Dates have been released for the entire Royal Opera House 2010-11 season and booking is now open for all performances.
The new season kicks off with Così fan tutte, an opera buffa, or comic opera, by Mozart. The title translates literally as ‘thus do they all’, but is colloquilised into English as ‘women are like that’. The theme of the opera is fiancée swapping, a popular topic throughout high culture dating back as far as the 13th century. Performances take place throughout September.
Don Pasquale is also an opera buffa, and is the 64th of 66 operas by Italian master Gaetano Donizetti. The characters of Don Pasquale are interpretations of the stock characters from the commedia dell’arte, an Italian form of improvised drama which also gave birth to Punch and Judy and the Pantomime as we would recognise it now. There are five performances in September and a school matinee on September 24.
The last production of September is Niobe, an opera dated from 1688 by Italian composer Agostini Steffani. This is the UK premiere of a neglected Baroque masterpiece, telling the story of a woman who boasts to the gods and is punished for her hubris. Performances take place at the end of September and beginning of October.
Les pêcheurs de perles, the Pearl Fishers, is an 1863 work by French composer Georges Bizet. The opera features the duet ‘Au fond du Temple Saint’, a beautiful and well-known piece in its own right, and one of the reasons why these two performances, on October 4 and 7, will be special.
© Peter Suranyi (8/8/2009)
11 performances of Verdi’s opera Rigoletto follow. First performed in 1851, Verdi’s sweeping tale of corruption at a royal court was a triumph at its premiere and has remained in the popular repertoire ever since. The opera opens on October 11 and plays through until November.
Surely the most famous love story of all time, Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette opens on October 29. Based upon Shakespeare’s play, Gounod’s French opera debuted in Paris in 1867. This is a grand opera, infused with all the passion and tragedy of this timeless tale. Performances run until November 17.
Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur was first performed in 1902 and will be bringing the 18th century of the titular character, a real life actress who lived and died – mysteriously – in France to the Royal Opera House. Looked forward to as one of the highlights of the season, Adriana Lecouvreur opens on November 18 and runs through until December 10.
Hänsel und Gretel is the Royal Opera House’s Christmas opera. Engelbert Humperdinck, the German composer of the work, described it as a Märchenoper, a fairy tale opera, and Hänsel und Gretel sparkles with magical moments right up into a happy ending – perfect family festive viewing. There are matinee performances on December 28, 29 and 31. Performances run from December 23 until January 7.
The last performance opening in 2010 is Tannhäuser, Wagner’s German opera dealing with the dichotomy between the sacred and the profane. This is a brand new imagining of Wagner’s vision and will be opening on December 11 for seven performances, including two matinees.