The Spanish magazine Ópera Actual has published a new special supplement dedicated to the 2025/2026 Lyric Season of theatres, festivals and companies associated with Ópera XXI. “For this virtuous cycle to continue bearing fruit, it is important that theatres and festivals keep encouraging academies and opera studios, so that the next generation is as well prepared as possible,” notes Ópera Actual’s director Fernando Sans Rivière.

The programmers of Ópera XXI, the Spanish association of theatres and festivals, present their 2025/2026 Lyric Seasons in this special supplement published by the specialised magazine Ópera Actual.

In this edition, the directors and artistic directors of more than twenty Spanish theatres and festivals share the highlights of their upcoming seasons, including new productions, revivals and transatlantic co-productions. Among them is the European premiere of Yerma, with the full text by Federico García Lorca and music by Heitor Villa-Lobos, a collaboration between the Auditorio de Tenerife, the Teatro de la Zarzuela and the Festival Amazonas de Ópera (Brazil).

Isamay Benavente, director of Ópera XXI and the Teatro de la Zarzuela, states in this issue: “For the members of the Association, cooperation is the spirit that unites us as a sector and allows us to grow, innovate and reach new audiences.” She adds: “In a world where the ephemeral seems to dominate everything, opera continues to be a beacon of depth and shared emotion, as well as a space that enables reflection and the cultivation of democratic and civic values.”

Among the theatres belonging to Ópera XXI and featured in the supplement are several also associated with Ópera Latinoamérica (OLA), including the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona), the Teatro Real and Teatro de la Zarzuela (Madrid), the Teatre Principal (Palma), the Ópera de Tenerife (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the Teatro de la Maestranza (Seville) and the Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofía (Valencia).

“This new season demonstrates the strong bond between Latin America and Spain, embodied in various collaborations that create art and build trust. One example is Aida by Paco Azorín, which will be staged in Seville, Santiago de Chile, Tenerife and Oviedo. Another is The Flying Dutchman (El Holandés Errante) by Marcelo Lombardero, current director of the Opera at Bellas Artes in Mexico, which premiered in Santiago de Chile last November and will be presented in Tenerife and Mallorca,” writes Carmen Gloria Larenas, President of OLA, in a column published in the supplement.

For his part, Fernando Sans Rivière, Director of Ópera Actual, remarks: “The greatness of opera lies in its universality, of course, and for that reason it is essential that programmers offer the best and most interesting of the international repertoire, without neglecting lesser-known works of historical importance, as well as 20th-century, Baroque and contemporary opera—since the lyric genre is more alive than ever.”

Thanks to the partnership between Ópera Latinoamérica and Ópera Actual, the special supplement can be downloaded free of charge here.