Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

The EIF’s Elektra at Usher Hall is a triumph of magnificent singing and orchestral drama

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Edinburgh International Festival 2026 [5] – Richard Strauss, Elektra: Soloists, Chorus, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Karina Canellakis (conductor). Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 23.8.2026. (GT)

Karina Canellakis conducting the BBC SO with Günther Groissböck (Orest) © Andrew Perry

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Calvinist austerity and bel canto passion in Berkshire Opera Festival’s Lucia di Lammermoor

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United StatesUnited States Berkshire Opera Festival – Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor: Soloists, Berkshire Opera Festival Chorus and Orchestra / Brian Garman (conductor). Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, 22.8.2026. (RP)

Terrence Chin-Loy (Edgardo) © Matt Madison-Clark

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A handsome centenary tribute to Hans Werner Henze at the Salzburg Festival

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AustriaAustria Salzburg Festival 2026 [2] – Henze, Der Prinz von Homburg (concert performance): Soloists, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra / Ingo Metzmacher (conductor). Felsenreitschule, Salzburg, 20.8.2026. (MB)

Henze’s Der Prinz von Homburg at the Salzburg Festival © SF/Marco Borrelli

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Stunning realisation of Messiaen’s visionary Saint François d’Assise at the Salzburg Festival

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AustriaAustria Salzburg Festival 2026 [5] – Messiaen, Saint François d’Assise: Soloists, Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera (chorus director: Jozef Chabroň), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Maxime Pascal (conductor). Felsenreitschule, Salzburg, 23.8.2026. (MB)

Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise at the Salzburg Festival © SF/Monika Rittershaus

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Chicago City Opera finds big laughs in Mozart’s small-scale singspiels

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United StatesUnited States Mozart, The Impresario, Bastien und Bastienne: Soloists of Chicago City Opera, Jordan Crice (piano) / Alexandra Enyart (conductor). Fulton Street Collective, Chicago, 16.8.2026. (ZC)

Valerie Beck, Tracey Furling, Ian Murrell and Matthew Peckham in Bastien und Bastienne © Zach Carstensen

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Rossini’s Le siège de Corinthe opens the ROF 2026 with musical splendour under siege from its own staging

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ItalyItaly Rossini Opera Festival 2026 – Rossini, Le siège de Conrinthe: Soloists, Coro del Teatro Ventidio basso (choir leader: Pasquale Veleno), Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna / Carlo Rizzi (conductor). Auditorium Scavolini, Pesaro, 11.8.2026. (AB)

Visalisa Berzhanskaya (Pamyra) in Rossini’s Le siège de Conrinthe

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