Bergen National Opera

Bergen National Opera (Bergen Nasjonale Opera) in Bergen, Norway, originally called Den Nye Opera (the new opera) is a foundation established in 2005 by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Den Nationale Scene, Grieghallen and the Bergen International Festival. In 2007 Opera Vest became a part of the foundation, which aims to be the regional opera company for Western Norway. The name Bergen Nasjonale Opera was used from 2012.

In addition to professional opera, Bergen National Opera also runs participatory programs for children, teenagers and young adults. BNO is based in Grieghallen in the city of Bergen.

The foundation is supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Vestland county, the city of Bergen, and private supporters.

Artistic directors

 * 2005 - 2007 Stein Olav Henrichsen
 * 2007 - 2010 Stein Olav Henrichsen
 * 2010 - 2020 Mary Miller
 * 2021 - Eivind Gullberg Jensen

Main partners
Bergen National Opera's main partners are
 * Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
 * Edvard Grieg Korene

Children and young adults
Bergen National Opera runs several projects for children and teenagers in schools.

The Summer Academy "Opera by fjord" at Oseana is arranged every year since 2021, and is now for young singers, orchestra musicians, conductors and repetiteurs over 18.

Season of 2006

 * Tosca (Giacomo Puccini / Luigi Illica / Giuseppe Giacosa) Grieghallen

Season of 2007/08

 * The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Michael Nyman) Sandnes Kulturhus, Bodø Kulturhus
 * Lirendreieren (Magne Hegdal) Oslo Nye Trikkestallen. Co-production with Opera Sør
 * Carmen (Georges Bizet / Henri Meilhac / Ludovic Halévy) Grieghallen
 * L'Amour de loin (Kaija Saariaho / Amin Maalouf) Grieghallen
 * Die Walküre (Richard Wagner) Grieghallen

Season of 2008/09

 * Melancholia (Georg Friedrich Haas / Jon Fosse) Grieghallen
 * Der fliegende Holländer (Richard Wagner) Grieghallen
 * Sounds Like You (Bent Sørensen / Peter Asmussen) Grieghallen – Première
 * Bluebeard's Castle (Béla Bartók / Béla Balázs) Grieghallen
 * Die Dreigroschenoper (Bertolt Brecht / Kurt Weill) Grieghallen – Berliner Ensemble
 * Eugene Onegin (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) Bergenhus Fortress

Season of 2009/10

 * Cinderella (Vladimir Tarnopolsky / Roald Dahl, oversatt av Klaus Hagerup) Grieghallen
 * Hypermusikal (Glenn Erik Haugland / Heidi Tronsmo) / Fjellheimen / Radøyhallen – Première
 * Opera gala with Barbara Frittoli, Grieghallen
 * Ophelias: Death by Water Singing (Henrik Hellstenius) Teatr Wielki, Poland
 * The Marriage of Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Grieghallen
 * Anne Pedersdotter (Edvard Fliflet Bræin / Hans Kristiansen) Bergenhus Fortress
 * La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi / Francesco Maria Piave) Bergenhus Fortress

Season of 2010/11

 * Veslefrikk (Knut Vaage / Torgeir Rebolledo Pedersen) Kulturhuset i Tromsø / Den Nationale Scene / National Theatre of Szeged, Hungary – Première
 * Alpha and More, guest performance by the Polish National Ballet
 * La bohème (Giacomo Puccini / Luigi Illica / Giuseppe Giacosa) Grieghallen
 * The Tales of Hoffmann (Jacques Offenbach / Jules Barbier / Michel Carré) Grieghallen
 * Hypermusikal (Glenn Erik Haugland / Heidi Tronsmo) Oslo Opera House
 * Oedipus rex (Igor Stravinsky / Jean Cocteau) Grieghallen
 * Hänsel und Gretel (Engelbert Humperdinck) Grieghallen

Season of 2011/12

 * A New Requiem (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Christian Köhler / Jeroen Brouwers) Bodø Kulturhus / Peer Gynt Theatre, Grieghallen / Sandnes Kulturhus / Brygga Kultursal, Halden
 * Siegfried (Richard Wagner) Grieghallen
 * L'Étoile (Emmanuel Chabrier) Grieghallen
 * Pelléas et Mélisande (Claude Debussy) Logen Teater
 * Xerxes (George Frideric Handel) Grieghallen
 * La Cenerentola (Gioachino Rossini) Grieghallen

