Opéra National de Paris 2025-26 Review: Carmen

https://operawire.com/opera-national-de-paris-2025-26-review-carmen/

(Credit: © Benoîte Fanton) “Carmen” is just about the last opera one would think of as homoerotic, yet this is the vibe of this Paris production; it’s haunted by the male body as object of desire. Other adjectives used to describe it would be bleak, vulgar, obscene, violent and most of all angry. Judging from the costumes, Calixto Bieito’s staging {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Opéra de Monte-Carlo 2026 Review: Così fan tutte

https://operawire.com/opera-de-monte-carlo-2026-review-cosi-fan-tutte/

(Photo: © OMC Marco Borrelli) Over the past three years, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo has presented a complete cycle of the Mozart–Da Ponte operas in semi-staged performances by the Wiener Staatsoper. The series began in 2023 with “Le Nozze di Figaro,” continued in 2024 with “Don Giovanni” and concluded on February 9, 2026, with “Così fan tutte.” When “Semi-Staged” Means {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Teatro Real de Madrid 2025-26 Review: I Masnadieri

https://operawire.com/teatro-real-de-madrid-2025-26-review-i-masnadieri/

(Credit: Javier del Real | Teatro Real) In recent years, Madrid’s Teatro Real has programmed many “operas in concert.” Sometimes they’re well-known, such as “Orfeo ed Euridice,” “Idomeneo,” or “Die Fledermaus” that I attended at the venerable theatre over the last three seasons. On occasion, they present more obscure works, such as Verdi’s early opera “I masnadieri”(1847). In the past, {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Opéra Royal de Versailles 2025-26 Review: Atys

https://operawire.com/opera-royal-de-versailles-atys/

(Photo: Baptiste Lacaze) Lully’s “Atys” is said to have been Louis XIV’s favorite opera. Using a libretto by Philippe Quinault (1635-1688), “Atys” is based on the story of Attis from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.” In the original story, Atys/Attis is a handsome Phrygian youth beloved by the goddess Cybèle. She demands his absolute fidelity but he betrays her with a nymph. As {…}

Special Features

Shawna Lucey & Alma Deutscher on Leading Opera San José’s ‘Cav / Pag’ Double Bill

https://operawire.com/shawna-lucey-alma-deutscher-on-leading-opera-san-joses-cav-pag-double-bill/

This February, Opera San José is set to open the famed double bill of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Pagliacci.” These highly dramatic verismo operas are notable as stories in which women’s fidelity and sexuality are called into question by the male-directed societies. Men have the upper hand in these operas and their machismo views of fidelity, as well as their lust {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Bringing Her Home – Composer Leonard Lehrman on the Decades-Long Journey to Get ‘Sima’ its NYC Premiere

https://operawire.com/bringing-her-home-composer-leonard-lehrman-on-the-decades-long-journey-to-get-sima-its-ny-premiere/

(Photo by Jonathan Slaff) In the 1970s, Leonard Lehrman, a Kansas-born but Long Island-raised composer of 12 operas and seven musicals whose major mentors include Elie Siegmeister, Lenore Anhalt, and Olga Heifetz, wrote “Sima,” an opera about a Jewish girl orphaned by a pogrom in 1905 in Ukraine. For decades, the composer attempted to bring the opera to a New {…}

News

Vila Real Theatre to Present Modern World Premiere of Moreira’s ‘Gli Eroi Spartani’

https://operawire.com/vila-real-theatre-to-present-modern-world-premiere-of-moreiras-gli-eroi-spartani/

The modern world premiere of António Leal Moreira’s “Gli Eroi Spartani” is set for Dec. 13, 2025 at the Vila Real Theatre in Portugal. Composed in 1788 with a libretto by Gaetano Martinelli, “Gli Eroi Spartani” was originally created to celebrate the birthday of Dom José, Prince of Brazil. The work is presented in co-production with the Mateus Palace and {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q&A: Limmie Pulliam on Performing in the Festival International de Musique Saint-Georges’ First Opera

https://operawire.com/qa-limmie-pulliam-on-performing-in-the-festival-international-de-musique-saint-georges-first-opera/

(Photo credit: Daniel Welch) The 2025 edition of the Festival International de Musique Saint-Georges will celebrate the 280th anniversary of the composer’s birth by presenting its first opera. The concert version of Leoncavailo’s “Paglacci” stars tenor Limmie Pulliam as Canio, soprano Michelle Johnson as Nedda, along with tenor Leo Williams, and baritones Darnell Ishmel and Franco Pomponi. Alexis Rainbow directs {…}

Special Features

The Person Behind The Opera, Pt. 5: Baroness de Pontalba

https://operawire.com/the-person-behind-the-opera-pt-5-baroness-de-pontalba/

For the past few months, you may have noticed the series, ‘The Person Behind The Opera.’ In May, we began the series by looking at the person, Malcolm Little (or Malcolm X), the focus of Anthony Davis’ 1985 opera, ‘X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.’ The next month, we looked at Harvey Milk, the San Francisco gay rights {…}

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Opéra National de Paris 2025-26 Review: Carmen

Opéra de Monte-Carlo 2026 Review: Così fan tutte

Teatro Real de Madrid 2025-26 Review: I Masnadieri

Opéra Royal de Versailles 2025-26 Review: Atys

Shawna Lucey & Alma Deutscher on Leading Opera San José’s ‘Cav / Pag’ Double Bill

Bringing Her Home – Composer Leonard Lehrman on the Decades-Long Journey to Get ‘Sima’ its NYC Premiere

Vila Real Theatre to Present Modern World Premiere of Moreira’s ‘Gli Eroi Spartani’

Q&A: Limmie Pulliam on Performing in the Festival International de Musique Saint-Georges’ First Opera

The Person Behind The Opera, Pt. 5: Baroness de Pontalba