The eighth biennial of the international
festival New Opera Days Ostrava (NODO) will present seven productions
during the final week of June. Six of them will receive their world
premieres in Ostrava, while the seventh had its recent premiere in
Montreal. Composers from the United Kingdom, Canada, the United
States, Slovakia and the Czech Republic will gather in Ostrava – Richard
Ayres, Ana Sokolović, Elliott Sharp, Miroslav Tóth, Milan Guštar, Jakub
Rataj and Kristýna Švihálková. Founded in 2012, NODO is the only
continuous showcase of contemporary music theatre in the Czech
Republic. Organised through the collaboration of the Ostrava Center for
New Music (OCNM) and the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre (NMST),
the festival has consistently explored opera as a living genre and its
capacity to respond to the transformations of today’s world. The 2026
edition will feature leading soloists, creative teams and distinguished
conductors. Members of the international Ostrava Band will form the
festival’s “opera orchestra”, joined by the Canticum Ostrava choir and
dancers, including performers from NDM. Performances will take place
not only at the Antonín Dvořák Theatre and the Jiří Myron Theatre, but
also in the decaying complex of the former Hotel Palace in the city
centre and outdoors on the lawns and tennis courts of Comenius
Gardens (Komenského sady). The festival dramaturgy addresses
themes of birth, love, memory, identity, solitude and hope, reflecting
how contemporary creators across generations mirror our lives in their
work.
Tuesday, June 23
The festival opens at the Antonín Dvořák Theatre with the world premieres of two
chamber operas. No. 61 (David) by British composer Richard Ayres is an
intimate musical reflection on the gradual fading of memory. Drawing on his
personal experience of his father’s dementia, Ayres creates imagined inner
dialogues and shifting mental images oscillating between memory and dream.
The production will be conducted by Marek Šedivý , music director of the opera
at NMST, and directed by Michal Pěchouček , with set and costume design by
Patricia Talacko . The title role will be performed by bass-baritone Nicholas
Isherwood .
The second half of the evening presents the “instrumental opera” Company by
composer and performer Kristýna Švihálková . Inspired by the prose of Samuel
Beckett, the work for two percussionists, voice and electronics unfolds as a
fragile web of relationships, echoes and contrasts. Voices emerge and disappear,
reality merges with imagination, and the music moves on the threshold between
sound and silence. The staging is prepared by Jiří Nekvasil and David Bazika .
Wednesday, June 24
At dusk, the festival moves to the open space of Comenius Gardens
(Komenského sady), where the world premiere of White Death by Slovak
composer Miroslav Tóth – commissioned by the festival – will take place on the
lawn and tennis courts of the OSTRA Sport Centre. This dystopian sci-fi opera in
three parts is set after the Earth has shifted from its orbit and humanity struggles
to survive. The central duo – Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä and German
teleshopping marketer Horst Fuchs – will be portrayed by soprano Beatriz
Gaudêncio Ramos and mezzo-soprano Bella Adamova . The production is
directed by Nela H. Kornetová , with set design by Matěj Sýkora and musical
direction by Jan Bubák .
Thursday, June 25
Opened in 1913 as Hotel National, hotel Palace was once among the most
luxurious hotels of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After years of decay and
unsuccessful renovations, part of the complex was revitalised in 2016 through
the Kampus Palace student residence, which during the Ostrava Days festival
hosts musicians from around the world. Now, more than half of this vast and
dilapidated complex awaits major reconstruction. Before that transformation
begins, Palace will become a temporary opera venue. In its almost cinematic,
haunting interiors, two world premieres by Czech composers will be presented.
Milan Guštar’s New Theory of Harmony draws on the theoretical legacy of
Alois Hába, transforming his reflections on microtonal systems into a musical
drama about the search for order and freedom. On stage, the composer’s “body”
and “soul” – reason and intuition – confront one another, portrayed by actor
Miloslav Čížek and soprano Markéta Drabina Schaffartzik . Conducted by
Pavel Šnajdr , the production is created by the Slovak duo Veronika
Trokšiarová and Laura Černáková .
The one-act opera In the Eyes of the Dragonfly by Jakub Rataj , inspired by
haiku by Japanese masters, focuses on the precision of detail: from a single
image, a broader landscape gradually unfolds. The musical structure expands
from unison into layered textures of voices, string quartet and electronics.
Dance, choreographed by Helena Ratajová , forms an integral part of the
performance. Director Gabriela Gabašová incorporates the atmosphere of the
abandoned space as an active element of the staging.
Friday, June 26
V Divadle Jiřího Myrona se uskuteční světová premiéra opery SUBSTANCE:
Nekonečný Spinoza amerického skladatele Elliotta Sharpa . Dílo pro tenor,
sbor, komorní ansámbl a elektroniku je inspirováno myšlením Barucha Spinozy a
jeho pojetím „substance“ jako principu nekonečna. Spinozovo řemeslo brusiče
čoček se promítá do koncepce díla: téma pohledu a zaostření formuje scénografii
i zvukový design. V jediné sólové roli Barucha Spinozy se představí tenorista
Valentino Blasina . Režii připravuje Lukáš Jiřička , choreografii Carolina
Arandia , h udebníky povede Petr Kotík .
The Jiří Myron Theatre will host the world premiere of SUBSTANCE: The Infinite
Spinoza by American composer Elliott Sharp . Scored for tenor, choir, chamber
ensemble and electronics, the opera is inspired by the philosophy of Baruch
Spinoza and his conception of “substance” as a principle of infinity. Spinoza’s
craft as a lens grinder informs both the visual and sonic concept of the
production, with the themes of perspective and focus shaping the scenography
and sound design. Tenor Valentino Blasina will appear in the sole role of
Spinoza. The production is directed by Lukáš Jiřička , with choreography by
Carolina Arandia , and conducted by Petr Kotík .
Saturday, June 27
The biennial concludes at the Antonín Dvořák Theatre with the European
premiere of Clown(s) by Serbian-Canadian composer – and in this case also
librettist – Ana Sokolović (Czech audiences previously saw her opera Svadba ).
Travelling entertainers of all kinds once wandered the world, offering both comic
and deeply poignant scenes from our lives; through grotesque exaggeration and
delicate lyricism, the composer explores joy, fear, love and sorrow as
fundamental human experiences. The world premiere of Clown(s) in Montreal at
the turn of January and February caused a sensation. Four soloists from Canada –
Aline Kutan, Mireille Lebel, Andrew Haji and Bruno Roy – will travel to
Ostrava for the European premiere. The new production is prepared by Jiří
Nekvasil and David Bazika and conducted by Bruno Ferrandis .
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