The Royal Opera – complete 2026-2027 Season

The Royal Opera presents the 2026-2027 Season of new productions and acclaimed revivals. In her Main Stage debut, Royal Opera Associate Director Netia Jones –renowned for her inventive use of digital media – leans into technology to reimagine Mozart’s comedy of manners Così fan tutte through a sharply contemporary lens. Thomas Hengelbrock conducts.

Evgeny Titov makes his House debut, his Parsifal offering a visionary dystopian perspective on Wagner‘s epic. Royal Opera Music Director Jakub Hrůša conducts, later returning to conduct a new production of Un ballo in maschera directed by Philipp Stölzl in his House debut, and a revival of Richard Jones‘ production of Janáček’s searing Káťa Kabanová. He also leads a concert performance of Duke Bluebeard’s Castle paired with The Rite of Spring, showcasing the full force of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

The Royal Opera’s Principal Guest Conductor, Speranza Scappucci, leads the revival of Richard Jones’s Il trittico –a rare chance to experience Puccini‘s complete triptych.

Barrie Kosky brings his journey through Wagner‘s momentous Ring cycle to its powerful conclusion with Götterdämmerung, conducted by Conductor Laureate of The Royal Opera Antonio Pappano. Pappano also reunites with Director of Opera Oliver Mears for a new production of La Gioconda, following its widely praised debut at the Salzburg Easter Festival. La Gioconda has not been staged at Covent Garden for almost a century. The Season further features Kosky’s striking new staging of Handel’s Hercules. Conducted by Baroque specialist Laurence Cummings, this production marks the work’s first return to Covent Garden since 1750 and continues the Company’s acclaimed Handel series.

Further highlights include Netia Jones’s first programmed Linbury Theatre Season, featuring the world premiere of Brett Dean‘sdouble bill Good Sometimes Queen, directed by Ola Ince. The Company also revives 4.48 Psychosis, Philip Venables’ award‑winning operatic adaptation of Sarah Kane’s seminal 2000 play. Having previously collaborated with The Royal Ballet and Wayne McGregor on Untitled, 2023, Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir sees her chamber opera UR_ brought to the stage in Jones’s technologically bold, ritual‑infused production.

In a co‑production with Irish National Opera, the Season also marks a significant milestone with Les Boréades, the first-ever staging of Rameau by The Royal Opera at Covent Garden. American director R.B. Schlather makes his House debut alongside another debut: Camille Delaforge,who conducts the Irish Baroque Orchestra, bringing this rarely performed masterpiece to brilliant life.

Oliver Mears, Director of The Royal Opera, says:

With the world in turmoil, The Royal Opera presents a Season of enchantment and exhilaration, featuring a thrilling range of repertoire: from the first-ever Rameau opera staged at Covent Garden by The Royal Opera to radical contemporary masterpieces; from debut directors creating bold new versions ofCosì fan tutte and Parsifal to Barrie Kosky’s highly anticipated Götterdämmerung – the conclusion of our breathtaking new Ring cycle. Underpinning everything are our world-class artists: the very best singers working today, with the finest conductors and theatre-makers to create experiences of unforgettable music drama.

A series of powerful first revivals also return to the stage: Christof Loy‘s staging of Strauss’ Elektra, conducted by Semyon Bychkov, Richard Jones’ Olivier Award‑winning Alcina conducted by David Bates, and Oliver Mears’ Tosca, conducted by Daniel Oren. Audience favourites also make a welcome return. David McVicar‘s production of The Magic Flute, conducted by Dalia Stasevska who makes her debut and Julia Jones; Kasper Holten‘s Don Giovanni, conducted by Stefano Montanari; Damiano Michieletto‘s Carmen, conducted by Sesto Quatrini; Robert Carsen‘s Aida, conducted by Michele Mariotti; and Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier‘s acclaimed Madama Butterfly, conducted by Henrik Nánási.

This season, the Jette Parker Artists celebrate their 25-year anniversary. Alongside their annual Summer Performance on the Main Stage and their highly popular Jukebox event in September, the Programme will be celebrating with a series of world-class recitals and events.

THE ROYAL OPERA 2026/27 SEASON

The Royal Opera

DON GIOVANNI

Main Stage

10 September – 15 October 2026

Co-production with Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, The Israeli Opera and Houston Grand Opera.

