Opera

Opera reviews

La Fille du Regiment

Gaetano Donizetti, Libretto by Jean-François-Alfred Bayard & Jules-Henry Vern...

Donizetti Opera Festival and Teatro Lirico Nacional de Cuba

Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo, Italy

13 May–13 August 2022

Luca Dall’Amico (Lorenzo) and Jessica Pratt (Giulietta)

I Capuleti e i Montecchi

Vincenzo Bellini

La Fenice, Venice

Released 13 May 2022

The Paradis Files

Librettists Nicola Werenowski and Selina Mills, composer Erroll Wallen

Graeae in partnership with BBC Concert Orchestra and Curve Theatre

Crucible Theatre

11–12 May 2022

The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Kurt Weill, Libretto by Bertolt Brecht

Teatro Regio di Parma

Teatro Regio di Parma, Italy

30 April–30 July 2022

The Flying Dutchman

Richard Wagner

Nationaltheater Mannheim

Nationaltheater Mannheim, Germany

24 April–24 October 2022

Krystian Adam (Orfeo) and Lucile Richardot (Messenger)

L'Orfeo

Claudio Monteverdi, libretto Alessandro Striggio

La Fenice, Venice

Released 22 April 2022

Sybil: The Moment Has Gone / Waiting for the Sibyl

Concept and director William Kentridge, choral composer Nhlanhla Mahlangu, co...

Barbican Theatre

22–24 April 2022

Edward Hawkins (Polkan), Grant Doyle (King Dodon) and Alys Mererid Robers (Cockerel)

The Golden Cockerel

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, libretto by Vladimir Belsky after Pushkin

English Touring Opera

Cambridge Arts Theatre

21 April–30 May 2022

Maureen Brathwaite as Hilde, the Baroness, Omar Ebrahim as the Baron, Andee-Louise Hypolite as Gossip, Bethan Langford as Maria Theresia von Paradis and Chandrika Gopalakrishnan (interpreter)

The Paradis Files

Music by Errollyn Wallen, libretto by Nicola Werenowska, Selina Mills, origin...

Graeae Theatre Company in partnership with BBC Concert Orchestra and Curve Theatre

Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre

13–14 April 2022

Luciano Botelho (Rodolfo) and Francesca Chiejina (Mimi)

La bohème and The Golden Cockerel

Giacomo Puccini and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

English Touring Opera

York Theatre Royal

8–9 April 2022

La Bohème

Giacomo Puccini

English Touring Opera

Sheffield Lyceum

8 April–3 June 2022

Boulevard des Italiens

Benjamin Mernheim

Deutsche Grammophon

Released 8 April 2022

The Seven Deadly Sins

Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill

Opera North

Leeds Grand Theatre

8 April–8 October 2022

The Handmaid’s Tale

Music Poul Ruders, libretto Paul Bentley based on the novel by Margaret Atwood

English National Opera

London Coliseum

8–14 April 2022

One Penny Opera

The Tiger Lillies

Soho Theatre

7–23 April 2022

The LIfe and Death of Alexander Litvinenko

Anthony Bolton, Libretto by Kit Hesketh-Harvey

Grange Park Opera

Grange Park Opera, Surrey

From 1 April 2022

Der Vampyr

Heinrich Marschner, Libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrook

Staatsoper Hnanover

Staatsoper Hanover, Germany

25 March–25 September 2022

Giorgi Sturua (Vassili) and Sonya Yoncheva (Stephana)

Siberia

Umberto Giordano, libretto Luigi Illica

Maggio Musicale, Florence, Italy

Released 18 March 2022

Elektra

Richard Strauss, libretto by Hugo von Hofmannstahl after Sophocles

Grand Théâtre de Genève

Grand Théâtre de Genève, Switzerland

18 March–18 September 2022

Così fan tutte

Music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, libretto Lorenzo Da Ponte

English National Opera

London Coliseum

14–22 March 2022

Rigoletto

Score by Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Piave

Opera North

The Lowry, Salford

9–12 March 2022

Made For Opera

Nadine Sierra

Deutsche Grammophon

Released 4 March 2022

Don Giovanni

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, libretto Emanuel Schikaneder

