(Photos: © Monika Rittershaus, Salzburger Festspiele) In 2020, the Salzburg Festival’s centenary program was reorganized due to restrictions concerning the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, Mozart’s opera “Così fan tutte” – which was not initially planned for that summer – had to be shortened and performed without an intermission. Conductor Joana Mallwitz and director Christof Loy had very little time {…}
The Teatro Real de Madrid has announced its 2026-27 season. Opera Sondra Radvanovsky and Saioa Hernández lead Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” with Lucas Meachem, Szymon Mechliński, Brian Jagde,, Michael Fabiano and Jorge de Leon. Nicola Luisotti conducts Carlos Wagner’s production. Performance Dates: Sept. 23-Oct. 11, 2026 Paul Agnew conducts Handel’s “Riccardo Primo, rè d’Inghilterra” with Jakub Józef Orliński, Melissa Petit, Alex Rosen, {…}
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2026-27 season. Here are the vocal performances. Philippe Jordan conducts Haydn’s “The Creation” with Louise Alder, Bogdan Volkov, and David Steffens. Performance Dates: Nov. 5-7, 2026 Eric Jacobsen conducts Osvaldo Golijov and David Henry Hwang’s “Creation” with Cécile McLorin Salvant, Davóne Tines, Cyro Baptista, and Kayhan Kalhor. Performance Dates: Nov. 12-14, 2026 Andris {…}
(Credit: © Guergana Damianova – OnP) Ralph Fiennes knows a thing or two about Alexander Pushkin’s novel in verse, “Eugene Onegin.” It turns out he has a touch for opera, too, based on his directorial debut at the Paris Opera. His staging of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” at the Palais Garnier is rooted in tradition, but he controlled the action on {…}
(Credit: Guergana Damianova / OnP) The Opéra National de Paris is set to broadcast and stream its new production of “Eugene Onegin.” The opera will be broadcast live on France.tv on Feb. 9 and will also be broadcast at a later date in cinemas and on Paris Opera Play. The recording will be made on Feb. 6 and 9, 2026, {…}
(Photo: © Wiener Staatsoper / Michael Pöhn) Before I get to the performance in question for this review, “Dialogues des Carmelites,” I have a few words about the setting. Though reasonably well-travelled, somehow I never went to Vienna. I did attend Salzburg for the festival. And Munich as well, for a shattering Janacek’s “From the House of the Dead”. Paris, {…}
The Salzburg Festival has announced its 2026 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Franck Ollu conducts Pascal Dusapin and Rita de Letteriis’s “Passion” starring Sarah Aristidou, Georg Nigl, and Schola Heidelberg. Performance Date: July 23, 2026 Asmik Grigorian stars as Bizet’s “Carmen” alongside Jonathan Tetelman, Kristina Mkhitaryan, and Davide Luciano. Teodor Currentzis conducts the production by Gabriela {…}
From September 21 to October 9, the Brussels opera house “La Monnaie” revived Laurent Pelly’s 2018 production of “Falstaff” at the Ópera Real in Madrid. Setting the drama in the present day, the French director successfully blends realism, comedy, and fantasy with constant inventiveness. There are dozens of inventive touches in the staging, and they never grow tiresome. From the {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week, audiences will be able to listen to the world premiere of a new work, a DVD of Weinberg’s opera from Salzburg, and a rarely performed opera by Giacomelli. Adoration Bright Shiny Things releases “Adoration,” the world premiere live recording of an {…}
The Opéra de Rouen Normandie has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera Chelsea Lehnea, Leonardo Sanchez, and Anthony Clark Evans lead Verdi’s “La Traviata.” Dayner Tafur-Diaz conducts the production by Jean-François Sivadier. The opera will be livestreamed on Oct. 4, 2025. Performance Dates: Sept. 26-Oct. 7, 2025 Elsa Benoit and Samuel Hasselhorn lead Brahms’ Deutsche Requiem. Laurence Equilbey conducts the production {…}
(Photo Credit: © Forster) The premiere of “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” at the Teatro Real de Madrid became an extraordinary event. Dmitri Tcherniakov offered the audience a new interpretation of the famous opera by Rimsky-Korsakov, transforming it from a fairy-tale into a psychological drama. The director boldly departs from familiar images and, like a surgeon, reveals the hidden meanings {…}