Performer: The Royal Opera

Oliver Mears' new staging impresses and Jakub Hrůša's first season as Music Director excites interest. But the evening belongs to Anna Netrebko.

Superb Handelian singing and intense character acting light up Handel’s Semele, staged as a stark, uncompromising indictment of the rich and powerful. 

Stripped of its original superstar casting, Gounod’s grand opera provides entertainment but fails to cohere. 

A longtime connoisseur of Pushkin’s novel, Fiennes’ production will hit the boards at Palais Garnier in February 2026.

Describing the chorus of Teatro San Carlo being “made up of two rival mafia families”, the British conductor has drawn the ire of the Mayor of Naples.

We preview nine major new operas on stage this season in Europe, from composers including Unsuk Chin, Rebecca Saunders, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Philip Venables and Toshio Hosokawa.