The Community of Madrid has officially announced the programming for the third edition of its chamber opera festival, Opera a quemarropa. The 2026 event will run from May through July, featuring performances across regional venues, including the Teatro Auditorio in San Lorenzo de El Escorial and the Teatro Real Carlos III in Aranjuez.

The festival opens with two distinct productions. Ana Sokolovic's "Svadba," an a cappella contemporary opera for six female voices based on original Serbian poetry, will be staged first. Accompanying the opening schedule is "Klara," an opera structured in four parts that integrates themes of artificial intelligence. Pedro Halffter composed the work and serves as the musical director. Soprano Vanessa Goikoetxea will sing the singular role of Klara, with piano accompaniment provided by Halffter and Juan Carlos Garvayo.

Performance Date: July 3, 2026.

The program continues with Alessandro Scarlatti's "Pericca e Varrone." This piece is a comic intermezzo originally featured in his 1714 opera "Scipione nelle Spagne." The orchestra La Madrilena will perform using period instruments under the musical direction of Jose Antonio Montano, with stage direction by Ignacio Garcia. The cast features mezzo-soprano Sandra Ferrandez as Pericca and baritone Cesar San Martin as Varrone.

Performance Dates: July 10 and 11, 2026.

Running concurrently is the production of "Estetica i massacre." This chamber work features a text written by Carlota Gurt and musical composition by Carles Prat. Oriol Pla provides the stage direction for this performance.

Performance Date: July 10, 2026.

The festival concludes its main stage productions with the world premiere of "The Closure of Love" (La clausura del amor). Featuring music by Reyes Oteo and based on the original work by Pascal Rambert, the piece is directed by Ricardo Campelo Parabavides. The cast includes vocalists Ruth Gonzalez and Enrique Sanchez-Ramos, with Bauti Carmena leading the musical direction.

Performance Dates: July 17 and 18, 2026.