PRINZREGENTENTHEATER, MUNICH

The 110-year-old Prinzregententheater was built to stage the operas of Richard Wagner. Today, the festival hall stages a variety of concerts and opera performances in its neo-classical Grosse Haus, which seats more than 1,000 people. The Bayerischen Theaterakademie offers private tours of the restored public rooms and amphitheatre auditorium.

Prinzregententheater, Prinzregentenplatz 12, 81675 Munich, +49 (0)89 218502

OPER FRANKFURT

What to expect from the Oper Frankfurt? A bold programme of works that includes rarely staged operas based on Shakespeare and promising and assured revivals of opera’s greatest masterpieces. Under the direction of young conductor Sebastian Weigle, the opera house has reached new levels of brilliance. Head to the foyer to catch a performance by the Opera Studio, a troupe of up-and-coming young singers trained in-house.

Oper Frankfurt, Untermainanlage 11, 60311 Frankfurt, +49 (0)69 2123 7000

DEUTSCHE OPER BERLIN

Minimalism is the new watchword at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin’s largest music theatre. Designed by Fritz Bornemann, who was chairman of the Bund Deutscher Architekten (Association of German Architects) for more than 16 years, this sparse opera house combines elements as disparate as concrete and olive wall panels. The result? A brand-new backdrop for age-old dramas such as Tristan und Isolde and La Bohème.

Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bismarckstrasse 35, 10627 Berlin, +49 (0)30 343 8401

OPERNHAUS DüSSELDORF

The 50s were clearly a strong design influence on the Opernhaus Düsseldorf, which was shaped by a series of postwar renovations by architects Julius Schulte-Fronlinde, Paul Bongartz and Ernst Huhn. Situated on the edge of the historic city centre, this simple but stylish building showcases the best of the ballet and opera worlds alongside workshops, masterclasses and special projects for young people.

Opernhaus Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-Allee 16A, 40213 Düsseldorf, +49 (0)211 892 5210

KOMISCHE OPER BERLIN

Innovation is the cornerstone of the Komische Oper Berlin, which continues to perform all works in German and engages 30,000 children and young people each season with its imaginative theatre education department. The opera house, sandwiched between the Brandenburg Gate and the Museumsinsel, hosts a number of inaugural performances alongside a full programme of fairytale operas, talks and symphony concerts. Behind its utilitarian façade lies a neo-Baroque auditorium and a wonderfully contemporary mirrored foyer.

Komische Oper Berlin, Behrenstrasse 55-57, 10117 Berlin, +49 (0)30 202600