The Royal Opera House 25/26

In war-torn Rome, Floria Tosca and Mario Cavaradossi live for each other and for their art. But when Cavaradossi helps an escaped prisoner, the lovers make a deadly enemy in the form of Baron Scarpia, Chief of Police. At the mercy of Scarpia’s twisted desires, Tosca is forced to make a horrific bargain: sleeping with the man she hates in order to save the man she loves. Can she find a way out? A star-studded cast includes soprano Anna Netrebko performing the role of Tosca, tenor Freddie De Tommaso as Cavaradossi, and bass-baritone Gerald Finley as Scarpia, with Music Director of The Royal Opera Jakub Hrůša conducting his first new production in the role. An alternative, modern-day Rome provides the backdrop for Oliver Mears’ unmissable, gripping new production of Puccini’s thriller. Cast: Floria Tosca ANNA NETREBKO Mario Cavaradossi FREDDIE DE TOMMASO Baron Scarpia GERALD FINLEY Spoletta CARLO BOSI Cesare Angelotti OSSIAN HUSKINSON Sacristan ALESSANDRO CORBELLI Sciarrone SIPHE KWANI Creatives: Music GIACOMO PUCCINI Conductor JAKUB HRŮŠA Director OLIVER MEARS Set Designer SIMON LIMA HOLDSWORTH Costume Designer ILONA KARAS Lighting Designer FABIANA PICCIOLI Movement Director ANNA MORRISSEY

Following triumphant Met turns in Roméo et Juliette, La Traviata, and Lucia di Lammermoor, Nadine Sierra summits another peak of the soprano repertoire as Amina, who sleepwalks her way into audiences’ hearts in Bellini’s poignant tale of love lost and found. In his new production, Rolando Villazón—the tenor who has embarked on a brilliant second career as a director—retains the opera’s original setting in the Swiss Alps but uses its somnambulant plot to explore the emotional and psychological valleys of the mind. Tenor Xabier Anduaga returns after his acclaimed 2023 Met debut in L’Elisir d’Amore, co-starring as Amina’s fiancé Elvino, alongside soprano Sydney Mancasola as her rival, Lisa, and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Count Rodolfo. Riccardo Frizza takes the podium for one of opera’s most ravishing works. Cast: Amina NADINE SIERRA Lisa SYDNEY MANCASOLA Elvino XABIER ANDUAGA Rodolfo ALEXANDER VINOGRADOV Creatives: Music VINCENZO BELLINI Conductor RICCARDO FRIZZA Director ROLANDO VILLAZÓN Set Designer JOHANNES LEIACKER Costumer Designer BRIGITTE REIFFENSTUEL Lighting Designer DONALD HOLDER Projection Designer RENAUD RUBIANO Choreographer LEAH HAUSMAN

Lise, the only daughter of Widow Simone, is in love with the young farmer Colas, but her mother has far more ambitious plans for her. Simone hopes to marry her off to Alain, the son of the wealthy proprietor Thomas. Desperate to marry Colas rather than Alain, Lise contrives to outwit her mother’s plans. 65 years after its premiere, The Royal Ballet presents Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée. This affectionate portrayal of village life combines exuberant good humour and brilliantly inventive choreography in what is undoubtedly Ashton’s love letter to the English countryside. La Fille mal gardée whisks us away into pastoral bliss with Ferdinand Hérold’s cheerful score and Osbert Lancaster’s colourful designs. Cast: To be confirmed Creatives: Choreography FREDERICK ASHTON Music FERDINAND HÉROLD Conductor JONATHAN LO Arrangement and Orchestration JOHN LANCHBERY Scenario JEAN DAUBERVAL Designer OSBERT LANCASTER Lighting Designer JOHN B. READ

