Work of the Week – Atsuhiko Gondai: ZEN
- 22 Jun 2026
Atsuhiko Gondai’s opera ZEN abandons narrative in favour of sound as experience. Premiering in Tokyo in 2026, it invites a focused and wordless mode of listening.
Atsuhiko Gondai’s opera ZEN abandons narrative in favour of sound as experience. Premiering in Tokyo in 2026, it invites a focused and wordless mode of listening.
Napoli milionaria is Nino Rota’s restrained operatic portrait of post‑war Naples, centred on survival and moral uncertainty. Work of the Week for the Bologna premiere on 12 June 2026.
Sleeping Beauty with a twist: On April 22, 2026, Gregory Spears’ opera Sleepers Awake premieres at Opera Philadelphia. Based on the writings of Robert Walser, Spears creates a world where those awakened would rather keep sleeping—a captivating exploration of stillness, cyclical sounds, and the refusal of a "happily ever after."
From prodigy to master: Erich Wolfgang Korngold's "Violanta" premieres on January 25, 2026, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Experience a psychological drama of revenge and passion, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles.
The San Francisco Opera is set to present the highly anticipated world premiere of Huang Ruo’s opera The Monkey King (Libretto: David Henry Hwang) on November 14, 2025. Based on the Chinese epic Journey to the West, the work tells the story of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King , who, after a revolt against Heaven, comes to the crucial realization that true power lies in self-enlightenment. The production combines Huang Ruo's innovative "Dimensionalism" aesthetic with elements of Peking opera and visionary puppetry by MacArthur Genius Basil Twist. Directed by Tony winner Diane Paulus and conducted by Carolyn Kuan, The Monkey King is the perfect prelude to the composer's young, strategic partnership with Schott Music.
A new opera based on Werner Bräunig's unvarnished post-war novel, a commissioned work for Chemnitz 2025.
On August 11, 2025, the New National Theatre Tokyo will host the world premiere of a remarkable new opera: Natasha by Toshio Hosokawa. Under the musical direction of Kazushi Ono and staged by Christian Räth, this opera confronts some of the most pressing issues of our time.
A new opera about youth, sexuality, and social taboos: world premiere with young performers in Hamburg.
A true story of injustice turned into opera: Anthony Davis’s The Central Park Five brings five falsely convicted teenagers to the stage – in May 2025 a new orchestral version premieres at Detroit Opera.
Wagner’s Parsifal returns to Goetheanum Dornach (Switzerland) in April – with the Schott edition, a star cast and a new book exploring the production.