An Exciting Line-Up of Operas for the Autumn The London Opera Season for 2026–27 is framed by the chill wind of cuts at the Royal Opera House, with the loss of 64 jobs. On the back of the Arts Council cuts to Glyndebourne’s touring funding and Welsh National Opera, as well as the reshaping of […]
Eugene Onegin at The Grange
Love Letters from Russia It’s summer opera season, and we are enjoying a spectacular series of performances across southern England. The Grange, a new venue for me, is near Winchester in the heart of the Hampshire countryside, and I was lucky enough to catch one of the last performances of Eugene Onegin there this year. […]
Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House
Bravado and Bravura in this barnstormer of a production Oliver Mears’s Rigoletto is back at the Royal Opera House with a revival of his production of Rigoletto. The story of Rigoletto is adapted from Victor Hugo’s play Le Roi s’Amuse (The King Amuses Himself). Rigoletto’s librettist, Francesco Maria Piave, replaced the king with the Duke of […]
Opera Locos – Sadler’s Wells
Opera does not do greatest hits albums, but if they did… Giuseppe Verdi meets Bob Marley in Opera Locos, a show that blends opera’s best-known and loved arias with a sprinkling of pop hits Let’s be honest: opera can be a bit of a hard sell. Perhaps not to those who know and love the […]
Katya Kabanova – Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne’s final opera of the season is a revival of Katya Kabanova—Leoš Janáček’s searing portrait of emotional repression and longing. This staging brings back Damiano Michieletto’s well-received 2021 production, with many of the original cast returning, including soprano Kateřina Kněžíková in the title role. A native Czech speaker, Kněžíková brings nuance and natural musicality to a part she’s made her own.
Royal Opera – Jette Parker Artists Summer Show
The Royal Opera’s 2024/25 Season drew to a celebratory close yesterday as the Jette Parker Artists (JPA) took over the Royal Opera House’s Main Stage with an afternoon of operatic highlights. Accompanied by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, the programme featured a dynamic selection of vignettes from well-known operas, including Il barbiere di Siviglia and Le nozze di Figaro.
Les Indes Galantes – The Grange Festival
A rarely seen duo has pitched up at The Grange Festival this summer. Baroque opera meets Hip-Hop choreography in the first full staging of Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes in the UK. Presented here as a ‘choreographed concert’, complete with four soloists, a 25-piece orchestra, choir, and a team of at least 20 dancers, the overall result transforms Rameau’s exploration of cupid’s unexpected sting into a fascinating display of movement in devotion to music. Undoubtedly difficult to stage, this production manages to walk the line between brilliant and bonkers.
Saul – Handel – Barrie Kosky at Glyndebourne
For anyone who thought Handel was best enjoyed with eyes closed, Saul is a thrilling reminder that Baroque can be anything but boring
The Queen of Spades at Garsington
After a triumphant season opening performance of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, I’m back at Garsington tonight for The Queen of Spades, the 2nd production of their 2025 season. Reuniting the same creative team of director Jack Furness, designer Tom Piper and conductor Douglas Boyd, from 2022’s well-received production of Dvorák’s Rusalka, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades with its themes of obsession, fate, and madness is a far cry from the frothy Italian romance of Donizetti’s opera. However, both works are thematically linked with a narrative framework of an outsider character in love with a seemingly unattainable social superior but with predictably different outcomes.
Wagner’s Final Opera Parsifal – Glyndebourne
Landmark production reframes Wagner’s medieval epic, Parsifal Three ‘firsts’ mark this production of Wagner’s final opera Parsifal at Glyndebourne. This is the first time the production has ever been staged at Glyndebourne, it marks the directorial debut at the prestigious opera house for Jetske Mijnssen and, if this was not momentous enough, it is also […]