiates throughout the theatre, bouncing off the walls and into the audience’s ears. Here the performer’s voice shares a story on an operatic journey at the world-renowned Munich Opera Festival.

Each year, the Munich Opera Festival attracts opera fans from all over the world. Over six summer weeks, visitors can enjoy not only opera performances but ballet, song recitals, and festival concerts. Each year, the festival is opened with a choral concert performed as part of a Roman Catholic service at Michaelskirche. The festival is hosted and organised by the Bavaria State Opera. All the festival performances are held at the National Theater, the Prince Regent Theater, and the Cuvilliés Theater.

With over 2000 seats, the National Theatre is the largest opera house in Germany and has a rich history within its foundations. Although built-in 1751, it was reconstructed in 1825 due to a great fire and subsequently destroyed again during World War II. The theatre was reopened in 1963 as a regal edifice with eight granite columns and ancient Greek figures.

Walking up to the Cuvilliés Theatre, visitors enter a courtyard and a water fountain adorned with black marble warriors. Yet the best features are inside. The all-surrounding rococo style of the interior is decorated in deep red and gold, with a circular structure of private boxes leading up to intricate frescos that cover the ceiling.

The opera premiere performances change annually with productions such as Krzysztof Penderecki’s, The Devils of Loudun. This opera is not for the faint-hearted. The story, while told through harmonious voices, takes many unpredictable turns through religious fanaticism, debauchery, and mass hysteria within the small French town, Loudun during the 17th century.

Another opera performance shown at the festival is Othello. It is an adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare written in 1603. The opera is about marriage, manipulation, and jealousy. It is perfect for visitors who enjoy a maniacal villain who sets out to reap their revenge through deception and lies. Other operas that guests may take in include La Traviata and Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi, Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz, Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten, Einführungsmatinee zu Capriccio and Das Schlaue Fuchslein by Leoš Janáček.

The ballet adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream also graces the festival’s stage. Like Othello, the performance was originally a play written by Shakespeare. The story is for those who enjoy magic, fairies, and mischief; all acted out within the movement of dance. The story is set within an enchanted woodland forest, with elegant ballet dancers dressed as sprites who pirouette across the stage. In glittering pastel dresses, their movement is poised as they dance on point and are raised into the air. Like the opera, attending a ballet performance is a chance for a guest to sit back, relax and enjoy the wonder of the arts. Other ballet performances shown at the festival are Today is Tomorrow, Passages, and Cinderella.

The Munich Opera Festival is an unmissable event for those who enjoy watching the arts through dance and music and enjoy reliving Shakespeare’s masterpieces again through different adaptations and expressions. Guests who come will be left speechless after the festival’s performances and leave surely wishing to return for an encore.