Music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor Stefano Montanari
Director Kasper Holten
Set Designer Es Devlin
Costume Designer Anja Vang Kragh
Lighting Designer Bruno Poet
Video Designer Luke Halls
Choreographer Signe Fabricius

Don Giovanni Gordon Bintner
Leporello Roberto Tagliavini
Donna Anna Rachel Willis-Sørensen/ Lydia Katarina
Donna Elvira Aigul Akhmetshina/ Georgia Mae Ellis
Don Ottavio Bogdan Volkov/ Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono*
Zerlina Giulia Semenzato/Sarah Brady
Masetto Dingle Yandell
The Commendatore Andreas Bauer Kanabas

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Don Giovanni seduces and deceives women with no remorse. What he wants, he takes. What’s in his way, he destroys. But when one of his conquests leads to murder, Don Giovanni’s arrogance and manipulation begin to catch up with him, his string of reckless seductions culminating in a terrible reckoning.

Kasper Holten’s beautiful production captures the debauchery of desire, while illuminating the sharp emotional tension that cuts through Mozart’s darkest opera. Acclaimed set designer Es Devlin’s spectacular visuals blur the boundaries between reality and the twisting interior world of the infamous Don. An all-star cast headlined by Gordon Bintner (Eugene Onegin) is led by conductor Stefano Montanari.

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The Royal Opera

ALCINA

Main Stage

15 September – 3 October 2026

Co-Production with The Metropolitan Opera, New York

Music George Frideric Handel
Conductor David Bates
Director Richard Jones
Designer Antony McDonald
Lighting Designer Lucy Carter
Movement Director Sarah Fahie

Alcina Lisette Oropesa
Ruggiero Emily D’Angelo
Morgana Mary Bevan
Bradamante Beth Taylor
Oronte Ru Charlesworth
Melisso Edward Grint

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

The sorceress Alcina has it all worked out. She lures her lovers to her magical island, and when she’s finished with them, she turns them into animals. But everything changes when she falls in love with Ruggiero. And when Ruggiero’s fiancée turns up, Alcina’s fantasy world collides with cruel reality.

With its strong female heroine, dazzling plot twists and fire-cracking arias, Handel’s Alcina is an irresistible treat. Richard Jones’ witty, exuberant, Olivier Award-winning production returns, along with many of the original cast, including Lisette Oropesa as the glittering enchantress, Alcina, and Emily D’Angelo as the lovestruck Ruggiero. David Bates conducts.

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Recitals and Events The Royal Opera

JETTE PARKER ARTISTS @ 25

Crush Room Recitals:

21 September 2026: Jette Parker Artists piano recital

7 December 2026: Jack Sandison

15 February 2026: Emyr Lloyd-Jones

5 April 2027: Seohyun Go

12 April 2027: Ellen Pearson

26 April 2027: Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono

10 May 2027: Sam Hird

7 June 2027: Lily Mo Browne

14 June 2027: Hannah Edmunds

21 June 2027: Giorgi Guliashvili

A Musical Retrospective: 21 April 2027, Linbury Theatre

This season, the Jette Parker Artists celebrate their 25-year anniversary. Alongside their famous annual Summer Performance on the Main Stage and their highly popular Jukebox event in September, the Programme will be celebrating with a series of specially curated recitals and events.

Throughout the year the splendour of the Royal Opera House’s Crush Room offers a special setting in which to hear these future stars at their most intimate. The Jette Parker Artists each create and perform a very personal 45-minute lunchtime recital, in collaboration with expert mentors.

Look out for other celebratory events across the Season. In the Linbury Foyer a Silver Anniversary Exhibition will feature some of the remarkable people and projects who have made the Programme truly unique. In the Linbury Theatre on 21 April current and former Jette Parker Artists join with guest artists in an unmissable retrospective of 25 years of exceptional music-making.

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The Royal Opera

DARK NIGHTS

Linbury Theatre

A series of one-off performances on the Linbury Stage by the most innovative and extraordinary vocal artists and experimental composers of today, exploring the limitless theatre of the human voice.

Performers to be announced. Save the dates: 23 September 2026

9 November 2026

13 January 2027

17 March 2027

12 May 2027

The Royal Opera

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JETTE PARKER ARTISTS @ 25: JUKEBOX

Linbury Theatre 25 September

Sopranos Hannah Edmunds, Seohyun Go
Mezzo-Sopranos Lily Mo Browne, Ellen Pearson
Tenors Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, Giorgi Guliashvili, Emyr Lloyd Jones
Baritone Sam Hird
Bass-Baritone Jack Sandison

The popular Jukebox event returns for a special 25th Anniversary edition. The matinee audience gets to know the singers and music staff new to the Programme and witness their Royal Opera performance debuts. They then step into the role of curator, listening to excerpts from a range of solo pieces to vote live for the songs and arias to be performed in full in the evening concert.

