Opera

West End vs Broadway

West End vs Broadway

Enjoy an afternoon of musical theatre delivered by fantastic voices. 

Dead Equal

Dead Equal

Dead Equal is a resplendent feminist perspective on female involvement in combat. 

La Sonnambula

La Sonnambula

1955 has been slow at sleepy Dunroamin Hotel. The wedding of the owner’s daughter is nigh. She has stolen her fiancé from the minister’s daughter who has taken to drink. In turn, she schemes to sully the bride-to-be’s reputation by enlisting the returning laird as her secret weapon… 

Organ and Soprano Classics and Latin

Organ and Soprano Classics and Latin

Ann Liebeck is an international opera and concert singer who has sung in Vienna, Prague and many theatres in Germany. She specialises in promoting Latin American themed performances with Latin Rediscovery in venues such as Dublin National Concert Hall, Purcell Room Southbank Centre, Kings Place and Wiltons Music Hall… 

The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance

A rollicking band of pirates abandon their life on the high seas in an to attempt to capture Major General Stanley’s (adult) daughters. Mabel, outspoken and clever, wins the affections of Frederic, an ex-pirate seeking a more honest life… 

Liars and Nonsense

Liars and Nonsense

Join us as we explore the ways Gilbert and Sullivan changed the world! Through their own words and music, and those of their influences and contemporaries, this fun, intimate show will present operetta in a new light. 

Iolanthe

Iolanthe

Expulsion, electioneering and enchantment. Iolanthe takes Gilbert’s satirical wit to parliament and Sullivan’s score to fairyland. Strephon loves Phyllis, a ward of the Lord Chancellor, but his dubious heritage stands in the way of their happiness… 

A Taste of Summer

A Taste of Summer

Sell-out shows at the Fringe 2016 to 2018 (inc)! Voci Voices are four classically trained singers who offer an afternoon of songs from opera, operetta, musicals, jazz, swing and evergreens in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere… 

Ah, Ye Gods, What Power You Have Given to Beauty!

Ah, Ye Gods, What Power You Have Given to Beauty!

Come and hear a lunchtime recital with music written by strong women as well as arias about the power of women. The programme includes songs by Clara Schumann, Liza Lehmann, Franz Schubert and some favourite opera arias by Mozart and Saint-Saëns. 

The Merry Widow (Lehár)

The Merry Widow (Lehár)

Scotland’s professional touring company celebrates 10 years with one of the world’s best-loved operettas. Set in the romantic city of Paris, various suitors squabble to win the hand of the recently widowed, but very wealthy, Hannah Glawari… 

Bizet to Broadway: Natalie Sternberg

Bizet to Broadway: Natalie Sternberg

Natalie’s stunning soprano voice will enchant you as she takes you on a musical journey. The classical-crossover singer performs a variety of operatic arias from Puccini to Mozart; musical theatre numbers from The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables and Carousel as well as popular songs including a Kate Bush classic… 

Concert with Ciara Harvie

Concert with Ciara Harvie

Ciara Harvie is an impressively talented mezzo-soprano from Edinburgh. The 21-year-old is one of the brightest stars emerging on the music scene. The raw emotion her concerts create are breathtaking and leave audiences stunned with her unique and exquisite tone… 

On a High Note

On a High Note

On a High Note is a dramatic new piece of operatic theatre performed and written by award-winning soprano Erin Alexander. The piece explores how opera singers also became great actors; the tremendous highs of their career, and the costly price of success for performers… 

Dido and Aeneas

Dido and Aeneas

Once again this exciting ensemble performs Henry Purcell’s glorious masterpiece. In this semi-staged production, Coro 19 and the small instrumental ensemble are directed from the harpsichord by Neil Metcalfe… 

Eclipse

Eclipse

What happens when darkness strikes, unexpected? How do night and day affect the human soul? In a semi-staged recital, mainly sung in English, Daïmon invites you on a journey told by poets and composers… 

Fox-tot!

Fox-tot!

There are two challenges at the heart of Fox-tot!, a new work from composer Lliam Paterson and director Roxana Haines for Scottish Opera. 

La Voix Humaine

La Voix Humaine

In La Voix Humaine, two lovers are attached through a telephone cord, each totally alone, yet talking without seeing or touching each other. This bold new production of Poulenc and Cocteau’s opera deals with disembodiment and with the difficulties of communication when technology is the interface between two people… 

Il signor Bruschino

Il signor Bruschino

Sofia and Florville are madly in love – but a long-standing agreement promises Sofia to another, the son of the great Signor Bruschino. However, unbeknownst to all but the couple, Sofia’s fiancé is arrested en route to meet his future wife, and Florville poses in his place… 

Here's a How-De-Do

Here's a How-De-Do

An evening that ‘bubbles with wit and good humour’, celebrating the timeless Savoy operas of the Victorian masters, WS Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Come and revel in some of the most singable words and music ever written for the stage, with numbers familiar and unfamiliar from each of their collaborations, performed by soloists from The Edinburgh Gilbert and Sullivan Society, led by their legendary directors, Alan Borthwick and David Lyle. 