Stuck at home and put to work by her spoiled Step-Sisters, Cinderella’s life is dreary and dull. Everything changes when she helps a mysterious woman out...With a little bit of magic, she is transported into an ethereal new world – one where fairies bring the gifts of the seasons, where pumpkins turn into carriages, and where true love awaits. This enchanting ballet by The Royal Ballet’s Founding Choreographer Frederick Ashton is a theatrical experience for all the family and will transport you into an ethereal world where a sprinkling of fairy dust makes dreams come true. Cast: Cinderella FUMI KANEKO The Prince WILLIAM BRACEWELL Cinderella’s Step-Sisters BENNET GARTSIDE, JAMES HAY Cinderella’s Father THOMAS WHITEHEAD The Fairy Godmother MAYARA MAGRI The Fairy Spring ISABELLA GASPARINI The Fairy Summer MARIKO SASAKI The Fairy Autumn MEAGHAN GRACE HINKIS The Fairy Winter CLAIRE CALVERT The Jester DAICHI IKARASHI Creatives: Choreography FREDERICK ASHTON Music SERGEY PROKOFIEV Conductor JONATHAN LO Set Designer TOM PYE Costume Designer ALEXANDRA BYRNE Lighting Designer DAVID FINN Video Designer FINN ROSS Illusions CHRIS FISHER Conductor JONATHAN LO

The magician Herr Drosselmeyer needs to save his nephew. Hans-Peter has been transformed into a Nutcracker; the only way to save him is for the Nutcracker to defeat the Mouse King and find a girl to love and care for him. A flicker of hope comes in the form of the young Clara, whom Drosselmeyer meets at a Christmas party. With some magic, a cosy Christmas gathering turns into a marvellous adventure. Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker has enchanted audiences since its 1984 premiere by the Company. Featuring Tchaikovsky’s most familiar melodies and brought to life by Julia Trevelyan Oman’s exquisite designs, The Nutcracker is sure to be a festive firecracker for all ages. Cast: To be confirmed Creatives: Choreography PETER WRIGHT after LEV IVANOV Music PYOTR IL’YICH TCHAIKOVSKY Conductor KOEN KESSELS Original Scenario MARIUS PETIPA after E.T.A. HOFFMANN Production and Scenario PETER WRIGHT Designer JULIA TREVELYAN OMAN Lighting Designer MARK HENDERSON Production Consultant ROLAND JOHN WILEY

At one of her lavish parties, celebrated Parisan courtesan Violetta is introduced to Alfredo Germont. The two fall madly in love, and though hesitant to leave behind her life of luxury and freedom, Violetta follows her heart. But the young couple’s happiness is short-lived, as the harsh realities of life soon come knocking. As intimate as it is sumptuous, La traviata features some of opera’s most famous melodies, and is a star vehicle for its leading soprano role sung by Ermonela Jaho. In director Richard Eyre’s world of seductive grandeur, the tender and devastating beauty at the centre of Verdi’s opera shines bright. Cast: Violetta Valéry ERMONELA JAHO Alfredo Germont GIOVANNI SALA Giorgio Germont ALEKSEI ISAEV Annina VEENA AKAMA-MAKIA Doctor Grenvil BARNABY REA Flora Bervoix ELLEN PEARSON Baron Douphol SAM HIRD Gastone de Letorières GIORGI GULIASHVILI Marquis d’Obigny OSSIAN HUSKINSON Creatives: Music GIUSEPPE VERDI Conductor ANTONELLO MANACORDA Director RICHARD EYRE Designer BOB CROWLEY Lighting Designer JEAN KALMAN Director of Movement JANE GIBSON

Virginia Woolf defied literary conventions to depict rich inner worlds – her heightened, startling and poignant reality. Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor leads a luminous artistic team to evoke Woolf’s signature stream of consciousness writing style in this immense work that rejects traditional narrative structures. Woolf Works is a collage of themes from Mrs Dalloway, Orlando, The Waves and Woolf’s other writings. Created in 2015 for The Royal Ballet, this Olivier-award winning ballet triptych captures the heart of Woolf’s uniquely artistic spirit. Cast: To be confirmed Creatives: Direction and Choreography WAYNE MCGREGOR Music MAX RICHTER Conductor KOEN KESSELS Designer CIGUË, WE NOT I, WAYNE MCGREGOR Costume Designer MORITZ JUNGE Lighting Designer LUCY CARTER Film Designer RAVI DEEPRES Sound System Designer CHRIS EKERS Make-up Designer KABUKI Dramaturgy UZMA HAMEED

