After Liebestrank 2023, the champagne corks will be popping next year! The inspiring work by Johann Strauss was last performed in Weikersheim in 1992. Now there will be another production under the musical direction of Dirk Kaftan. The director is Dominik Wilgenbus. The role of the opera orchestra will be taken over by the young top musicians of the National Youth Orchestra, and once again the international opera talents will be on stage and in the spotlight.
Young Opera Schloss Weikersheim
Young Opera is being produced in Weikersheim since 1965 – initiated by Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland. Our name is our mission: Participating in our International Opera Academy young talents may experience a valuable stepping stone to the professional scene – in front of, on and behind the stage.
Weikersheim Castle has been appointed „World Meeting Center“ of Jeunesses Musicales International. During several summer weeks our opera project enfolds a world of its own: living and working together in the ideal venue of our „Musikakademie“ and surrounded by a picturesque historic little town and the landscape of the Tauber valley.
close up and dedicated
Every two years glittering open-air-performance enthuse more than 10.000 spectators in the enchanting setting of Schloss Weikersheim. Wether "Falstaff", the fervid "Carmen" or "La Traviata" – the audience loves the impulsively productions and the impetus the young singers bring characters of the opera repertoire on stage. In Weikersheim viewers don't need a lorgnette, here they are close up and dedicated when young talents are in the spotlight.
The Young Opera Schloss Weikersheim presents rising stars, artists at the beginning of their career. Many a singer, who today shines on international stages, once had his debut with a performance under the starry sky in Weikersheim.
Vorsingen Internationale Opernakademie, 1.–6. Oktober
130 Sängerinnen und Sänger aus 30 Ländern, die sich beworben hatten, wurden in die Musikakademie Schloss Weikersheim eingeladen. Bereits die Vorsingen sind ein wichtiger Baustein der Internationalen Opernakademie zur Förderung des Opernnachwuchses: In szenischen Gruppen-Workshops arbeiten die jungen Sänger*innen mit Regisseur Dominik Wilgenbus, probieren sich in Übungen aus und präsentieren sich im abschließenden Vorsingen mit zwei Arien und – ebenfalls eine Besonderheit – auch mit einem kurzen Sprechtext. Freundlich, fair und ermutigend sollen sie diese erste Audition erleben und als eine wertvolle Erfahrung, aus der sie ganz viel "mitnehmen" und für ihre weitere Entwicklung lernen können. Mitglieder der Vor-Jury sind neben Dominik Wilgenbus auch Yvonne Schiffelers, Professorin am Conservatorium Maastricht, und die Sängerin und Gesangs-Dozentin Janice Dixon, beide seit vielen Jahren für die Opernakademie engagiert, sowie der Regieassisent für die Produktion 2025 Felix Scharff.
International Opera Academy – Stepping stone to your career
The diverse course elements are inspired by the JMD credo: the highest artistic authenticity, uncompromising love of quality and a friendly team spirit. Young singers at the beginning of a professional opera career can apply. The selected singers are scholarship holders of the International Opera Academy for one year. Auditions will take place in September and October 2024.
> Apply now
2023: "L'elisir d'amore" – funny, melancholic, enchanting
Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera was last on the program. The audience experienced wonderfully atmospheric musical theater and a little "la dolce vita" in the Weikersheim castle courtyard and in the TauberPhilharmonie. The humorous staging was just as impressive as the magnificent costumes from the world of the circus. But above all, of course, the young actors' enthusiasm for performing and their top musical performances. > Photos, videos
