Throughout the Opera Meets Film series, we’ve explored a great deal of opera/film relationships. From stage adaptations of films, experimental works, documentaries, controversial stories and plots, and even dialogues on academic research, the opera-film relationship is complex. The very term, opera, can mean many things, from a metaphor to a psychology of struggle. But practically, when opera is used in {…}
When Lisbon’s national opera house, the Teatro São Carlos, closed its doors in 2024 for preservation and maintenance of its historic character, along with a much needed modernization of its backstage facilities, the initial announcement suggested a relatively contained closure lasting perhaps a couple of seasons. With the project now expected to extend at least into 2028, the institution has {…}
There is a moment in the history of every great institution when it stops looking inward and starts looking outward. When the work of building an audience becomes the work of building a world. For Florida Grand Opera, celebrating its 85th anniversary season, that moment appears to have arrived. The Miami-based company has quietly assembled something with no direct precedent {…}
It’s that time of the year again! The 2026-27 season is about to begin and audiences are getting ready to choose performances as they head back to the opera. With so much to choose from, OperaWire is breaking down 10 opera productions that are must-sees. “Lincoln in the Bardo” at the Metropolitan Opera – Oct. 19-Nov. 14, 2026 The Metropolitan {…}
(Photo: Bernard Rosenberg) The Pietrasanta in Concerto Festival combines a unique and distinctive, artist-centered, and community-driven approach to a classical music festival, in contrast with more traditional models. This philosophy extends to nurturing future talent through live performances and masterclasses in local venues to prioritize deep understanding and cultural immersion over superficial social media engagement and pre-planned repertoire that might {…}
This week Iwona Sobotka is set to make her debut at the Salzburg Festival in Verdi’s “Requiem.” The soprano has been performing at many of the great opera houses in the world and slowly expanding her repertoire. Verdi has been one of the composer’s with which Sobotka has been associated with singing “Otello,” “Simon Boccanegra,” “Il Trovatore,” and “La Traviata,” {…}
With the publication of Ross Benjamin’ translation of Daniel Kehlmann’s fictionalized story of Austrian filmmaker, Georg Wilhelm Pabst (1886-1967), The Director (2023/2025), preceded by German filmmaker Werner Herzog’s translated memoire, Every Man for Himself and God Against All (2022/2023), it’s fascinating to see how the opera-film relationship can be incredibly heterogeneous. While for Herzog, “when the whole world is transformed {…}
(Credit: Herwig Prammer) This week, the Salzburg Festival opens a new production of “Ariadne auf Naxos,” one of Strauss’ most popular works and one that showcases a multiple array of voices. For this production rising star Christina Nilsson will make her highly anticipated company debut. A winner of third prize in Operalia in 2019, Nilsson has become synonymous with the {…}
This week the Bayreuth Festival will open its 2026 season with “Rienzi,” a work that the festival has never performed. For the production, festival has aligned some of the greatest Wagnerians currently singing. Heading the charge will be Andreas Schager, one of the premiere tenors of the repertoire. Schager has performed the role for many years first in June 2011 at {…}