The peasant girl Giselle has fallen in love with Albrecht. When she discovers that he is actually a nobleman promised to another, she kills herself in despair. Her spirit joins the Wilis: the vengeful ghosts of women hell-bent on killing any man who crosses their path in a dance to the death. Wracked with guilt, Albrecht visits Giselle’s grave, where he must face the Wilis – and Giselle’s ghost. Peter Wright’s 1985 production of this quintessential Romantic ballet is a classic of The Royal Ballet repertory. Set to Adolphe Adam’s evocative score and with atmospheric designs by John Macfarlane, Giselle conjures up the earthly and otherworldly realms in a tale of love, betrayal and redemption. Cast: To be confirmed Creatives: Choreography MARIUS PETIPA after JEAN CORALLI and JULES PERROT Music ADOLPHE ADAM Edited by LARS PAYNE Conductor VELLO PAHN Scenario THÉOPHILE GAUTIER after HEINRICH HEINE Production and Additional Choreography PETER WRIGHT Designer JOHN MACFARLANE Original Lighting JENNIFER TIPTON Re-created by DAVID FINN

Raised by a scheming dwarf and unaware of his true family origins, a young man embarks on an epic journey. Soon, destiny brings him face-to-face with a shattered sword, a fearsome dragon and the cursed ring it guards, and a Valkyrie forced into enchanted slumber... Moments of transcendent beauty and heroic triumph sparkle in the third chapter of Wagner’s Ring cycle, brought to life under Barrie Kosky’s inspired eye following his spectacular Das Rheingold (2023) and Die Walküre (2025). Andreas Schager, in his much-anticipated debut with The Royal Opera, stars as Siegfried’s titular hero, alongside Christopher Maltman’s towering Wanderer, Peter Hoare’s treacherous Mime and Elisabet Strid’s radiant Brünnhilde. Antonio Pappano conducts, drawing out the unspoken tensions and ethereal mysticism of Wagner’s dynamic score. Cast: Siegfried ANDREAS SCHAGER Mime PETER HOARE Der Wanderer CHRISTOPHER MALTMAN Brünnhilde ELISABET STRID Alberich CHRISTOPHER PURVES Fafner SOLOMAN HOWARD Erda WIEBKE LEHMKUHL Woodbird SARAH DUFRESNE Creatives: Music RICHARD WAGNER Conductor ANTONIO PAPPANO Director BARRIE KOSKY Set Designer RUFUS DIDWISZUS Costume Designer VICTORIA BEHR Lighting Designer ALESSANDRO CARLETTI

Princess Pamina has been captured. Her mother, the Queen of the Night, tasks the young Prince Tamino with her daughter’s rescue. But when Tamino and his friendly sidekick, Papageno, embark on their adventure, they soon learn that when it comes to the quest for love, nothing is as it really seems. Guided by a magic flute, they encounter monsters, villains, and a mysterious brotherhood of men – but help, it turns out, comes when you least expect it. Mozart’s fantastical opera glitters in David McVicar’s enchanting production. A star cast including Julia Bullock as Pamina, Amitai Pati as Tamino, Huw Montague Rendall as Papageno, Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, and Soloman Howard as Sarastro, led by French conductor Marie Jacquot in her Covent Garden debut. Cast: Pamina JULIA BULLOCK Tamino AMITAI PATI Papageno HUW MONTAGUE RENDALL Queen of the Night KATHRYN LEWEK Sarastro SOLOMAN HOWARD Monostatos GERHARD SIEGEL Creatives: Music WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Conductor MARIE JACQUOT Director DAVID MCVICAR Designer JOHN MACFARLANE Lighting Designer PAULE CONSTABLE Movement Director LEAH HAUSMAN

Following her acclaimed 2024 company debut in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, soprano Asmik Grigorian returns to the Met as Tatiana, the lovestruck young heroine in this ardent operatic adaptation of Pushkin. Baritone Igor Golovatenko reprises his portrayal of the urbane Onegin, who realizes his affection for her all too late. The Met’s evocative production, directed by Tony Award–winner Deborah Warner, “offers a beautifully detailed reading of … Tchaikovsky’s lyrical romance” (The Telegraph). Cast: Tatiana ASMIK GRIGORIAN Olga MARIA BARAKOVA Filippyevna STEPHANIE BLYTHE Lenski STANISLAS DE BARBEYRAC Eugene Onegin IGOR GOLOVATENKO Prince Gremin ALEXANDER TSYMBALYUK Creatives: Music PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Conductor TIMUR ZANGIEV Director DEBORAH WARNER Set Designer TOM PYE Costume Designer CHLOE OBOLENSKY Lighting Designer JEAN KALMAN Projection Designer IAN WILLIAM GALLOWAY and FINN ROSS Choreographer KIM BRANDSTRUP