Featuring international tenors, hometown superstars and the return of Opera North, Manchester’s 2025 opera programme offers some of the best compositions and vocal performances across an unmissable calendar of breathtaking shows.
Here are the best opera shows coming to the city.
Make sure you check out our guides to the best ballet performances around Manchester this year.
The following evening, Ellen Kent’s la traviata takes over the Opera House with a rich, opulent take on Verdi’s epochal opera, once again starring the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv alongside a full ensemble and a cohort of international vocal talent.
With sumptuous costumes, spectacular set design and achingly romantic music, Kent’s spectacular stage experience gloriously reimagines the grand, tragic tale of glamorous Parisian courtesan, Violetta. Content with a life of lavish independence, Violetta unexpectedly falls in love with young, naïve bourgeois Alfredo, beginning an intoxicating but ultimately catastrophic affair.
Part of Opera North’s wildly popular spring residency at Lowry, The Magic Flute breathes new life into Mozart’s fantastical family-friendly opera with a blend of popular music mixes, inspirational choruses, jaw-dropping vocal turns and soul-stirring arias.
The delightful tale follows the adventures of Prince Tamino and his bird-catching companion, Papageno, as they embark on a quest to rescue Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night, held captive by Sarastro, the Priest of the Sun.
On Thu 13 Mar, The Magic Flute Lite offers a truncated 90-minute version of the enchanting production packed with the same wondrous storytelling and timeless Mozart magic.
In the city, The Stoller Hall hosts a world-renowned tenor trio in a night of spellbinding Italian opera classics and Neapolitan songs, backed by a sparkling string quartet and piano.
The beguiling tones of Francesco Fortes, Alessandro Fortunato and Stefano Sorrentino transport the audience on a mesmerising journey through the best-loved Italian arias from Tosca, l’Elisie d’amore, Rigoletto and Turandot, before making stars of the spectators with a selection of joyous Neapolitan songs including ‘’O sole mio’ and ‘Torna a Surriento’.
See the full programme and book tickets below.
Billed as the perfect introduction to Wagner’s fathomlessly rich musical oeuvre, Opera North’s thrilling interpretation of The Flying Dutchman sweeps the audience up in a roaring tempest of propulsive drama and instrumental grandeur.
Directed by Annabel Arden and designed by Joanna Parker (Andrea Chénier, Turandot, Aida), the absorbing new adaptation revisits the story of Senta, a young woman who dreams of escape from her cold, callous world on land and obsesses over the legend of a cursed captain, whose endless seabound torment can only be saved by true love.
Rounding off the RNCM’s stunning spring season in style, Benjamin Britten’s timelessly prescient opera Owen Wingrave brings new dimensions to Henry James’ captivating tale of courage, family, self-determination and the inescapable cycle of history.
Can one act of defiance shatter generations of tradition, or will history always find a way to repeat itself?
Commissioned by the BBC and premiered as a television opera in 1971, Britten’s operatic adaptation recounts the fraught life of a young man who rails against his family’s staunch military traditions to become a pacifist, only to face exile, humiliation and a sudden, suspicious demise.
Written as an inventive, ambitious attempt to expand opera’s reach, Owen Wingrave features a sinister yet poignant score which masterfully evokes the achingly relatable tension between inner conviction and external pressures, as the titular character clings to his faith in peace amidst a growing cacophony of violent jingoism.
From Thu 8 – Sat 10 May, British comic opera legends Opera Della Luna return to Lowry with its most vibrant, zany and popular production ever, The Mikado.
Hailed as ‘mischievous and witty’ by the Financial Times, OdL’s latest work invites audiences into the strange, sequin-studded world of modern high fashion houses, promising a madcap riot of bizarre creations, soaring vocals and signature home, with costumes inspired by Versace and Jean-Paul Gaultier.
Book tickets below.
From Salford to superstardom, Greater Manchester’s most famous operatic export takes to the Bridgewater Hall stage with a soaring celebration of his remarkable 25-year career on Fri 14 Nov.
Alongside some of his favourite and best-known songs including Va, pensiero, Nessun Dorma, Caruso and more, ‘The Voice’ will perform a selection of new songs from his latest album.
Book tickets below for a special evening with the legendary singer and his renowned live band.
- Words:
- Wolf McFarlane
- Published on:
- Tue 18 Feb 2025
Back by popular demand, the award-winning Ellen Kent and Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv production of Puccini’s mournful masterwork Madama Butterfly returns to Manchester Opera House for one night only on Sat 22 Feb.
Featuring a full orchestra, an acclaimed chorus and an illustrious cast of international soloists including Korean soprano Elena Dee, Ukrainian soprano Alyona Kistenyovaand and mezzo-soprano compatriots Natalia Matveeva and Irina Sproglis, the global smash-hit production brings a stunning reimagination of the heartbreaking story of a beautiful young Japanese girl who falls for an American naval lieutenant, unleashing a series of devastatingly dramatic consequences.