Teatro Real opened the 2026-27 season with a new production of Puccini’s juvenile opera “Manon Lescaut” (co-produced with Opera Köln). These are the first stage performances of this title since the theater reopened in 1997, and it has been 102 years since it was last seen at Teatro Real. It delivered a splendid cast with the voices of soprano Sondra {…}
The Christmas Night Opera Gala will return to Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage on Dec. 22, 2026, following last year’s inaugural concert. The evening, which will be presented by Wintour Performing Arts Incorporated, will showcase international stars Joyce DiDonato, Isabel Leonard, Rosa Feola, Michael Fabiano, and Iurii Samoilov. As he did last year, Italian conductor Francesco Lanzillotta will once again take {…}
The Teatro real de Madrid has announced the operas that will broadcast live in cinemas. In partnership with Cine Yelmo, the company will present four productions in 27 theaters. The season will open with Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut,” conducted by Nicola Luisotti and directed by Carlos Wagner. The cast is headlined by Sondra Radvanovsky, Michael Fabiano, Lucas Meachem, Pietro Spagnoli, and {…}
The company ABAO-Bilbao Opera closed its 2025-26 season with Giordano’s masterpiece “Andrea Chénier.” A luxury cast was led by opera star Michael Fabiano, alongside the rising Spanish soprano Saioa Hernández and the extraordinary baritone Juan Jesús Rodríguez. A co-production between ABAO and the Festival de Peralada, it presented beautiful and meaningful sets and costumes designed by Ricardo Sánchez Cuerda and {…}
On May 23, the Bilbao Opera is set to close its 74th season with Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier.” The work will be performed through June 1 for four performances with Michael Fabiano singing the title role, alongside Saioa Hernández as Maddalena di Coigny. Juan Jesús Rodríguez rounds out the cast of leads in the role of Carlo Gérard. The cast will {…}
The ABAO Bilbao Opera has announced its 2026-27 season. Opera Jessica Pratt, Javier Camarena, and Gabriele Viviani star in Verdi’s “La Traviata.” Francesco Ivan Ciampa conducts the production by Mario Pontiggia. Performance Dates: Oct. 17-26, 2026 Andrzej Filończyk, Leonor Bonilla, Santiago Ballerini, Sabrina Gárdez, and José Manuel Díaz star in Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.” Pedro Bartolomé conducts the production {…}
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 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 title role of Verdi’s “Otello” is one of the hardest roles ever written for a tenor in the Italian repertoire. Luciano Pavarotti simply recorded it while Carlo Bergonzi (who was considered a Verdi expert) and Franco Corelli always refused to sing it. On the other hand, Plácido Domingo debuted the role when he was 34 years old, and though {…}
The Gran Teatre del Liceu is set to stream “La Gioconda” through its platform Liceu+ on March 8, 2026. The opera, which is directed by Romain Gilbert, stars Saioa Hernández, Ksenia Dudnikova, John Relyea, Violeta Urmana, Michael Fabiano, and Gabriele Viviani. Daniel Oren conducts. Of the production, OperaWire said, “This was a beautiful production of ‘La Gioconda,’ albeit poorly staged. The stellar {…}
Ponchielli’s masterpiece, “La Gioconda,” was presented at the Gran Teatre del Liceu with a double cast of stellar singers and a beautiful production. Production Details The sets by Étienne Pluss were beautiful and meaningful. The stage was surrounded by walls of stone and wooden beams. There were realistic elements for each scene, including a big marble staircase in the first {…}