In the evening, the earlier audience’s selections are presented alongside ensembles from some of the most popular operatic repertory performed regularly by generations of Jette Parker Artists on the Covent Garden Main Stage. This special concert not only introduces the Artists joining the Programme but welcomes back past Jette Parker Artists to their former home.

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New Production The Royal Opera

PARSIFAL

Main Stage

1 – 17 October 2026

Music Richard Wagner
Conductor Jakub Hrůša
Director Evgeny Titov
Set Designer Etienne Pluss
Costume Designer Esther Bialas
Lighting Designer D.M. Wood
Movement Director Otto Pichler
Video Designer Christopher Ash

Parsifal Stanislas De Barbeyrac
Kundry Ekaterina Gubanova
Amfortas Christian Gerhaher
Gurnemanz Brindley Sherratt
Klingsor Mark Stone
Titurel James Platt
First Knight Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono*
Second Knight Jack Sandison*
First Esquire Charlotte Bowden
Second Esquire Lily Mo Browne*
Third Esquire Giorgi Guliashvili*
Fourth Esquire Emyr Lloyd Jones*
Flower Maidens Chelsea Zurflüh, Rhian Lois, Sarah Richmond, Sarah Brady, Marianna Hovanisyan, Ellen Pearson*
Voice From Above Nikola Printz

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

A young man is hailed as the saviour of the crumbling Kingdom of the Grail – but is he all he appears to be? Parsifal is a majestic, shimmering and revelatory musical experience where religious ecstasy meets agony, awe and hope. Breathtaking lighting and a hallucinatory, dystopian set design bring Wagner’s all-consuming final opera to pulsating life in Evgeny Titov’s bold, dreamlike and disturbing debut production for The Royal Opera. Jakub Hrůša conducts a stellar cast, including Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Ekaterina Gubanova, Christian Gerhaher and Brindley Sherratt.

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The Royal Opera

4.48 PSYCHOSIS

Linbury Theatre

17 – 25 October 2026

Co-commission with Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Music Philip Venables
Text Sarah Kane
Conductor Naomi Woo
Director Ted Huffman
Designer Hannah Clark
Lighting Designer D. M. Wood
Video Designer Pierre Martin
Sound Designer Sound Intermedia
Movement Director Sarah Fahie

Gwen Jacquelyn Stucker
Jen Hannah Edmunds*
Suzy Sophia Burgos
Clare Veena Akama-Makia
Emily Lauren Young
Lucy Marta Fontanals-Simmons

*Jette Parker Artist

Orchestra Chroma

Ten years after its 2016 premiere at Lyric Hammersmith, composer Philip Venables and director Ted Huffman’s 4.48 Psychosis makes its highly anticipated debut on the Linbury Stage. Based on the devastating 2000 play by Sarah Kane, 4.48 Psychosis is a stark portrait of fury and despair. Charting the fragmented mind of a patient struggling with clinical depression and the often-violent clash between selfhood and psychiatric intervention, the opera pulses with urgency, its elliptical text underpinned by Venables’ stirring, and at times, startling, score. Conductor Naomi Woo draws out the moments of clarity, anguish and fleeting hope that colour the music, while the overlapping voices of six singers cut to the heart of Kane’s explosive and extraordinary text.

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The Royal Opera

CARMEN

Main Stage

29 October – 21 November 2026

Co-production with Teatro Real, Madrid and La Scala, Milan

Music Georges Bizet
Conductor Sesto Quatrini
Director Damiano Michieletto
Set Designer Paolo Fantin
Costume Designer Carla Teti
Lighting Designer Alessandro Carletti
Dramaturg Elisa Zaninotto

Carmen Ginger Costa-Jackson/ Ramona Zaharia
Don José Russell Thomas/ Valentyn Dytiuk
Micaëla Adriana González/ Simona Mihai
Escamillo Alexander Vinogradov
Frasquita Seohyun Go*
Mercédès Ellen Pearson*
Dancaïro Giorgi Guliashvili*
Remendado Emyr Lloyd Jones*
Zuniga Barnaby Rea
Moralès Sam Hird*

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus Youth Opera Company

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Under the oppressive heat of the Spanish sun, the fiercely independent Carmen attracts the attention of Don José. She warns him not to fall in love with her, but his obsession knows no bounds. Damiano Michieletto’s searing production returns, casting scorching light on the lust, violence and destructive desire of Bizet’s ever-popular opera.

An all-star cast brings this white-hot drama to life, with Ginger Costa-Jackson and Ramona Zaharia sharing the fiery title role, alongside Russell Thomas and Valentyn Dytiuk as the jealous and despairing Don José. Following his 2023 Royal Opera debut, Sesto Quatrini returns to conduct Bizet’s electrifying and sensual score.

