A season like a festival: Opera Ballet Vlaanderen reveals bold 2026/2027 programme
Opera Ballet Vlaanderen’s 2026/2027 season unfolds as what artistic director Jan Vandenhouwe calls “one big festival,” bringing together opera, dance and music theatre in a broad, contemporary vision. Large-scale productions, hybrid works, concerts and site-specific projects sit alongside debates and bold experiments, creating a programme that is as diverse as it is ambitious.
In total, the season features twelve major productions, including seven world premieres and six new works for the company in a line-up that signals both renewal and continuity.
Grand opera revisited
At the close of the 2026 season in December, audiences will get a holiday gift with Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, returning to the stage for the first time in more than two decades. The production centres on one of opera’s favourite heroines, Violetta Valéry, a woman constantly observed and judged.
In Verdi’s La traviata, it is Violetta who remains firmly in the spotlight, surrounded by watchful eyes. Some see only her dazzling appearance, others, like Alfredo Germont, fall deeply in love, while his father views her with suspicion and ultimately pressures her into an impossible sacrifice. Following his exceptional production of Don Giovanni, director Tom Goossens approaches the work through questions of perception and reputation, examining who controls how individuals are seen, and how performance extends beyond the stage itself.
Richard Wagner’s epic Lohengrin is presented in concert form, drawing audiences into the composer’s richly textured score. Set, as Wagner described it, on “a meadow on the banks of the Scheldt near Antwerp,” the opera tells of a mysterious knight who arrives to defend the accused Elsa, bound by a single condition: she must never ask his name. The work’s central themes of redemption, faith and the fragility of trust are underscored by its ethereal music, here placed firmly centre stage.
Dance between dream and disturbance
Dance takes a striking turn with Marcos Morau’s reinterpretation of The Sleeping Beauty. Following his acclaimed Romeo + Juliet, the Spanish choreographer transforms the familiar fairy tale into a meditation on time, sleep and the subconscious. Rather than focusing on awakening, Morau turns inward, asking what unfolds within the dream itself.
With a blend of Tchaikovsky’s original score and new electronic compositions by Juan Cristóbal Saavedra, the production becomes a sensory journey. Visually intense and physically demanding, it blurs the boundary between dream and reality, offering a darker, more introspective take on a classical ballet.
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Flemish stories and historical echoes
The season places a strong emphasis on Dutch-language and locally rooted productions. Franz Schreker’s Der Schmied von Gent, based on a Flemish legend, returns in Ersan Mondtag’s visually bold staging. Set in 16th-century Ghent, the story follows a blacksmith who, after striking a pact with the devil, becomes entangled in power, oppression and moral compromise. Mondtag’s interpretation draws parallels with colonial histories and questions the shifting roles of victim and oppressor.
In De draaischijf, actor Peter Van den Begin brings Tom Lanoye’s celebrated novel to the stage as a monologue accompanied by symphonic music by Steven Prengels. Set in pre-war Antwerp, it traces the life of a theatre director navigating the moral ambiguities of occupation, ambition and collaboration, a reflection on both cultural history and the nature of artistic responsibility.
A new production, Lucifer en de Schelde, reimagines two landmark works by composer Peter Benoit. Directed by Stef Aerts and Marie Vinck, the piece combines large-scale choral forces with a fully staged operatic treatment for the first time.
Ghent beyond the opera house
With Opera Ghent temporarily closed, the company turns outward, engaging directly with the city through a major site-specific project. In De opstand van de gevels (The Revolt of the Facades), theatre maker Thomas Verstraeten transforms the urban landscape into a stage. Two building facades, one from the historic Vrijdagmarkt, the other from the working-class Brugse Poort, embark on a symbolic journey across the city, accompanied by residents and musicians.
The project continues indoors at NTGent, where a newly formed city orchestra of local participants brings the story into a theatrical setting. It is a gesture that underscores the season’s broader ambition: to dissolve boundaries between stage and city, artist and audience.
From Friday 24 April, subscribers can renew their season tickets. Sales of new season tickets begin on Friday 8 May. General ticket sales begin on Friday 22 May
#FlandersNewsService | Der Schmied Von Gent © PHOTO OBV ANNAMIE AUGUSTIJNS
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