Admiring La Stupenda

Admiring La Stupenda

Whether you love opera or not, try it. This poignant and funny performance of anecdote and movement explores an opera queen’s love of Joan Sutherland (and encounters with La Stupenda), while reflecting on his relationship with his mother… 

Tony Law and Phil Nichol: Virtue Chamber Echo Bravo

Tony Law and Phil Nichol: Virtue Chamber Echo Bravo

Tony Law: ‘Philip and I have been talking about this for years. Things need to change. Quicker and betterer. We just want to put our ideas out there and then have you get them. You deserve it… 

Falstaff

Falstaff

Scotland’s professional touring company returns with Verdi’s comic masterpiece. Based on Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff is as energetic and exciting musically as it is dramatically... 

The Creation Myths of China

The Creation Myths of China

The shows are based on Chinese classical myths of the very beginning of the world. Like ancient myths from Greece of the very beginning of the world, China also owns their own explanation of how the world was born... 

Violetta

Violetta

Opera Allegra adapts Verdi's popular opera La Traviata into a chamber version for just four voices and piano – but with a contemporary twist. The swoon tunes and the two lovers, Violetta Valery (soprano) and Alfredo Germont (tenor), remain the same but their future is determined by her Fate (baritone) and his Mother (mezzo-soprano)... 

Patience

Patience

Love is complicated. Twenty heartsick maidens fight for the love of an overblown poet, but the poet pines for a milkmaid. A platoon of dragoons can’t stand the wafty wordsmith, but adores the maidens... 

An Afternoon of Delights

An Afternoon of Delights

Sell-out shows at the Fringe in 2016 and 2017! Voci Voices are four classically trained singers who offer an afternoon of songs from opera, operetta, musicals, jazz, swing and evergreens in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere... 

The Tumbling Lassie

The Tumbling Lassie

A Fringe premiere performed together with Fergus of Galloway: two Scottish operas by Alexander McCall Smith set to music by Tom Cunningham, with a cast of singers, instrumentalists and a real acrobat! The Tumbling Lassie tells the true story of an acrobat in a circus in 17th-century Edinburgh and her escape from slavery with the help of a Borders family... 

HMS Pinafore

HMS Pinafore

The University of St Andrews Gilbert and Sullivan Society makes their regular contribution to the Festival Fringe, this year with HMS Pinafore. Performing at their regular studio location of Paradise in Augustine’s, the infamous centre-stage support pole serves adequately as a ship’s mast and with the wheel behind it and the sailors around it everything is set to ‘sail the ocean blue’… 

Century Song

Century Song

A woman stands downstage right, a spotlight illuminating her from one side. She starts playing with her voice. No actual words come out but there is beauty and pain, and there are jazz phrases and buzzing lips... 

Idomeneo

Idomeneo

Aria Alba – Opera for All are delighted to bring their new and exciting abridged production of Mozart’s Idomeneo to Fringe 2018. Our reimagining finds us in a Republican state with Idomeneo, the despotic potentate being coerced by an even bigger despot to kill Idomeneo’s son, Idamante (secretly Democrat), to pay a favour... 

Jan Tait and the Bear

Jan Tait and the Bear

Based on a medieval story handed down by oral tradition, Emily Doolittle's comedic chamber opera tells the story of Jan Tait, a rugged and roguish Shetlander who is always ready for an adventure... 

BambinO

BambinO

Following a sold out run at the 2017 Fringe, this five-star show is back. BambinO is a first operatic adventure for six to 18-month-olds and their carers. This colourful work reinvents opera for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences... 

Pirates Revisited

Pirates Revisited

The Opera North Youth Company is proud to present an adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s popular and much-loved Pirates of Penzance, directed by Emma Black and conducted by Nicholas Shaw... 

Opera Mouse

Opera Mouse

Tilly Mouse lives under an opera house, and she just loves to sing! Her dream is to perform on stage. But whenever anybody sees her, they scream and run away. With determination, imagination and help from her friends, Tilly proves that even a mouse can be a star! Featuring arias from several operas, including Gianni Schicchi, Carmen and The Magic Flute... 

The Sound of Their Music

The Sound of Their Music

An evening celebrating the legendary partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Relive the classic songs from Oklahoma!, South Pacific, Carousel, The King and I and, of course, The Sound of Music as well as items from their lesser-known works – performed by the principals and chorus of The Edinburgh Gilbert and Sullivan Society with their legendary directors, Alan Borthwick and David Lyle. 

hunger

hunger

Joanna Ward and Ryan Hay's hunger is an original short opera inspired by Kafka's A Hunger Artist. This radical and claustrophobic piece follows a woman artist raging against the reductive categories into which the art world forces her... 

All About Her – Feminism in Chinese Traditional Opera

All About Her – Feminism in Chinese Traditional Opera

All About Her — Feminism in Chinese Traditional Opera creatively combines traditional Chinese Opera with contemporary ideas, exploring feminism in the traditional opera repertoire, and creating a new contemporary style... 

Zach & Viggo and Thumpasaurus: Where Does the Love Go?

Zach & Viggo and Thumpasaurus: Where Does the Love Go?

Following the first space war of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, a lone detective is contracted to find the love in this absurdist, avant-garde, funk opera. LA-based, intergalactic dance force, Thumpasaurus teams up with anarchic, Norwegian-American comedy duo Zach & Viggo for an hour of madness! Zach & Viggo sold out back-to-back seasons at Edinburgh Fringe, won best comedy awards in Brighton and Adelaide, are v good boys... 

