Opera

Opera reviews

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

Ariodante

George Frideric Handel

The Royal Opera

Royal Opera House

20 November–20 December 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

Rusalka

Antonin Dvořák, libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 18 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

4/4

Handel, Barber, Britten, H K Gruber

Royal Opera House

17 October–16 November 2020

Roberto Devereux

Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Salvadore Cammarano

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 17 October 2020

Maria Stuarda

Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Friedrich Schiller’...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 16 October 2020

Anna Bolena

Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Felice Romani

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 15 October 2020

Idomeneo

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Libretto by Giovanni Battista Varesco

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 4 October 2020

La Clemenza di Tito

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, libretto by Caterino Mazzola after Pietro Metastasio

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 3 October 2020

Maria Stuarda

Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Friedrich Schiller’...

Zurich Opera

Opernhaus Zürich

27–29 September 2020

Die Csárdásfürstin

Emmerich Kalman, Leo Stein and Bela Jenbach

Zurich Opera House

25–27 September 2020

I shall not live in vain

Ruth Morris Gray based on Emily Dickinson

Welsh National Opera youth groups

From 24 September 2020

La Rondine

Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Giuseppe Adami

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 21 September 2020

Norma

Vincenzo Bellini, libretto by Felice Romani

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 20 September 2020

L’Elisir d’Amore

Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Felice Romani

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 19 September 2020

La Cenerentola

Gioachino Rossini, libretto by Jacopo Ferretti

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 17 September 2020

Le Comte Ory

Gioachino Rossini, libretto by Eugene Scribe and Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poi...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 15 September 2020

Werther

Jules Massenet, Libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hautmann, ...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 13 September 2020

Les Troyens

Hector Berlioz based on Virgil’s Aeneid

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 12 September 2020

The Tempest

Thomas Adès, libretto by Meredith Oakes, based on the play by William Shakesp...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 6 September 2020

Porgy and Bess

George Gershwin, Libretto by George Gershwin, Dubose and Dorothy Heyward and ...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 4 September 2020

Lulu

Alban Berg

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 3 September 2020

Nixon in China

John Adams, Libretto by Alice Goodman

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 2 September 2020

Elektra

Richard Strauss, Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 31 August 2020

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Richard Wagner

Glyndebourne Opera

30 August–6 September 2020

Don Carlo

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francois Joseph Mery and Camille du Locle, based ...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 30 August 2020

Rigoletto

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Pave

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 24 August 2020

Il Barbiere Di Siviglia

Gioachino Rossini, libretto by Cesare Sterbini

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 22 August 2020

The Turn of the Screw

Benjamin Britten, Libretto by Myfanwy Piper

Opera North

Leeds Grand Theatre

From 21 August 2020

Un Ballo in Maschera

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Antonio Somma, based on Eugene Scribe’s libretto ...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 20 August 2020

Luisa Miller

Giuseppe Verdi, Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, Based on the Play Kabale und...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 16 August 2020

Deborah Voigt as Isolde and Robert Dean Smith as Tristan

Tristan and Isolde

Richard Wagner

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 14 August 2020

The Telephone

Gian Carlo Menotti

Scottish Opera

From 8 August 2020

Agrippina

George Frideric Handel, Libretto by Vincenzio Grimani

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 8 August 2020

Madama Butterfly

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

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 6 August 2020

Simon Boccanegra

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Pave and Arrigo Boito

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 5 August 2020

Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Jacques Offenbach, Libretto by Jules Barbier

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 4 August 2020

Die Walküre

Richard Wagner

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 2 August 2020

Ernani

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Pave

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 1 August 2020

Il Trovatore

Giuseppe Verdi, Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 30 July 2020

Rigoletto

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Piave

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 29 July 2020

George Gagnidze, Marcelo Álvarez and Karita Mattila

Tosca

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

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 28 July 2020

Lucia di Lammermoor

Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the novel by Sir...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 27 July 2020

Lise Davidsen (Leonore) and Georg Zeppenfeld (Rocco)

Fidelio

Ludwig van Beethoven, libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner, revised by Stephan von...

The Royal Opera

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

26 July 2020–25 July 2021

La Fanciulla del West

Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarni, based on the...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 26 July 2020

Der Rosenkavalier

Richard Strauss, Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 25 July 2020

Falstaff

Giuseppe Verdi, Libretto by Arrigo Boito, Based on the Play by William Shakes...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 24 July 2020

Romeo et Juliette

Charles Gounod, Libtretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 23 July 2020

Macbeth

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Pave and Andrea Maffei

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 22 July 2020

Tannhäuser

Richard Wagner

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 21 July 2020

Wozzeck

Alban Berg

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 16 July 2020

Turandot

Giacomo Puccini, Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simon, Based on a play...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 15 July 2020

Manon Lescaut

Giacomo Puccini, Libretto by Domenico Oliva, Giuilo Ricordi, Luigi Illica and...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 13 July 2020

I Puritani

Vincenzo Bellini, libretto by Carlo Pepoli

Oper Stuttgart

Staatsoper Stuttgart

10 July–9 October 2020

Eugene Onegin

Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Libretto by Tchaikovsky and Konstantin Shilovsky, B...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 10 July 2020

Carousel

Music by Richard Rodgers, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, based on t...

New York Philharmonic

Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York

10 July–8 September 2020

Francesca da Rimini

Ricardo Zandonai, libretto by Tito Ricardi, a shortened version of the play b...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 9 July 2020

Il Trovatore

Giuseppe Verdi, Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 7 July 2020

La Bohème

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

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 6 July 2020

La Donna del Lago

Gioachino Rossini, Libretto by Andrea Leone Tottila

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 5 July 2020

Don Pasquale

Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Giovanni Ruffini

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 4 July 2020

The Nose

Music by Dmitri Shostakovich, libretto by the composer with Yevgeny Zamyatin,...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 2 July 2020

La Fille du Régiment

Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-F...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 29 June 2020

Satyagraha

Philip Glass, Book and vocal text by Constance deJong (adapted from the "Bhag...

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

21–22 June 2020

Akhnaten

Philip Glass

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

20–21 June 2020

The Skating Rink

Composed by David Sawer, libretto by Rory Mullarky

Garsington Opera

From 9 June 2020

Otello

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on the play by William Shakes...

Metropolitan Opera House

Metropolitan Opera House, New York

From 7 June 2020

The Exterminating Angel

Thomas Adès, libretto by Tom Cairns

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera, New York

From 5 June 2020

Lulu

Alban Berg

Met Opera on Demand

Metropolitan Opera, New York

From 4 June 2020

Opera news

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.

Switch ON Opera North for autumn

5 October 2020

New events have been added to Switch ON; Opera North’s programme of new indoor performance, outdoor events and digital projects to take place this autumn.

The Soldier Returns—but not as expected

5 October 2020

In spite of the pandemic, Opera Sunderland’s The Soldier Returns will première in November but not as originally planned.

Birmingham Opera to stage Wagner’s RhineGold

1 October 2020

Birmingham Opera Company is to present Wagner’s RhineGold with an international cast and local volunteer performers in a disused metalworks.

Opera North live-streams from Leeds Town Hall

24 September 2020

Opera North will launch its Switch ON programme in a live-streamed concert from Leeds Town Hall presented by broadcaster and writer Suzy Klein.

Royal Opera House Pocket Photobook

22 September 2020

A compact photo guide to the Royal Opera House, home to The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, is on sale now.

Graeae and The Stables to broadcast Paradis

19 September 2020

Graeae and The Stables are to broadcast The Paradis Files, a short documentary about the making of a new opera, followed by a Q&A with members of the creative team.

Coliseum to reopen with ENO Mozart Requiem

19 September 2020

English National Opera will reopen the London Coliseum to 'socially distanced' audiences for special performances of Mozart’s Requiem.

ROH autumn and winter cinema broadcasts

10 September 2020

The Royal Opera House's autumn and winter 2020 cinema season will include four opera and ballet favourites broadcast to cinemas across the globe.

Royal Opera House opens its doors

4 September 2020

Royal Opera House is to reopen for the first time in six months as part of Open House London.

Scottish Opera to perform outdoors

28 August 2020

Scottish Opera has announced a programme of outdoor performances, including Puccini’s La bohème and Pop-up Opera performances of Don Giovanni, The Gondoliers and new work The Song of the Clyde.

Orchestra of Opera North performs live at Leeds Town Hall

28 August 2020

Live music returns to Leeds Town Hall with the Orchestra of Opera North.

ROH online autumn opera and ballet concerts

28 August 2020

The Royal Opera House is to make two evenings of opera and ballet live from Covent Garden available to view online.

Opera North Switches ON for autumn

19 August 2020

Switch ON, Opera North's programme of new outdoor events and digital projects, takes place across the North of England this autumn following the postponement of the season previously planned.

Song of Our Heartland on film

15 August 2020

Song of Our Heartland, a co-production between Opera North and Northern Heartlands, is to be released on film.

Whistle Stop Opera: Hansel and Gretel

15 August 2020

Opera North’s Whistle Stop Opera Hansel and Gretel will be visiting the North East this month.

Walking Home: Opera North's sound journey

13 August 2020

Walking Home is a series of five 'sound journeys' commissioned by Opera North and composed and recorded by musicians during lockdown, which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 6 Music and available for download 15–28 August 2020.

The redemptive power of Opera Helps

8 August 2020

Opera Helps began as an art project in which opera singers visited people's homes to sing to them one to one, "harnessing the redemptive power of opera", and has now been adapted for online.

Scottish Opera online Emerging Artists recital

12 July 2020

Scottish Opera will present a live online recital showcasing its Emerging Artists from the 2019/20 season on its YouTube channel.

Opera North's Tragedy on BBC iPlayer

7 July 2020

Capturing the backstage world during a performance of La traviata by Opera North, Tragedy, by artist and film-maker Lynne Marsh, is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Three new Friday premières from Royal Opera House

6 July 2020

The Royal Opera House continues its #OurHouseToYourHouse programme with three new productions: Romeo and Juliet (The Royal Ballet, 2019), Faust (The Royal Opera, 2019) and The Sleeping Beauty (The Royal Ballet, 2020).

Fancy joining an opera chorus?

25 June 2020

Opera North is inviting everyone to join its new chorus to sing choruses from Bizet’s Carmen, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride and Verdi’s Nabucco.

Birmingham Opera goes online this summer

21 June 2020

Birmingham Opera Company has announced productions to be shown online in the coming months, including Tippett’s The Ice Break, Stockhausen’s Mittwoch Aus Licht / Wednesday from Light and Verdi’s Othello.

Chauhan is Birmingham Opera Company music director

15 June 2020

Conductor Alpesh Chauhan is to join Birmingham Opera Company as music director from 1 July 2020 and with artistic director Graham Vick will lead the company on its mission “to make great opera for all the people of Birmingham”.

Ballet and opera resumes live from Covent Garden

13 June 2020

The Live from Covent Garden series marks the first live performances of opera and ballet at the Royal Opera House since the building closed on 17 March.

Kaufmann, Ashton and Szymanowski among latest from ROH online

7 June 2020

The latest online releases from Royal Opera House include a Jonas Kaufmann documentary Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée, the first Live from Covent Garden concert and Szymanowski's King Roger.