On August 13, 1876, an event that was destined to change the history of opera began in the small Bavarian town of Bayreuth. On the Green Hill, the Festspielhaus, specially built according to Richard Wagner’s vision, opened, and with it came the first Bayreuth Festival.

Bayreuth is marking the festival’s 150th anniversary with an experiment: the new Ring transports Wagner into a world of AI, projections, and an almost complete rejection of traditional stage action. But can technology replace dramatic tension? After Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, Julia Pneva, editor-in-chief of Voci dell’Opera, was left with more questions than answers — and one of the most unexpected is this: if all that remains on stage are singers and visual projections, d

Edward Clug's A Midsummer Night's Dream is undoubtedly one of the most compelling productions to have entered the Staatsballett Berlin repertoire in recent seasons. Milko Lazar's percussive score and Clug's distinctive movement vocabulary evoke the spirit of antiquity, recalling an era when rhythmic percussion and expressive physicality formed the essence of ritual and dance.

While ballet companies around the world are gently winding down the 2025/26 season, on Monday morning the Bayerisches Staatsballett dropped what can only be called a bombshell on balletomanes everywhere. On 13 July the theatre published the following post on its official Instagram: "Julian MacKay and the Bayerisches Staatsballett are parting ways with immediate effect. The Principal Dancer is leaving the Munich company today, 13 July 2026. We would like to thank Mr. MacKay

Japanese dancer Haruka Sassa’s path to Berlin was anything but planned. After years in Japan, the United States, Sweden and Norway, she arrived at Staatsballett Berlin almost spontaneously — first as a soloist, and soon after as a principal dancer.

At VOO Space in Berlin, the interdisciplinary project Leonis Works x VOO Space brought together contemporary art, music, and performance. The highlight of the evening was the world premiere of AGAPE, a new performance conceived and choreographed by Renato De Leon.

During the Moscow International Ballet Competition, the editorial team of Voci dell’Opera decided to celebrate not only the prize winners, but also the artists who especially moved us with their talent, stage presence, and sincerity.

Alexey Orokhovsky and Yana Peneva represent the USA, but today both are associated with the Mariinsky Theatre, where they are soloists. At the competition, they chose an emphatically classical repertoire, striving to show the clarity of style and academic culture that the Mariinsky school brings.

After the XV International Ballet Competition came to an end, Marmus Auguste’s bronze medal became an important event not only for the artist himself, but also for the Hungarian National Ballet, which he represents. The young dancer went through several rounds, demanding programs, and growing competitive pressure while preserving what matters most: stage expressiveness, technical focus, and the ability to remain fully inside the character.

On July 4, Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin presented the premiere of a new production of Camille Saint-Saëns’s opera Samson et Dalila — a work that had already been part of the theatre’s repertoire. The leading roles were performed by Roberto Alagna and Aigul Akhmetshina, for whom the role of Dalila marked her debut on the stage of Staatsoper Unter den Linden.