Rosa Feola, Iván Ayón-Rivasm, Nicola Alaimo, Germán Enrique Alcántara Headline Opera Rara’s 56th Season

Opera Rara has announced its 56th season. On the opera front, conductor Paul Daniel leads The Hallé and the English National Opera Chorus in the UK premiere of Offenbach’s “Barkouf,” using Jean-Christophe Keck’s critical edition of the 1860 opéra-bouffe. The performances will be preceded by the opera’s first-ever recording. Performance Date: Oct. 4, 2026 — Bridgewater Hall, Manchester Opera Rara {…}

Dec 5, 2025

Donizetti Opera Festival 2025 Review: Donizetti Songs

(Photo: Studio UV – Fondazione Teatro Donizetti ) When one thinks of Donizetti, one immediately thinks of opera: sparkling comedies or intense melodramas. Yet it must be remembered that Donizetti also composed, almost furtively, a large number of intimate, inventive, exquisitely crafted songs. These pieces reveal an introspective and confessional version of him, endowed with a surprisingly wide expressive palette. {…}

Dec 5, 2025

Opera Rara & The Hallé to Collaborate on Offenbach’s ‘Barkouf’

Opera Rara and The Hallé announced that they will join forces for the UK premiere of Offenbach’s political satire “Barkouf” on Oct. 4, 2026. The work centers on a dog who is appointed governor of a fictitious place called “Lahore,” whose population has reached its wits’ end with the corruption and incompetence of successive leaders. The performance will use musicologist {…}

Nov 4, 2025

Ermonela Jaho & Iván Ayón-Rivas Lead Opera Rara’s ‘La Rondine’

On Dec. 5, 2025, Opera Rara will team up with the BBC Symphony Orchestra to present the final 1921 version of Puccini’s “La rondine.” The performance will be at London’s Barbican Centre, and this will mark the first time the complete third version of “La Rondine,” the one which Puccini was most committed to but never heard in his lifetime {…}

Oct 28, 2025

20 Opera Companies Join Forces to Launch UK Opera Association

A new organization representing the UK’s opera sector, the UK Opera Association (UKOA), has officially launched, uniting 20 founding companies to advocate for opera’s future and strengthen its presence across the country. UKOA, which was founded by Birmingham Opera Company, British Youth Opera, Buxton International Festival, English National Opera, English Touring Opera, Garsington Opera, The Grange Festival, Glyndebourne, Longborough Festival {…}

Sep 16, 2025

Opera Rara Announces New International Partnerships

Opera Rara has announced two new international partnerships at the start of its 55th season. The company’s newest partners are the Donizetti Opera Festival and Bloomsbury Publishing. This season launches the collaboration with Opera Rara and Bergamo’s Donizetti Opera Festival. Over the course of six concerts across three years, all of Donizetti’s solo songs will be performed by young artists {…}

May 3, 2025

Germán Enrique Alcántara, Julieth Lozano, Soraya Mafi, & Robert Lewis Star in Opera Rara’s 55th Season

Opera Rara announces its 55th season. Concerts The Salon Series recital co-presented with Temple Music Foundation features baritone Germán Enrique Alcántara and pianist Anna Tilbrook. Performance Date: October 10, 2025 The final, 1921 version of Puccini’s “La rondine” features Ermonela Jaho, Iván Ayón-Rivas, Nicola Alaimo, Ellie Neate, Juan Francisco Gatell, Jessica Robinson, Julieth Lozano, Joanna Harries, Robert Lewis, and William {…}

Apr 4, 2025

CD Review: Opera Rara’s ‘Simon Boccanegra’

“Simon Boccanegra” – in its standard 1881 revision – is an undisputed, though infrequently performed, masterpiece. But what of its very first iteration from 1857? Its premiere, at Venice’s La Fenice, famously turned into a fiasco. Julian Budden, for example, admitted to the hostility with which the libretto was received, while Verdi himself, in a letter to Giraldoni, wryly picked {…}

Mar 13, 2025

Opera Rara to Stream Michael Spyres & Marie-Nicole Lemieux’s Donizetti / Berlioz Recital

Opera Rara is set to stream its March 16 concert featuring Michael Spyres and Marie-Nicole Lemieux. The showcase, which took place at Cadogan Hall on March 10, will be available to stream on Opera Rara’s YouTube for 30 days starting on March 16, 2025. The performance featured several songs by Donizetti, interspersed with works by Berlioz. The two singers were {…}

Dec 12, 2024

Opera Rara Announces 2025 Schedule

Opera Rara has announced the 2025 schedule The first series of “Lives in Song” is hosted by Flora Willson and Roger Parker. Donizetti—Episode 2 will examine the music of Gaetano Donizetti and tell the story of his life through some of the songs he composed. Stream Date: Jan. 16, 2025 Opera Rara’s second Salon Series recital for emerging artists will {…}

Oct 30, 2024

Rosa Feola’s ‘Donizetti Song Project’ Concert to Get Live Stream

(Credit: (c) Simon Weir) Opera Rara is set to stream its upcoming performance of Rosa Feola at Wigmore Hall on Nov. 2, 2024. The famed soprano will perform as part of the “Donizetti Song Project” alongside Carlo Rizzi at the piano and Sally Pryce on harp. The performance features songs by Donizetti as well as a modern-day premiere. Also on {…}

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