Opera

Opera reviews

Romeo and Julia

Boris Blacher

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Operhaus Dusseldorf, Germany

17 April–17 October 2021

Pelléas et Mélisande

Claude Debussy, Libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck

Opéra de Lille co-production with Théâtre de Caen, Les Siècles

Opéra de Lille

16 April–9 October 2021

Don Giovanni

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart/Lorenzo Da Ponte

Unitel Edition / Theater an der Wien, Austria

Released 16 April 2021

Passione

Freddie de Tommaso

Decca

Released 16 April 2021

Das Rheingold

Richard Wagner

Sofia Opera, Bulgaria

Released 16 April 2021

Yusif Eyvazov (Chenier), Anna Netrebko (Maddalena) and company

Andrea Chénier

Umberto Giordano

Cmajor / La Scala, Milan

Released 16 April 2021

Plácido Domingo (Miller) & Sonya Yoncheva (Luisa)

Luisa Miller

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, based on Kabale und Liebe (I...

Met on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 11 April 2021

Rhapsody - Homage to Pauline Viardot

Varduhi Abrahamyan

Decca

Released 2 April 2021

The Flying Dutchman

Richard Wagner

Klaipeda State Musical Theatre, Lithuania

2 April–3 July 2021

La Voix Humaine & L’Heure Espagnole

Maurice Ravel & Francis Poulenc

Opera Zuid

Opera Zuid, Maastricht, Netherlands

26 March–26 June 2021

Faust

Charles Gounod

Royal Opera House

Released 26 March 2021

Iphigénie en Tauride

Christoph Willibald Gluck, libretto by Nicolas-Francois Guillard

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 24 March 2021

Gonzalve (Elgan Llyr Thomas), Ashley Riches (Don Iñigo, in clock), Concepción (Catherine Backhouse) and Ramiro (Ross Ramgobin)

L'heure Espagnole

Maurice Ravel

Grange Park Opera

From 20 March 2021

L’Heure Espagnole

Maurice Ravel, Libretto by Frank-Nohain

Grange Park Opera

From 19 March 2021

Attila

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, Themistocles Solera

Sofia Opera and Ballet

Tsarvets Fortress, Velico, Tarnovic, Bulgaria

19 March–19 June 2021

Andrea Chenier

Umberto Giordano, libretto by Luigi Illica

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 13 March 2021

Fedora

Umberto Giordano, libretto by Arturo Colautti

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 12 March 2021

Breaking the Waves

Music by Missy Mazzoli, libretto by Royce Vavrek, based on the film by Lars v...

Opera Philadelphia

12 March–31 May 2021

Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci

Pietro Mascagni & Ruggero Leoncavallo, libretti by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 9 March 2021

Die Tote Stadt

Eric Wolfgang Korngold, Libretto by Eric Wolfgang Korngold and Julius Korngold

Komische Oper Berlin

28 February–27 March 2021

Un Ballo in Maschera

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Antonio Somma

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 27 February 2021

The Beggar's Opera

John Gay

Theatre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris

Released 26 February 2021

The Queen of Spades

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 23 February 2021

Pelléas and Mélisande

Claude Debussy

Grand Théâtre de Genève

19 February–19 August 2021

Anne Sophie Duprels (Katyusha) and chorus

Risurrezione

Franco Alfano

Teatro del Maggio Musicale, Florence, Italy

Released 19 February 2021

Julia Reznik (Iris) and Dirk Mestmacher (her father, Gomella)

Sonnenflammen

Siegfried Wagner

PPP Musiktheater, Bayreuth, Germany

Released 12 February 2021

Giulia Semenzato (Venere/Venus) and Nahuel Di Pierro (Ercole/Hercules)

Ercole Amante (Hercules in love)

Francesco Cavalli

Opera Comique, Paris

Released 12 February 2021

Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci

Pietro Mascagni & Ruggero Leoncavallo

Teatro Municipale Valli di Emilia with Teatro Communale di Bologna and Grand-...

Teatro Municipale Valli di Emilia

From 9 February 2021

Das Rheingold

Richard Wagner

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 8 February 2021

Der Fliegende Hollander

Composed and written by Richard Wagner

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 29 January 2021

Soldier Songs

Music and libretto by David T Little, screenplay by James Darrah and Johnatha...

