Royal Opera Summer 2016: Our Essential Guide
General booking for the Royal Opera House Summer season opens 9am on 12 April.
Nabucco (6 Jun – 30 Jun)
© ROH / Catherine Ashmore
The Va,
pensiero chorus, almost universally regarded as the unofficial Italian
national anthem, is just one of the treasures in this Biblical epic. Verdi’s
breakthough work is opera at its grandest. Legendary tenor Placido Domingo
shares the title role with Covent Garden favourite Dmitri Platanias in this
revival of Daniele Abbado’s well-received 2013 production.
Werther (19 Jun – 13 Jul)
© ROH
If you enjoyed Eugene Onegin, this is one to see: Jules Massenet’s 1892 adaptation of Goethe’s seminal novel has a similarly tight focus on a pair of lovers. A revival of director Benoit Jacques’ 2004 production - which has gained critical popularity with age - it stars the star American soprano Joyce DiDonato as Charlotte against Vittorio Grigolo (Faust) in the title role. Antonio Pappano, the Royal Opera’s chief conductor, takes to the podium.
In Parenthesis (30 Jun – 1 Jul)
Poet David Jones’ In Parenthesis might be the ultimate literary document of the First World War. It’s also fiendishly complex, a fusion of prose and poetry adored by the likes of Eliot and Auden. In choosing to adapt it for the Welsh National Opera, composer Iain Bell and director David Poutney have set themselves a Herculean challenge. If it comes together, this could be one of the most extraordinary productions of the year.
Il trovatore (2 Jul – 17 Jul)
Lianna Haroutounian in Les Vepres siciliennes © ROH / Bill Cooper 2013
With its medieval melodrama, romantic
entanglements and long-lost siblings, Verdi’s Il trovatore can feel like the paradigm of 19th century
opera. David Bosch’s new production, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, should be
a surefire crowd-drawer. The cast, which alternates between two complete lists, includes Lianna Haroutounian, Christopher
Maltman, Francesco Meli and Ekaterina Sememchuk.