Drive-By Shooting

Drive-By Shooting

A street art opera. A comic story of passion and revenge played out by octogenarians on zimmer frames. He's been playing around with the next-door neighbour. She's going to shoot the fecker in the pecker with his Daddy's own gun... 

Il Divo: Scarborough

Il Divo: Scarborough

Founded in 2004 via the evil genius that is Simon Cowell, Il Divo is a supremely talented British-based international pop opera foursome comprised of French pop singer Sébastien Izambard, Spanish baritone Carlos Marín, American tenor David Miller, and Swiss tenor Urs Bühler... 

Il Divo: Grantham

Il Divo: Grantham

Founded in 2004 via the evil genius that is Simon Cowell, Il Divo is a supremely talented British-based international pop opera foursome comprised of French pop singer Sébastien Izambard, Spanish baritone Carlos Marín, American tenor David Miller, and Swiss tenor Urs Bühler... 

Il Divo: Chichester

Il Divo: Chichester

Founded in 2004 via the evil genius that is Simon Cowell, Il Divo is a supremely talented British-based international pop opera foursome comprised of French pop singer Sébastien Izambard, Spanish baritone Carlos Marín, American tenor David Miller, and Swiss tenor Urs Bühler... 

Il Divo: Alnwick Castle

Il Divo: Alnwick Castle

Founded in 2004 via the evil genius that is Simon Cowell, Il Divo is a supremely talented British-based international pop opera foursome comprised of French pop singer Sébastien Izambard, Spanish baritone Carlos Marín, American tenor David Miller, and Swiss tenor Urs Bühler... 

Il Divo: Stratford-upon-Avon

Il Divo: Stratford-upon-Avon

Founded in 2004 via the evil genius that is Simon Cowell, Il Divo is a supremely talented British-based international pop opera foursome comprised of French pop singer Sébastien Izambard, Spanish baritone Carlos Marín, American tenor David Miller, and Swiss tenor Urs Bühler... 

Il Divo: Edinburgh

Il Divo: Edinburgh

Founded in 2004 via the evil genius that is Simon Cowell, Il Divo is a supremely talented British-based international pop opera foursome comprised of French pop singer Sébastien Izambard, Spanish baritone Carlos Marín, American tenor David Miller, and Swiss tenor Urs Bühler... 

Il Divo: Cardiff

Il Divo: Cardiff

Founded in 2004 via the evil genius that is Simon Cowell, Il Divo is a supremely talented British-based international pop opera foursome comprised of French pop singer Sébastien Izambard, Spanish baritone Carlos Marín, American tenor David Miller, and Swiss tenor Urs Bühler... 

Il Divo: London

Il Divo: London

Founded in 2004 via the evil genius that is Simon Cowell, Il Divo is a supremely talented British-based international pop opera foursome comprised of French pop singer Sébastien Izambard, Spanish baritone Carlos Marín, American tenor David Miller, and Swiss tenor Urs Bühler... 

TriOperas

TriOperas

Three legendary operas come together for an unforgettable journey of love, vengeance, tears and laughter with shortened versions of Turandot, Butterfly and Carmen in one spectacular triple bill... 

Lessons in Love and Violence

Lessons in Love and Violence

A king is forced to choose between love and political expediency. His decisions allow his country to slide into civil war, and turn his wife and son against him. Lessons in Love and Violence is the latest collaboration between composer George Benjamin and playwright Martin Crimp, two of Britain’s most celebrated artists... 

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Downtrodden housewife Katerina is seduced by Sergey. They are spotted by Katerina’s father-in-law Boris. Katerina poisons Boris and with Sergey’s help murders her husband Zinovy... 

Macbeth - Royal Opera

Macbeth - Royal Opera

The warrior Macbeth fights on the side of the King of Scotland – but when a coven of witches prophesy that he shall become king himself, a ruthless ambition drives Macbeth and his wife to horrific acts... 

Manon

Manon

Manon’s brother Lescaut is offering her to the highest bidder when she meets Des Grieux and falls in love. They elope to Paris, but when Monsieur G.M. offers Manon a life of luxury as his mistress she can’t resist... 

La Traviata

La Traviata

La Traviata tells the story of the tragic love between the courtesan Violetta and the romantic Alfredo Germont. Played out against the hypocrisy of upper-class fashionable society, Alfredo and Violetta’s love threatens to shame his family... 

From The House Of The Dead

From The House Of The Dead

From the House of the Dead is Janáček’s final work and arguably his most powerful. Completed just before his death and first performed posthumously in 1930, the opera is based on Dostoyevsky’s semi-autobiographical novel describing life in a Siberian gulag... 

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Based on Shakespeare’s popular comedy, Britten’s opera follows the consequences of a falling-out between the fairy-king Oberon and his queen, Tytania. Mistaken identities, confused lovers and alarming transformations are the result... 

Iolanthe

Iolanthe

Iolanthe is a brilliantly funny, satirical fantasy, revealing a typically Gilbert & Sullivan topsy-turvy worldview. Phyllis and Strephon wish to marry, but as Phyllis is a ward of court she requires the Lord Chancellor’s permission... 

