Barrie Kosky’s minimally staged, flawed Royal Opera Walküre, is great music theatre nonetheless

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Wagner, Walküre: Soloists, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Sir Antonio Pappano (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Peter Jones) from the Royal Opera House, London, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 14.5.2025. (JPr)

Soloman Howard (Hunding), Natalya Romaniw (Sieglinde) and Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Siegmund) © RBO/Monika Rittershaus

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John Adams’s Antony and Cleopatra at the Met: relentlessly forward, less inward

United StatesUnited States John Adams, Antony and Cleopatra: Soloists, Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra / John Adams (conductor). Metropolitan Opera, New York, 12.5.2025. (ES-S)

Gerald Finley (Antony) and Julia Bullock (Cleopatra) in Antony and Cleopatra © Karen Almond/Met Opera

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English National Opera in 2025-26 and their new Music Director André de Ridder

English National Opera announces new Music Director and 2025/26 Season  

André de Ridder © Hugo Glendinning (Courtesy of ENO)

André de Ridder appointed as ENO’s Music Director, with his first conducting engagement as Music Director Designate in February 2026.

The 2025/26 Season includes 12 productions and concerts across London and Greater Manchester, featuring 5 new productions (for more information about these and how to book tickets click here)

Ongoing expansion of ENO’s work nationally through new broadcast partnerships and learning and participation programmes.

Free tickets for Under 21s continue, extending to audiences in Greater Manchester. 

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London’s Sadler’s Wells theatres in 2025-26

Sadler’s Wells announces new programming across its four theatres

Associate Artists Crystal Pite, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Alesandra Seutin, Hofesh Shechter, Akram Khan, Sharon Eyal, Jules Cunningham and Michael Keegan-Dolan all feature, as well as International Associate Company Acosta Danza 

Ballet Black, Andrea Peña, Armin Hokmi, Copenhagen Collective, Ichi Ni San, Yewande 103, Amit Noy and Sadeck Berrabah make their Sadler’s Wells debuts

World premieres of triple bill inspired by the work of Nico Muhly, a performance installation that reimagines Western ideas of progress, new work from Sadler’s Wells resident Company of Elders, plus Chaka Khan musical I’m Every Woman in 2026

Programming, workshops and symposiums announced for inaugural YFX Youth Festival, which celebrates the incredible youth work being created up and down the country

35,000 tickets go on sale available at £25 or less and for further information and how to book tickets click here

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The Barbican performance of Handel’s Jephtha took time to live up to its promise

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Handel, Jephtha (concert performance): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Il Pomo d’Oro / Francesco Corti (conductor). Barbican Centre, London, 7.5.2025. (CSa)

Joyce DiDonato (Storgé) with conductor Francesco Corti and Il Pomo d’Oro (chorus and orchestra) © Mark Allan

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