A Punchy Don Giovanni to Open the Royal Opera Season The new season at the Royal Opera House kicked off last night with a strong revival of Kasper Holten’s 2014 production of Don Giovanni. Holten casts us deep into the amoral, guiltless world of the eponymous arch seducer. A man whose power and self-belief catalyses the […]
Siegfried – Royal Ballet and Opera Ring Cycle
Barry Kosky continues his Ring Cycle at the RBO with a Five-Star Siegfried In Siegfried, the third part of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner shifts the focus away from the troubled world of the gods towards the energy of youth on earth. This is storytelling through opera, where the theatre is crucial and the […]
Pierrot Lunaire – Linbury Theatre – RBO
An evocative dance-theatre meditation with stunning musical accompaniment. The haunting music of Pierrot Lunaire, written in 1912 for a singer and a small group of instrumentalists, sets 21 poems by the Belgian poet Albert Giraud (in German translation) to music. Three sets of seven poems revolve around Pierrot, the clown from commedia dell’arte. It’s a […]
Woolf Works, Award Winning Dance from Royal Ballet
Into Woolf’s inner world – Wayne McGregor’s dance response to the life and writing of Virginia Woolf. Wayne McGregor’s first full-length work for the Royal Ballet, created in 2015, has returned to the Royal Opera House. His Olivier Award–winning triptych, Woolf Works, remains an ambitious and distinctive response to Virginia Woolf, translating her restless, questioning […]
Black History Month Draft Works – Marcelino Sambé
Ballet and Black history through the eyes of a Black Royal Ballet Principal Black History Month originated in the USA as part of the civil rights movement to reclaim Black history and celebrate the contributions made by Black people to their communities past and present. It was first observed in the UK in October […]
Preview: The Magic Flute at The Royal Opera House
The Magic Flute – Unlock the Secrets of Mozart’s Most Spellbinding Adventure This autumn, the Magic Flute returns to the Royal Opera House stage in a revival of David McVicar’s acclaimed production. Running from 10 October to 3 November 2025, the Royal Opera House celebrates the 400th performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, one of […]
Like Water for Chocolate Preview
The first reprise of Like Water for Chocolate since its 2022 premiere will bring back the original cast, as well as interesting debuts. Francesca Hayward and Marcelino Sambé, return in the roles of Tita and Pedro, which they originated; Anna Rose O’Sullivan will alternate in the roles of Gertrudis, which she made very much her own with a rip-roaring performance in the first run, and her debut as Tita. Mayara Magri, a bit underwritten as the original Rosaura, will also get a turn at Tita, as will the promising First Artist Ella Newton Severgnini.
Oliver Mears’ Tosca at The Royal Opera House
The ROH’s previous much-reprised production of Tosca, directed by Jonathan Kent, had become a comfortable old pair of slippers, visually sumptuous and totally reliable. Oliver Mears’ Tosca is fresh and high on melodrama and entertainment value, with a first cast that reaches the peaks of operatic excellence.
Giselle, National Ballet of Japan at Royal Ballet and Opera
A transporting Giselle marked the National Ballet of Japan’s London debut. Giselle is the quintessential Romantic ballet. Premiered in 1841 at the Paris Opera, it reflects many of the preoccupations of Romanticism: nature as a repository of all that’s good, yet also harbouring otherworldly, often malevolent beings; a fascination with a mythical past; and the […]
Royal Opera – Jette Parker Artists Summer Show
The Royal Opera’s 2024/25 Season drew to a celebratory close yesterday as the Jette Parker Artists (JPA) took over the Royal Opera House’s Main Stage with an afternoon of operatic highlights. Accompanied by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, the programme featured a dynamic selection of vignettes from well-known operas, including Il barbiere di Siviglia and Le nozze di Figaro.