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New Zealand Opera is pleased to announce details around the highly anticipated Auckland performances of Bluebeard’s Castle as a stunning highlight of Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival in 2026.
This monumental event – a poignant love story retelling of Bartók’s only opera – will play for two performances on March 13-14 at the Auckland Town Hall, accompanied by Auckland Philharmonia.
Hailed by reviewers as “brilliant” and “exceptional” following its New Zealand debut in Wellington and Christchurch in 2023, this production by the UK’s Theatre of Sound and Opera Ventures is a radical and profoundly moving reinterpretation of Bartók’s haunting psychodrama, performed in English.
Discarding the traditional Gothic horror of the original Bluebeard tale, this staging reframes the opera as a touching, mature love story between a long-married couple living with the devastating reality of an aging mind.
The ominous castle and its seven locked doors are transformed into a suburban home, with the doors reimagined as relics in an old suitcase that hold the fading memories of a life shared.
The result is a devastating, yet deeply empathetic, theatrical experience.
This will be Auckland audiences’ only opportunity to see two of the classical world’s most experienced and sought-after singers in these roles.
American baritone Lester Lynch (Bluebeard) and British soprano Susan Bullock (Judith) visit New Zealand for their final time with the production, bringing their celebrated chemistry and formidable vocal power to the work.
The performers are joined by the 94-player strong Auckland Philharmonia, conducted by NZ Opera general director Brad Cohen, who will fill the incredible acoustic of the Auckland Town Hall with Bartók’s spectacular orchestral tone painting and rhythmic vitality.
Béla Bartók, one of the 20th century’s greatest composers, forged a unique style blending Hungarian folk music with advanced classical techniques, a skill that translates into Bluebeard’s Castle’s intense emotional landscape.
“This production of Bluebeard’s Castle by Daisy Evans and Theatre of Sound is one of the most inventive and compassionate interpretations of opera I have ever encountered,” says Brad Cohen, conductor and general director of NZ Opera.
“Lester Lynch and Susan Bullock deliver a heartbreaking portrayal that resonates profoundly with contemporary audiences.
“It’s an unmissable event – a truly spectacular operatic journey that’s both intimate and epic.”
Lynch and Bullock will be supported by an outstanding cast of all-New Zealand actors who embody the couple’s shared history.
Te Ohorere Williams (1960s Judith), Katie Burson (1970s Judith), and Marion Prebble (1990s Judith) portray the former selves of Judith, which Bluebeard remembers in his anguish.
Rounding out the local ensemble are William Kelly (River) and Naledi Mhuka (Meadow).
Daisy Evans, the award-winning British director and translator from Theatre of Sound who conceived the original, groundbreaking concept, will be travelling to New Zealand to personally direct this monumental staging.
A true innovator in the opera world, Evans’s accolades – including her recent Olivier nomination in 2025 – cement her status as one of the most exciting and sought-after artists working in the field today.
New Zealand audiences will have the rare opportunity to experience her masterful storytelling firsthand, solidifying Bluebeard’s Castle as a must-see fixture of Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival 2026.
Early booking is recommended to avoid disappointment, on sale now at nzopera.com.