Carmen - Royal Opera

Carmen - Royal Opera

Barrie Kosky directs Bizet’s much-loved opera, with Jakub Hrůša and Christopher Willis conducting two casts led by Anna Goryachova and Gaëlle Arquez in the title role... 

Satyagraha

Satyagraha

Satyagraha is composer Philip Glass’s meditation on Gandhi’s early years in South Africa, tracing the progress of his concept of non-violent protest as a positive force for change... 

Tosca - Royal Opera

Tosca - Royal Opera

Three casts, led by Adrianne Pieczonka, Angela Gheorghiu and Martina Serafin and conducted by Dan Ettinger and Plácido Domingo, star in The Royal Opera’s production of Puccini’s thriller... 

Salome

Salome

Richard Strauss brought an extravagant intensity to his adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé. The glitter of Herod’s palace, the flicker of torches and the pale light of the moon are all vividly evoked in a sumptuously rich score... 

Rigoletto - Royal Opera

Rigoletto - Royal Opera

Rigoletto, court jester to the libertine Duke of Mantua, is cursed by the father of one of the Duke’s victims for his irreverent laughter. When the Duke seduces Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda, it seems the curse is taking effect… Rigoletto arranges to have the Duke assassinated... 

Marnie

Marnie

Marnie is a compelling psychological thriller set in England during the late 1950s. A young woman makes her way through life by embezzling from her employers, before she moves on and changes her identity... 

Rodelinda

Rodelinda

Caught in a power play that could break a marriage and steal a throne, can Rodelinda stay true to love? Rodelinda is a dramatic tale of power, anguish and love. When Grimoaldo takes Bertarido’s throne, Bertarido flees abroad, leaving behind his grieving wife Rodelinda... 

Les Vepres Siciliennes

Les Vepres Siciliennes

Hélène longs for vengeance on Montfort, who murdered her brother. She enlists the help of her lover, Henri, and the rebel Procida – although Henri will discover that Montfort is his father... 

The Barber of Seville

The Barber of Seville

Bribery, deception and disguise. Figaro needs all his wiles to help the Count out-wit Dr Bartolo and ensure true love wins the day. Jonathan Miller’s classic production of The Barber of Seville is a feast of frivolous fun... 

Aida

Aida

Aida must choose between the man she loves and the homeland she longs for. Betrayal is the only option. Aida is a timeless story of duty, love and betrayal amid the clash of war. This is opera on a grand scale, in which ENO’s award-winning Chorus and Orchestra will demonstrate their full power... 

Die Zauberflote

Die Zauberflote

Prince Tamino promises the Queen of the Night that he will rescue her daughter Pamina from the enchanter Sarastro. He begins his quest, accompanied by the bird-catcher Papageno – but all is not as it seems… Tamino and Papageno discover Sarastro is a wise and kind leader... 

La Boheme

La Boheme

When Rodolfo, a penniless poet, meets Mimì, a seamstress, they fall instantly in love. But their happiness is threatened when Rodolfo learns that Mimì is gravely ill. Rodolfo is painfully aware that he cannot afford the medicine and care Mimì needs, and so separates from her... 

The Marriage of Figaro

The Marriage of Figaro

Following their 2016 performances of La Bohème, ***** (Herald), Magnetic Opera presents a new production of Mozart's hilarious masterpiece. This contemporary staging is performed by excellent, young professional singers in English and with a chamber orchestra. 

The Pearl Fishers

The Pearl Fishers

Scotland’s professional touring company returns with Bizet’s moving tale, featuring one of opera's favourite duets. Set in Ceylon, two men’s vow of friendship is threatened by their obsession with the same woman, a beautiful priestess, who battles to suppress her feelings of love in order to uphold her sacred oath... 

Ariadne auf Naxos

Ariadne auf Naxos

VoiceArc are excited to return to the Fringe with their new production of R Strauss' wonderful opera Ariadne auf Naxos. Our re-working is set in a small-town Scottish church about to be demolished the next day... 

In a Faraway Place

In a Faraway Place

In a Faraway Place is one of the most well known Chinese folk songs in the world. The songwriter Wang Luobin is often referred to as the King of Western Chinese folk songs. Based on Wang Luobin’s legendary life story in Western China, the story will be told using the tunes and lyrics of his most well-known songs... 

From Havana to Buenos Aires: Cuban Classics

From Havana to Buenos Aires: Cuban Classics

Marcos Madrigal, Cuba's most exciting young concert pianist, appears with opera singer Ann Liebeck in a programme of Latin American classical songs, opera arias and virtuoso piano music... 

Semele

Semele

Aria Alba – Opera for All return to this year's Fringe with their exciting retelling of Handel's opera Semele. Semele is celebrity royalty, her image regularly splashed all over the media and loved by trendsetters... 

BambinO

BambinO

BambinO is a first operatic adventure for six to 18-month-olds and their carers. This unique and colourful work reinvents opera for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences... 

From Havana to Buenos Aires: Cuban Classics

From Havana to Buenos Aires: Cuban Classics

Marcos Madrigal, Cuba's most exciting young concert pianist, appears with opera singer Ann Liebeck in a programme of Latin American classical songs, opera arias and virtuoso piano music... 

