Appropriately themed ‘navigating love’, NZ Opera’s 2021 season is set to make us fall in love with opera all over again with a variety of operas in different sizes, styles and locations.

The big hit for the year is set to be Mozart and Da Ponte’s The Marriage of Figaro, which was sadly postponed in 2020 but will come to Isaac Theatre Royal for three dates in July 2021. The other star of the season is (m)Orpheus – a very Kiwi-Pasifika reimagining of the Greek tragedy Orpheus and Eurydice – but you'll have to travel to Auckland or Wellington to see it.

January and February will see a series of open-air operas in Wellington Botanic Garden, Auckland’s Glover Park, and Hamilton Gardens. NZ Opera will mark the start of the academic year with Opera in Schools performances of Don Pasquale – a classic tale of love, scheming and comeuppance – coming to Christchurcn on March 29 and April 1.

In Auckland this March, Tim Finn and Célestine Hitura Vaite’s Ihitai ‘Avei’a Star Navigator tells the story of two navigators from very different worlds – a Tahitian priest and a naval officer – comparing experiences aboard a cramped scientific vessel in the Pacific Ocean.

In April, the ultra-intimate The Human Voice returns for one last run, this time at the Dunedin Arts Festival.

READ MORE: Cityscape’s review of The Human Voice

June and July are all about The Marriage of Figaro, which will tour multiple dates in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Then in September and October, NZ Opera will perform (m)Orpheus in Auckland and Wellington.

nzopera.com