Review up of last night’s Nabucco at the San Carlo and it was a special one. Read more here operatraveller.com/2026/01/26/g...

Curtain calls after Nabucco at the San Carlo. The singing was almost uniformly outstanding. Rebeka spectacular as Abigaille & Tézier an extraordinary Nabucco. We got an encore of ‘va pensiero & something happened. The chorus found so much feeling & emotion. Frizza’s conducting was excellent

I’m delighted to be back at the beautiful Teatro San Carlo for Nabucco. With Tézier, Pretti, Pertusi, Rebeka, Berthon, Mazzucchelli, Doto, Marchesini. Frizza conducts Homoki’s production

Review now up of last night’s Cenerentola at the Regio Torino operatraveller.com/2026/01/25/t...

Curtain calls after La Cenerentola at the Teatro Regio Torino. An engaging staging that was full of fantasy and very stylishly sung with De Candia giving a masterclass in how to hold the stage as Dandini & Berzhanskaya dazzling. Sadly Fogliani’s conducting was a weight on the evening holding it back

I’m delighted to be back at the Teatro Regio in Torino for La Cenerentola. With Berzhanskaya, Darmanin, de Candia, Lepore, Huseynov, Tonkikh, Myskohild. Fogliani conducts Lalli’s staging

Review of Thursday’s Tosca at the Maggio up for your reading pleasure operatraveller.com/2026/01/18/q...

Curtain calls after Tosca at the Maggio. This orchestra is simply matchless in Puccini. The way the phrase his melodies is unlike any other band I’ve heard. Vocally the evening was dominated by Sgura’s Scarpia so full of quotidian evil, while Mari’s Tosca was generously sung

I’m delighted to be back at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino for Tosca. With Mari, Tødenes, Markov, Denti, Torcaso, D’Urso, Liu & more. Gamba conducts Popolizio’s staging

Review up of the disaster that was last night’s Frau ohne Schatten in Bonn operatraveller.com/2026/01/05/t...

Curtain calls after Frau ohne Schatten at the Theater Bonn. A travesty of a staging by Konwitschny that vandalized the work, cut an hour of music, including the finale, & made no dramatic sense. Kaftan was complicit in the catastrophe conducting it like he was late for a train. The cast was valiant

I’m delighted to be back at the Theater Bonn after 7 years for Die Frau ohne Schatten. With Cawley, Werner, Donose, Asszonyi, Kanaris, Schabel & more. Kaftan conducts Konwitschny’s staging.

Review of last night’s Cenerentola up: operatraveller.com/2026/01/04/i...

Curtain calls after La Cenerentola at the Oper Köln. A youthful cast in a really lively staging that was based in fantasy, conducted with focus. A decent start to my operatic 2026

I‘m delighted to be starting my 2026 operagoing where I started my 2025, at the Oper Köln, this time with La Cenerentola. With Alàs i Jové, Browne, Schwaiger, Montanari, Montanari, Grünwald, Seidl. Beltrami conducts Ligorio‘s staging.

What the sign says. Wishing all of you a happy new calendar year with lots of good things. May all your wishes come true #bonneannée #felizanonovo #felizaño #feliçany #buonanno #prositneujahr #gelukkignieuwjaar #happynewyear

Wishing you a good slide into 2026. A reminder to hold onto those moments of beauty and use them to power us through the days ahead. Some of our best days are still ahead of us.

2025 in 20 images. The biggest emotion I feel when I see the year laid out like that is gratitude. Gratitude for having lived so many beautiful moments in so many wonderful places.

Tired of turkey and not ready for the Boxing Day sales? Check out the operatraveller.com review of 2025 operatraveller.com/2025/12/26/r...

Tarte au sirop d’érable du Québec

Bird

Pasta

To go with antipasti and primo

Antipasti

Compliment of the season to you! Today is all about the eating. Starting the day with panettone from Pasticceria Polenghi, Milano and nata from Manteigaria

Compliment of the season to you

To see the menorah shining its light in the lands my ancestors were expelled from over half a millennium ago, it filled me with so many emotions. A reminder of resilience and hope.

