(Photo: Geoffroy Schied) Such an inspired work ought to offer fertile ground for a stage director. Yet Martin Cicvák’s production, now almost two decades old, remains a striking example of Regietheater at its least illuminating. Whatever power it may once have possessed to scandalize has long since dissipated, leaving only a succession of provocations that obscure rather than deepen Shakespeare’s {…}
The Elbphilharmonie Hamburg has announced its 2026-27 season. Here are the vocal performances. The Philharmonia Orchestra, I Vocalisti, ChorWerk Potsdam, Anna Lapwood, and Kerem Hasan will perform music by Kristina Arakelyan, Hans Zimmer, Max Richter, and Camille Saint-Saëns. Performance Date: Sept. 14, 2026 The Ensemble Resonanz, Anna Prohaska, and Enno Poppe will perform works by Benjamin Britten, Claude Vivier, Jean-Philippe {…}
The Den Norske Opera & Ballett has announced its 2026-27 season. Opera Sing Opera Young will feature the Norwegian National Youth Orchestra. Performance Dates: August 15, 2026 Elisabeth Teige star in Strauss’ “Elektra” with Karen Cargill, Marita Sølberg, Magnus Staveland, and Yngve Søberg. Edward Gardner conducts the production by Ole Anders Tandberg. Performance Dates: Sept. 12-Oct. 4, 2026 Thomas Atkins, Clara {…}
(Photo Credit: Jiyang Chen ) The Philharmonia Orchestra has announced the first half of its 2026-27 London season at the Southbank Centre. Marin Alsop conducts the London premiere of Julia Wolfe’s “Fire in my Mouth,” a multimedia elegy for the 146 victims of New York’s 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, drawing on choral writing, folk song and industrial noise. Performance {…}
Wigmore Hall has announced its 2026-7 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Nadine Sierra and Bryan Wagorn open the season with a gala. Performance Date: Sept. 8, 2026 The Gesualdo Six perform “English Motets.” Performance Date: Sept. 9, 2026 Il Pomo d’Oro and Il Pomo d’Oro Choir perform in concert. Performance Date: Sept. 13, 2026 Alice Coote {…}
The Musikverein Wien has announced its 2026-27 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Serafina Starke and Rebeka Stojkoska lead an evening of works from Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf and Fanny Hensel. Performance Date: Sept. 17, 2026 Julia Kleiter, Julian Prégardien, and Sir András Schiff perform in recital of music by Johannes Brahms. Performance Date: {…}
The Wiener Konzerthaus has announced its 2026-27 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. VOCES8 leads a program of music by William Byrd, Virgil Thomson, Caroline Shaw, Morten Lauridsen, William Billings, Bobby McFerrin, Eric Whitacre, Taylor Scott Davis, Samuel Barber, Richard Rodgers, and Billy Strayhorn. Performance Date: Sept. 16, 2026 The Mahler Academy Orchestra will be joined by Fleur Barron and Philipp von Steinaecker in music by Mahler. Performance {…}
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2026-27 season. Klaus Mäkelä conducts Thomas Hampson in a program of music by Gabrieli, Stravinsky, and Walton. Performance Dates: Oct. 8 & 9, 2026 Klaus Mäkelä conducts Thomas Hampson in a program of music by Stravinsky, and Walton. Performance Date: Oct. 10, 2026 Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider conducts Brahms’ German Requiem with Louise Alder and Konstantin Krimmel. {…}
It is time to wrap up the year and look back at our favorite moments and performers. After releasing our favorite performances of 2025 and showcasing our rising stars of the year, it’s time for OperaWire’s annual tradition of naming our top singers of the year, honoring the opera stars that had major, and in some cases, career-defining, years. So without further ado {…}
(Photo: © Vito Lorusso / Teatro alla Scala) During the Classical period, audiences entertained themselves with theatrical farces, literary comedies and other artistic forms that, besides amusing, also served as social critique. “Così fan tutte,” premiered in Vienna in 1790, is a direct heir to that tradition. Mozart’s work explores seduction, fidelity and the illusion of love. Its characters take {…}
The Verbier Festival has announced its 2026 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Final Scene from “Götterdämmerung” with Michelle DeYoung. The program also includes Messiaen’s “Turangalîla-Symphoni” with Cécile Lartigau and Lucas Debargue. Performance Date: July 17, 2026 Gábor Takács-Nagy conducts Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” with Johanna Wallroth, Rebecka Wallroth, Anna El-Khashem, Giovanni Sala, {…}