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The Best Bits
9th October 2026
Hello friends,
Welcome to our newsletter, where, until an hour before sending, our weekly streaming recommendations included a must-see from the Wiener Staatsoper, the new double bill of Zemlinsky's A Florentine Tragedy and Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, which Mark and Elisabeth saw earlier this week. Unfortunately, Christopher Maltman is unwell and unable to sing the role of Simone, meaning the stream has been cancelled. We are told it may instead be live-streamed on Monday, should he recover in time. Keep an eye on this link, because it really is not to be missed!
In the meantime, you can enjoy the classic Luc Bondy production of Tosca from the Bayerische Staatsoper, starring Jonas Kaufmann and Karitta Mattila, instead.
Mark, Elisabeth and Jo
SPONSORED
Interview with the Valkyrie
Acclaimed Swedish soprano Elisabet Strid reflects on Wagner’s heroines, in anticipation of Vincent Huguet’s new production of Siegfried for the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
SPONSORED
Iphigénie en Tauride at ENO
A family divided by destiny, reunited by hope... Gluck's tragic opera based on Euripides receives its first staging by English National Opera, directed by Lyndsey Turner. Sung in French, it stars Christine Rice in the title role and Jacques Imbrailo as her brother Oreste.
The Bachtrack Insiders
Personal picks from our site
Mark Pullinger Editor
Giuseppe Verdi
Having just spent a few days at Parma's annual Festival Verdi (reviews here), my head is full of the great man's music. Born on the 9th (or 10th) October 1813 in the small village of Le Roncole, Giuseppe Verdi became the greatest Italian opera composer of the 19th century. I've picked nine of my favourites (plus the Requiem) for my playlist dedicated to the maestro.
Elisabeth Schwarz Editor
World Mental Health Day
"We talk endlessly about mental health, but we don’t really talk about mental illness!" Last November I sat down with British conductor Ben Glassberg to talk about his history with depression, his coming out and suicidal episode, and a journey back to music.
Jo Johnson Head of Marketing
La Mer
The premiere of Debussy's trois esquisses symphoniques on 15th October 1905 was not a great success. It was reportedly a bit of a lacklustre performance by the orchestra and conductor, which can't have helped, but mostly it seems to have been misunderstood. "I do not hear, I do not see, I do not smell the sea," wrote critic (and Debussy's friend!) Pierre Lalo. Bruising. Luckily, its second performance three years later went much better and it quickly became one of his most frequently performed works (we currently have 26 performances listed). Explore this and five other works inspired by the sea.
What's hot? 🔥
Andrew Yee’s Trans Requiem
Composer and cellist Andrew Yee talks about her landmark choral and orchestral work Trans Requiem, written explicitly for transgender singers, and performing with Attacca Quartet, Caroline Shaw and inti figgis-vizueta.
Out and about
Our tips on what to see live in the UK this week
SPONSORED
Thomas Dausgaard & Benjamin Grosvenor
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
15th October
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra pairs Brahms' tempestuous First Piano Concerto with Sibelius' vision of soaring swans in his Fifth Symphony.
Winterreise
St Edward's School, Olivier Hall, Oxford
10th October
The Oxford International Song Festival welcomes Matthias Goerne and Tamara Stefanovich for Schubert's transcendent winter journey.
The Royal Ballet: Manon
Royal Opera House, London
Opens 13th October
Manon's inner turmoil and struggle for survival lie at the devastating heart of Kenneth MacMillan's 1974 ballet.
The Marriage of Figaro
Glyndebourne Opera House, East Sussex
Opens 14th October
Glyndebourne's Autumn season opens with Mozart's lessons in fidelity in this comic masterpiece.
Live to your living room
The best streamed content to watch this week
Tosca
Bayerische Staatsoper
Vocal drama at its finest! Jonas Kaufmann and Karita Mattila star in the classic Luc Bondy production in Munich.
Available now
Paris
Prima ballerina Dorothée Gilbert says farewell to the stage in MacMillan's Manon
Live 15th October
Miami Beach
Demarre McGill joins the New World Symphony in Tilson Thomas' Notturno
Live 10th October
London
Juliane Banse is among the singers at Wigmore Hall for a feast of Carl Loewe
Live 10th October
In the news
This week's stories
Riddle Me This...
Who have we hidden in the anagram below?
ENVYING SKIES
Clue: pianist
Which work is hidden in the emoji story below?
🚬🍊💃🐮
Clue: watch a recent role debut by Asmik Grigorian
Critics' Corner
What our reviewers watched
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Photography credits:
Elisabet Strid as Brünnhilde in Siegfried © RBO 2026 | Monika Rittershaus, Iphigénie en Tauride © ENO;
Andrew Yee © Courtesy of Andrew Yee;
Benjamin Grosvenor © Jonathan Ferro;
Tosca © Bayerische Staatsoper, L’Histoire de Manon © Maria-Helena Buckley, Demarre McGill © Carlin.Ma, Juliane Banse © Elsa Okazaki;
George Fenton © Cathy Waite, Karisa Chiu © Denis Ryan Kelley Jr, University of Nottingham Music Department © University of Nottingham;
Konu Kim (William Tell) © Nile Scott Studios, The Love for Three Oranges at the Opéra de Lyon © Paul Bourdrel, Kaitlyn Casey and Ricardo Rhodes in Ashton’s Meditation from Thaïs © Steven Pisano;
Johann Sebastian Bach © Public domain