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New Production The Royal Opera

UN BALLO IN MASCHERA

Main Stage

30 November – 18 December 2026

Music Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor Jakub Hrůša
Director and Designer Philipp Stölzl
Costume Designer Antony McDonald
Lighting Designer Fabiana Piccioli
Movement Director Sarah Fahie

Gustavo III Charles Castronovo
Amelia Malin Byström
Count Anckarstroem Aleksei Isaev
Madame Ulrica Arvidson Anita Rachvelishvili/ Kseniia Nikolaieva
Oscar Katharina Konradi
Cristiano Armand Rabot
Count Ribbing Ossian Huskinson
Count Horn Edward Hawkins
Minister of Justice Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono*

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

King Gustavo III is tormented by his love for Amelia, the wife of his closest friend Count Anckarstroem. His conscience prevents him from action, but his mind is powerless to his passion. A visit to the fortune-teller Madame Ulrica Arvidson reveals good news: Amelia returns the king’s feelings. But Ulrica also warns that the next man to shake Gustavo’s hand will be his killer – and that man happens to be Anckarstroem.

In his debut with The Royal Opera, German director Philipp Stölzl crafts a visually arresting and playfully surreal production that illuminates the inherent theatrics of Verdi’s stirring opera. Stunning costumes by Antony McDonald celebrate the uncanny, with rotating sets echoing the propulsive movement of Ballo‘s richly layered score. An all-star cast is conducted by Jakub Hrůša, Music Director of The Royal Opera.

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The Royal Opera

THE MAGIC FLUTE

Main Stage

13 December 2026 – 17 February 2027

Music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductors Dalia Stasevska/ Julia Jones
Director David McVicar
Designer John Macfarlane
Lighting Designer Paule Constable
Movement Director Leah Hausman

Pamina Elena Villalón/ Marianna Hovanisyan/Sofia Fomina
Tamino Miles Mykkanen/David Fischer
Papageno Mikhail Timoshenko/ Konstantin Krimmel
Queen Of the Night Aleksandra Olczyk/ Olga Pudova
Sarastro Adam Palka/ Alexander Köpeczi
Monostatos Barry Banks/Aled Hall
First Lady Hannah Edmunds*/ Jenny Stafford
Second Lady Ellen Pearson*/ Marta Fontanals-Simmons
Third Lady Jess Dandy/ Lily Mo Browne*
Speaker Of the Temple Jochen Schmeckenbecher/ Ashley Riches
Papagena Seohyun Go*/Harriet Eyley
First Priest Peter Bronder
Second Priest John Savournin
First Man in Armour Satriya Krisna/ Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono*
Second Man in Armour Graeme Broadbent

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

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 friend Papageno embark on their adventure, they soon learn that when it comes to 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.

With the Queen of the Night’s showstopping arias, an Overture that fizzes with energy, Papageno’s catchy tunes and sublime melodies for Pamina and Tamino, the music of The Magic Flute leaves no heart uncharmed. Dalia Stasevska and Julia Jones conduct two exciting casts in David McVicar’s five-star production of Mozart’s enchanting opera.

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New Production The Royal Opera

GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

Main Stage

21 January – 7 February 2027

Music Richard Wagner
Conductor Antonio Pappano
Director Barrie Kosky
Set Designer Rufus Didwiszus
Costume Designer Victoria Behr
Lighting Designer Alessandro Carletti

Siegfried Andreas Schager
Gunther Thomas Lehman
Hagen Mika Kares
Alberich Christopher Purves
Brünnhilde Elisabet Strid
Gutrune Natalya Romaniw
Waltraute Annika Schlicht
First Norn Noa Beinart
Second Norn Claire Barnett-Jones
Third Norn Catharine Woodward
Woglinde Sarah Brady
Wellgunde Verity Wingate
Flosshilde Sian Griffith

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Deception leads to treachery, then devastation, when Siegfried is tricked into betraying Brünnhilde. Learning the truth of her beloved’s innocence, Brünnhilde at last returns the ring to the Rhinemaidens before ordering that Valhalla be swallowed in flames. For the long- awaited finale of Wagner’s epic saga, director Barrie Kosky situates the rich apocalyptic drama in a contemporary world of dream-like turmoil. Antonio Pappano, Conductor Laureate of The Royal Opera, returns to take on the impassioned, otherworldly music – including Siegfried’s transporting Funeral March and Brünnhilde’s electrifying Immolation Scene. The brilliant cast is led by Elisabet Strid, Andreas Schager and Mika Kares, who together with the full forces of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus bring opera’s greatest journey to its shattering end.

