European Opera Days
Theatre of the World, 6-8 May 2016
Date of release: 21 March 2016
The first European Opera Days took place in February 2007, at the same time as Opera Europa and Opéra national de Pairs hosted the first European Opera Forum.
The tenth edition of this celebration of opera takes place from 6 to 8 May 2016.
The first European Opera Forum brought together over 600 participants – around 400 opera professionals, 50 artists, 70 Friends of opera, and 100 young participants from around Europe. To make this major gathering on opera resonate beyond Paris, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of opera’s first masterpiece, the first European Opera Days were created, encouraging European opera companies to open their doors and welcomes diverse audiences for special activities. With over 100 participating theatres, the initiative was a great success with audiences. Since then, an annual theme sets the tone for inspiring angles to these open activities. This year brings the tenth edition of the European Opera Days (EODs), with close to 90 participating companies in 24 countries, on the unifying theme, Theatre of the World.
Audience surveys, conducted by the opera companies participating in EODs, tell us 60% of participants had their first encounter with opera during this festive weekend. And it is a testimony to the vivid interest in opera in general that, over the past 9 editions, well over one million people have taken part in the rich and diverse activities offered during the European Opera Days.
In addition to the usual crowd-pleasing activities – such as guided tours of the opera stage and workshops, flash mobs in public venues and meetings with artists – the 2016 EODs will inspire some international joint activities, including: cyber-conferences and debates about the role of culture, art and opera in society – all build around the theme, Theatre of the World.
Over the same weekend as this tenth edition of the European Opera Days, there is another important anniversary for an Opera Europa initiative: The Opera Platform celebrates its first birthday. On Friday 6 May, the opera Reigen by Philippe Boesmans will be streamed live from Oper Stuttgart, staged by Nicola Hümpel and conducted by Sylvain Cambreling. As well as this live event, The Opera Platform will also mark its anniversary by bringing back to the platform many of the operas streamed throughout the past year, again with subtitles in six languages. It is an opportunity to see much-loved productions such as La traviata from Teatro Real Madrid, Götterdämmerung from Wiener Staatsoper, La bohème from Den Norske Opera Oslo or Aïda from Teatro Regio Torino, as well as lesser known titles such as Valentina from Latvian National Opera Riga, Kullervo from Finnish National Opera Helsinki and Powder her face de La Monnaie Bruxelles. All this is in addition to the current programme of free video on demand operas from companies across Europe.
The European Opera Days are a joint initiative of Opera Europa and RESEO, in collaboration with United States of Opera Benelux, Opera XXI Spain, Réunion des Opéras de France, NOCC UK, OperaNorge Norway and AMT Russia.
The Opera Platform is a project led by Opera Europa thanks to the support of Creative Europe, a programme of the European Commission.
