Opera The Magic Flute

The opera is performed in German, with Hebrew and English subtitles. Translation by Israel Yuval.

The opening of the new season at the Israeli Opera: Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

The Israeli Opera opens its new 2026–2027 season with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute, in a production by Opernhaus Dortmund.

Director: Nikolaus Habjan. Conductor: Dan Ettinger.

W. A. Mozart’s The Magic Flute stands out in the classical repertoire for a combination that rarely comes so effortlessly. Mozart’s music is at once simple and complex, amusing and profound, accessible and mysterious.

Prince Tamino and the bird-catcher Papageno set out to rescue Pamina, but must undergo a series of trials on their path to truth and love. What begins as a simple rescue story gradually unfolds into a complex world in which it is not always clear who represents light and who darkness, or what true justice consists of.

The director of this production, Nikolaus Habjan, is a renowned Austrian director of musical and dramatic theatre, actor and puppeteer. He was born in Graz in 1987 and became fascinated with puppet theatre at the age of five, at the Salzburg Festival. Today, Habjan is one of the most distinctive opera directors of his generation. Nikolaus Habjan is a resident director at Opernhaus Dortmund and has also worked as a guest director-in-residence at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien. He is a multiple winner of the Austrian Nestroy Theatre Prize, as well as a recipient of the Austrian Musical Theatre Award for Best Operetta Production—for Jacques Offenbach’s La Périchole.

His productions are staged at leading venues around the world, from Austria to the United States and Israel. His production of Beethoven’s Fidelio became a major premiere at the Vienna State Opera, created in collaboration with conductor Franz Welser-Möst.

His production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute was presented at Opernhaus Dortmund and in Cleveland.

The role of Tamino will be performed by tenors George Virban and David Kerber; Pamina by sopranos Alla Vasilevitskaya and Yael Levita; the Queen of the Night by sopranos Hila Fahima and Nofar Yaakobi; and Papageno by baritones Oded Reich and Jakob Schaad. The role of Papagena will be performed by Shaked Strul and Rania Atik. The First Lady will be performed by Marie Webb and Shlomit Lea Kowalski; the Second by Anat Charni and Daniela Skorka; and the Third by Shay Bloch and Rachel Frenkel. Anthony Webb and Adi Ezra will perform the roles of Monostatos, the Second Priest and the First Guard. Sarastro will be performed by Sava Vemić; the Speaker by Yoav Ayalon and Pnini Leon Grubner; and the First Priest and Second Guard by Yair Polishuk and Daniel Miller. The roles of the three boys will be performed by young singers.

The production features the Israeli Opera Chorus, conducted by Itay Berkovich, and the opera orchestra—the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion. Dan Ettinger conducts, with Rotem Nir conducting the performances on October 26 and 29.