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New Production The Royal Opera

GOOD SOMETIMES QUEEN

Linbury Theatre

23 January – 29 January 2027

Music Brett Dean
Libretto Matthew Jocelyn
Director Ola Ince

Madame Ma Bonne Soeur

Soprano Jennifer France

And Once I Played Ophelia

Mezzo-Soprano Lotte Betts-Dean

Doric String Quartet

Two Elizabethan heroines. Two extraordinary works for the female voice.

Starring mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean and soprano Jennifer France, Good Sometimes Queen combines two powerful song cycles by Australian composer Brett Dean and librettist Matthew Jocelyn, to create a new work of theatre exploring the fates of Mary, Queen of Scots and Shakespeare’s Ophelia. In Madame ma bonne soeur, we witness the words and letters of Mary Stuart in five haunting musical portraits. And Once I Played Ophelia is a musical tapestry of words uttered by, and about, the tragic heroine of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. OIa Ince (The Knife of Dawn) directs this new production – the world premiere of a new arrangement for the Doric String Quartet.

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New Production The Royal Opera

COSÌ FAN TUTTE

Main Stage

10 – 28 February 2027

Music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor Thomas Hengelbrock
Director Netia Jones
Set Designer Hyemi Shin
Costume Designers Netia Jones, Hyemi Shin
Lighting Designer Lucy Carter
Movement Director Anna Morrissey

Fiordiligi Louise Alder
Dorabella Simone McIntosh
Ferrando Mingjie Lei
Guglielmo Huw Montague Rendall
Don Alfonso Gerald Finley
Despina Emily Pogorelc

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Spurred on by a bet, two young men hatch a plan to test the fidelity of their girlfriends. What follows is a slippery game of seduction and power, the four lovers plunging into a dizzying world of shifting reality, where truth becomes increasingly unstable.

Così fan tutte has lost none of its sting since it first scandalised audiences in 1790. In her Main Stage debut, Netia Jones, Associate Director of The Royal Opera, reimagines Mozart’s comedy of manners through a sharp contemporary lens, where 18th-century romantic trickery meets deeply satirical high-tech deceit. Taking on the roles of the lovers is an exciting young cast led by Louise Alder, Simone McIntosh, Mingjie Lei and Huw Montague Rendall, with Gerald Finley as their manipulative game-master Don Alfonso and Emily Pogorelc as Despina. Thomas Hengelbrock conducts, bringing out the exquisite melodies that underpin the provocative and resolutely modern themes at the heart of the opera.

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New Production

The Royal Opera and Irish National Opera

LES BORÉADES

Linbury Theatre

4 – 14 March 2027

Co-production by Royal Ballet and Opera and Irish National Opera in association with Luail, Ireland’s National Dance Company and in partnership with Irish Baroque Orchestra

Music Jean-Philippe Rameau
Conductor Camille Delaforge
Director RB Schlather

Irish Baroque Orchestra

The first performance of a work by Rameau at Covent Garden.

Queen Alphise of Bactria is in love with mysterious foreigner Abaris, but custom demands that she marry a Boread – a descendent of Boreas, the god of the north wind. Determined to follow her heart, Alphise abdicates, and in doing so, sets off a storm of unexpected events.

Les Boréades is often described as the great French composer’s most brilliant opera. A true spectacle of music and dance, this production, by innovative American director RB Schlather, is created in collaboration with Irish National Opera and Luail, Ireland’s National Dance Company. In her debut with The Royal Opera, Baroque specialist Camille Delaforgue conducts a stellar cast, together bringing this rarely performed masterpiece to sparkling life.

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The Royal Opera

IL TRITTICO

Main Stage

5 – 18 March 2027

Music Giacomo Puccini
Conductor Speranza Scappucci
Director Richard Jones
Set Designers Ultz (Il tabarro) / Miriam Buether (Suor Angelica) / John Macfarlane (Gianni Schicchi)
Costume Designer Nicky Gillibrand
Lighting Designers D.M. Wood (Il tabarro, Suor Angelica)/Mimi Jordan Sherin (Gianni Schicchi)
Movement Directors Sarah Fahie (Il tabarro, Suor Angelica)/Lucy Burge (Gianni Schicchi)

Il tabarro

Michele Étienne Dupuis
Giorgetta Natalya Romaniw
Luigi SeokJong Baek
Frugola Katia Ledoux
Talpa Sam Carl
Tinca Alexander Kravets
Venditore Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono*
Lovers Seohyun Go*, Giorgi Guliashvili*

Suor Angelica

Suor Angelica Ermonela Jaho
La Zia Principessa Raehann Bryce-Davis
La Badessa Monika-Evelin Liiv
La Suora Zelatrice Elena Zilio
Maestra Delle Novizie Lily Mo Browne*
Suor Genovieffa Seohyun Go*
La Sorella Infermiera Hannah Edmunds*

