Die Zauberflöte
Opera

Grand opera in two acts
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Text by Emanuel Schikaneder

  • Szene aus Die Zauberflöte
  • Eine Szene aus Die Zauberflöte
    © Ingo Hoehn
  • Approx. 3 hours including break
  • Interesting for people aged 10+
  • In German language
  • With German surtitles
  • With English surtitles

Magic on a wooden stage

Tamino is to rescue a kidnapped princess. Accompanied by the bird catcher Papageno, equipped with a magic flute and a glockenspiel, he learns to distinguish between good and evil. In the end, light and reason triumph over the realm of the Queen of the Night. After stints at the Metropolitan Opera New York and with shooting star Johanna Wallroth as Pamina, this globally acclaimed production of Mozart's most famous opera returns to Basel.

Simon McBurney gently takes the audience into the realm of ingenious tricks, where everything is highly imaginative and endearingly simple - and where the visibility of the tricks only adds to the magic.

The New York Times

Mediathek

Zur Mediathek

Christmas time & New Year's Eve

The best time of the year - on and off the stage

When the Christmas markets light up their lights and Basel's old town smells of mulled wine, punch and roasted almonds, Theater Basel also remains a place of encounters and great emotions.

Info
Frohe Festtage

  • Musikalische Leitung –
    Jörg Halubek,
    (29.11.2025 / 06.12.2025 / 14.12.2025 / 21.12.2025 / 26.12.2025 / 30.12.2025 / 03.01.2026 / 17.01.2026 / 17.02.2026 / 20.02.2026),
    Thomas Wise
    (07.03.2026 / 11.03.2026 / 15.03.2026)
  • Inszenierung –
    Simon McBurney
  • Szenische Einstudierung –
    Rachael Hewer
  • Mitarbeit szenische Einstudierung / Foley Coach –
    Ruth Sullivan
  • Movement Director –
    Gabriella Schmidt,
    (29.11.2025 / 06.12.2025 / 14.12.2025 / 21.12.2025 / 26.12.2025 / 30.12.2025 / 03.01.2026 / 17.01.2026 / 17.02.2026 / 20.02.2026 / 07.03.2026 / 11.03.2026 / 15.03.2026),
    Meghan Treadway
  • Bühne –
    Michael Levine
  • Kostüme –
    Nicky Gillibrand
  • Videodesign –
    Finn Ross
  • Lichtdesign –
    Jean Kalman
  • Sounddesign –
    Gareth Fry
  • Chorleitung –
    Michael Clark
  • Einstudierung Knabenkantorei –
    Rolf Herter,
    Oliver Rudin,
    Martin Ohm
  • Dramaturgie –
    Meret Kündig

With the kind support of our medical partner, the Cantonal Hospital Baselland and Novartis

A co-production: De Nationale Opera Amsterdam, English National Opera and Festival d'Aix-en-Provence

Shortly before the premiere, during the final rehearsals, we invite you to an exclusive preview. In an introduction, you will meet the artistic team and learn more about the play, the material, and the production. Afterward, you will attend a stage rehearsal.

Tickets

Listen to the ‹introduction to go› for productions on Grossen Bühne and at the Schauspielhaus! Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. You can find all episodes in our Media center. More

His [Simon McBurney's] empty, black stage is abstract. In the centre, a movable stage floor provides steep mountain terrain or cave-like shelter. This puts the performers centre stage. And the lively ensemble centred around the Swiss soprano Regula Mühlemann as Pamina is a vocal delight.
SRF 2 Culture
The high quality of this directorial work is reflected in the fact that it does justice to the different levels of this difficult piece: from opulent folk and Punch and Judy theatre with its passion for illusion and technical gimmicks to an oratorio dealing with a religious-philosophical context. But even where Mozart and Schikaneder go very abstract, McBurney's theatre remains comprehensible and vivid.
Badische Zeitung
Theater Basel presents a 'Magic Flute' that is as wonderfully staged as it is sung and has the makings of a big hit - if only the audience had the chance to go wild.
City Scribe

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