It’s a weekend filled with many stars, premieres and role debuts. And there is something for any opera lover interested in exploring the classic repertoire.

Austria 

“Rigoletto” continues its run at the Vienna State Opera with Yosep Kang, Roberto Frontali, and Aida Garifullina while “Don Pasquale” also gets one presentation with Michele Pertusi, Antonino Siragusa, and Danielle de Niese. The weekend is capped off with “Pelléas et Mélisande” starring Franz-Josef Selig, Bernarda Fink, Adrian Eröd, Simon Keenlyside, and Olga Bezsmertna.

Belgium 

Jose Cura takes on the title role of “Otello” in Verdi’s masterpiece at the Opera Royal de Wallonie. He is joined by Cinzia Forte.

France 

The Opera de Paris will be busy with “Carmen” starring Anita Rachvelishivili, “La Cenerentola” with Teresa Iervolino, and “Rigoletto” with Vittorio Grigolo and Nadine Sierra. Anja Harteros also gives a recital to cap off the weekend.

Germany

The Bayerische Staatsoper continues its run of “Un Ballo in Maschera” and sees Kristine Opolais return to her signature vehicle as “Rusalka” in the production that made her a star.  Ain Anger stars in the title role of “Boris Godunov” at the Deutsche Oper Berlin while Eva-Maria Westbroek, Simon O’Neill, and Rosalind Plowright star in Katja Kabanova at the Berlin State Opera.

Italy 

“Die Entführung aus dem Serail” takes the stage at the Teatro alla Scala with Sabine Devieilhe in a production celebrating the 20th anniversary of Giorgio Strehler’s death and the 10th anniversary of Luciano Damiani’s death, the directors of the original production. Teatro dell’Opera di Roma will show Rossini’s “Il iViaggio a Reims” while Irina Lungu takes on the title role of “Lucia di Lammermoor” at Teatro Comunale di Bologna.

Russia 

Rimsky Korsakov’s “The Snow Maiden” takes over the stage at the Bolshoi Theater with an all-Russian cast. Meanwhile, at the Mariinsky Theater, the Stars of the White Night festival continues with a performance of “Tristan und Isolde’s” third act starring Ekaterina Gubanova, Heidi Melton, Yevgeny Nikitin, Mikhail Vekua, and René Pape. The company will also present the highly anticipated new production of ”

The company will also present the highly anticipated new production of “Adriana Lecouvreur” with Anna Netrebko in her highly anticipated role debut, Ekaterina Semenchuk, and Yusif Eyvazov.

Switzerland

Sondra Radvanovsky continues her run of “Un Ballo in Maschera” at the Opernhaus Zürich while Piotr Beczala returns to operetta with “Das Land des Lachelns.”

United Kingdom 

Aleksandra Kurzak and Roberto Alagna join forces for “L’Elisir d’Amore” at the Royal Opera House while Ekaterina Bakanova steps into the iconic role of Violetta in “La Traviata” with Atalla Ayan and Nicola Alaimo.