Gianni Schicchi

Gianni Schicchi Bryn Terfel
Lauretta Elena Villalón
Rinuccio Nico Darmanin
Zita Elena Zilio
Simone Henry Waddington
Gherardo Alexander Kravets
Nella Ailish Tynan
Marco Mihai Damian
La Ciesca Grace Durham
Betto Di Signa Sam Carl
Spineloccio Giovanni Romeo
Amantio Thomas Allen
Pinellino Jack Sandison*
Guccio Sam Hird*

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Lovers. Mothers. Gold-diggers. In this spectacular trio of Puccini operas, love’s contrasts are laid bare – from the tragedy of jealousy in Il tabarro, to the agonising price of shame in Suor Angelica and the hilarious antics of Gianni Schicchi (featuring the beautiful aria, ‘O mio babbino caro’).

Working with three brilliant designers, director Richard Jones updates Puccini’s triptych of tales to the years immediately after World War II, focusing on themes of class, morality and mortality. The Royal Opera’s Principal Guest Conductor Speranza Scappucci conducts three fantastic casts featuring Natalya Romaniw, Étienne Dupuis, SeokJong Baek, Ermonela Jaho and Bryn Terfel.

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The Royal Opera

KÁT’A KABANOVÁ

Main Stage

22 March – 10 April 2027

Co-production with Teatro Dell’Opera di Roma

Music Leoš Janáček
Conductor Jakub Hrůša
Director Richard Jones
Designer Antony McDonald
Lighting Designer Lucy Carter
Movement Director Sarah Fahie

Katěrina (Kát’a) Corinne Winters
Boris Grigorjevič David Butt Philip
Tichon Ivanyč Kabanov Nicky Spence
Váňa Kudrjáš Benjamin Hulett
Varvara Marvic Monreal
Marfa Ignatěvna Kabanová Rosie Aldridge
Savël Prokofjevič Dikoy Clive Bayley
Glaša Sarah Pring
Kuligin Sam Hird*
Fekluša Lily Mo Browne*

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Trapped in a loveless marriage, a claustrophobic community and under the authoritative rule of her mother-in-law, a young and vulnerable woman is swept up in a passionate affair. But newly awakened hope soon turns to despair as Kát’a is consumed by waves of longing and guilt.

Richard Jones’ intimate, stripped-back and Olivier Award-winning staging beautifully realises Janáček’s evocative opera of yearning and destruction, and stars Corinne Winters – following her spellbinding performance as Jenůfa – in the tormented title role. In the pit, Music Director of The Royal Opera Jakub Hrůša draws out the expressive lines of the Czech composer’s passionate score, which is infused with traditional folk melodies of his – and Hrůša’s – home country.

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The Royal Opera

THE RITE OF SPRING + DUKE BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE IN CONCERT

Main Stage 2 April 2027

Conductor Jakub Hrůša

Orchestra Of the Royal Opera House

The Rite of Spring

Music Igor Stravinsky

Duke Bluebeard’s Castle

Music Béla Bartók

Duke Bluebeard Christian Van Horn
Judith Elīna Garanča

In a one-night concert, Jakub Hrůša, Music Director of The Royal Opera, presents Stravinsky’s scandalous The Rite of Spring and Bartók’s blood-red thriller and only opera Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. In Rite, a sacrificial virgin dances herself to death against the infernal – and often violent – rhythms of Stravinsky’s percussive and propulsive score. As eerie as it is sonically rich, Bartók’s psychologically twisting tale chills from start to finish, with Elīna Garanča as the fatefully inquisitive Judith and Christian Van Horn as her sinister new husband. Giving life to the dark textures and impressionistic colouring of these Slavic masterpieces is the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, which conjures a vivid aural imagery that is distinctly modern and impossible to forget.

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The Royal Opera

TOSCA

Main Stage

12 April – 5 May 2027

Music Giacomo Puccin
Conductor Daniel Ore
Director Oliver Mears
Set Designer Simon Lima Holdsworth
Costume Designer Ilona Karas
Lighting Designer Fabiana Piccioli
Movement Director Anna Morrissey

Floria Tosca Aleksandra Kurzak
Mario Cavaradossi Saimir Pirgu
Baron Scarpia Christopher Maltman
Spoletta Aled Hall
Cesare Angelotti Paweł Horodyski/ Jack Sandison*
Sacristan Jonathan Lemalu
Sciarrone Sam Hird*

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus Youth Opera Company

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

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?

