News

May Recording of the Month: Maria di Rohan
Our May Recording of the Month is now available in full on our YouTube channel. Our recording of Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan is of the original two tenor version first heard in Vienna in June 1843. The album also includes some of the appendices from the revised...

Summer Stream: Ellie Neate & Florent Mourier
This Sunday 1 June from 4pm BST, we’ll be streaming the first of two streams this summer featuring Ellie Neate and Florent Mourier in a recital of songs by Donizetti and his contemporaries: Marietta Brambilla, Franz Liszt, Maria Malibran, Giovanni Pacini and...

We’re hiring: Digital Content Manager
We are hiring for a Digital Content Manager to join our team from September before the start of our 55th season. The Digital Content Manager will report to the Development and Communications Director. Working as part of a small team, they will help the charity achieve...

Opera Rara announce 55th season
We’re delighted to announce our 55th season of live operatic archaeology featuring performances and record releases celebrating the past made new. Our new season launches on 26 September with the release of Donizetti Songs Volumes 5 and 6, featuring Opera Rara’s...

April Recording of the Month: Il pirata
It’s nearly the end of the month which means that the next in our series of complete operas on YouTube is now available! Our April Recording of the Month is Bellini’s Il pirata – the composer’s third opera, written when he was only 27 and his...

First studio recording of Verdi’s 1857 version of Simon Boccanegra Reviewed
Only released last week (Friday 21 March), reviews for our latest release – the first studio recording of the 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra – have been coming in thick and fast! It was also chosen as Presto Music’s Recording of the...

Donizetti Songs Volumes 3 and 4 Reviewed
Opera Rara’s recording project, spanning a total of eight albums, is truly extraordinary – the words from one of our first reviews of our latest installment of our Donizetti Song Project recording cycle: Volumes 3 and 4 released in February with our Artistic...

YouTube Stream: Michael Spyres & Marie-Nicole Lemieux
This Sunday 16 March from 4pm GMT, we’ll be streaming our fourth ‘Donizetti & Friends’ recital captured at London’s Cadogan Hall on Monday 10 March. Michael Spyres, Marie-Nicole Lemieux and Giulio Zappa present rare Donizetti songs featured...

March Recording of the Month: Aureliano in Palmira
Revealing our March Recording of the Month: Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira written when the composer was only 21 (1813) and in the same year he produced three other operas! Kenneth Tarver is Aureliano with London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Maurizio...

Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra Original 1857 Version
On Friday 21 March, we will be releasing the first ever studio recording of the original 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. For this recording, we teamed up with its former Artistic Director Sir Mark Elder, The Hallé and the choruses of Opera North and...

Opera Now Cover Feature
The Spring 2025 issue of Opera Now is now available and we’re delighted that our Artist Ambassadors Michael Spyres and Ermonela Jaho are on the cover. Taking time out of recording sessions with our Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi, Michael and Ermonela sat down...

February Recording of the Month: Le Portrait de Manon
Our February Recording of the Month is Jules Massenet’s Le Portrait de Manon – a one-act follow up to his most well-known opera Manon. For this live recording – also featuring Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été – we worked with four singers and two conductors...

Donizetti Songs Volumes 3 and 4
We’re delighted to announce the forthcoming release of Donizetti Songs Volumes 3 and 4 on Friday 21 February. The prolific and versatile Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti was not only one of the central figures of Italian bel canto opera but also wrote around...

January Recording of the Month: Caterina Cornaro
Our first Recording of the Month of 2025 is Donizetti’s Caterina Cornaro featuring Carmen Giannattasio in the title role and Colin Lee as Gerardo. The cast is completed by Troy Cook, Vuyan Mlinde, Graeme Broadbent, Sophie Bevan and Loïc Félix with David Parry...

Donizetti Songs Volumes 1 and 2 Reviewed
We’re happy to share the news that the first two volumes of our Donizetti Song Project cycle have received reviews from critics across Europe including Spain, France, Germany and Poland, as well as of course in the UK including coverage on BBC Radio 3’s...

Anthony Freud OBE joins Opera Rara’s Board of Directors
We’re pleased to announce that Anthony Freud OBE has joined Opera Rara’s Board of Directors. Opera Rara is one of three UK charity boards he has recently joined, alongside Opera North and Music Preserved. “I have enjoyed Opera Rara’s outstanding artistic excellence...