Vienna State Opera announces 2012 - 2013 season

The Wiener Staatsoper today announced a predictably starry and uncontroversial 2012-13 season. Of a massive 53 operas, just five are premieres:

Alceste (12. November 2012 - C: Ivor Bolton; D: Christoph Loy; with: Joseph Kaiser, Véronique Gens; Freiburger Barockorchester)

Ariadne auf Naxos (Salzburg Festival co-production) (19. December 2012 -C: Franz Welser-Möst; D: Sven-Eric Bechtolf; with: Peter Matić, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Christine Schäfer, Stephen Gould, Daniela Fally, Krassimira Stoyanova, Norbert Ernst)

La cenerentola (26. January 2013 - C: Jesús López-Cobos; D: Sven-Eric Bechtolf; with: Dmitry Korchak, Vito Priante, Alessandro Corbelli, Tara Erraught, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo)

Henze's children's opera Pollicino (28. April 2013 - C: Gerrit Prießnitz; D: René Zisterer; with: Alfred Šramek, Olga Bezsmertna, Andreas Hörl, Ulrike Helzel, Simina Ivan)

Tristan und Isolde (13. June 2013 - C: Franz Welser-Möst; D: David McVicar; with: Peter Seiffert, Stephen Milling, Nina Stemme, Tomasz Konieczny, Janina Baechle)

Other highlights include Anna Netrebko in Eugene Onegin and a Renee Fleming Capriccio. Placido Domingo conducts Roméo et Juliette.  And those are just a few of the crowd-pulling star names. "It looks a bit like a who's who of the opera world," said Director Dominique Meyer.  He went on to boast that Vienna can still attract the best artists despite having lower maximum pay that its competitors.

For full details, check the Staatsoper website.