Curtain call after Ponchielli’s Messa by the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos at the Centro Cultural de Belém. Happy I had the chance to hear it. There are some striking moments, especially the cello solo & trio for tenor, baritone & bass. The performance was most enthusiastic & stylish

I’m delighted to be at the Centro Cultural de Belém for the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos’ holiday concert or Ponchielli’s Messa. Never heard it before. With d’Eça, Kang, Caoduro, the Coro do TNSC & Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa conducted by Pirolli

Curtain call after Messiah at the Fundação Gulbenkian. The choral singing was so uplifting, luminous in tone and superbly disciplined - and in excellent English. Pick of the soloists was Julia Doyle’s radiant soprano with fabulous embellishments to the line. A lovely way to mark the festive season

I’m delighted to be back at the Fundação Gulbenkian for Messiah. With Doyle, Monet, Hobbs, Diamond. Batić conducts the Coro e Orquestra Gulbenkian

Of all the things I’ve seen in the last few days, this is the one that has hit closest to home. Please watch

Review of yesterday’s Ernani in Verona now up: operatraveller.com/2025/12/15/v...

I’m delighted to be making my first ever visit to the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona for Ernani. With Poli, Maslova, Amartuvshin, Kowaljow, Zizzo, Fiore, Sagona. Arrivabeni conducts Poda’s staging

Review of Carmen at the Teatro Real now up: operatraveller.com/2025/12/14/p...

Curtain calls after Carmen at the Teatro Real. Michieletto’s staging was decent enough until the end of Act 3, when Castronovo & González took it to the next level into their characters through their vocalism & diction. Castronovo was also harrowing in the final scene. Kim’s conducting was competent

I’m delighted to be back at the Teatro Real for Carmen. With Akhmetshina, Castronovo, González, Meachem & more. Kim conducts Michieletto’s staging

Last night’s review up for your reading pleasure operatraveller.com/2025/12/13/s...

Curtain calls after Robinson Crusoé at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Musically it gave much to enjoy, particularly Fuchs as Edwige & Fekete’s Suzanne. The biggest joy was in the pit with Minkowski & his musicians absolutely superb. I found Pelly’s staging to be problematic

I’m delighted to be back at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées for Robinson Crusoé. With Ratia, Fuchs, Charvet, Naouri, Mauillon, Briand, Fekete, Pasturaud, Toulouse. Minkowski conducts the Musiciens du Louvre & accentus in Pelly’s staging

Last night’s review up for your reading pleasure operatraveller.com/2025/12/08/h...

Curtain call after Christmas Eve at the Bayerische Staatsoper. They’ve given us a holiday treat in a typically hyperactive Kosky staging. Musically more than worthy of this great house with Tsallagova a delicious Oksana & the great Urmana making a fabulous cameo descending on a silver throne.

I’m delighted to be back at the Bayerische Staatsoper for Christmas Eve. With Urmana, Leiferkus, Ulyanov, Tsallagova, Semenchuk, Siljanov, Grivnov, Turunen, Akzeybek & more. Jurowski conducts Kosky’s staging.

Festive

First ting on arriving in Munich and even before leaving the Flughafen

I saw a Lucrezia Borgia at the Maestranza last night that had a stupendous account of the title role. Read more here: operatraveller.com/2025/12/07/m...

Curtain calls after Lucrezia Borgia at the Maestranza in Sevilla. A staggering account of the title role from Marina Rebeka who gave us a singing lesson. Superb Orsini also from Teresa Iervelino. Paoli’s staging was very busy & made a lot of noise. Benini excellent in the pit

I’m delighted to be back for the first time in over a decade at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla for Lucrezia Borgia. With Rebeka. Kim, Bączyk, Iervolino & more. Benini conducts Paoli’s staging

Review up of last night’s Bohème at the Bologna Comunale. It was such a special night operatraveller.com/2025/11/24/y...

Curtain calls after La bohème at the Bologna Comunale. It was one of those nights that one goes to the opera for. It moved, it lived and had me in tears from the start. A youthful cast who made the text live under a maestro who created sheer poetry with that fabulous orchestra.