(Photo: ©2026 Tristram Kenton) If you have ever visited to the Suffolk seaside town of Aldeburgh, where Benjamin Britten lived, and which inspired his 1945 opera “Peter Grimes” – based on George Crabbe’s poem “The Borough” – then you will surely remember the remarkable views from the sea front: vast, empty skies, sunlight blazing on the water like a purifying {…}
The English National Opera has announced its 2026-27 season. The season opens with Du Yun and Royce Vavrek’s “Angel’s Bone” with Allison Cook, Rodney Earl Clarke, Matthew McKinney, Mariam Wallentin, and Keith Pun. Baldur Brönnimann conducts the production by Kip Williams. Performance Dates: Oct 16-31, 2026 Ben Glassberg conducts Puccini’s “Tosca” with Annilese Miskimmon directing. Axelle Fanyo headlines with Chaz’men Williams-Ali, {…}
Four centuries after William Shakespeare imagined a night-time forest where desires dissolve into illusions, Benjamin Britten transformed that world into one of the most enigmatic operas of the 20th century. Now the work returns to the stage of Teatro Real in a new production by director Deborah Warner under the baton of conductor Ivor Bolton–a duo that has repeatedly shaped {…}
The Staatsoper Hamburg has announced its 2026-27 season. Premieres Tomáš Hanus and Daniele Squeo lead Verdi’s “Macbeth” in a production by Tobias Kratzer. The cast includes Kartal Karagedik, Simon Keenlyside, Alexander Vinogradov, Aleksei Kulagin, Nino Machaidze, and Dovlet Nurgeldiyev. Performance Dates: Sept. 12-Oct. 20, 2026 Tohar Gil conducts Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” in a new production by Nils Voges. Aebh {…}
The 2025 DUET Endowment Trust Gala was held on Oct. 4, the Artscape opera house. The annual DUET Endowment Trust Gala took place in celebration of South African operatic and musical excellence. Among performers were Golda Schultz and Jacques Imbrailo, as well as Cape Town Opera’s house soloists, Judith Neilson Young Artists, vocal ensemble, and Children’s Chorus. They were joined by {…}
(Credit: Dario Acosta) Soprano Golda Schultz and baritone Jacques Imbrailo will headline Cape Town Opera’s Duet Endowment Trust Gala Concert. The concert, set for Oct. 4, 2025, will feature Brittany Smith, Nonhlanha Yende, Lukhanyo Moyake, Khayakazi Madlala, Lonwabo Mose, and Sisikelelwe Mngenela, the Cape Town Opera Vocal Ensemble and Children’s Chorus, and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra under Gaetano Lo {…}
(Credit: Nilz Böhme) Contrary to what the opera indicates in most scenes, with the exception of the duel between Lensky and Onegin, the Swiss director sets the first three acts outdoors. Only the final act at Prince Gremin’s house, where the final confrontation between Tatiana Princess Gremin and Eugene Onegin takes place, is performed indoors. Underlining the fact that everything {…}
The Opéra national de Lorraine has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera The season opens with “Heroine” featuring three major works. The evening begins with Hindemith’s “Sancta Susanna” followed by Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” and will conclude with Honegger’s “Danse des morts.” Anthony Almeida directs the three works. Hindemith’s opera will star Anaïk Morel, Rosie Aldridge, Apolline Rai-Westphal, Yannis François, and Soloist of the Opera Chorus while {…}
The Staatsoper Hamburg has announced a cast change for its production of Messian’s “Saint François d’Assise.” The company announced that Jacques Imbrailo will replace Johannes Martin Kränze in the title role. Imbrailo is a well-known South African baritone who is well known for his interpretation in the title role of “Billy Budd.” He has performed at many of the world’s {…}
The Opéra National de Paris is set to showcase “Peter Grimes,” opening on January 26, 2023. The opera is directed by Deborah Warner, whose production premiered at the Teatro Real de Madrid in 2021. Conductor Alexander Soddy, who worked as the music director at the Nationaltheater Mannheim between 2016-22, will make his Paris Opera debut in the pit. Headlining the {…}
This week, baritone Jacques Imbrailo returns to the title role of “Don Giovanni” for his big debut at Ópera de Oviedo. The South African singer has performed the iconic role throughout his career with such companies the Perm Opera and Scottish Opera, among others. But his “Don Giovanni” isn’t the only thing he has in store for this coming season. {…}