From Havana to Buenos Aires: Cuban Classics

From Havana to Buenos Aires: Cuban Classics

Marcos Madrigal, Cuba's most exciting young concert pianist, appears with opera singer Ann Liebeck in a programme of Latin American classical songs, opera arias and virtuoso piano music... 

Robert White: InstruMENTAL

Robert White: InstruMENTAL

Malcolm Hardee Award-winning, gay, autistic comedian adopts a new stance. For the first time combining his musical composition talents with his well-honed comedy chops, Robert presents a fully orchestrated comedy opera of unbelievable, but true, misadventures and misfortune... 

The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice

André Tchaikowsky’s Shakespeare-inspired opera is an important rediscovery in 20th-century opera and receives its London premiere in Welsh National Opera’s production, directed by Keith Warner... 

Otello

Otello

Antonio Pappano, Music Director of the Royal Opera, conducts a new production by Keith Warner of Verdi’s great setting of Shakespeare’s tragedy. This is a Verdi masterpiece and one of the central works of the opera repertory: striking choruses from the start, arresting ensembles and scenes of haunting intimacy... 

Turandot

Turandot

Christine Goerke and Lise Lindstrom take the title role in Andrei Serban’s striking staging of Puccini’s final opera. Princess Turandot has sworn that no man shall marry her unless he can correctly answer three riddles... 

Mitridate, re di Ponto

Mitridate, re di Ponto

Farnace and Sifare, sons of the mighty warrior Mitridate, both love their father’s fiancée Aspasia. While Sifare is determined to remain loyal to his father, Farnace vows never to yield... 

L'elisir d'amore

L'elisir d'amore

Village boy Nemorino is besotted with the wealthy Adina. She rejects his declarations of love – but fortunately the quack Doctor Dulcamara is on hand with a ‘love potion’ to help him win her heart... 

Verdi's Otello

Verdi's Otello

A play. An opera. Two visions. Two voices. One story. Jealousy and deception, trust and trickery, love destroyed. A world of tall tales and derring-do. Of soldiers and heroes - and super-men with feet of clay... 

Canciones Amatorias. Eline Vandenheede: Soprano

Canciones Amatorias. Eline Vandenheede: Soprano

The songs of Enrique Granados, Donizetti and Mozart brought to life with the signature warmth and power of the ravishing voice of Eline Vandenheede, a young soprano with a world class voice... 

NU(I)T

NU(I)T

The Countess Alex Zapak, direct from Berlin, presents her captivating new show NU(I)T The international, trans-media, award-winning artist to perform at Brighton Fringe 2017. Punk, Rock, Fellini, Spaghetti Western, lo-fi, Opera, cinematic surrealism, theatre, art, performance, multi-media, live experience... 

The Exterminating Angel

The Exterminating Angel

Guests are invited to an exclusive dinner after a night at the opera. Towards the end of the evening they find they are unable to leave. The door is open – but no one can get out, and no one can get in... 

Partenope

Partenope

Rosmira still loves the man who jilted her, Arsace. He, unfortunately, is in love with beautiful Partenope. As too are Armindo and Emilio. So naturally, Rosmira dresses up as a man and becomes another of Partenope’s suitors, in order to win back Arsace... 

The Winter's Tale - ENO

The Winter's Tale - ENO

A world premiere from ENO’s composer-in-residence Ryan Wigglesworth, The Winter‘s Tale a compelling new interpretation of Shakespeare’s tale of love, loss and reconciliation... 

Adriana Lecouvreur

Adriana Lecouvreur

Angela Gheorghiu and Hrachuhi Bassenz star in the first revival of David McVicar’s sumptuous production of Cilea’s tragic opera. The actress Adriana Lecouvreur is adored by many – including stage manager Michonnet – but she loves Maurizio, Count of Saxony... 

The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance

Pitiful pirates, blundering bobbies, and a fully grown five-year-old. It's all absurdly enjoyable! Let’s get this straight. The pirates, who take pity on orphans, are really peers of the realm... 

La Traviata

La Traviata

Joyce El-Khoury, Ekaterina Bakanova and Corinne Winters lead three excellent casts in Richard Eyre’s much-loved production of Verdi’s most famous opera. Alfredo and the courtesan Violetta fall passionately in love... 

Written on Skin

Written on Skin

A powerful Protector commissions a young artist to create an illuminated book to celebrate his power. The book, and its artist, sparks the rebellion of the Protector’s submissive wife Agnès... 

Der Rosenkavalier

Der Rosenkavalier

Andris Nelsons conducts two starry casts including Renée Fleming, Alice Coote and Rachel Willis-Sørensen in Robert Carsen’s new production of Richard Strauss’s charming operatic comedy... 

Il Trovatore

Il Trovatore

The first revival of David Bösch’s new production for The Royal Opera, with two casts including Maria Agresta, Lianna Haroutounian, Anita Rachvelishvili and Dmitri Hvorostovsky... 

Manon Lescaut

Manon Lescaut

Antonio Pappano conducts Sondra Radvanovsky and Aleksandrs Antonenko in the first revival of Jonathan Kent’s thought-provoking production of Puccini’s first operatic triumph... 

The Pearl Fishers

The Pearl Fishers

The life-long friendship of Nadir and Zurga has survived their precarious existence on the treacherous sea-shore. But with the arrival of Leïla, a grave threat to the bond between them is about to be unveiled... 

