Germany Gaspare Spontini, La Vestale: Staatsopernchor, Staatskapelle Berlin / Carlo Rizzi (conductor). Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, 26.9.2026. (AB)
Spontini’s La Vestale buried beneath a familiar dystopian nightmare at the Staatsoper Berlin
Opera & Ballet
Collected opera and ballet reviews
Names on the roster of the twelfth Ballet Nights were, as usual, names to conjure with
United Kingdom Ballet Nights 012: 3rd Birthday Programme: Cadogan Hall, London, 28.9.2026. (JO’D)
An exciting opening week at the Met Opera and a La bohème to match
United States Puccini, La bohème: Soloists, Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra / Ramón Tebar (conductor). Metropolitan Opera, New York, 27.9.2026. (RP)
Oxford International Opera makes its debut with a banally provincial Tosca
United Kingdom Oxford International Opera – Puccini, Tosca: Soloists, Oxford International Opera Chorus, Radley College Choristers, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra / Marios Papadopoulos (conductor). New Theatre, Oxford, 24.9.2026. (CR)
Heidi Stober stars and Clelia Cafiero leads great music in SFO’s Mary, Queen of Scots
United States Musgrave, Mary, Queen of Scots: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera / Clelia Cafiero (conductor). War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, 26.9.2026. (HS)
English National Ballet’s triple bill of dance at Sadler’s Wells is ‘rhythm itself’
United Kingdom English National Ballet’s Rhythm Riot (choreography by George Balanchine, Jae Man Joo and Micaela Taylor): Dancers of English National Ballet, English National Ballet Philharmonic / Maria Seletskaja (conductor). Sadler’s Wells, London, 24.9.2026. (JO’D)
Leaden production and direction undercut sensational music in San Francisco Opera’s Simon Boccanegra
United States Verdi, Simon Boccanegra: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera / Eun Sun Kim (conductor). War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, 22.9.2026. (HS)
Cavalli’s La Calisto: The illusion of meaning
Austria Cavalli, La Calisto: Soloists, L’Arpeggiata / Christina Pluhar (conductor). Theater an der Wien, Vienna, 16.9.2026. (AD)
