(Photo: Ben van Duin) For its final presentation of the season, the Dutch National Opera brought together a stellar cast under the musical direction of Fabio Luisi, conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra, with stage direction by Jetske Mijnssen for a new production of Verdi’s emotionally and politically complex opera “Simon Boccanegra” in the revised 1881 version with its text by Arrigo Boito. And it did {…}
The BBC Proms has announced its 2026 season. Here are the vocal performances. The festival opens on with pianist Yunchan Lim and tenor Thomas Atkins joining Dalia Stasevska and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for music by Ravel, Copland, Gershwin and Finzi. There will also be a world premiere by Josephine Stephenson. Performance Date: July 17, 2026 Gianandrea Noseda leads Beethoven’s Symphony {…}
The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced its 2026-27 season. Premieres “Mittwoch aus Licht” will be conducted by Maxime Pascal and directed by Susanne Kennedy. Performance Dates: Sept. 19-27, 2026 Wagner’s “Der fliegende Holländer” will be conducted by Anna Handler and Giedrė Šlekytė and directed by Milo Rau. The opera will star Tareq Nazmi, Aušrine Stundytė, Attilio Glaser, Stephanie Wake-Edwards, Omar {…}
The Dutch National Opera is set to present Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra.” The company will present the opera as part of the Holland Festival and Fabio Luisi will conduct the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Jetske Mijnssen will direct the new production. The new production by Mijnssen sets Verdi’s opera in 1881, the year the revised version premiered and when Italy was united {…}
The Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced its 2026-27 season. Christian Van Horn and Kyle Ketelsen lead Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” with Mané Galoyan, Nina Solodovnikova, Lawrence Brownlee, Tommaso Barea, Anna El-Khashem, Christopher Humbert, Jr., and David Leigh. Enrique Mazzola conducts the production by Robert Falls. Performance Dates: Oct. 10-Nov. 1, 2026 Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’s “Omar” will star Issachah {…}
The Dutch National Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” and Mascagni’s “Cavalleria rusticana” will be conducted by Andrea Battistoni. Leoncavallo’s work will star Corinne Winters, Riccardo Massi, Roman Burdenko, and Hubert Zapiór while Mascagni’s will star Raehann Bryce-Davis, SeokJong Baek, Enkelejda Shkoza, Roman Burdenko, and Maria Warenberg. Performance Dates: Sept. 5 – 23, 2026 Shostakovich’s “Cherry Town” will {…}
(Photo: Ken Howard / Met Opera) Metropolitan Opera’s season premiere of Ivo van Hove’s production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” took place on September 24, 2025. Van Hove’s production originally debuted at Ópera National de Paris in 2019 at the Palais Garnier and OperaWire reviewed the performance in detail, specifically highlighting the set design and overall aesthetic. It is also important {…}
Federica Lombardi has announced her pregnancy and as a result has to withdrawn from her planned role debut in Verdi’s “Luisa Miller.” The soprano was to sing the role at the Palau de les Arts and Wiener Staatsoper. The soprano is expected to return to the stage in spring 2026 and Lombardi wishes to thank the opera houses and her audience for {…}
(Credit: Karen Almond) The Metropolitan Opera is set to revive Ivo van Hove’s production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” The opera will be performed 14 times between Sept. 24 and Nov. 22, 2025 and will showcase Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the first cast. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green takes on the title role with a cast that includes Federica Lombardi, Ben Bliss, Janai {…}
The Wiener Staatsoper has announced the Film Festival on Vienna’s Rathausplatz. The company will present operas on 10 Sunday evenings at the Haus am Ring. Here is a look at the program: The festival opens with Puccini’s “La bohème” from 2022 featuring Vittorio Grigolo, Anna Netrebko, Günther Groissböck, and Nina Minasyan. Date: June 29, 2025 Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore” from 2022 features {…}
The Palau de les Arts has announced its 2025-26 season. Lorenzo Viotti conducts Gounod’s “Faust” in a production by Johannes Erath. Iván Ayón-Rivas, Alex Esposito, Ruth Iniesta, Florian Sempey, and Ekaterine Buachidze. Performance Dates: Oct. 3-15, 2025 Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s “La descente d’Orphée aux enfers” will star Josipa Bilić, Camille Chopin, Sarah Fleiss, Tanaquil Ollivier, Sydney Frodsham, Richard Pittsinger, Bastien Rimondi, Attila {…}