The Royal Opera House is delighted to announce two packed evenings of opera and ballet, live from our stage in Covent Garden and available to view wherever you are in the world online.
These autumn performances follow from the success of #OurHouseToYourHouse – where through the spring-summer lockdown the ROH presented full-length performance streams, livestreamed socially-distanced concerts, mini-documentaries and interactive activities for children – generating more than 206 million views from 183 countries around the world.
The first of these events, The Royal Opera: Live in Concert will be broadcast live on Friday 4 September 7:30 BST. Curated by the Royal Opera House’s Director of Music, Antonio Pappano, the concert will see Aigul Akhmetshina, Charles Castronovo, Gerald Finley, Lisette Oropesa, Sonya Yoncheva, and Vito Priante take to the stage.
Performing much-loved classics of the opera repertory by Bellini, Bizet, Donizetti, Dvorak, Massenet, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini and Verdi – the outstanding cast will be joined by current Jette Parker Young Artists Filipe Manu and Stephanie Wake-Edwards, 67 members of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and members of the Royal Opera Chorus performing together in person for the first time since we closed our doors to the public on 16 March.
On Friday 9 October, the second of these evenings will see The Royal Ballet return for a unique celebration as the whole Company are reunited on their home stage for the first time in seven months. The Company will perform the programme, together with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, in what promises to be a dance event not to be missed in a showcase of heritage and modern highlights from The Royal Ballet’s repertory. Further details of The Royal Ballet event and the Autumn 2020 Season will follow in the coming weeks.
Hosted by the BBC’s Katie Derham, the opera event will be broadcast live via Vimeo, priced at £16.00 per household and will be available for 30 days. The BBC will be partnering with ROH, bringing the concert to the small screen later this year, and on BBC Radio 3 later in September.
Rehearsals and performances for both concerts will all take place in a carefully-controlled, socially distanced environment. All artists will observe strict social distancing, as well as undertake other COVID mitigations as per the government guidance