Tosca

Tosca

Opera singer Tosca’s love for artist Cavaradossi knows no compromise. But with Rome in turmoil, the personal becomes political. Sadistic police chief Scarpia wants Tosca for himself – and, to his manipulative mind, nothing could be easier than turning the very strength of her passion to his own advantage... 

A Terrified Soul – Macbeth

A Terrified Soul – Macbeth

There have been by my count no less than six adaptations of Macbeth at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016, yet the China Anhui Opera Institute’s offering may be the most unusual. Chinese opera aficionados don’t get many opportunities to see the art form in the UK so will enjoy this, but it is accessible and interesting enough for anyone with a basic understanding of the plot of Macbeth to watch and enjoy... 

The Mikado

The Mikado

Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado is a work that is in many ways very problematic, due to its fetishising and cultural stereotyping of the Japanese, written at the height of the British Empire... 

La Traviata

La Traviata

Scotland's Opera Bohemia returns to the Fringe for its seventh year with one of the world’s most loved operas, La Traviata. Verdi's masterpiece tells the tale of the famous courtesan Violetta, who commits the cardinal sin of falling in love... 

The Snow Child

The Snow Child

A short and well-formed chamber opera, which shows lots of potential, but needs to pick up on the details. This is an adaptation of The Snow Child by Angela Carter that stays very true to the original... 

La Bohème

La Bohème

Following their 2015 Scottish tour of Maria Stuarda, **** (Herald), Magnetic Opera presents a new production of Puccini's much loved La Bohème. This contemporary staging is performed by excellent young professional singers in English and with a chamber orchestra. 

ROH: Tosca

ROH: Tosca

Cinema screening of live performance. The painter Mario Cavaradossi agrees to help the fugitive Angelotti escape, and so attracts the attention of Scarpia, the sadistic Chief of Police... 

The Mikado

The Mikado

St Andrews Gilbert and Sullivan Society with Mermaids Performing Arts return to the Festival Fringe with their typically entertaining style of presenting Gilbert & Sullivan, this time with their own take on The Mikado... 

Something for Everyone

Something for Everyone

A concert full of well known pieces from the worlds of opera, operetta, musicals and popular music.  

ROH: Don Giovanni

ROH: Don Giovanni

Cinema screening of live performance. The impulsive and charismatic Don Giovanni travels through Europe seducing women, accompanied by his long-suffering servant Leporello. But when Don Giovanni commits murder he unleashes a dark power beyond his control... 

Glyndebourne: La Traviata

Glyndebourne: La Traviata

Cinema screening of live performance. Verdi's tragic masterpiece is elegantly updated by director Tom Cairns in this 'fresh and thrillingly unfamiliar' (Independent) Glyndebourne production... 

ROH: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

ROH: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Cinema screening of live performance. Three criminals on the run find they can go no further and found a city – Mahagonny, city of gold. John Fulljames presents a new production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's furiously impassioned satire on consumerism which finds new relevance in our insatiable depletion of the earth's resources... 

YCA Secret Opera: Mansfield Park

YCA Secret Opera: Mansfield Park

Following a sell-out run and five star reviews for their recent production of Carmen, Edinburgh Studio Opera return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park... 

The Descent o' Orpheus tae the Underwarl

The Descent o' Orpheus tae the Underwarl

Scotland's fresh new opera company present a unique production of Charpentier's Descent Of Orpheus to the Underworld in an exciting Scots language translation. Roll up! Roll up! Come and see the weird and wonderful characters of the circus bring the legend to life as never before... 

Die Fledermaus

Die Fledermaus

Aria Alba – Opera for All are delighted to bring their exciting new production of Die Fledermaus to this year's Fringe. It is a reworking of the original concept and is set in a village taken over by an invading militia... 

Opera Mouse

Opera Mouse

Opera Mouse is a pleasant Canadian import presented as a one-woman puppet show by Melanie Gall.The story, unsurprisingly, follows a young mouse named Tilly who wants to be an opera singer but who refuses to accept any help in the process... 

Glyndebourne: Don Pasquale

Glyndebourne: Don Pasquale

Cinema screening of live performance. One of the reasons why Donizetti's Don Pasquale is regarded as a cornerstone of the Italian comic opera tradition is because its characters are no mere commedia dell'arte stereotypes, but complex, vulnerable human beings... 

ROH: Nabucco

ROH: Nabucco

Cinema screening of live performance. Nabucco, King of Babylon, takes Jerusalem in his war with the Israelites – but his daughter Fenena loves the Israelite Ismaele. She releases their prisoners, leading her vengeful half-sister Abigaille to plot to take power... 

ENO: Benvenuto Cellini

ENO: Benvenuto Cellini

Cinema screening of live performance. Monty Python legend Terry Gilliam unleashes his inexhaustible imagination on Berlioz's dazzling but rarely seen opera Benvenuto Cellini. Following on from his award-winning production of The Damnation of the Faust, Gilliam now takes on this extraordinary tale of the infamous 16th-century goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini... 