Season of 2012/13

 * The Cunning Little Vixen (Leoš Janáček) Grieghallen
 * Marco Polo (Tan Dun) Grieg Hall
 * Alt om min familie Logen Teater
 * Fidelio (Ludwig van Beethoven) Grieghallen

Season of 2013/14

 * The Golden Cockerel (Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakov) Grieghallen
 * Voices and Votes (Orlando Gough) Grieghallen
 * Påske (Gisle Kverndokk) Logen Teater

Season of 2014/15

 * Aida (Giuseppe Verdi) Grieghallen
 * Folie à Deux (Emily Hall / Sjón) USF Verftet
 * Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Grieg Hall
 * St. Mark Passion (J.S. Bach) Bergen Domkirke

Season of 2015/16

 * Mimí Goes Glamping - Operafestival at Åmot Operagard / Villa Åmot
 * Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini) Grieghallen
 * Verklärte Nacht / Erwartung (Arnold Schönberg) Grieghallen
 * It's all true (Travis Just) Cornerteateret

Season of 2016/17

 * Mimí Goes Glamping - Operafestival at Åmot Operagard / Villa Åmot
 * Dama til Mozart (Thomas Guthrie) Tour
 * Eli synger Ella - Concert at DNS
 * I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Vincenzo Bellini) Grieghallen
 * Sae-Kyung Rim, Mari Eriksmoen, Magnus Staveland, Marianne Beate Kielland - Recitals in Håkonshallen
 * Private View (Annelies Van Parys / Jen Hadfield) Cornerteateret
 * Il turco in Italia (Gioacchino Rossini) Grieghallen
 * Peter Grimes (Benjamin Britten) Grieg Hall / Edinburgh International Festival
 * Messiah (Georg Friedrich Händel) DNS

Season of 2017/18

 * Paperbag Princess (Robert Munsch) Åmot Operagard / Ulvsnesøy / Fjaler
 * Mimí Goes Glamping - Operafestival at Åmot Operagard / Villa Åmot
 * Hansel and Gretel (Engelbert Humperdinck) Tour
 * Otello (Giuseppe Verdi) Grieghallen
 * Lise Davidsen - Concert in Aulaen
 * Kristina Mkhitaryan, Rame Lahaj, Marita Sølberg - Recitals in Håkonshallen
 * Future Opera (Rebecka Ahvenniemi, Øyvind Mæland, Lars Skoglund)
 * The Flying Dutchman (Richard Wagner) Grieghallen

Season of 2018/19

 * Carmen (Georges Bizet) Terminus Hall
 * Candide (Leonard Bernstein) Grieghallen
 * Latonia Moore, Lester Lynch - Recital at DNS
 * Werther (Jules Massenet) Grieghallen

Season of 2019/20

 * Sweeney Todd (Stephen Sondheim)
 * La clemenza di Tito (W.A. Mozart) Grieghallen / Cancelled due to Covid-19 lockdown
 * Salome (Richard Strauss) Grieghallen / Cancelled due to Covid-19 lockdown
 * Future Opera (Bára Gísladóttir / Peder Barratt-Due) / Cancelled due to Covid-19 lockdown
 * This Evening's Performance Has Not Been Cancelled (Zoë Irvine) / in collaboration with Bergen International Festival
 * Carmen (Bizet) / Movie inspired by the opera by Bizet

Season of 2020/21

 * Macbeth (Verdi) Grieghallen / Cancelled due to Covid-19 lockdown
 * La clemenza di Tito (W.A. Mozart) Grieghallen
 * Last chapter / Festival

Season of 2021/22

 * Opera by the Fjord - Concert at Oseana (August 2021)
 * Rusalka (Antonín Dvořák) Grieghallen / Cancelled due to strike in the cultural sector
 * Operetta Concert at DNS
 * The Merry Widow (Lehár) Grieghallen
 * Opera by the Fjord - Concert at Oseana (July 2022) including Gianni Schicchi (Giacomo Puccini)

Season of 2022/23

 * Triple Mozart - Concert at DNS
 * The Magic Flute (W.A. Mozart) Grieghallen
 * Amahl and the Night Visitors (Menotti) - Grieghallen (Peer Gynt)
 * Rusalka (Antonín Dvořák) Grieghallen