When “Der Rosenkavalier” travels to Shanghai

New opera house in Shanghai When “Der Rosenkavalier” travels to Shanghai As of: November 13th, 2026 • 10:21 a.m

A year of preparation, 300 people on site and the stage design arrived in shipping containers: the Berlin State Opera was a guest at the newly opened opera house in Shanghai. The spectacular building is intended to attract international culture.

A short pre-applause, then the music of Richard Strauss can be heard in Shanghai. The Berlin State Opera is a guest with conductor Christian Thielemann in the sold-out main hall of the newly opened Shanghai Grand Opera House. The 2,000 seats extend over three deep red tiers in front of the largest theater stage in Asia.

Everyone in the Berlin ensemble was happy with the sound, said Michael Csar, artistic operations director and orchestra director of the Berlin State Opera. "It's an acoustically great opera house, but it's still a new opera house. Every house has to be broken in," he says.

Here the Cavalier presents the Silver Rose to Sophie (Nikola Hillebrand) in Richard Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier". The set was shipped to China in several containers.

"Der Rosenkavalier" is one of the first pieces to be performed here as part of the opening of the new Shanghai Opera. It is a piece about love and the transience of youth, and about the realization that true love sometimes means letting go. After guest performances from Italy ("Tosca") and Russia ("Aida"), the performance from Berlin is the third international performance in the opening series.

According to Csar, it was an incredible privilege and a lot of fun to bring the “Rosenkavalier” to the new opera house. Even as architecture is a work of art in itself.

A program from “Rosenkavalier” can be seen in the stalls of the Grand Opera Shanghai.

There was a year of preparation behind the performance for the Berlin State Opera: the stage set was shipped to China in several containers. A team of around 300 people is on site. Orchestra, singers, choir, children's choir, costume and make-up designers make what can now be seen on stage in Shanghai possible.

Located on the banks of the Huangpu River, the architecture of the Shanghai Grand Opera House catches the eye. The design, with a spiral-shaped, accessible external staircase on the roof, is based on a Chinese fan and was designed by the Norwegian architects Snøhetta together with Chinese partners.

The opera house was completed after six and a half years of construction, in time for the opening this year, but later than originally planned. The opening was actually supposed to have taken place last fall: with a performance by the Bavarian State Opera. However, this had to switch to the Shanghai Grand Theater for “Flying Dutchman”.

The managing director of the new opera house, Zhang Xiaoding, cites the corona pandemic as the main reason for the delay, which is rather unusual for large-scale Chinese projects. This is acceptable for the size of the project and the circumstances. "With the completion of the opera house, Shanghai has taken another step towards becoming an international cultural metropolis and the performing arts capital of Asia," said Zhang Xiaoding. "We hope that we can now offer Shanghai audiences more outstanding art from home and abroad."

The Berlin State Opera team on the new external staircase of the spectacular building, which was completed this year.

Cultural tourism is also intended to stimulate the economy in the metropolis. The house has space for more than 4,000 spectators in a total of three halls. Both Chinese operas such as the Peking Opera or Kunqu Opera as well as international performances such as "Der Rosenkavalier" will be shown here. "This work, 'Der Rosenkavalier,' has never before been performed as a fully staged opera on a stage in Shanghai," Zhang said. So far there have only been fragments, excerpts or concert performances. "Since this time it is a fully staged opera, the audience is very interested in it."

Singer Rosalía's concerts are spectacular. Which is also due to their conductor Yudania Gómez Heredia. more

The three performances of “Rosenkavalier” were quickly sold out. Zhao Dengying traveled from the Chinese capital Beijing specifically for the piece. He teaches opera singing and bel canto in China. His own teacher, in turn, studied in Germany.

His praise goes in particular to the soprano Camilla Nylund, who plays the role of Field Marshal: "Her understanding of the music, the character and finally the young man's letting go, the passage of time and her understanding of the entire character were very moving. That really touched my heart," says Zhao.

His student and opera singer Cui Chang came with him. He is thrilled: "The conductor is exceptionally good. It's Maestro Thielemann." The sound balance, timbre and volume of the orchestra were also very good, said the opera singer. "The coordination with the singers, including the choir and soloists, is absolutely fantastic."

Christian Thielemann conducts the Berlin State Opera in the hall of the Grand Opera Shanghai.

33-year-old Yaqi is here for the second time since the opera house opened in mid-October. She first saw the Italian production of "Tosca" and now "Der Rosenkavalier". Her conclusion: Pretty good, but “different” from the Chinese operas she usually watches. In the end, seeing these "outstanding foreign works" in China is a kind of cultural exchange for her.

The metropolis of Shanghai as the international cultural capital of Asia: that is the city's claim. At least in the classical area, international cultural exchange seems to work well. Censorship also exists in classical music, says Michael Csar from the Berlin State Opera. But unlike in pop culture, the texts that pass through censorship in classical music are well-known and clear.

International pop stars and bands, on the other hand, are often drawn to Singapore as a venue in Asia. In this way, they also avoid any problems with Chinese censorship.

This topic in the program: NDR Culture | The morning | 11/12/2026 | 11:20 a.m