ENO: The Pirates of Penzance

ENO: The Pirates of Penzance

Cinema screening of live performance. Renowned film maker Mike Leigh makes his opera directing debut with Gilbert and Sullivan's sparkling comic masterpiece. The Pirates of Penzance tells the story of the pirate apprentice Frederic and his love for Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley who has the famous tongue-twisting patter song I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General... 

Unseal / Unseam & Erwartung

Unseal / Unseam & Erwartung

An electroacoustic opera adapted from Bluebeard's Castle (composer Béla Bartók), performed with a concert version monodrama, Erwartung (composer Arnold Schoenberg). The woman, soprano and sound artist Micaela Tobin, returns to her physically abusive partner... 

YCA Recital

YCA Recital

Enjoy a summer evening recital in the calm surroundings of Edinburgh Academy’s Robertson Room. A brilliant selection of Scotland’s emerging young classical talents perform their favourite music in an intimate setting. 

Musical Anthology

Musical Anthology

Musical Anthology is a performance of sacred, secular, classical, contemporary and world music with organ, trumpets and voice – Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell, Galuppi, Boëllman, Ross, Stanley, D'Indy, Gavarentz and Scottish music... 

Bouffe!

Bouffe!

"Highly recommended. Great performances of Donizetti, Martini, and Offenbach. If you missed it, you'll be kicking yourself!" (Fringe Review 2015) Redblonde Productions and West Sussex Opera present the triumphant return of last year's hit... 

CarMen

CarMen

Set in the gay community of liberal 1920s Spain. José, the central character in this all-male reworking of Bizet’s tragic opera, is sexually confused and dominated by a strictly religious upbringing. 

Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly

This traditional production champions the anti-stereotype stance of the LGBT community, by casting the superb soprano Paul Bork in the title rôle of the tragic geisha. Sung in Italian with surtitles. 

Maria: The Life, Loves, and Music of Callas

Maria: The Life, Loves, and Music of Callas

Laurene Hope, who amazed as Piaf, is now 'La Divina' Callas - from unwanted child to opera Goddess and her obsession with Onassis. With 'O Mio Babbino Caro', and more... For promo videos visit our website. 

A Threesome

A Threesome

A show suitable for students, the middle aged and old age pensioners - and that’s just the cast! The group looks at the humour in their age and gender differences with interruptions for satire, music, spoons, stand-up, poetry, and vaudeville... 

M Lamar: Funeral Doom Spiritual For Male Soprano Piano and Electronics

M Lamar: Funeral Doom Spiritual For Male Soprano Piano and Electronics

From the ashes and ruins of long dead earth and the infinite blacknesses of what will be the year 2116, emerges the Funeral Doom Spiritual. Funeral Doom Spiritual is a song of mourning for what Antony Paul Farley calls “The motionless movement of death through slavery, segregation and neo-segregation... 

Classical Spectacular

Classical Spectacular

Sublime popular classics by celebrated British composers, featuring professional soloists and instrumentalists, amidst stunning surroundings of St Bartholomew’s Church. Walton's exuberant 'Crown Imperial', Elgar's moving 'Nimrod' and Chilcott's uplifting 'Requiem' - regarded by many as equal to Fauré's. 

It's Bound to be Right on the Night

It's Bound to be Right on the Night

“Actually” Gay Men’s Chorus are celebrating their 10th anniversary with performances dating back to the very beginning. After their phenomenal concert with the London Gay Symphony Orchestra at the Brighton Dome in January, come and join them as guests from the past appear through the magic of Dr Who! 

H.M.S. Pinafore

H.M.S. Pinafore

While it is laudable to have an open policy for membership of an amateur operatic society the knock-on effects can be dire as demonstrated in Cat-Like Tread’s production of H.M.S... 

Tutte Contro Verdi

Tutte Contro Verdi

The rise of feminist critique in the world of opera has given life to some fascinating discussions. It opens up a whole new way of appreciating our favourite operas, and this is exactly what Spanish actress and soprano Miren de Miguel aims to achieve through Tutte Contro Verdi... 

Qiuzi

Qiuzi

In China during the Sino-Japanese War of 1938, a worn-out young Japanese lieutenant unexpectedly saw a beautiful face that was familiar yet distant. As the night fell on the Green Willow Hotel, fate had also befallen ... 

Song to Me – The Music and Songs of Julian Wagstaff

Song to Me – The Music and Songs of Julian Wagstaff

The popular Scottish composer presents highlights from his chamber music, musicals and operas. Spanning over a decade of work, this hour-long show includes songs and arias from the stage works John Paul Jones, The Turing Test and Breathe Freely, the piano trio A Persistent Illusion and many more... 

Madame Butterfly

Madame Butterfly

Celebrating six years, Opera Bohemia returns with its most popular and successful production to date, Madame Butterfly. A cast of some of Scotland’s finest young opera singers bring Cio-cio San's heartbreaking tale to life... 

The Garden

The Garden

The Garden is an off-site performance that takes place a short walk away from the Traverse Theatre. The performance space is located in a small room that has been converted into a kitchen... 

Minerva Scientifica – Mary Anning

Minerva Scientifica – Mary Anning

Informal, dramatic presentation of the life and work of this phenomenal Victorian paleontologist featuring music by renowned British composer Judith Bingham. Lyme Regis comes to Edinburgh... 

Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus and Eurydice

A 250-year-old opera is a difficult proposition for the Edinburgh Fringe, where the emphasis is frequently placed on innovation and experimentation. It is thus refreshing to discover that The About Turn Theatre Company’s production of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice is a truly modern and urgent show... 

An Evening of Melody with the Wee Three Tenors

An Evening of Melody with the Wee Three Tenors

West End and opera star John Marshall returns with tenors Fraser Simpson, Bruce Davis, and Richard Lewis, piano, to perform favourite opera, Broadway and movie hits. 

An Evening of Melody with the Wee Three Tenors

An Evening of Melody with the Wee Three Tenors

West End and opera star John Marshall returns with tenors Fraser Simpson, Bruce Davis, and Richard Lewis, piano, to perform favourite opera, Broadway and movie hits. 

Chinese Art and Culture Festival

Chinese Art and Culture Festival

Edinburgh's first ever Chinese Arts and Cultural Festival featuring a traditional opera, authentic singers, a spectacular troupe of young drummers and more all set alongside a three day interactive celebration of authentic Chinese arts and culture... 

The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance

“In Pirates, there are gems from the first to the last minute. You don’t think ‘Oh, I’ll have to sit through this bit.’” Mike Leigh’s opinion of this comic operetta is no doubt endorsed by lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan all over the world... 

Minerva Scientifica – The Franklin Effect

Minerva Scientifica – The Franklin Effect

Informal close harmony, DNA-infused, vocal quartet, present Rosalind Franklin's photo 51, respawned through contemporary women scientists at King's College London in creative collaborations with composers: Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Kate Whitley, Lynne Plowman, and Shirley Thompson. 

Maria Stuarda – Mary Queen of Scots

Maria Stuarda – Mary Queen of Scots

Bound by blood and only by bloody acts will they be free of one another. This contemporary staging of Maria Stuarda ruthlessly exposes the emotions in Bardari’s visceral words and Donizetti’s emotional score, which work to dramatise an imagined meeting of rival queens who could not coexist: Elizabeth and Mary... 

Minerva Scientifica – Miriam Rothschild

Minerva Scientifica – Miriam Rothschild

Anyone for fleas? Informal, dramatic presentation of the life and work of eminent, enigmatic, eccentric entomologist Miriam Rothschild, featuring Miriam: a music theatre piece by British composer Karen Wimhurst (Cauld Blast Orchestra)... 

Aria Goes Office

Aria Goes Office

Aria Alba – Opera for All is delighted to present its new and original Fringe opera, populated with well known arias, duets, ensembles and choruses from your favourite operas, along with some lesser known works... 

Sing Sistah Sing!

Sing Sistah Sing!

Join these two extraordinary performers for a joyful and soulful celebration of the African American female voice, highlighting the extraordinary breadth of artistic expression by women such as Nina Simone, Marian Anderson and Ella Fitzgerald... 

Opera Mouse

Opera Mouse

Tilly Mouse lives under an opera house, and she just loves to sing! Her dream is to perform on stage. But whenever anybody sees her, they scream and run away. With determination, imagination, and help from her friends, Tilly proves that even a mouse can be a star! Featuring songs and arias from several operas, including Gianni Schicchi, Carmen and The Magic Flute... 

The Secretary Turned CEO

The Secretary Turned CEO

The Secretary Turned CEO is a neon, cartoon parody of a classical opera, playing with traditional comedic characters and farcical situations in a modern setting. Although full of enthusiasm and colour, unfortunately the piece isn't as entertaining as it sets out to be and the performances don't resurrect it into a success... 

A Feathery Cabaret Riot

A Feathery Cabaret Riot

The galah is a bird found in large numbers across Australia. It is highly intelligent, sociable, playful and often quite … loud. The Flaming Galahs are Lucy Mulgan on double bass, Lesley Anne Sammons on piano and Krysia Mansfield on vocals: they peck on percussion, sashay in sequins, they squawk and they coo! These Flaming Galahs have effervescently adapted to their UK environment... 

Jane Austen's Persuasion: A New Musical Drama

Jane Austen's Persuasion: A New Musical Drama

Though Jane Austen is undoubtedly one of Britain’s most prominent literary names, Persuasion is perhaps her least widely read work. It tells of Anne Elliot, her history of broken love and her hopes of reconciliation with Captain Wentworth... 

The Tumbling Lassie

The Tumbling Lassie

A Fringe premiere performed together with Fergus of Galloway: two Scottish operas by Alexander McCall Smith set to music by Tom Cunningham, with a cast of singers, instrumentalists and a real acrobat! The Tumbling Lassie tells the true story of an acrobat in a circus in 17th-century Edinburgh and her escape from slavery with the help of a Borders family... 

Broadway Baby has been covering performing arts across the UK and beyond since 2004.

Please note ticket prices displayed on our homepage are based on best prices seen in an overnight scan. For up-to-the-minute pricing, please visit our Ticketing Site

Popular Articles

Popular Sections

Contact Us

Ticket Hotline: +44 (0) 207 492 1606
Press Releases: [email protected]

2004-2021 © Broadway Baby. Broadway Baby and the logo is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved.
Data provided courtesy of the Edinburgh Festivals Listings API, Brighton Fringe, Encore and user submissions. We accept no liability for errors or omissions.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service