Kostas Smoriginas

The Galilean Princess Salome is one of the mythical female figures in Western cultural history. Her erotic dance in front of her stepfather Herod is already mentioned in the gospels of the Bible, for whom she has the severed head of John the Baptist brought on a bowl in return.

When a precious hoard of gold is stolen from the river Rhine, it unleashes a chain of destructive events, pitting gods and mortals against one another for generations. Wagner’s Ring cycle boasts some of the greatest music ever written for the opera stage. Join us as we embark on a spectacular journey into the world of myth, dream and memory, with the figure of Erda – Mother Earth herself – at its centre.

À Paris, au XIXe siècle. Un groupe d’étudiants désargenté mise sur les joies de la vie pour égayer un peu son quotidien misérable. Se nourrir, se chauffer ou payer son terme tient du luxe ! La tendresse de la petite cousette Mimi apporte lumière et chaleur au poète Rodolfo : tous deux vivent passionnément leur amour dans leur triste mansarde du Quartier Latin. Amour qu'ils partagent avec leurs amis lors de la veillée de Noël. Le peintre Marcello, lui, habitué aux coups d’éclat avec Musette, sa maîtresse volage : leur couple forme un contrepoint plein d’humeur à celui, plus mélodramatique, de Mimi et Rodolfo. Mais une maladie ronge Mimi...

New peoduction, 2009. Filmed by the Royal Opera House in co-production with Opus Arte, June 13/17.

L'exquise soprano colorature Natalie Dessay interprète pour la première fois en Europe le rôle de Violetta, sous la direction musicale de Louis Langrée et mise en scène par Jean-François Sivadier. Une soirée d'exception enregistrée au Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

This ever-popular opera is given a fresh point of view in Barrie Kosky’s highly physical production, originally created for Frankfurt Opera. The Australian director is one of the world’s most sought-after opera directors, whose Royal Opera debut with Shostakovich’s The Nose in 2016 was greeted with delight. For Carmen he has devised a far-from-traditional version, incorporating music written by Bizet for the score but not usually heard, and giving a new voice to the opera’s endlessly fascinating central character.

Mussorgsky was inspired to compose his masterpiece Boris Godunov after reading Pushkin’s Shakespeare-inspired play of the same name. It features one of the most dramatically rewarding bass-baritone roles: a noble ruler who loves his children and his people, but whose thirst for power has led him to commit a terrible crime. Bryn Terfel is “a powerful new Boris” (The Observer) in Richard Jones’ new production of the original 1869 score. Antonio Pappano conducts an outstanding cast that also includes John Graham-Hall as the crafty Prince Shuisky and John Tomlinson as the vagabond monk Varlaam.