Guide for the Few

Tokyo, Happening

Peter Grimes

23 November to 5 December 2026

Robert Carsen's La Scala production of Britten's Peter Grimes, new to Tokyo, five afternoons at the New National Theatre with Brandon Jovanovich in the title role and Kazushi Ono conducting.

New National Theatre, Tokyo, Opera Palace, 1-1-1, Hon-machi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0071

Carsen's Peter Grimes at La Scala, Grimes before the village

Why it is worth going

Robert Carsen's staging opened at the Teatro alla Scala in October 2023, and Brandon Jovanovich, who sang Grimes in Milan, sings him again here.1 Sally Matthews is Ellen Orford and Jordan Shanahan is Balstrode; Kazushi Ono conducts the Tokyo Philharmonic, and the New National Theatre Chorus sings the village; the run is part of the 81st ACA National Arts Festival.1 Ono, the theatre’s artistic director of opera, counts it among three new productions of the 2026/27 season, and the walls and ceiling of the Opera Palace are finished in thick oak.2 The opera is sung in English, with English and Japanese surtitles on both sides of the proscenium of the 1,806-seat house.3

The Opera Palace auditorium from the stalls
The Opera Palace auditorium from the stalls
Sources
  1. Peter Grimes | Opera | NEW NATIONAL THEATRE, TOKYO. nntt.jac.go.jp, read 25 September 2026.
  2. 2026/2027 Season - OPERA | NEW NATIONAL THEATRE, TOKYO. nntt.jac.go.jp, read 25 September 2026.
  3. Opera Palace | NEW NATIONAL THEATRE, TOKYO. nntt.jac.go.jp, read 25 September 2026.
  4. Access | NEW NATIONAL THEATRE, TOKYO. nntt.jac.go.jp, read 25 September 2026.

Last checked 25 September 2026.