Apr 28, 2026
In this episode of OPERA Road Trip, host Sebastian F. Schwarz turns to France—one of the historic strongholds of the European operatic tradition—shaped by a dense network of public institutions, a strong culture of state support, and a long-standing belief in opera as a public good. From the court of Louis XIV and...
Mar 31, 2026
In this episode of OPERA Road Trip, host Sebastian F. Schwarz turns to the United Kingdom, tracing a uniquely complex operatic landscape shaped as much by private initiative and tradition as by public institutions. From the courtly masques of the 17th century to Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, from Handel’s...
Mar 2, 2026
Polish opera takes centre stage in this episode of Opera Road Trip. From Warsaw to Kraków, Gdańsk and Poznań, Sebastian F. Schwarz explores how Poland built one of Europe’s most resilient and decentralised operatic ecosystems.
Introduced at the royal court in the 17th century, opera became a powerful tool of...
Feb 1, 2026
In this episode of Opera Road Trip, host Sebastian F. Schwarz turns to Croatia as a revealing case study for the operatic realities of smaller European countries. Blessed with one of the most striking Mediterranean coastlines and internationally known cities such as Split and Dubrovnik, Croatia attracts nearly five...
Jan 1, 2026
In this episode of Opera
Road Trip, host Sebastian Schwarz turns the spotlight from national
operatic traditions to a crucial gateway for emerging artists:
singing
competitions.
Against the backdrop of increasingly opaque casting processes, the
episode explores why competitions continue to play a decisive
—...