December 2026

Opera Awards Shortlist

Our front cover this month shows a dramatic moment from the new production of La Calisto at the MusikTheater an der Wien.

Inside you’ll find reviews of performances from around the world, of books and CD recordings, along with features including:

The shortlists for all categories in this year’s International Opera Awards, to be held in Vienna on November 21

A profile of the director Tatjana Gürbaca by Hugo Shirley

John-Pierre Joyce looking back at 75 years of opera for television

A celebration of the tenor James McCracken, who would have been 100 this year, by Roger Pines

Fond memories of his time as a child performer at the Metropolitan Opera from René A. Mack

The tenor Nathan Bowles coming through the Stage Door to talk to Rebecca Paller before his Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Zauberflöte

Productions reviewed around the world include: Parsifal at Covent Garden, The Ballad of Baby Doe in Central City, Lear and Mittwoch aus Licht in Berlin, Alzira in Parma, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and Oedipus Rex at Welsh National Opera, La Calisto in Vienna, Guillaume Tell in Boston, Manon Lescaut in Madrid, Siegfried in Singapore, Upside Down in Vilnius, Der Besuch der alten Dame in Munich, Simon Boccanegra and Mary, Queen of Scots in San Francisco, Kolja in Amsterdam, Macbeth at the Metropolitan Opera