Opera Now

Opera Now captures the drama, colour and vitality of one of the most powerful of all the performing arts, showcasing the creative spirit of opera both on stage and behind the scenes. In addition, our 32-year magazine archive is now available to subscribers to our ‘digital’ and ‘print & digital’ packages, allowing you to explore more than 270 issues of opera history.

Opera Now

Recalibrating opera

SEOHYUN GO Soprano

White Snake Projects • White Snake Projects is a Boston-based activist performance company. Founder Cerise Lim Jacobs speaks about how she uses opera as a form of activism in a divided America

NEWS & NOTES

English National Opera appoints Helen Shute as CEO

News in Brief

Kennedy Center to close for two years

The Royal Opera announces RBO/SHIFT Festival bridging opera and technology

Longborough Festival appoints Christopher Ward as Music Director

IN Opera Now AUTUMN 2026

An electric night out • As Adele Thomas and Sarah Crabtree announce their first commissioned season at Welsh National Opera, they reflect on the past year in the role and their hopes for the future of the artform

Prompter • Chalamet, Bad Bunny and believing in opera

A creative lineage • Ahead of the premiere of Of One Blood attheBayerische Staatsoper, mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean, composer Brett Dean and librettist Heather Betts speak about bringing the volatile relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots to the operatic stage

A new way • In rehearsals at Welsh National Opera, director Jack Furness reveals his approach to collaboration, leading him to new productions of The Flying Dutchman and The Importance of Being Earnest

Hold the phone • From onstage plot device to early broadcast experiment, opera has played a surprising role in the history of the telephone

Pastures new • As director Ted Huffman takes over as Artistic Director of the Aix-en-Provence Festival, he speaks about the importance of prioritising new work and his new interpretation of Tosca for Glyndebourne

Opera redefined • American mezzo Lucy Schaufer has long championed the expansion of opera beyond its traditional borders. Now, she prepares to create the role of Margaret Thatcher in a new opera about her life

Festival Guide 2026 • Opera Now’s guide to the must-see festival productions of the summer, from beloved classics to daring new stagings across the world’s great opera stages.

LIVE REVIEWS

THE GREAT PIANISTS • Discover the greatest pianists, their repertoire and recordings in this 100-page collectors’ edition, bringing together the very finest writing from Gramophone and International Piano

Taking opera to the people • A travelling programme from the Greek National Opera brings performances to communities in Greece far from the cultural mainstream – revealing how outreach, heritage, and artistic reinvention are reshaping its cultural landscape

New releases

Discover more online at OperaNow.co.uk • Visit our new website for more opera news, reviews, interviews and podcasts

Spotlight May-July 2026 • Production Highlights • World Premieres • Exceptional Casts

The Opera Now Quiz • Do you know your Verdi from your Wagner? Test your wits in this month’s set of fiendish questions for the dedicated opera buff (with a clue or two in the pictures)

Chloe Lamford • In a series highlighting the work of opera designers and makers, Holly Baker meets the British designer in her studio in Deal

The opera lover’s essential guide

LEANDRA RAMM – MEZZO SOPRANO • American mezzo-soprano Leandra Ramm shares how mindfulness and mental health practices help her stay fully present in both rehearsal and home life