Glyndebourne (glyndebourne.com/festival)
Glyndebourne, East Sussex, May 19 - August 28
The festival opens with Peter Hall's new production of La Cenerentola. Sarah Connolly stars as the assassinated dictator in Handel's Giulio Cesare, the festival's other new production, directed by David McVicar. Revivals of Die Zauberflöte, Otello, The Bartered Bride and Flight will give picnickers plenty to talk about.
Tickets: Limited availability for La Cenerentola and Otello. Some tickets remain for Giulio Cesare, Die Zauberflöte and The Bartered Bride starting at £115. Flight starts at a bargain basement £85 (tel: 01273 813 813, online: glyndebourne.com/bookonline/index.cfm)
Aldeburgh (aldeburgh.co.uk)
Aldeburgh, Suffolk, June 10-26
The sound of the steppes rolls across the fens as the Aldeburgh festival takes on an Anglo-Russian theme, focusing on Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Britten, Tippett and Purcell. Plus the world premiere of Richard Ayers's surreal opera The Cricket Recovers, open-air education events, digital video and electronica, and new scores from Thomas Adès, Harrison Birtwistle and Tansy Davies.
Tickets: From £5 (tel: 01728 687110, fax: 01728 687120, email: boxoffice@aldeburgh.co.uk)
Garsington (garsingtonopera.org)
Garsington, Oxfordshire, June 11 - July 9
David Parry opens the festival with Rossini's Le Comte Ory, while Jane Glover conducts John Cox's production of Le Nozze di Figaro. Irish soprano Orla Boylan returns to take the title role in Richard Strauss's Arabella.
Tickets: On sale from April 25, prices start at £75.
Munich (muenchner-opern-festspiele.de)
Munich, Germany, June 27 - July 31
This year's festival opens with a new production of Karl Amadeus Hartmann's Simplicius Simplicissimus. Other new productions include Verdi's La Forza del Destino and Händel's Alcina, along with song recitals, concerts, Opera for All, and ballet performances.
Tickets: From €13 (tel: +49 (0) 89 21 85 19 20, online: muenchner-opern-festspiele.de)
Aix-en-Provence (festival-aix.com)
Aix-en-Provence, France, July 7-30
With a new opera based on Strindberg's Miss Julie from Philippe Boesmans, Barbara Bonney as Despina in Così fan Tutte and Daniel Harding's account of Mahler's fourth symphony, the Aix festival looks set to live up to its glorious setting once more.
Tickets: From € 28 (tel: +33 (0) 442 17 34 34, online: festival-aix.com/opera/
Edinburgh festival (eif.co.uk)
Edinburgh, August 14 - September 4
Highlights include Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Alfred Brendel, Toby Spence in Curlew River, and the first UK production of The Death of Klinghoffer.
Tickets: From £7.50 (tel: 0131 473 2000, fax: 0131 473 2003, online: hubtickets.co.uk)
Salzburg (salzburgfestival.at)
Salzburg, Austria, July 25 - August 31
Opera lovers will find be delighted to find baritones Thomas Allen as Don Alfonso in Così fan Tutte, Simon Keenlyside as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Thomas Hampson as Germont in La Traviata. The festival also welcomes The Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and the Concertgebouw orchestra.
Tickets: From €4 (tel: +43 (0) 662 8045 500, online: salzburgfestival.at)
