Union Avenue Opera

by Aliya Al-Hassan - June 12, 2026

Puccini's tear-jerker La bohème is always a crowd-pleaser for any opera festival. This production at The Grange Festival is the first opera from French actor-turned-director David Geselson who created it for Opéra National de Nancy Lorraine in 2025. Featuring some strong singing and exquisite play...

by Steve Callahan - June 09, 2026

Opera Theatre of St. Louis does luscious justice to A Streetcar Named Desire—André Previn’s operatic adaptation of the Tennessee Williams classic....

by Aliya Al-Hassan - June 08, 2026

A new version of Handel's 1724 opera Giulio Cesare is always an exciting prospect. The love story between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, with the backdrop of war with Egypt, political ambition and domestic unrest is ripe for reinterpretation. Indeed, Handel and his librettist the librettist Nicola ...

by Franco Milazzo - June 06, 2026

Mae West famously asked, 'Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?' Well, at the beginning of the relationship, he will no doubt be very happy to see you. But, at the end of the relationship… And that, my friends, is as good a summary of Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro as any....

by Franco Milazzo - June 01, 2026

There’s a certain neat irony at the heart of this. A female director, returning to this opera for a second season (and for its third outing in Holland Park's semi-open staging), has chosen to stay largely faithful to a work whose central idea is that women are inherently unfaithful....

by Neil Brewer - May 28, 2026

What did our critic think of HEATHERS THE MUSICAL at Wellington Opera House?...

by Roger Catlin - May 26, 2026

The separation of the Washington National Opera from the overrun-and-soon-to-close  Kennedy Center has meant next season’s eight planned productions, including five full length operas, will occur on five different stages in the D.C. area. ...

by Richard Sasanow - May 24, 2026

I’d say that “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is not a maxim that has ever been used for Puccini’s Chinese-inspired fairytale, TURANDOT, which returned for another go-around at the Met the other day with two alternating casts. (I saw it with Liudmyla Monastyrska, Roberto Alagna and Juli...

by Aliya Al-Hassan - May 26, 2026

Il Turco In Italia may not be Rossini's most famous work, but if there is any justice, this wonderful revival of Mariame Clément's 2021 Festival production will bring this opera to much wider attention. An uproarious comedy accompanied by a rousingly galloping score and gorgeous vocals; it is the e...

by Aliya Al-Hassan - May 22, 2026

Tosca is Giacomo Puccini's fast-paced thriller of an opera; brimming with tension and political intrigue. For many it is Puccini's best work, yet incredibly it has never been staged at Glyndebourne. Until now. It is a show of firsts all round: the first mainstage production for director Ted Huffman...