Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

Excellent revival of Mascagni’s Iris by the Wexford Festival Opera

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IrelandIreland Wexford Opera Festival 2026 [1] – Mascagni, Iris: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Wexford Festival Opera / Francesco Cilluffo (conductor). O’Reilly Theatre, National Opera House, Wexford, Ireland. 23.10.2026. (RB)

Leyla Gu (Iris) and Joseph Calleja (Osaka) © Padraig Grant

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Opera Philadelphia releases Tennessee Williams’s fever dream of desire and deception

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United StatesUnited States Courtney Bryan, Suddenly Last Summer: Soloists, Philadelphia Boys Choir, Members of the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra / Nathan Koci (conductor). Opera Philadelphia, Forrest Theatre, Philadelphia, 22.10.2026. (RP)

Branden Lindsay (Dr. Cukrowicz ) and Stephanie Roth Haberle (Mrs. Venable) © Dominic Mercier

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In Hannover’s Il trovatore, strong singing wins over an average production

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GermanyGermany Verdi, Il trovatore: Soloists, Chorus of Staatsoper Hannover, Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover / Lorenzo Da Rio (conductor). Staatsoper Hannover, 22.10.2026. (DM-D)

Cristina Oliveira (Leonora), Jopseh Dahdah (Manrico), Silvia Beltrami (Azucena) and Grga Peroš (Count di Luna) © Bettina Stöss

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Dancers of London City Ballet are accomplished in Neumeier and Tetley at Sadler’s Wells

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Ghost Light (John Neumeier) / Firebird (Glen Tetley): Dancers of London City Ballet (Artistic Director: Christopher Marney). Sadler’s Wells, London, 23.10.2026. (JO’D)

Alina Cojocaru and Joseph Taylor in John Neumeier’s Ghost Light © Photography by ASH

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Quinn Kelsey’s well-sung and acted Macbeth elevates the Met’s new gloomy staging of Verdi’s opera

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United StatesUnited States Verdi, Macbeth: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor). Performance broadcast live (directed by Gary Halvorson) from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, 17.10.2026, and seen at the Everyman Cinema, Chelmsford, 19.10.2026. (JPr)

Quinn Kelsey (Macbeth) and Lise Davidsen (Lady Macbeth) © Marty Sohl/Met Opera

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