Opera Philadelphia

22 January–31 May 2021

Gianni Schicchi

Giacomo Puccini, Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano

Teatro Municipale di Piacenza

From 22 January 2021

Lucia di Lammermoor

Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Salvadore Cammarano

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 19 January 2021

Capriccio

Richard Strauss, Libretto by Clemens Krauss and Richard Strauss

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 15 January 2021

Il Paria

Gaetano Donizetti

Britten Sinfonia, Opera Rara

Released 15 January 2021

Armida

Gioachino Rossini, Libretto by Giovanni Schmidt based on Torquato Tasso’s epi...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 14 January 2021

Andrea Chenier

Umberto Giordano, libretto by Luigi Illica

The Royal Opera

Royal Opera House, London

8 January–7 February 2021

The Fiery Angel

Sergey Prokofiev

Teatro dell'Opera, Rome

Released 8 January 2021

Adriana Lecouvreur

Francesco Cilea, Libretto by Arturo Colautti

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 4 January 2021

Tosca

Composed by Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, b...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 29 December 2020

Hansel and Gretel

Englebert Humperdinck, libretto by Adelheide Wett

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 25 December 2020

Boris Godunov

Modest Mussorgsky, Libretto based on play by Alexander Pushkin

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 18 December 2020

La Cenerentola

Gioachino Rossini, Libretto by Jacopo Ferretti edited by Alberto Zedda

Glyndebourne Opera

17 December 2020–4 January 2021

The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 12 December 2020

Carmen

Georges Bizet, libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on a play ...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 4 December 2020

Aida

Giuseppe Verdi, Libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 1 December 2020

Eugene Onegin

Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, libretto by Tchaikovsky and Konstantin Shilovsky, b...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 30 November 2020

Marnie

Nico Muhly, libretto by Nicholas Wright, based on the novel by Winston Graham

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 24 November 2020

Dialogues des Carmélites

Francis Poulenc

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 20 November 2020

Cycles of My Being

Tyshawn Sorey, with lyrics by Terrance Hayes and Lawrence Brownlee

Opera Philadelphia

20 November 2020–31 May 2021

Ariodante

George Frideric Handel

The Royal Opera

Royal Opera House

20 November–20 December 2020

Rusalka

Antonin Dvořák, libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 18 November 2020

Aci, Galatea e Polifemo

Georg Friedrich Handel, libretto by Nicolo Giuvo

Teatro Municipale Piacena, Italy

From 15 November 2020

Peter Grimes

Benjamin Britten, Libretto by Montagu Slater

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 13 November 2020

The Soldier's Return

Libretto by Jacob Polley; composed by Marcos Fernandez-Barrero

Opera Sunderland

8–30 November 2020

Semiramide

Gioachino Rossini, libretto by Gaetano Rossi, based on a play by Voltaire

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 5 November 2020

Orfeo ed Euridice

Christoph Willibald Gluck, libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 3 November 2020

La Traviata

Giuseppe Verdi, Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on La Dame Aux Camél...

Opera Philadelphia

Academy of Music, Philadelphia

30 October 2020–31 May 2021

La voix humaine

Poulenc

Welsh National Opera

25 October 2020–30 April 2021

The knife of dawn / A new dark age

Hannah Kendall, Missy Mazzoli, Katie Mitchell, Anna Thorvaldsdottir.

Royal Opera House

24 October–23 November 2020

The Merry Widow

Franz Lehár, libretto by Victor Leon and Leo Sarein

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 20 October 2020

Opera news

Opera North new activities for young musicians

15 April 2021

Opera North’s £18m redevelopment project, the Howard Opera Centre, will offer over 300 places for young musicians and Opera North Youth Orchestra launched.

Scottish Opera filmed and outdoor performances

14 April 2021

There will be a new outdoor production of Verdi’s Falstaff, five pop-up Gilbert & Sullivan shows, Roxana Haines directs the latest Scottish Opera: On Screen.

Opera North returns from lockdown

10 April 2021

A tour of Beethoven’s opera Fidelio will be the first large-scale production for over a year as Leeds-based Opera North builds towards a fuller programme of public events.

Pappano remains ROH Music Director until 2023

1 April 2021

Sir Antonio Pappano will continue as Music Director of The Royal Opera until the end of the 2023/24 season before joining the London Symphony Orchestra as Chief Conductor.

ROH booking for Brecht’s and Weill’s Deadly Sins and Mahagonny

30 March 2021

The Royal Opera House will stream Bertolt Brecht’s and Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins and Mahagonny Songspiel live from Covent Garden on 9 April.

