THE festival venue in Chiemgau celebrates its 30th anniversary

Where has the time gone? For 30 years, the most beautiful arias have been heard on the Immling stage. There is love, conflict, suffering, and death. Great opera in Chiemgau - with young talents from all over the world. "We do not buy the stars - we make them," is the motto. Many singers have started their careers in the natural idyll of Immling. Year after year, around 40 nations work side by side to implement the festival. They support each other, motivate each other, achieve peak performances, and inspire the audience.

That 30 years ago a former riding hall became an opera house is thanks to chance. In 1997, director Ludwig Baumann wanted to stage The Magic Flute at a nearby gravel lake. For weeks, there was rehearsing. Then came the rain - and with it the brilliant idea to move the event to the riding hall. The Immling Festival was born.

In the anniversary season 2026, four major operas are on the program:

The festival opens with"Tosca."A gripping music drama about infamous betrayal and political abuse of power. In the end, everyone is dead - the lover, the tyrant, and Tosca herself. Giacomo Puccini's music makes hearts tremble and brings tears to flow.

"Lucia di Lammermoor" - forbidden love, madness, and a bloody wedding night. In Gaetano Donizetti's opera, nature reflects the inner turmoil of the desperate protagonists. A love drama with a bloody ending. One more opera where love ends fatally and music becomes immortal.

"Un ballo in maschera" - A masked ball and a love triangle with deadly consequences. A governor falls in love with the wrong woman, namely his friend's. This cannot end well. An opera thriller full of stunning arias by Giuseppe Verdi.

"The Magic Flute" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart must not be missing in the anniversary year. Ludwig Baumann, who has embodied Papageno countless times on stages around the world, takes visitors into a fantastic world.

In addition to the opera productions, there will again be a large orchestral concert: Verdi's "Messa da Requiem" - a requiem like an opera drama; full of passion, pain, and hope. Involved are international soloists, the festival orchestra and choir Immling, the Georgian Sinfonietta, members of the Batumi Choir and the Georgian State Choir Tbilisi, as well as the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra conducted by Cornelia von Kerssenbrock. The concert aims to set a conscious sign for cultural exchange and understanding in Europe.

The Immling Academy brings the musical "Cats" by Andrew Lloyd Webber as well as "The Magic Flute" in a version for children to the stage - ideal for families and music lovers of all ages. These productions provide young talents with a platform to showcase their skills in a professional environment.

In times when the fronts of wars are drawing closer, we need hope - a valuable resource that weighs more than gold these days. For the Immling Festival, cultural collaboration is not a luxury, but a necessity. It is peace work with sensitivity.