Birmingham, land of opera

Guess where you can see 17 different operas next season? (That's 4 more than ENO, by the way.)

The same place you can see a lifesize bull made of jelly beans of course.

Welsh National Opera's visits to the Birmingham Hippodrome provide a regular opportunity to see fully staged opera. The 2013-14 offerings are Tosca, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, Roberto Devereux, La traviata, Manon Lescaut, Boulevard Solitude, Moses und Aron, Nabucco and The Fall of the House of Usher. Booking is already open.

Most of the remaining offerings are concert versions. A highlight of the CBSO's 2013-14 season is Der Rosenkavalier on Sunday 24 May 2014, conducted by Andris Nelsons with Soile Isokoski, Alice Coote and Sophie Bevan. It begins at the considerate hour of 4pm, leaving plenty of time to get home to wherever. On 2 July 2014 the CBSO present Bluebeard's Castle, conducted by Ed Gardner, with Ekaterina Gubanova and Gábor Bretz. Booking for these opens on 28 May. 

Other Symphony Hall operas include the LPO's Peter Grimes on 26 September 2013 with Stuart Skelton, and Handel's Theodora on 6 February 2014 with Rosemary Joshua and Sarah Connolly. Visiting companies  Opera North bring their Götterdämmerung on 21 June 2014 and the Royal Opera House their Ariadne auf Naxos (with Karita Mattila) on 6 July 2014. At the Town Hall there's a fully staged version of  Mark-Anthony Turnage's Greek on 4 October 2013 from Music Theatre Wales. Booking for all of these opens on 14 May, or now if you want to book for six or more events.