Elīna Garanča

This autumn, English Touring Opera’s repertoire focuses on Baroque opera with Venetian associations, and includes what is surely the best known work by Francesco Cavalli: his 1651 comedy La Calisto. Directing and conducting the show is the American Timothy Nelson, who over the course of a busy career has regularly combined both roles

Elīna Garanča, one of the great mezzo sopranos of our day, has come of age. As she puts the trouser roles of her youth behind her, she tells Amanda Holloway that from now on, she will be tackling roles for strong full-blooded women facing life’s great challenges, with the verismo operas locked in her sights

Robert Thicknesse weighs up the very different yet inextricably linked fortunes of English National Opera and the Royal Opera House as both houses greet their new artistic leaders, bringing the promise of fresh thinking in the face of an uncertain future

For a nation with no ingrained tradition of opera, Britain has made considerable impact on the international opera scene, both in creative and administrative circles. Tom Sutcliffe considers the historic role of Brits abroad and asks, will Brexit clip the wings of the UK’s finest operatic talent?

Robert Thicknesse heads to wild extremes of the Scotland to join a motley cast and crew from Scottish Opera as they bus their way around far-flung parts of the Highlands that other opera companies cannot reach…

Wales has a lively, distinctive musical culture, fuelled by an indigenous passion for singing and a fierce pride on the part of the Welsh in their language and culture. Simon Rees celebrates the country’s abundance of operatic activity

Producing operas for children may seem a far cry from directing at La Scala, but as British director Frederic Wake-Walker tells Owen Mortimer, working at both ends of the operatic spectrum can be an enriching experience that deepens our understanding of the art form

This has been a fulfilling year for British baritone Roderick Williams, who is currently appearing with Opera North in his debut as Billy Budd. He explains why he is so drawn to the music of Benjamin Britten, and how his opera career is flourishing in an easy-going sort of way