David Pountney News

Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced that Sylvia Neil, Chair of its Board of Directors, will step down in May 2026. She will be succeeded by Craig C. Martin.

The Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced a transition in board leadership, with Sylvia Neil, current Chair of the Board of Directors, set to conclude her term in May 2026.

Lyric Opera of Chicago has revealed that Sylvia Neil, Chair of its Board of Directors, will step down in May 2026. Learn more about the leadership transitions here!

Written between 1930 and 1932, The Lady Macbeth of the Mtensk District was first performed in 1934 - and received a scathing write-up in the Pravda newspaper in 1936, due to its graphic sexual violence and murderous female lead. Whilst it alludes to Shakespeare’s infamous character, the opera is actually based on Nikolai Leskov’s novella of the same name; it also inspired William Oldroyd’s 2016 film starring Florence Pugh, whose screenplay was written by Alice Birch.

Even ardent opera fans may struggle to recall the story or the score for Mazeppa. Based on a poem by Pushkin, Tchaikovsky's opera has been unjustly overshadowed by his Eugene Onegin. Last staged at the London Coliseum in 1984, Grange Park Opera have landed a coup by engaging the English National Opera orchestra to play for David Pountney’s excellent new production.

As work ramps up on the trio of innovative productions comprising Opera North’s first sustainable season, the Company has revealed some of the transformations it is making in search of more environmentally responsible ways to bring its operas to the stage. 

A new staging of Don Giovanni, the famed opera by Mozart with a libretto by Lorenzo DaPonte, performed by a cast of top international singers, comes to The Atlanta Opera and Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in January.

Exploring themes of love, loss and laughter, Opera North Announces Its Winter Productions

Uraufgeführt bereits 1904 startete Leoš Janáceks bekannteste Oper 1918 nach der Wiener Erstaufführung ihre Weltkarriere – nun wird das Meisterwerk Jenufa am 9. Oktober 2022 im Haus am Ring hochkarätig besetzt wieder aufgenommen.

The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York's leading cultural venues, presents Eric Owens, bass-baritone, and singers from the Curtis Opera Theatre, on October 25, 2022 at 7:30pm ET at the Kaufmann Concert Hall.

The ground-breaking new opera by Welsh National Opera, Migrations will receive its world premiere in Summer 2022 with further performances in Autumn 22. 

Welsh National Opera brings Spring 2022 Season to Milton Keynes which features Mozart's Don Giovanni and Janáček's Jenůfa. The Company's critically acclaimed new production of Puccini's Madam Butterfly which opened in Autumn 2021 will also be performed during the Season.

Welsh National Opera has announced that the Company will return to touring in Wales and England from Autumn this year. The details announced include touring opera productions, engagement and outreach work and orchestral concert activity. 

Sarasota Opera has announced the initial lineup for the 2021 summer movie series, which will open with “La Cage aux Folles” on Saturday, June 5.

The much-anticipated winners of the 2021 International Opera Awards sponsored by Mazars were announced in an online ceremony watched around the world. The Awards, considered opera's answer to the Oscars, celebrate achievements in opera around the globe over the last calendar year in a wide range of categories.

Have you watched Los Angeles Opera’s digital short Brown Sounds yet? Brown Sounds celebrates Black history by beginning with the Garden of Eden. Conceived by Raehann Bryce-Davis, a rising star in the LA firmament, it's a stunning vocal piece. Composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson set poet Henry Dumas's evocative verses to music with Bryce-Davis’s ravishing mezzo-soprano in mind.

Inspired by the success from their safe drive-in performances of La bohème in the Fall, which heralded the return of live, in-person, opera to San Diego County since the start of the pandemic, and provided over 300 jobs to many, San Diego Opera has announced a Spring season of safe, socially-distanced, drive-in performances.

Scottish Opera has unveiled a programme of digital and live performance as part of its 2020/21 Winter activity, including filmed productions of Così fan tutte and Hansel and Gretel.

With a libretto by opera-giant Sir David Pountney and music by Alex Woolf, A Feast in the Time of Plague is the only new opera to have been commissioned during lockdown.

On Saturday, July 25, 2020, at six oa??clock sharp, it was time to hook the computer up to the television set and watch Santa Fe Operaa??s celebration of Antonín Dvořáka??s extraordinary opera Rusalka. In the background, the Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra of Košice, conducted by Robert Stankovsky, played a scintillating rendition of the operaa??s overture as we viewed the opera ranch.