Royal Opera House

Released 25 February 2022

Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Jacques Offenbach

Staatsoper Hamburg

Released 25 February 2022

The Cunning Little Vixen

Music and libretto Leoš Janáček

English National Opera

London Coliseum

20 February–1 March 2022

Roberto Aronica (Alvaro) and Saioa Hernandez (Leonora)

La forza del destino

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto Francesco Maria Piave

Maggio Musicale, Florence, Italy

Released 18 February 2022

Ivan Inverardi (Giovanni), Jonathan Tetelman (Paolo), Charles Workman (Malatestino) and Sara Jakubiak (Francesca)

Francesca da Rimini

Riccardo Zandonai, libretto by Tito Ricordi

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Released 11 February 2022

Les Vêpres siciliennes

Giuseppe Verdi, Libretto by Eugene Scribe and Charles Duveyrier

Teatro Massimo

Teatro Massimo, Palermo, Sicily

6 February–19 April 2022

Alcina

Handel

Opera North

Leeds Grand Theatre

5–17 February 2022

La bohème

Music Giacomo Puccini, libretto Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa

English National Opera

London Coliseum

31 January–27 February 2022

Rigoletto

Music by Giuseppe Verdi; libretto by Francesco Maria Piave

Opera North

Leeds Grand Theatre

22 January–19 February 2022

Halka

Stanisław Moniuszko, libretto by Włodzimierz Wolski

Theater an der Wien, in co-production with Grand Theatre Warsaw

Released 21 January 2022

Andres Schager (Max) and Alan Held (Caspar) play some hot piano

Der Freischütz

Carl Maria von Weber, libretto Johann Friedrich Kind

Wiener Staatsoper

Released 21 January 2022

Fidelio

Ludwig van Beethoven

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Released 21 January 2022

Rigoletto

Giuseppe Verdi, libretto Francesco Maria Piave

Maggio Musicale, Florence, Italy

Released 21 January 2022

Dido's death: Lina Markeby (courtier), Judith van Wanroij (Belinda) and Malena Ernman (Dido)

Dido and Aeneas

Henry Purcell, libretto by Nahum Tate

Opéra Comique, Paris

Released 14 January 2022

Gianni Schicchi

Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Giovacchino Gorzano

Grange Park Opera

Grange Park Opera, Surrey

From 6 January 2022

Werther

Jules Massenet, Libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie

Montpellier National Opera House

24 December 2021–24 June 2022

María de Buenos Aires

Astor Piazolla, Libretto by Horacio Ferrer

Teatro Communale di Ferrara

Teatro Communale di Ferrara, Italy

From 18 December 2021

Wolf Witch Giant Fairy

Conceived by Clare Beresford, Dominic Conway, and Alexander Scott

The Royal Opera and Little Bulb in association with Farnham Maltings

Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House

10 December 2021–3 January 2022

Ivana Lazar and Dubravka Šeparović Mušović

The Medium

Music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti

Croatian National Theatre

Croatian National Theatre, Zagreb

9 December 2021–9 June 2022

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Gioachino Rossini, libretto by Cesare Sterbini after Beaumarchais

Vienna State Opera

5 December 2021–27 January 2022

Virginie Thomas, Maud Gnidzaz and Juliette Perret (Nymphs) and friends

Titon et l'Aurore

Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville

Opera Comique, Paris

Released 3 December 2021

Jessica Pratt (Linda) and Francesco Demuro (Carlo)

Linda di Chamounix

Gaetano Donizetti

Maggio Musicale, Florence, Italy

Released 3 December 2021

Les Éclairs

Phillipe Hersant, Libretto by Jean Echenoz

Opéra Comique

Opéra Comique, Paris

3 December 2021–3 June 2022

Destiny (Osud)

Leoš Janáček , libretto by Fedora Bartošová

2020 Janáček Brno Festival, Czechoslovakia

Janáček Brno Festival

27 November 2021–28 May 2022

Die Zauberflöte

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Released 26 November 2021

The Valkyrie

Music Richard Wagner, new English language translation John Deathridge

English National Opera

London Coliseum

19 November–10 December 2021

The Imaginary Invalid or The Cabal of Hypocrites

János Vajda, libretto by Szabolcs Várady based on plays by Molière and Mikhai...

