The Latest Breaking News from Opera North

No, Timothée Chalamet, opera isn’t ‘dead’ – it’s been alive for centuries

Letters: Readers respond to Rebecca Humphries’s article about the actor’s much criticised comments on opera and ballet

The Guardian - UK · Mar 20

‘Opera needs to attract good writers and tell better stories’: four experts on how opera can survive, thrive and reach new audiences

Earlier this month, former English National Opera artistic director John Berry said opera in the UK needed to “attract good writers and tell better stories” that could tap into the zeitgeist, making the art form more contemporary and accessible. But is this kind of approach enough to capture the attention…

The Conversation · Mar 13

Pass the Spoon review – David Shrigley serves up a macabre kitchen opera

A TV cookery star becomes the main course, while doomed vegetables and a depressive egg create havoc, in this darkly comic show by the Scottish artist and composer David Fennessy at Opera North

The Guardian - UK · Dec 14, 2025

The Magic Flute review – humour, colour and plenty of drama in Opera North’s kooky take

A lively revival of James Brining’s occasionally enigmatic staging sees Soraya Mafi make an exceptional role debut as a tenacious and principled Pamina

The Guardian - UK · Feb 13, 2025

The week in classical: The Flying Dutchman; LSO/Harding, Trifonov; The Marriage of Figaro – review

Grand Theatre Leeds; Barbican; Coliseum, LondonAs funding cuts start to bite, Opera North’s forces pull together in an asylum-themed take on Wagner

The Guardian - UK · Feb 8, 2025

The Flying Dutchman review – Opera North production draws small boats into Wagner’s tale

Annabel Arden’s introduction of refugees is thought-provoking and moving, while seasoned performances keep the metaphorical ships on course

The Guardian - UK · Feb 2, 2025

Love Life review – surreal Kurt Weill musical skips through the decades with flair

This time-hopping oddity rarely gets an outing, but Opera North’s jazzy large-scale production makes the most of its vaudeville glitz

The Guardian - UK · Jan 19, 2025

The Magic Flute review – Opera North inject colour into Mozart’s black-and-white world

Expert casting and striking design bring out the opera’s sense of fun, helped by the magnetism of the two female leads

The Guardian - UK · Sep 29, 2024

My Fair Lady review – an abso-bloomin’-lutely loverly musical

Opera North brings shimmering music to this gorgeous and crisply choreographed co-production, which preserves Shaw’s critique of the British class system

The Guardian - UK · Jun 16, 2024

My Fair Lady review – comedy and chemistry light up Opera North’s musical-theatre triumph

Katie Bird is an irresistible Eliza Doolittle in this inspired show, which takes its interrogation of social mobility seriously but with a sparkling lightness of touch

The Guardian - UK · Jun 9, 2024