Royal Opera House new season highlights

28 March 2021

The Royal Opera House's first full season since 2019 features 11 new productions—including 5 world premières—and 20 revivals.

Armitage and Bryars on words and music in podcast

19 March 2021

The latest podcast episode from Opera North and the University of Leeds brings together Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and composer Gavin Bryars.

Opera North's new broadcast and digital projects

19 March 2021

Opera North's new projects will include a co-production with Leeds Playhouse of Testament’s Orpheus in the Record Shop, broadcast on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer as part of #BBCLightsUp.

BBC Easter broadcast of ENO Messiah

12 March 2021

BBC Two will broadcast a concert of Handel’s Messiah from English National Opera for television this Easter.

Royal Opera House to open in May

11 March 2021

The Royal Opera House will open to audiences on 17 May 2021 with performances from The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera, new work online and an opera in 'hyper-reality'.

Belfast Ensemble streams live children's horror opera

5 March 2021

Conor Mitchell’s darkly comic children’s opera The Musician: A Horror Opera for Children from the Belfast Ensemble asks, "who was the Pied Piper?" and "why did the rats all dance to his tune?"

Royal Opera House two new Friday Premières

27 February 2021

Royal Opera House's next two new Friday Premières will be Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations.

ENO new staging of Ring Cycle

27 February 2021

English National Opera is to perform a new staging of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, directed by Richard Jones and conducted by Martyn Brabbins, over the next five years.

ROH streams Young Artists and Friday Premieres

12 February 2021

Royal Opera House 's #OurHouseToYourHouse programme continues with Tony and the Young Artists and a new Friday Premiere stream.

Opera North new online activities

8 February 2021

Opera North has launched Opera North’s Little School of Music, Orchestral Academy Online, ONe-to-ONe virtual solo performances and Virtual Choirs: From Couch to Chorus.

ENO and Imperial College Breathe with COVID sufferers

4 February 2021

English National Opera and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust are to roll out nationally their Breathe programme for people recovering from COVID-19.

ROH premières Puccini and Nureyev

30 January 2021

Royal Opera House has announced two new Friday Premières: Puccini's Il trittico and Nureyev's Raymonda Act III.

Scottish Opera screens Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel

30 January 2021

The latest Scottish Opera: On Screen, filmed at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal, is Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, a modern adaptation of the classic fairy tale.

Opera North workshops have diverse Resonance

22 January 2021

Opera North has selected four lead artists to develop new work in this year’s Resonance programme for minority ethnic music-makers.

Verbatim online opera from all-disabled ensemble

13 January 2021

New verbatim opera We Ask These Questions of Everybody from composer Amble Skuse will be performed online by an all-disabled ensemble at Scotland's Sound Festival 2021.

County Durham community opera now online

18 December 2020

Song of Our Heartland, a community opera for County Durham created with Opera North, is now streaming online free of charge.

Royal Opera House Christmas streams

9 December 2020

The Royal Opera House has announced its biggest ever programme of digital ballet and opera content for over the Christmas period.

World’s first "opera in hyper reality"

24 November 2020

Current, Rising is a collaboration between the Royal Opera House’s Audience Labs programme, Figment Productions and Royal Holloway, University of London.

Shelley Eva Haden as Anna II and Wallis Giunta as Anna I in The Seven Deadly Sins

Opera North streams live

17 November 2020

Opera North will live-stream two productions and offer an online film in the run-up to Christmas.

ENO's Requiem on BBC

7 November 2020

A specially recorded performance of Mozart’s Requiem from English National Opera will be broadcast on BBC Two from the London Coliseum.

Opera North takes to the streets

30 October 2020

Opera North takes music off the stage and out into the streets of Leeds this November.

Opera North's festive Couch to Chorus

28 October 2020

Following the success of the digital choir in the summer, a special Festive Edition of Opera North's From Couch to Chorus starts in November.

Ravel’s L’Enfant as Virtual Opera

24 October 2020

The Virtual Opera Project premières with a film version of Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortilèges in collaboration with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

ENO to perform Adams's El Niño at Coliseum

23 October 2020

English National Opera will perform John Adams's El Niño for two concert performances at the London Coliseum.

ROH opens for live ballet and opera

23 October 2020

The Royal Opera House is to open for 'socially distanced' live performances with a repertory of favourites from The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera.