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| Verdi: Rigoletto - Sir Willard White, Callum Thorpe, Eric Greene, Roman Arndt, Themba Mvula - Opera North 2022 (Photo Clive Barda) |
Opera North has announced its 2026/2027 season which is a canny mix of the new and the old. Autumn sees a new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin alongside a revival of the 2022 production of Verdi's Rigoletto. Christmas at the Howard Assembly Room features a new production of Will Todd's A Christmas Carol.
Spring sees a revival of Don Giovanni alongside the company's first performances of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking in the production first seen last year at ENO. There is also a new concert staging of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde alongside the exciting prospect of a revival of Jasdeep Singh Degun’s reimagining of Monteverdi’s Orfeo.
The new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Opera North's first in over 20 years, is a co-production with Irish National Opera and Opera Queensland. It will be directed by Patrick Nolan, artistic director of Opera Queensland, with designs by Leslie Travers and Elizabeth Gadsby, and conducted by Garry Walker, music director of Opera North. American baritone John Brancy takes the title role with Verity Wingate at Tatyana, Caspar Singh and Jingwen Cai as Lensky and Joshua Bloom as Gremin.
Director Femi Elufowoju Jr returns to Opera North to revive his production of Rigoletto which debuted in 2022 [see my review], conducted Patrick Lange. . Blake Denson makes his Opera North and role debut as Rigoletto, while Jasmine Habersham returns as Gilda, with Leonardo Sánchez as the Duke. Sir Willard White returns as Count Monterone, and other cast members include Callum Thorpe, Themba Mvula and Thomas Elwin.
Building on the success of the company's ‘Pay what you can’ performance of La bohème which saw 89 percent of tickets booked by people who had never been to an opera before, tickets for an additional Rigoletto performance will be offered on a ‘Pay what you can’ basis with support from the Laidlaw Opera Trust. A relaxed matinée for anyone who prefers a more informal theatre environment is also planned in Leeds.
Playwright David Simpatico, takes Dickens’ original words from A Christmas Carol and added some extra festive sparkle by including variations on traditional Victorian carols, all set to music by Will Todd. Garry Walker conducts and PJ Harris directs with members of the Chorus of Opera North accompanied by a small instrumental ensemble.
I missed Alessandro Talevi's production of Mozart's Don Giovanni when it was new, so look forward to making its acquaintance. The conductor is Chloe Rooke, with Mark Stone in the title role, with Sara Cortolezzis as Donna Anna, Alexandra Lowe as Donna Elvira, David Ireland as Leporello, Anthony Gregory as Don Ottavio, and Claire Lees as Zerlina.
The production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking is a co-production with English National Opera and Finnish National Opera. Directed by Annilese Miskimmon and conducted by Ben Glassberg, the cast features Christine Rice reprising her role (and making her Opera North debut) as Sister Helen with Johannes Moore (who made such an impression in Britten's Peter Grimes recently, see my review) as Joseph De Rocher and Kate Royal as Mrs Patrick De Rocher.
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| Monteverdi & Jasdeep Singh Degun: Orpheus - Jasdeep Singh Degun - Opera North 2022 (Photo: Tom Arber) |
Orpheus, which features music by Monteverdi alongside that of Jasdeep Singh Degun, places the South Asian and western baroque singers and musicians centre stage, focusing on the incredible musicality of the piece, winning awards when the production was new in 2022. For this revival, Jasdeep Singh Degun and Ashok Gupta are music directors and the production is presented in collaboration with SAA-uk.
The new staging of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde will be conducted by the company's principal guest conductor, Anthony Hermus, and directed by Peter Mumford (who directed the company's Ring Cycle). The cast includes John Matthew Myers and Wendy Bryn Harmer (in their Opera North debuts) in the title roles. The production debuts at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall and travels to the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham and Symphony Hall, Birmingham before ending at the newly refurbished Leeds Town Hall.
Summer 2026, sees the company back at Nevill Holt Festival for the second year of their five-year collaboration. James Hurley directs Donizetti's Don Pasquale, conducted by Michael Papadopoulos. An opera that the company has not performed for 35 years. Grant Doyle sings the title role, with Harriet Eyley as Norina, Aaron Godfrey-Mayes as Ernesto and Henry Neill as Malatesta. Plans for the 2027 collaboration with Nevill Holt will be announced later this year.
Highlights of the Orchestra of Opera North's 2026-2027 Kirklees Concert Season include Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony and Mahler’s Ninth conducted by Garry Walker. Antony Hermus will conduct Debussy, Ravel and Richard Strauss, while guest conductors include Ryan Wigglesworth and Erina Yashima. Distilled, the company’s popular series of intimate lunchtime chamber concerts, continues at Dewsbury Town Hall and the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds, featuring repertoire chosen and played by members of the Orchestra.
The company's widely admired In Harmony programme reaches over 3,200 pupils each week in 13 schools, while structured vocal and instrumental learning pathways are offered through the Company’s Talent Development Programme. The coming year brings Opera North’s first matinées for primary schoolchildren featuring the popular operatic whodunnit The Big Opera Mystery, and a Creative Industries Insight Day for secondary schools, which will include workshops and a performance of Don Giovanni adapted for schools at Leeds Grand Theatre.
Building on the success of the monthly Melodic Memories sessions for people with dementia and their carers, Opera North will be launching a new monthly Dementia Café to be held in the company’s HAR bar on New Briggate in Leeds. The adult online singing workshops From Couch to Chorus return with an opportunity to sing with the Chorus of Opera North either remotely or in person.
Full details from Opera North's website.
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