Opera

Opera reviews

Bradley Daley (Siegfried in disguise) wrenches the ring from Lee Bisset (Brünnhilde)

Götterdämmerung

Richard Wagner

Longborough Festival Opera

29 May–6 June 2023

Lionel Lhote, Vincent Le Texier and Enguerrand de Hys

Henry VIII

Camille Saint-Saëns, text by Léonce Détroyat and Armand Silvestre

Le Monnaie/De Munt

Le Monnaie/De Munt, Brussels, Belgium

16 May–16 November 2023

The Pearl Fishers

Music by Georges Bizet, libretto by Michel Carré and Eugène Cormon

Opera North

Leeds Grand Theatre

16 May–2 June 2023

A Midsummer’s Night Dream

Benjamin Britten, text by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears after William Shak...

Royal Swedish Opera

Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm

12 May–12 November 2023

L’Orfeo

Claudio Monteverdi, libretto by Alessandro Striggio

Staatsoper Hannover, Germany

28 April–28 October 2023

Ariadne auf Naxos

Richard Strauss, libretto Hugo von Hoffmansthal

Teatro della Pergola, Florence

Released 21 April 2023

La sonnambula

Vincenzo Bellini, text by Felice Romani after the libretto by Eugène Scribe f...

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Dusseldorf, Germany

21 April–21 October 2023

Chanáe Curtis, Idunnu Munch, Nadine Benjamin, Sarah-Jane Lewis

Blue

Music by Jeanine Tesori, libretto by Tazewell Thompson

English National Opera

London Coliseum

20 April–4 May 2023

Tosca

Giacomo Puccini, libretto Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica

Dutch National Opera

Released 14 April 2023

The Decision

Bertolt Brecht, music by Hanns Eisler, translated by John Willett

Birmingham Opera Company

The Party HQ, Great Hampton Works, Birmingham

14 April–14 October 2023

Hongni Wu as Dorabella and Lucia Cesaroni as Fiordiligi

Così fan tutte

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (music) and Lorenzo Da Ponte (libretto)

Pacific Opera Victoria

The Royal Theatre, Victoria BC

12–18 April 2023

Rolf Romei and ENO Ensemble in The Dead City

The Dead City / Die tote Stadt

Composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, libretto Paul Schrott

English National Opera

London Coliseum

25 March–8 April 2023

Omer Kobiljak (Prince Alexis, seated left) and Scott Hendricks (Gleby)

Siberia

Umberto Giordano, libretto Luigi Illica

Bregenz Festival

Released 24 March 2023

Fiamma Izzo D'amico (Elisabetta) and Jose Carreras (Carlo)

Don Carlo

Giuseppe Verdi

Salzburg Festival

Released 24 March 2023

Hana Blažiková (Poppea) and Kangmin Justin Kim (Nero)

L'Incoronazione di Poppea

Claudio Monteverdi and others

Teatro La Fenice, Venice

Released 24 March 2023

The Cunning Little Vixen

Leoš Janáček after stories by Rudolf Tesnohlidek

Opera North

Theatre Royal Newcastle

21–22 March 2023

Aida

Giuseppe Verdi

Dnipro Opera

Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham

17 March 2023

Lucrezia Borgia

Text by Felice Romani, music by Donizetti

English Touring Opera

Sheffield Lyceum

13–14 March 2023

Akhnaten

Composer Philip Glass, libretto Philip Glass in association with Shalom Goldm...

English National Opera

London Coliseum

11 March–5 April 2023

Il matrimonio segreto

Domenico Cimarosa, libretto by Giovani Bertati and Franco Donatoni

Teatro Regio di Parma, Ópera de Tenerife and Teatro Massimo di Palerma

Teatro Regio di Parma

10 March–10 September 2023

Anett Fritsch (Soul) and Daniel Schmutzhard (Body)

Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo

Emilio De' Cavalieri

Theater an der Wien

Released 10 March 2023

The Cunning Little Vixen

Music and libretto by Leoš Janáček after stories and cartoons by Rudolf Těsno...

Opera North

The Lowry, Salford

7–8 March 2023

Achille in Sciros

Francesco Corselli, libretto by Pietro Metastasio

Teatro Real Madrid

Teatro Real Madrid, Spain

25 February–25 August 2023

Venus & Adonis and Dido & Aeneas

John Blow and Henry Purcell

Confidencen Festival, Sweden

Released 24 February 2023

The Rhinegold

Composer / libretto Richard Wagner

English National Opera

London Coliseum

18 February–10 March 2023

Hanna Hipp (Composer) and Jennifer France (Zerbinetta)

Ariadne auf Naxos

Music by Richard Strauss; libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Opera North

Leeds Grand Theatre

18 February–1 March 2023

Salome Jicia (Suzel) and Charles Castronovo (Fritz)

L'amico Fritz

Pietro Mascagni, libretto by Nicola Daspuro and others

Teatro del Maggio Musicale, Florence

Released 17 February 2023

Turandot

Giacomo Puccini, Libretto Renato Simoni

Finnish National Opera and Ballet

Finnish National Opera, Helsinki

16 February–16 August 2023

Marc Mauillon (Bobinet) and Elena Galitskaya (Pauline) and cast

La Vie Parisienne

Jacques Offenbach

Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Paris

Released 10 February 2023

Falstaff

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Arrigo Boito

Teatro Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Opera di Firenze

10 February–10 June 2023

I Puritani

Vincenzo Bellini, libretto by Carlo Pepoli

Teatro Real Madrid

Teatro Real Madrid, Spain

From 6 February 2023

The Cunning Little Vixen

Leoš Janáček

Opera North

Leeds Grand Theatre

4 February–4 March 2023

Carmen

Composer Georges Bizet, libretto Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy after Prosp...