Hungarian State Opera

Eifel Arts Studios, Budapest

19 November 2021–19 May 2022

Opera news

Poster for Northern Ireland Opera's La Traviata

Northern Ireland Opera tease first Traviata company details

28 April 2022

Northern Ireland Opera has revealed three key female participants for its highly anticipated La traviata in September.

Opera singer's appeal for Ukraine

9 April 2022

Ukrainian baritone Yuriy Yurchuk, Royal Opera House Principal Artist, has appealed for support for Ukraine at fundraising events across the UK.

G&S Harrogate youth auditions

7 April 2022

Gilbert & Sullivan Festival Youth Productions 2022 in Harrogate is auditioning for Iolanthe.

Scene from the 2021 production of Handel's Acis and Galatea

Apt choice for baroque festival

31 March 2022

An obscure opera will have a timely setting at this year’s Vache Baroque Festival in Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks.

Artists of The Royal Ballet in Flight Pattern

Royal Opera House concerts and stream for Ukraine

23 March 2022

Royal Opera House has unveiled fundraising initiatives in support of the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Sarah Helsby Hughes will direct The Pirates of Penzance

Gilbert and Sullivan Festival to return in summer 2022

11 March 2022

The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival will return in summer 2022 at both Buxton Opera House and the Royal Hall, Harrogate.

Graeae first chamber opera

11 March 2022

Leading UK disabled-led theatre company Graeae's first ever chamber opera is the world première of Errollyn Wallen’s The Paradis Files.

Ariadne auf Naxos at Goteborgs Opera 2018

Opera North 2022-23 season

11 March 2022

Opera North has announced a year of cultural encounters and myths retold, in eight productions for its 2022–23 season.

Artec 3D scans of a mother specimen from Dr Roger Key collection

Artists and scientists: DARE to enter

11 March 2022

Art and science meet in the £15K DARE Art Prize from Opera North & University of Leeds, now calling for entries.

St Pancras International Roof and Sir John Betjeman statue

ROH celebrates IWD with Lost and Found

18 February 2022

Lost and Found is seven micro-operas inspired by tales of travelling and train connections for International Women’s Day performed live at St. Pancras Station.

Birch and Coult’s new opera Violet premières this summer

12 February 2022

Playwright Alice Birch and composer Tom Coult’s first opera Violet will première this summer with six performances across the UK.

ENO Seven Last Words from Haydn and Thompson

5 February 2022

English National Opera presents Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words on the Cross and Joel Thompson’s Seven Last Words of the Unarmed for one performance only.

Hurrah for children's intro to opera

27 January 2022

A fun-filled show introduces children of all ages to opera.

ROH 15th National Apprenticeships Week

26 January 2022

Royal Opera House will celebrate 15 years of National Apprenticeship Week in February with a live Q&A, ‘day in the life’ video insights and social media takeovers.

Sky Arts commissions football opera

25 January 2022

Sky Arts has commissioned Gods of the Game, a new opera about corruption in football to coincide with the 2022 World Cup.

The cafe scene from ETO's 2015 production

Rimsky first for ETO

25 January 2022

English Touring Opera will tour The Golden Cockerel—the first work by Rimsky-Korsakov it has ever presented—and a revival of its 2015 production of Puccini’s La Bohème.

ROH opens five new streams

21 December 2021

Royal Opera House will add to its online offerings the ballets Sleeping Beauty, The Winter's Tale and Marguerite and Armand and the operas Fause and Nabucco.

Opera North winter season

21 November 2021

Opera North's 2022 winter season will open at Leeds Grand in January with two new shows and a revival of Carmen, followed, in June, by a new concert performance of Wagner's Parsifal.