The Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival will take place next year from September 4 to 14. With the rediscovery of Francesco Cavalli’s Pompeo Magno and a focus on Venetian opera, the relatively young festival, led by artistic director Max Emanuel Cencic, opens up new musical horizons. In 2025, Baroque stars Julia Lezhneva and Franco Fagioli will return to the Margravial Opera House for gala concerts, while Carlo Vistoli and Malena Ernman make their Bayreuth Baroque debuts. This year, the resident orchestra for the opera production will be the Cappella Mediterranea under Leonardo García Alarcón, one of the world’s most renowned ensembles for early Baroque music. Also featured are the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal under Stefan Plewniak and Andrés Gabetta, L’Arpeggiata under Christina Pluhar, and I Porporini under Gerd Amelung. Rising stars such as Rémy Bres-Feuillet, Mariana Flores, Suzanne Jerosme, and Marina Viotti promise further concert highlights that explore the Baroque Bayreuth. Bayreuth Baroque also combines musical and culinary delights, such as the gala dinner, brunch, or coffee and dinner concerts with lutenist Monica Pustilnik at Schloss Birken. Ticket sales begin on December 12, with Gold Card holders able to purchase tickets starting December 6.

The Venetian composer Francesco Cavalli was a student of Claudio Monteverdi. His opera Pompeo Magno premiered in 1666. In this rediscovery after more than 350 years, Max Emanuel Cencic directs and takes on the title role. The musical direction is in the hands of renowned Cavalli specialist Leonardo García Alarcón, with his Cappella Mediterranea. Sophie Junker plays Giulia, while Valer Sabadus performs the role of Servilius. The premiere will take place on September 4, with four additional performances on September 6, 9, 12, and 14.

“This year, we are presenting the audience with the most challenging production ever undertaken at Bayreuth Baroque,” says Max Emanuel Cencic. “I am particularly pleased that we are venturing into a new musical world with a Venetian opera, bringing Pompeo Magno to the audience in five performances in 2025.”

In addition to the opera production, breathtaking gala concerts will once again take place in the magnificent atmosphere of the Margravial Opera House: Countertenor Carlo Vistoli will perform works by Cavalli, Cesti, Monteverdi, and Stradella with the Cappella Mediterranea and Leonardo García Alarcón (September 5). This will be followed by a gala dinner in the Baroque splendor of Schloss Birken. Mezzo-soprano Malena Ernman will explore the theme of nature in music with L’Arpeggiata under Christina Pluhar (September 7). And in the third gala concert, two of the greatest voices in the Baroque scene will meet: Julia Lezhneva and Franco Fagioli with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal under Stefan Plewniak (September 10).

Countertenor Rémy Bres-Feuillet will follow in the footsteps of the Count of Monte Cristo with I Porporini and Gerd Amelung at the Schlosskirche Bayreuth (September 6). Mariana Flores, together with the Cappella Mediterranea and Leonardo García Alarcón, will transport audiences to the soundscapes of the 17th century in the setting of the Ordenskirche St. Georgen (September 11). Soprano Suzanne Jerosme will present Holy Heroines, featuring arias and instrumental works by Alessandro Scarlatti, Maria Margherita Grimani, and Camilla de Rossi. She will be accompanied by Il Gusto Barocco (orchestra) under Jörg Halubek (September 13). Another outstanding mezzo-soprano, Marina Viotti, will fill the Margravial Opera House with her voice, performing with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal under Andrés Gabetta (September 13).