Gloriana, the World Opera Forum and a bicentenary: the Teatro Real, Madrid

From 12 to15 April 2018, the Teatro Real, Madrid will become the world centre for opera as it hosts the first World Opera Forum, an international conference of opera experts which will bring together the associations of Opera Europa, Opera America and Ópera Latinoamérica (OLA), along with representatives from Africa, Asia and Oceania. The first time that the international associations of theatres and lyrical festivals come together. The conference will focus on four central topics: Opera as Cultural Heritage, New Operas, Opera and Cultural Diversity in the 21st Century, and Sponsorship for Opera.

The opening session of the World Opera Forum, on April 12, coincides with the premiere in Madrid of Benjamin Britten's Gloriana, a new production (co-produced with the English National Opera and the Vlaamse Opera) directed by David McVicar, conducted by Ivor Bolton with Anna Caterina Antonacci and Alexandra Deshorties in the title role, Leonardo Capalbo and David Butt Philip as the Earl of Essex.

Incidentally, during April 2018 the Teatro Real  is also celebrating the bicentenary of the theatre's foundation.