Dreams and documentaries: opera world premieres 2024–25

Brett Dean, Heather Betts and Lotte Betts-Dean sit down to discuss their work on Of One Blood, a new opera dramatising the lives of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots – affairs of the family all round.

The Royal College of Music offers an enviable nurturing ground for the next generation of operatic talent. Audrey Hyland, head of the Vocal and Opera faculty, talks about what makes the department special. 

The Royal Opera’s Principal Guest Conductor explains her passion for opera, her journey into the pit and how good conductors share the attributes of football managers. 

Turnage’s opera Festen was among the works and musicians honoured at the 2026 RPS Awards, who also include Peter Moore, Elizabeth Alker, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Kirkaldy Orchestral Society. 

The Japanese mezzo soprano is returning to the New National Theatre, Tokyo for her role debut in Massenet’s Werther. We talk about her love for Rossini, and expansions into later Romantic opera.

As the idiosyncratic, laconic Hungarian composer approaches his 100th birthday, we talk to Pierre-Laurent Aimard about his decades-long relationship with György Kurtág, on his unique playfulness and gift-giving.