The 79th Festival Summer centers on the new artistic director Lilli Paasikivi: George Enescu’s Œdipe premieres as the first opera under her leadership at the Festspielhaus on July 16, 2025. The following day, July 17, 2025, Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz opens on the floating stage. Last summer, the lake production captivated audiences with German director Philipp Stölzl’s extraordinary staging. The 2025 Bregenz Festival will feature nearly 80 events in total.

Der Freischütz

by Carl Maria von Weber has been one of the most popular operas in German-speaking countries since its premiere in 1821. The production features director and stage designer Philipp Stölzl and conductor in residence Enrique Mazzola, who are collaborating again in Bregenz following the phenomenal success of Rigoletto. The spectacular stage set depicts a ghostly village on the lake stage, transporting both audience and performers to a snow-covered winter landscape – in the midst of summer.

Opera at the Festspielhaus
On July 16, 2025, a lyric tragedy in four acts, OEdipe by George Enescu, will premiere. Andreas Kriegenburg will direct the production, with Hannu Lintu as musical director. Audiences can look forward to this interpretation of the well-known material.

Orchestral concerts Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra
Symphonic masterpieces and newly discovered sounds come together: the four orchestral concerts present music ranging from Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel to Jean Sibelius, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler. Star conductors include Elim Chan, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Petr Popleka and Leo McFall for the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra.

• Find Bregenz Festival programme for 2025 here