Marking its 70th anniversary, the Shanghai Opera House launched its 2026–27 season under the theme "New Prospect · Shared Future" on Thursday.
The season features seven sections spanning opera, dance drama, symphony, and arts education, bringing together top-tier artists from China and abroad.
The season opens on Saturday evening with Vocal Paramount: Shanghai Opera House 26/27 Season Opening Concert, conducted by Zhang Liang and featuring luminaries such as Lei Jia, Wang Hongwei, Huang Ying and president of the opera Shi Yijie.
It will be followed by a series of concerts, starting from the inaugural concert of the new theater Shanghai Grand Opera House (SGOH) on Oct 18, when the vocal artists, orchestra and chorus of the company will perform alongside Shi and artistic director Xu Zhong.
Other major concerts include a solo recital by the internationally renowned tenor Juan Diego Flórez, conducted by maestro Diego Matheuz, the New Year Concert conducted by Li Xincao, and a complete Beethoven Symphonies Cycle under the baton of Maestro Xu to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the composer's death.
New opera productions include Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore and Puccini's Turandot, alongside a new production of Verdi's La Traviata, featuring the first group of graduates from the Young Chinese Opera Art Talents Training Project, a new initiative of the opera house in celebration of its 70th birthday.
Three concert-editions of classical operas will be presented in the new season: Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust and Giordano's Andrea Chénier, neither of which is performed often in China, will be conducted by Xu. The third production, Franze Lehar's operetta Die lustige Witwe, will be jointly produced with Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.
To honor the 90th anniversary of the Red Army's Long March, the house will re-stage the Suite of Songs on the Long March across campuses, communities, as well as Yunnan province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
A series of Chinese original productions will be premiered in the new season, including the opera Forward, Forward, Forward! for the 100th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army, a new version of the Chinese dance drama Dagger Society, and the opera March of the Volunteers, which will appear at the 6th China Opera Festival and the opening season program of Shanghai Grand Opera House.
The new season will also see Shanghai Opera House's first production for young audiences, a children's opera The Little Match Girl, which aims to introduce children to the world of opera art.
