The Royal Opera House 22/23

‘Love cannot kill: it brings new life.’ On a starlit night in Nagasaki, these are the words spoken by American soldier Pinkerton to young geisha Cio-Cio-San. But as they both learn, words and promises carelessly spoken can have indelible consequences. With a score that includes Butterfly’s aria, 'Un bel dì, vedremo' (‘One fine day’) and the Humming Chorus, Giacomo Puccini’s opera is entrancing and ultimately heart-breaking. Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s exquisite production takes inspiration from 19th-century European images of Japan. In the 2021/22 Season, Dinara Alieva and Lianna Haroutounian share the title role, with Dan Ettinger conducting. In the 22/23 season, Maria Agresta and Lianna Haroutounian share the role of Cio-Cio-San, with Nicola Luisotti conducting.

Inspired by dark and gripping real life events, this Royal Ballet classic depicts the sexual and morbid obsessions of Crown Prince Rudolf leading to the murder-suicide scandal with his mistress Mary Vetsera. The oppressive glamour of the Austro-Hungarian court in the 1880s sets the scene for a suspenseful drama of psychological and political intrigue as Rudolf fixates on his mortality. Kenneth MacMillan's 1978 ballet remains a masterpiece of storytelling and this revival marks 30 years since the choreographer’s death. Expect to see the Company at its dramatic finestacross potent ensemble scenes and some of the most daring and emotionally demanding pas de deux in the ballet repertory.

Princess Aida has been kidnapped: a valuable prize in a war between Egypt and Ethiopia. Meanwhile, the ambitious soldier Radames wrestles with his feelings for her. As they draw closer together, each must make an agonising choice between their loyalty to home, and their love for each other. In this new production, director Robert Carsen situates Verdi’s large-scale political drama within a contemporary world, framing its power struggles and toxic jealousies in the apparatus of a modern, totalitarian state. Antonio Pappano and Mark Elder conduct Verdi’s glorious, monumental score.

Paris, 1900. Penniless writer Rodolfo believes that art is all he needs – until he meets Mimì, the lonely seamstress who lives upstairs. So begins a timeless love story that blooms, fades, and rekindles with the passing seasons. But while the couple’s friends, Marcello and Musetta passionately row and make up, a force greater than love threatens to overtake Rodolfo and Mimì. Richard Jones’s production evokes the vivid contrasts of fin de siècle Paris, from Bohemian apartments to glittering arcades, while Kevin John Edusei, Evelino Pidò and Paul Wynne Griffiths conduct an array of dazzling performers.

The Royal Ballet’s dazzling Principals lead an evening not to be missed, their sparkling talents a perfect fit for a diamond anniversary. Celebrating the 60th anniversary of The Friends of Covent Garden, this programme recognises the amazing support of all ROH Friends past and present. The showcase will demonstrate the breadth and diversity of The Royal Ballet’s repertory in classical, contemporary and heritage works. It will also include world premieres by Pam Tanowitz, Joseph Toonga and Valentino Zucchetti plus the Company’s first performance of For Four by Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon and a performance of George Balanchine’s Diamonds.

Join Clara at a delightful Christmas Eve party that becomes a magical adventure once everyone else is tucked up in bed. Marvel at the brilliance of Tchaikovsky’s score, as Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker fight the Mouse King and visit the Sugar Plum Fairy in the glittering Kingdom of Sweets. Peter Wright’s much-loved production for The Royal Ballet, with gorgeous period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, keeps true to the spirit of this festive ballet classic, combining the thrill of the fairy tale with spectacular dancing.

A modern Mexican classic of magic realism provides the basis for The Royal Ballet’s new full-length work, reuniting Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon with the creative team who transformed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale into dance, composer Joby Talbot and designer Bob Crowley. Journey into Laura Esquivel’s captivating family saga where the central character’s emotions spill out through cooking to influence everyone around her in startling and dramatic ways. In this co-production with American Ballet Theatre, Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra acts as musical consultant for Talbot’s newly commissioned score, with Wheeldon working closely with Esquivel to reshape her richly layered story as an entertaining and engrossing new ballet. Nominated for the FEDORA VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Prize for Ballet 2020.

When Rosina falls in love with mysterious young suitor Lindoro, she must use all her cunning – and a little help from her local barber – to outwit her calculating guardian Dr Bartolo. Expect heart-melting serenades, ridiculous disguises and a fairytale ending waiting just out of reach. From the barber’s opening number ‘Largo al factotum,’ with its cry of ‘Figaro!,’ to Rosina’s feisty aria ‘Una voce poco fa,’ Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera is a riotously entertaining affair. Rafael Payare makes his House debut, and joins Christopher Willis in conducting a cast that includes Andrzej Filończyk, Aigul Akhmetshina, Laurence Brownlee, Konu Kim and Bryn Terfel.

In the court of Princess Turandot, suitors who fail to solve her riddles are brutally killed. But when a mysterious Prince answers correctly, suddenly he holds all the power – and a glorious secret. When life hangs in the balance, can love conquer all? Puccini’s score is rich in musical marvels (featuring ‘Nessun dorma’), while Andrei Serban’s production draws on Chinese theatrical tradition to evoke a colourful fantasy tableau of ancient Peking. Antonio Pappano and Paul Wynne Griffiths conduct, with Anna Pirozzi in the title role and Yonghoon Lee and Russell Thomas sharing the role of Calaf.

Royal Ballet Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella celebrates its 75th anniversary this Season. The ballet’s opening night in 1948, featuring Moira Shearer and Michael Somes in the lead roles, was received rapturously. After over a decade away from the Royal Opera House stage, Ashton’s timeless reworking of Charles Perrault’s famous rags-to-riches story returns, showcasing the choreographer’s deft musicality and the beauty of Prokofiev’s transcendent score. A creative team steeped in the magic of theatre, film, dance and opera brings new atmosphere to Cinderella’s ethereal world of fairy godmothers and pumpkin carriages, handsome princes and finding true love.

Servants Figaro and Susanna are filled with excitement on their wedding day, but there’s a hitch: their employer, the Count Almaviva, has dishonourable intentions of his own towards the bride-to-be. With more twists than a page boy’s stockings, the story of Mozart’s comic opera will surprise and delight you at every turn. Come for the music and stay for the cross-dressing hilarity, all unfolding over the course of one crazy, topsy-turvy day in the Almaviva household. Antonio Pappano conducts a truly international cast in David McVicar’s timeless production.

Marius Petipa's masterful, 19th-century choreography is combined with sections created for The Royal Ballet by Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell and Christopher Wheeldon. Together they create an enchanting sequence of ballet repertory gems – the iconic Rose Adage, when Aurora meets her four royal suitors, the lilting Garland Waltz, the 'Vision' Pas de deux, when Prince Florimund sees Aurora for the first time, and the celebratory divertissements and final pas de deux that bring the ballet to its glorious close. Throughout, Tchaikovsky’s masterful score takes ballet music to a height of passion, sophistication and intensity that arguably has never been surpassed.

The Count di Luna loves Leonora, but she loves Manrico, the Count’s military enemy. Manrico’s mother Azucena tells him how her mother was burnt to death for supposed witchcraft against the Count’s baby brother. Azucena intended to throw the baby onto the fire – but blinded by revenge she lost her own child to the flames.