Features

WhatsOnStage Opera Poll 2016

The shortlist is open for business. Time to get voting!

Welcome to the annual WhatsOnStage Opera Poll.

Eligibility for our shortlist is confined to performances that were reviewed for WhatsOnStage between December 2014 and November 2015 inclusive.

Voting will close at 23:59 on 31 December. The results will be announced on these pages on 4 January 2016.

You may enter once only, so be sure to cast your votes at a single visit. Additional voting sessions from the same source will not be registered.

N.B. At the foot of this page you'll find links to our reviews to help refresh your memories of these great performances.

Happy voting!

Snapapp Quiz

LINKS TO OUR REVIEWS

Best New Opera Production

Die Entführung aus dem Serail : "How should companies be staging Mozart in the modern era? Come and see"

Król Roger : "Honours the score to a level that lifts the spirits"

The Marriage of Figaro : "No tricks, just common sense and a light touch"

I puritani : "As a company achievement this will take some beating"

Saul : "Tender, touching and at times profoundly moving"

Il trittico : "Brave finale contains no redemption, only an end to suffering"

Best Opera Revival

L’amore dei tre Re : "You should kill to see it. Just don't kiss the corpse."

Don Pasquale : "Friendly concept, chic designs and impeccable sense of style"

Jenůfa : "Captures all the punching brilliance of a wonderful opera"

The Mastersingers of Nuremberg : "The company's best riposte stands proudly on its stage"

Ravel double bill : "A wonderful evening of authentically Gallic-flavoured entertainment"

Tristan und Isolde : "Does a remarkable job of underpinning rather than overwhelming Wagner's intentions"

Outstanding Achievement in an Operatic Role

Rosa Feola : "A soaring, secure, beautiful and vulnerable Elvira"

Mariusz Kwiecień : "Gripping and emotionally engaged"

Rachel Nicholls : "If the jury is still out on her after this it ought to be hung"

Iain Paterson : "Morphs into one of the greats"

Nina Stemme : "Glinting in the blinding light of Wagner's vocal peaks"

Henry Waddington : "You'd call it barnstorming were it not streaked through with so much subtlety"

Breakthrough Artist in UK Opera

Janai Brugger : "I can't recall a Pamina who has been quite so genuinely touching"

Nicole Car : "Spins a warm, clear timbre like dew upon a thread"

Sam Furness : "Exciting young tenor in transcendent form"

Tobias Kehrer : "He sings as he acts, with an ideally judged delivery and a spark of wit"

Duncan Ward : "An eloquent account of the score"

Tamara Wilson : "This magnificent artist reaches our shores a ready-made star"

Event of the Year / Outstanding Contribution to the UK Operatic Scene

Stephen Barlow and the ensemble company of Flight : "An enormously complex project but he gets everything right"

Susan Bickley : "She will haunt your dreams"

Douglas Boyd : "Coaxes and caresses an evening of ravishing playing"

Edward Gardner and Mark Wigglesworth : "Music making of such power and immediacy that it doesn't just communicate, it excoriates"

Glyndebourne : "This exquisite hothouse"

Anthony Negus : "Achieves miracles of phrasing and balance in a reading of rare romantic sweep"