Oliver Mears’ acclaimed production returns, setting Puccini’s operatic thriller in a contemporary, war-torn Rome. Daniel Oren conducts Aleksandra Kurzak, who returns to the title role, joined by Saimir Pirgu as Cavaradossi and Christopher Maltman as Baron Scarpia.

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New Production The Royal Opera

LA GIOCONDA

Main Stage

29 April – 18 May 2027

Co-production with Salzburg Easter Festival and Greek National Opera

Music Amilcare Ponchielli
Conductor Antonio Pappano
Director Oliver Mears
Set Designer Philipp Fürhofer
Costume Designer Annemarie Woods
Lighting Designer Fabiana Piccioli
Movement Director Lucy Burge

Gioconda Anna Netrebko
Enzo Grimaldo Stefan Pop
Barnaba Gabriele Viviani
Laura Adorno Eve-Maud Hubeaux
Alvise Badoero Tareq Nazmi
La Cieca Agnieszka Rehlis
Zuàne Jack Sandison*
Isèpo Emyr Lloyd Jones*

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Raised in poverty, street singer Gioconda has always craved security. But now she craves something more: the love of the aristocratic Enzo. Meanwhile, the scheming Barnaba has his sights set on Gioconda. When jealousy strikes, the stage is set for a dramatic confrontation – and for Gioconda, a climactic reckoning with her past. The greatest singers, from Maria Callas to Luciano Pavarotti, have historically flocked to perform Ponchielli’s grand opera, with its lush Italianate style often described as the missing link between Verdi and Puccini, and a sweeping score that features the ‘Dance of the Hours’. Oliver Mears’ new staging transports the action to modern-day Venice. Conductor Laureate of The Royal Opera, Antonio Pappano, leads a star cast including Anna Netrebko and Stefan Pop.

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The Royal Opera

AIDA

Main Stage

19 May – 12 June 2027

Music Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor Michele Mariotti
Director Robert Carsen
Set Designer Miriam Buether
Costume Designer Annemarie Woods
Lighting Designers Robert Carsen, Peter Van Praet
Choreographer Rebecca Howell
Video Designer Duncan Mclean

Aida Angel Blue
Radames Ivan Gyngazov
Amneris Ekaterina Semenchuk
Amonasro Alexey Markov
Ramfis Alexander Köpeczi
King of Egypt Alexandros Stavrakakis
High Priestess Hannah Edmunds*
Messenger Giorgi Guliashvili*

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

As Egypt prepares to launch an attack on Ethiopia, the ambitious soldier Radames readies to serve his country. But his secret love for Aida, an Ethiopian prisoner concealing her true identity, has grave consequences. As political conflict deepens, the lovers’ truths threaten to emerge, forcing a terrible choice between loyalty to home – and to each other.

Angel Blue and Ivan Gyngazov star as the doomed lovers, with Michele Mariotti conducting. Robert Carsen’s ‘transformative’ (Financial Times) production situates the timeless tale in a brutal state, where warfare is a religion. Against triumphal military parades, Verdi’s powerful and seductive music illuminates the tender romance at the opera’s heart.

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The Royal Opera

RBO/SHIFT

Linbury Theatre 27 – 30 May 2027

Following the highly anticipated inaugural festival in 2026, RBO/SHIFT returns to The Royal Opera for its second year, continuing to explore the shifting boundaries between the worlds of opera and technology. Four days of performances, demonstrations, conversations and creative exchange.

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New Production The Royal Opera

UR_

Linbury Theatre

27 May – 2 June 2027

Music Anna Thorvaldsdottir
Director Netia Jones
Set and Video Design by Lightmap Studio

Rivers of speech. Shards of language. And a human entity, travelling between past and future, awakening and obscurity, nature and modernity. Icelandic composer Anna

Thorvaldsdottir’s ground-breaking chamber opera UR_ (2015) combines opera with folk motifs and avant-garde vocal techniques to create a taut, luminous and immersive musical experience. Netia Jones’ staging fuses cutting-edge technology with ancient rituals, forging an unmissable, poetic interpretation of this abstract work.

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New Production The Royal Opera

HERCULES

Main Stage

18 June – 9 July 2027

Music George Frideric Handel
Conductor Laurence Cummings
Director Barrie Kosky
Designer Katrin Lea Tag
Lighting Designer Joachim Klein

Hercules Anthony Robin Schneider
Dejanira Paula Murrihy
Hyllus Mingjie Lei
Iole Mary Bevan
Lichas Avery Amereau
Priest to Jupiter Jack Sandison*

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Production by Oper Frankfurt and Komische Oper Berlin

Hercules’ wife, Dejanira, has long awaited his return from battle. So when he arrives home in triumph, despite an ominous prophesy, all should be well. But life is rarely that simple. Consumed by sudden and terrible jealousy, Dejanira becomes convinced that Hercules has betrayed her with Iole, a prisoner of war, and embarks on a quest to win back her husband’s affections – with devastating consequences for all.

