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Francisco Coll’s Enemigo del pueblo, his first evening-length stage work, made a celebrated Madrid debut at the Teatro Real in February 2026, conducted by Christian Karlsen. The 80-minute piece adapts Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, with a text by Àlex Rigola. The work appeared alongside a chamber music portrait of Coll at Fundación Juan March, which included the world premiere of guitar suite Sefarad from Jacob Kellermann.

Madrid surrenders to the music of Francisco Coll…the opera begins with a bullfighting pasodoble in asymmetrical time and a shrill orchestra that seems on the verge of collapse. His music, as captivating as it is complex…it is experienced on a physical and emotional level… The opera's strongest point is Coll's score, which alternates brief, highly refined orchestral interludes with vocal writing that combines taut and varied recitative with occasional lyrical flourishes.

El País (Pablo L. Rodríguez) 13 February 16 2026

Coll is one of the most important [Spanish composers], and An Enemy of the People deserved to be seen and heard at the Teatro Real… The touch of Spanish musical identity with which the work begins is very well defined…the first thing that came to mind was a pasodoble played by a Valencian band…a work that, at times, has a remarkable sonic density…a composer who is destined to be…one of the most important figures in contemporary opera.

Platea (Enrique Bert) February 14 2026

…a perfect interweaving of text, theatrical progression, and music…the rich and colourful orchestration…possesses a profound theatrical and dramatic sensibility. The orchestral discourse breathes vigour, tension, and energy, with powerful and intense interludes—featuring the abundant percussion typical of contemporary composition—and occasional lyrical respites. It also skilfully integrates local flavours and Spanish influences…

Codalario (Raúl Chamorro Mena) 19 February 2026

It's not difficult to pinpoint the moments of genuine lyrical genius…the overture is one…In just a few bars, the Valencian musician revitalizes the pasodoble genre with a rhythmic force and timbres that are both familiar and novel… The role of the choir was fascinating: Coll treats it as if it part of the orchestra, complementing it and contributing to the musical atmosphere that permeates the entire work. 

Opera Actual (David Santana Cañas) 13 February 2026

Coll’s masterful score announces its Bergian credentials in one of the short interludes with a big orchestral crescendo that recalls the final interlude in Wozzeck…Coll’s expressionist writing has a Spanish accent as he weaves an unmistakably flamenco melody into the complex modernist fabric of his orchestral score. The brevity and high-calorie musical content of his brief linking passages suggest a ‘suite’…This could be a notable addition to the concert repertoire…Coll’s influences are absorbed into a style of his own. This is a strikingly individual, uncompromisingly modernist score, yet the vocal music has a lyrical core which makes it far from inaccessible…Coll’s score will surely withstand repeated outings…

Oper! Magazin (Hugh Canning) 16 February 2026

On 12 March Coll’s Lilith will receive its North American premiere from Gustavo Gimeno  and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Premiering with Nuno Coelho and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in June 2025, Coll calls the 23-minute work, named for the multifaceted and contradictory Biblical figure, a “ballet without choreography”. Writing in Scherzo of the premiere, Jesús Castañer described “long, prominent melodic lines, constructed upon an unabashedly familiar harmonic cadences that seems to emulate the vocal inflections of singing and human breathing”.

Gimeno has been a longstanding champion of Coll’s work. In 2024 he premiered Ciudad sin sueño with Javier Perianes – a 20-minute fantasia for piano and orchestra that debuted with the London Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony orchestras. In 2021 he conducted an orchestral portrait disc released by Pentatone (subsequently awarded prizes by BBC Music Magazine and the ICMA) including Aqua Cinerea, the Violin Concerto, Hidd’n Blue, and Mural with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg.