A whole year has passed since Little Me went to his first opera, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on January 22nd 2011 – so to mark this momentous occasion, and 55 operas later, here’s a list of the highlights that he’s experienced… (click on the pictures for the relevant posts).

Let’s hope this coming year will be just as enjoyable!

———–★FAVOURITE LIVE OPERA PERFORMANCE★———–
Puccini’s Tosca
Royal Opera House – 17 July 2011
with Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel

Angela Gheorghiu (Tosca) and Jonas Kaufmann (Cavaradossi) in 'Tosca' at the Royal Opera House - July 2011 © Catherine Ashmore

———–★FAVOURITE LIVE PERFORMANCE BY A SOPRANO (TIED)★———–
Diana Damrau in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory
Metropolitan Opera – 5 April 2011

Diana Damrau (Countess Adèle) and Juan Diego Flórez (Count Ory disguised as a hermit) in Act 1 of the Met Opera's production of 'Le Comte Ory' - April 2011 © Metropolitan Opera

AND

Ailyn Pérez in Verdi’s La Traviata
Royal Opera House – 20 January 2012

Ailyn Pérez as Violetta in the second cast of 'La Traviata' - December 2011 © Royal Opera House

———–★FAVOURITE LIVE PERFORMANCE BY A TENOR★———–
Jonas Kaufmann in Puccini’s Tosca
Royal Opera House – 17 July 2011

Jonas Kaufmann as Cavaradossi in 'Tosca' at the Royal Opera House - July 2011 © Catherine Ashmore

———–★FAVOURITE BRITISH OPERATIC ADVENTURE★———–
Glyndebourne

Little Me looking over towards the opera house for the performance of 'L'elisir d'amore' - 9 June 2011

———–★FAVOURITE OVERSEAS OPERATIC ADVENTURE★———–
The Metropolitan Opera
New York – 1-8 April 2011

Little Me outside the Metropolitan Opera, NYC for 'Tosca' - 4 April 2011

———–★POSHEST OPERATIC EXPERIENCE★———–
La Scala, Milan – 16 April 2011
for Puccini’s Turandot
with Lise Lindstrom, Stuart Neill and Ekaterina Scherbachenko

Little Me outside Teatro alla Scala, Milan - 16 April 2011

———–★FAVOURITE LOW BUDGET PRODUCTION★———–
Go Traviata – 2 June 2011

Little Me outside a warehouse in Hackney Wick for Go Opera's inaugural performance of 'Go Traviata' - 2 June 2011

———–★MOST INTERESTING PERFORMANCE SPACE★———–
Felsenreitschule, Salzburg
for Verdi’s Macbeth
with Željko Lučić, Tatiana Serjan and Giuseppe Filianoti

Little Me overlooking Salzburg before the performance of Verdi's 'Macbeth' - 6 August 2011

———–★FAVOURITE CINEMA SCREENED PRODUCTION★———–
Wagner’s Die Walküre
Metropolitan Opera – 15 May 2011
with Deborah Voigt, Bryn Terfel, Jonas Kaufmann and Eva-Maria Westbroek

Brünnhilde (Deborah Voigt) and the other Valkyries in Met Opera's 'Die Walküre' - May 2011 © Ken Howard

———–★FAVOURITE CONCERT PERFORMANCE★———–
Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande
Barbican Centre – 19 April 2011
with Natalie Dessay, Simon Keenlyside and Laurent Naouri

Little Me outside the Barbican in London for a concert performance of 'Pelléas et Mélisande' - 19 April 2011

———–★FIRST OPERATIC AUTOGRAPH★———–
Plácido Domingo
after his birthday gala at the Royal Opera House – 30 October 2011

Little Me gets Plácido Domingo's autograph - 30 October 2011