October 2026

There’s a magical carousel on our front cover this month, from the premiere performance of Missy Mazzoli’s The Galloping Cure at Scottish Opera.

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

An interview with Missy Mazzoli, talking to Hannah Edgar before two new operas hit the stage—The Galloping Cure at the Edinburgh International Festival and, coming up at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Lincoln in the Bardo.

Sarolta Kodály talks to Tim Bullamore before the 100th anniversary of Háry János, by her late husband Zoltán Kodály, at the Hungarian State Opera.

The conductor James Gaffigan in conversation with Hugo Shirley as he juggles his commitments with the Komische Oper in Berlin and Houston Grand Opera.

John Allison investigates the many musical responses to the writing of Nikos Kazantzakis, from Theodorakis’s Zorba the Greek to Martinů’s The Greek Passion.

Darwin Prakash is our emerging artist coming through the Stage Door, from Delhi to Manchester and then the Royal Academy of Music and Glyndebourne, followed by Hanover’s young artists’ programme. He delighted audiences as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at ENO and heads back there next February for Germont père in La traviata.

Productions reviewed around the world include: Ariadne auf Naxos at Glyndebourne, Rusalka in Brisbane, A Streetcar Named Desire in St Louis, Die Walküre in Munich, The Importance of Being Earnest at Garsington Opera, Der fliegende Holländer in Erl, Andrea Chénier in Santiago, Don Giovanni in New York, Francesco Filidei’s Accabadora, Die Frau ohne Schatten and El cimarrón in Aix, The Judgment of Paris in Napa, Tannhäuser in Zurich, Lalovavi in Cincinnati, Le nozze di Figaro in Barcelona, Hikaru Hayashi’s The Twelve Months in Tokyo, Tosca in Turin, Rienzi and a new Ring cycle at Bayreuth, La traviata and The Excursions of Mr Brouček in Bregenz, King Roger in Des Moines