Royal Opera House Winter Season booking guide
The very best opera and ballet to book in this Winter Season at the Royal Opera House
Rossini's Semiramide, Royal Opera House
Opera, like theatre, has a long tradition of characters who do not recognise their own childen, and in his masterpiece Semiramide, Rossini makes full dramatic use of this device. But the audience knows better
Read more ...Verdi's Rigoletto, Royal Opera House
When an innocent and overprotected young woman has to choose between a dashing duke and her demanding father, love and loyalty clash in Verdi’s great opera, famous for its final act quartet
Read more ...Richard Strauss's Salome, Royal Opera House
As featured in the highly recommended Opera: Passion, Power and Politics at the V&A, Richard Strauss’s bloody and powerful Salome, which shocked audiences in 1905. But are we easily shocked today...?
Read more ...Bizet's Carmen, Royal Opera House
If you love her, you are playing with fire: if you don’t love her, it’s more dangerous still. Bizet’s fiery character Carmen is famous for her sizzling sex appeal – and his opera even more famous for its fantastic music
Read more ...Puccini's Tosca, Royal Opera House
A painter and opera singer struggle to get on with their careers in Puccini's opera set in Rome, where a menacing chief of police expects special favours from Tosca in exchange for her lover's safety
Royal Ballet's Giselle, Royal Opera House
The story of the peasant girl who turns into a restless forest spirit after dying of a broken heart, Giselle was first performed in Paris in 1841 and has been the Romantic ballet par excellence ever since. This year we recommend booking pronto for one of the two (sure to sell out) performances where Natalia Osipova - one of the great Giselles of our time - will be partnered by the wonderful American dancer, David Wallberg (1 and 9 March).
Read more ...Royal Ballet's The Winter's Tale, Royal Opera House
“Exhilarating,” “faultless,” “a triumph,” “an Instant classic” – these were just some of the adjectives that greeted choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Talewhen it premiered at Covent Garden in the Spring of 2014. Now it's back with new casts along the original one, where Edward Watson gave one of the performances of his career as the tormented Leontes.
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