English National Opera

London Coliseum

1–24 February 2023

Semele

George Frideric Handel and William Congreve

New Zealand Opera

Released 27 January 2023

Falstaff

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto Arrigo Boito

Salzburg Festival

Released 27 January 2023

William Tell

Gioachino Rossini, libretto by Hippolyte Bis and Étienne de Jouy, after Fried...

Irish National Opera

Gaiety Theatre, Dublin

13 January–13 July 2023

Jawnuta

Stanisław Moniuszko, Text by Władysław Ludwik Anczyc

Poznań Opera

Poznań Opera, Poland

18 December 2022–18 June 2023

Saul

George Frideric Handel, libretto by Charles Jennens

Glyndebourne Opera

Glyndebourne Opera, Sussex

16 December 2022–6 January 2023

Rumpelstiltskin

Script by John Savournin with music and lyrics by David Eaton

Charles Court Opera and Music Theatre in association with Park Theatre

Park Theatre (Park 90)

13 December 2022–14 January 2023

Ariadne auf Naxos

Richard Strauss, Libretto by Hugo Von Hofmannsthal

Royal Swedish Opera

Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm

9 December 2022–9 June 2023

Opera news

New life for old operas

30 May 2023

Dunedin Consort, Hera and Mahogany Opera breathe life into 300-year-old ‘operas’ that have never been staged in Britain before.

Elin Pritchard in Cunning Little Vixen for Opera North

Opera & varsity collaboration

22 May 2023

Opera North and Newcastle University have announced a new three-year collaboration.

Rare double bill for opera fest

22 May 2023

A leading fixture on the classical music calendar, the Northern Aldborough Festival, opens with a rare opera double bill June 15.

Jane Burnell, Henry Strutt and Jess Hopkins who will be singing at a preview of Buxton International Festival

Buxton to preview 2023 shows

12 May 2023

A preview of the Buxton International Festival in the Derbyshire town will include extracts from a new musical based on the life of Vera Brittain.

Flying Dutchman on tour

7 May 2023

OperaUpClose has announced a re-imagined version of The Flying Dutchman which will tour the UK this summer.

Laura Canning to head Opera North

20 April 2023

Opera North has appointed Laura Canning its new general director and CEO.

Rossini’s La Cenerentola: going ahead as planned

Nevill Holt Opera cancels half its programme

31 March 2023

Leicestershire-based Nevill Holt Opera has cancelled half of its 2023 festival programme because of poor ticket sales.

Opera North's new season

30 March 2023

Opera North brings a new production of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers to Leeds Grand before touring a concert performance to concert halls across the north.

ENO chorus members demonstrating outside Arts Council England headquarters in November 2022

Two-thirds ENO chorus may have to leave profession

27 March 2023

Ahead of a meeting between chorus members and MPs and Lords, an Equity survey shows that chorus members have strong ties to London.

Northern Aldborough Festival

14 March 2023

The Northern Aldborough Festival, a leading fixture on the classical music calendar, will this year run from June 15–24.

Seven up from Opera North

11 March 2023

Opera North has announced seven productions for autumn and winter.

Henry's role with Opera North

6 March 2023

Leeds-based opera company Opera North has appointed Henry Filloux-Bennett executive director.

Opera & Dance combine in Leeds

4 March 2023

Opera North and Phoenix Dance Theatre join forces with Jazzart Dance Theatre and Cape Town Opera to present Mozart’s Requiem.

“Taking risks and entertaining”: Buxton International Festival

Three new operas at Buxton Festival

22 February 2023

Three new opera productions are among the highlights of Buxton International Festival 2023, with more than 120 events over 17 days in Derbyshire’s Peak District.

A “shabby little shocker” is next up for Northern Ireland Opera

7 February 2023

NI Opera returns to Belfast’s Grand Opera House with Puccini’s Tosca.

Tosca amid Opera North treats

4 February 2023

Puccini, Janáček and Strauss all feature in Opera North’s new season at The Lowry in Salford in March.

Hosting the 2023 International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival: Buxton Opera House

Gilbert and Sullivan Festival returns to Buxton

19 January 2023

The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival is to return to its “spiritual home” in Derbyshire at Buxton Opera House where it began in 1994.

Cinders in Salford

18 January 2023

Buxton International Festival’s performance of Pauline Viardot’s operetta Cinderella tours to The Lowry in February.

Korda takes the baton

18 January 2023

Opera North has announced Joséphine Korda as its 2022–23 female conductor trainee.

ROH to stream new ballet and opera

4 January 2023

Royal Opera House Stream will add The Royal Ballet's The Cellist, Romeo and Juliet and Sylvia and The Royal Opera's La traviata, Fidelio and Madama Butterfly.

Operas for the North

23 December 2022

Puccini on passion and power, Janáček’s cycle of life and Strauss on when tragedy and comedy collide in Opera North’s new season.

The Royal Opera House mass dance event at Coventry Cathedral

Mass dance event in Coventry Cathedral

16 December 2022

600 students took part in an event at Coventry Cathedral for a Royal Opera House programme that has widened access to art in the area.