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BIZARRE: The royal opera - What They Never Told You

I Puritani at Royal Opera: Lisette Oropesa is astounding

4/5 Bellini’s I Puritani lands at Royal Opera with a superstardom-sealing display from soprano Lisette Oropesa

Evening Standard

From arias to algorithms: Why the Royal Opera House is embracing AI – even as some musicians feel ‘miserable’ about it

The rise of machine learning has led many artists and writers to feel that their life's work could be about to be destroyed. But at one of the world's most traditional cultural institutions, practitioners are looking at new and controversial ways of embracing AI, writes Andrew Griffin

The Independent UK

Curtains for Charles: King thrilled by grand opening at Royal Opera House

The mohair velour curtains each measure 9.75m wide and have a 10.8m drop.

The Independent UK

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King Charles thrilled by grand unveiling of Royal Opera House curtains

Charles watched as more than 2,000 guests at the Covent Garden venue got a first glimpse of the curtains

Evening Standard

‘We want people on the edge of their seats’: Royal Opera boss Oliver Mears on the new season – and the controversies of the last

Wagnerites rejoice! Parsifal and the climax of Barrie Kosky’s acclaimed Ring cycle are in the pipeline. The director of opera talks about scoring a bullseye, the storms that rocked last season – and how to avoid sending audiences to sleep

The Guardian - UK

Siegfried at Royal Opera: A spectacular triumph

4/5 The latest part of Wagner’s Ring cycle at Royal Opera is remarkably performed and staged

Evening Standard

Olivier awards 2026: full list of nominations

Into the Woods and Paddington: The Musical are this year’s most-nominated shows with 11 nods each. See who else is in the running at this year’s awards

The Guardian - UK

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Olivier Awards 2026: Full list of nominations as Paddington and Into the Woods dominate

Nick Mohammed will host the Olivier Awards at The Royal Albert Hall in April

The Independent UK

Royal Opera sees generation change as Jakub Hrůša and Speranza Scappucci come in

The Royal Opera in London is embracing a new era with Jakub Hrůša as music director and Speranza Scappucci as principal guest conductor

The Independent UK

Shock and awe: our critics pick their best live classical events of 2025

Turnage’s Festen at the Royal Opera House swept all before it, but there was plenty of extraordinary new music, exhilarating performances and triumphs of talent, commitment and resourcefulness across the UK this year. We pick our best moments

The Guardian - UK

Ariodante at Royal Opera: A glorious and moving first staging in 300 years

4/5 The first staging of Handel’s Ariodante in 300 years is a moving tragedy delivered with exemplary performances

Evening Standard

Last Days at Royal Opera: 'One of the most original operas this century'

5/5 Loosely based on Gus Van Sant’s film, which itself is loosely based on the final days of Kurt Cobain, this opera has its own special atmosphere

Evening Standard

‘I’m good at doing pain’: soprano Ausrine Stundyte on trauma, adrenaline and playing a 300-year-old woman

As she prepares to star in Janáček’s The Makropulos Case for the Royal Opera, the great singer explains that she does not play ‘the happy, jumping, sexy lady’

The Guardian - UK

As Putin’s bombs fall on Ukraine, the Royal Opera House had a call to make about Anna Netrebko. It made the wrong one

The Russian soprano says she has condemned the war and has no affinity with this Kremlin. But hosting her still seems unwise, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

The Guardian - UK

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The Guardian - UK

The Royal Ballet and Opera must reconsider its invitation to Anna Netrebko

Letters: The Russian singer is symbol of cultural propaganda for a regime that is responsible for serious war crimes in Ukraine, say co-signatories including Sergiy Kyslytsya, Andriy Kurkov, Helen Clark and Alex Sobel MP

Evening Standard

Wagner's Die Walküre at Royal Opera: revelatory and apocalyptic

5/5 This stark and stunning production by Barrie Kosky is apocalyptic and breathtaking

The Guardian - UK

‘Touching the soul is all that matters!’ The outrageous genius of Barrie Kosky and his Wagner phantasmagoria

He put Carmen in a gorilla suit and had Das Rheingold’s Erda represented by an 82-year-old naked woman. What are the the director’s plans for his edge-of-the-seat Die Walküre?

The Guardian - UK

The week in classical: Khovanshchina; Carmen review – the parallels with modern Russia are unmissable

Mussorgsky’s apocalyptic unfinished opera is given a fierce new lease of life by the McBurney brothers, Esa-Pekka Salonen and an exceptional young mezzo

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The Independent UK

John Lithgow and Lesley Manville take home acting gongs at starry Olivier Awards

Imelda Staunton and Romola Garai were among the winners of the night

The Guardian - UK

Olivier awards 2025: full list of winners

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Giant and Fiddler on the Roof were among the big winners at the Royal Albert Hall ceremony

The Independent UK

Olivier Awards: Adrien Brody, Ben Whishaw, Mark Strong and Imelda Staunton among nominees

Annual British theatre awards will take place in April

The Independent UK

London Symphony Orchestra conductor Antonio Pappano goes underground — he takes the Tube to work

Conductor Antonio Pappano is leading the orchestra on a 13-concert U.S. tour to California, Florida and New York that ends this week with its first Carnegie Hall concerts since 2005

The Guardian - UK

Olivier awards 2025: complete list of nominations

From Adrien Brody up for best actor for The Fear of 13 to Hello, Dolly! up for best musical revival, see who else is in the running at this year’s awards

Evening Standard

Festen at The Royal Opera review: gripping adaptation of a taboo-breaking film masterpiece

4/5 This adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg’s film is a skillful and gripping rendering of a taboo-busting story

The Guardian - UK

The week in classical: Aida; Chineke!; Paddington Trio – review

The Royal Opera Chorus steals the show in a revival of Robert Carsen’s solemn take on Verdi; Chineke! celebrate 10 years of change-making. Plus, a great young string trio who live every note

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