In a continuation of The Royal Opera’s Handel series, director Barrie Kosky brings his bold directorial vision to the composer’s profound, mythological opera of love, in all its darkness. Baroque specialist Laurence Cummings conducts a stellar cast featuring Anthony Robin Schneider, Paula Murrihy, Mingjie Lei, Mary Bevan and Avery Amereau.

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The Royal Opera

MADAMA BUTTERFLY

Main Stage

4 – 24 July 2027

Co-production with Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona

Music Giacomo Puccini
Conductor Henrik Nánási
Directors Moshe Leiser, Patrice Caurier
Set Designer Christian Fenouillat
Costume Designer Agostino Cavalca
Lighting Designer Christophe Forey

Cio-Cio-San Elena Stikhina/Hrachuhí Bassénz/Asmik Grigorian
Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton Saimir Pirgu/ SeokJong Baek/Joshua Guerrero
Sharpless Lucas Meachem/ Gevorg Hakobyan
Suzuki Jennifer Johnson Cano/ Hongni Wu
Goro Aled Hall/Ya-Chung Huan
The Bonze Freddie Tong/Jeremy White
Prince Yamadori Sam Hird*/ Josef Jeongmeen Ahn

* Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

When young geisha Cio-Cio-San marries American naval officer Lieutenant Pinkerton in Nagasaki, Japan, she believes they are making a binding promise for life. Soon after, Pinkerton departs for the US. Years pass with no sign of his return, but still Cio-Cio-San waits, longing for the day his ship will sail into the harbour.

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly remains a deeply moving – and troubling – story, fatally bound up with the destructive forces of imperialism. With a breathtaking score that includes Butterfly’s aria ‘Un bel dì, vedremo’ (One fine day) and the famous Humming Chorus, the enduring work is as entrancing as it is heart-breaking. A standout triple cast includes Elena Stikhina, Hrachuhí Bassénz and Asmik Grigorian as the innocent and idealistic Cio-Cio-San and Saimir Pirgu, SeokJong Baek and Joshua Guerrero as her callous lover. Henrik Nánási conducts.

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The Royal Opera

ELEKTRA

Main Stage

12 – 24 July 2027

Music Richard Strauss
Conductor Semyon Bychkov
Director Christof Loy
Designer Johannes Leiacker
Lighting Designer Olaf Winter

Elektra Ausrine Stundyte
Chrysothemis Sara Jakubiak
Klytämnestra Violeta Urmana
Orest Derek Welton
Ägisth Charles Workman
Orest’s Tutor Thomas D Hopkinson
First Maid Lauren Decker
Second Maid Ellen Pearson*
Third Maid Lily Mo Browne*
Fourth Maid Hannah Edmunds*
Fifth Maid Seohyun Go*
Overseer Katie Lowe
Young Servant Emyr Lloyd Jones*
Old Servant Jeremy White

*Jette Parker Artist

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Grief turns into a violent quest for revenge.

King Agamemnon has been murdered by his wife Klytämnestra and her lover, Ägisth. Though Princess Chrysothemis urges caution, her sister Elektra cannot rest until she has killed her own mother. With an expressionistic score memorably described by one critic as ‘the colour of blood’, Richard Strauss’ audacious adaptation of the iconic Greek tragedy has shocked and thrilled audiences since its 1909 premiere. Christof Loy’s nuanced contemporary production returns for its first revival since its 2024 premiere, and stars Ausrine Stundyte in the punishing title role. In the pit, conductor Semyon Bychkov draws out the fierce drama of Strauss’ menacingly modern music.

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The Royal Opera

JETTE PARKER ARTISTS @ 25: SUMMER PERFORMANCE

Main Stage 25 July 2027

Director Talia Stern
Conductor Giovanni Fanizza and guests

Sopranos Hannah Edmunds, Seohyun Go
Mezzo-Sopranos Lily Mo Browne, Ellen Pearson
Tenors Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, Giorgi Guliashvili, Emyr Lloyd Jones
Baritone Sam Hird
Bass-Baritone Jack Sandison Guest Orchestra

Join The Royal Opera’s resident Company soloists, director and music staff for their annual summer showcase.

Having honed their craft in supporting roles across the Royal Opera Season, the Jette Parker Artist Programme’s emerging international talents take the lead.

This collection of staged scenes offers a unique opportunity in The Royal Opera calendar to hear a range of opera repertory in a single programme, brought thrillingly to life by these extraordinary artists of the future.