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 {…}
Scottish Opera will present a new production of Puccini’s “Turandot,” directed by Sir David McVicar. The production, which opens on Oct. 22 at Theatre Royal Glasgow before touring to Festival Theatre Edinburgh from Nov. 11 to 22, is presented in a co-production with Irish National Opera. This will also mark the UK-staged premiere of Franco Alfano’s original completion of the {…}
CHORALSPACE will present “Puccini in Florence” at the Teatro Verdi on Oct. 3 and 4, 2026. The program will showcase Puccini’s “Messa di gloria” and Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “The Light We Share,” commissioned by CHORALSPACE to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of Francis of Assisi. The performances will bring together 1,500 singers from around the world under {…}
Boston University musicologist Deborah Burton has published “The Finales of Turandot: Puccini’s Last Act,” a study examining the various completions of Puccini’s unfinished opera from 1925 to the present. The 304-page book, out Sept. 21, 2026, from Routledge, explores the social and musical contexts behind each completion, including Franco Alfano’s 1925 version written under fascist Italy, Luciano Berio’s 2001 finale {…}
(Photo: © Bernd Uhlig) The Opéra national de Paris will present free outdoor screenings of two Puccini operas as part of its annual Opéra d’été series. Claus Guth’s production of “La Bohème,” conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and featuring Nicole Car as Mimì, Aida Garifullina as Musetta, and Atalla Ayan as Rodolfo, opens the opera screenings in France at the Centre {…}
(Photo Credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera) I’ve seen “La Bohème” many times, which means I usually know within a few minutes how it’s going to go. Puccini doesn’t ask for permission to rip your heart out; an unrelenting sense of tragedy is the hallmark of his work. At some point, the opera either grabs you, or it doesn’t, and {…}
(Credit: Lewis Valdes) To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the world premiere of Puccini’s “Turandot,” the Florida Grand Opera revived the iconic work for the first time since 2010. For the occasion, the company’s CEO Maria Todaro took the stage to give the audience a brief intro to the evening and its significance for the community, while also previewing what {…}
“Puccini Heroines,” “Puccini’s Heroines,” “Heroines”—or “Eroine”—of Puccini. This myriad of near-identical album titles reflects the indiscriminately amorous fascination the composer’s female protagonists have exerted upon a century of operatic singers and spectators alike (after all, 2026 marks the centennial of “Turandot”). Therefore, another “Puccini Heroines”—this time from Pentatone—comes as little surprise. It features Sondra Radvanovsky, whose career has followed the {…}
Puccini’s “La Bohème” will hit UK cinemas on March 3, 2026, in a striking new film adaptation set in present-day East London. The work was reimagined by writer and director Robin Norton-Hale, who is also Artistic Director and CEO of English Touring Opera and the founder of OperaUpClose, and stars Scottish tenor Matthew in his breakout feature film debut as {…}
Art City Opera will present its first fully staged production with Puccini’s “Suor Angelica.” The production, set to open Feb. 20 and running through Feb. 23 at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Wayne, PA, will star soprano Ryan Colbert in the title role, alongside mezzo-soprano Rebecca Sacks as the Princess. The cast is completed by Philadelphia-area singers. Julian Grabarek serves {…}
Massachusetts’ Cambridge Symphony Orchestra (CSO) will open its 2025–26 season with “Beginnings,” a semi-staged performance of Puccini’s “La Bohème.” The performance on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. local time at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium will be conducted by Music Director Cynthia Woods. The cast stars Kayla Harriott as Mimì, Eric Botto as Rodolfo, Melissa Joseph as Musetta, Ron Loyd {…}