Poznań Opera House symbolizes over 100-years history of Polish opera. The Opera House was built at the beginning of 20th century in the center of Poznan, a town with unusually rich tradition of musical life and at the same representing an important cultural center of Poland.
Already shortly after the inauguration, Poznan Grand Theatre gained the opinion of a leading opera stage in Poland and until the present day in belongs to the best artist troupes in this part of Europe.
The diversified repertoire of the theatre includes both the classical operas and the contemporary compositions with particular consideration of Polish operas. A young and perfectly educated corps de ballet presents performances arranged in different styles.
Among the most valuable realizations of the last years, the following ones deserves a special mention: the world premiére of Elektra by Mikis Theodorakis, The Devils of Loudun by Krzysztof Penderecki, Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky, Salome by Richard Strauss, Parsifal and Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner, La Juiveby Halévy, Carmen and Les pécheurs de perles by Bizet, Andrea Chénier by Umberto Giordano, The Gamblers (Igroki) by Dymitr Shostakovich and Krzysztof Meyer and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk district by Shostakovich, Così fan tutte by W.A. Mozart, Slow Man by Nicholas Lens and J.M. Coetzee; ballet spectacles: Swan Lake by Tschakowsky, Giselle by Adam, Zorba by Theodorakis, Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev, Uwe Scholz’s Die Schöpfung, Krzysztof Pastors’ Dangerous Liaisons.
The Polish original performance of Galina by Marcel Landowski based on the memoirs of Galina Vishnevskaya, realized to the presence of the title heroine in May 1999 was the only presentation of the Polish opera theatre during the World EXPO 2000 in Hanover.
In the actual permanent repertoire of Poznan Opera, there are 30 operas and 10 ballet spectacles. New projects are continually realized permitting to extend the spectrum of the interests of our audience. Since several years, Poznań Opera attracts international audiences during the organized festivals – Poznań Verdi Days, where all works of the composer are presented and Poznań Ballet Festival when are presented performances of different techniques – classical ballet and modern styles.
The artistic troupe of Poznań Opera performs beyond its seat invited to participate in many Polish and international and musical and theatrical festivals (Festival de Carcassonne, Sommerfestspiele Xanten, annual cycles of spectacles in Staatstheater Hailbronn, Festival International de Santander) and guest performances – Luxemburg, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and others.