ROH La Donna del Lago: now on BBC iPlayer

Saturday 15 June at 18.00 BST on BBC radio 3

Rossini’s La Donna del Lago recorded in May at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

World time converter in the side bar  – >

photocredit: Bill Cooper/ROH

In the words of the BBC:

Based on Walter Scott’s The Lady Of The Lake, Rossini’s opera illustrates the Romantic fascination with Renaissance Scotland as a place of wild emotion and political confrontation. This new production by John Fulljames celebrates not only the historic Scotland in which the action of the opera takes place, but also the Scotland of the 19th century, the period of Rossini and Sir Walter Scott. The production highlights the beauty of the Scottish landscape, of which the heroine, Elena, is a symbol, while not forgetting the struggles and battles that feature in all retellings of Scottish history.

Elena, the Lady of the Lake, longs to be united with her true love, Malcom. But her father, the rebel Duglas, is determined that she will marry the Highland chief Rodrigo. Torn between love and duty, she finds her plight is made all the more complicated by Uberto, a handsome stranger who nobody seems to know much about.

Link to BBC iPlayer for 7 days

Elena – Joyce DiDonato (mezzo-soprano)

King James of Scotland – Juan Diego Flórez (tenor)

Malcom – Daniela Barcellona (mezzo-soprano)

Duglas – Simon Orfila (bass)

Rodrigo – Colin Lee (tenor)

Albina – Justina Gringyte (mezzo-soprano)

Serano – Robin Leggate (tenor)

A Bard – Christopher Lackner (baritone)

King’s Soldier – Pablo Bemsch (tenor)

Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Michele Mariotti, conductor

video courtesy of kyokolondon

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Duration: 3 hours, 45 minutes

ROH quick guide to the opera

Some audience reactions and comments

Q&A with Joyce DiDonato

Review from the FT

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ROH McVicar Nozze (Persson, Röschmann, Schrott, Pappano) complete on YT

I think this was up in snippets but now complete here

thanks to CarrangelHeaven5

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(Slightly off )-White Shirt Weekend

Matilde di Shabran ROH  October / ​​November 2008

Vesselina Kasarova as Edoardo, looking somewhat less than pristine and looking for … who knows what?

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video courtesy of shuunya

HAVE A WONDERFUL WHITE SHIRT WEEKEND!

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Eugene Onegin from ROH

Friday 12 April 2013 at 19.30 on BBC4 television

Kasper Holten’s Eugene Onegin filmed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

…  with Keenlyside and Stoyanova

A new production from the Royal Opera House of Tchaikovsky’s much-loved opera Eugene Onegin, a story of love, rejection and tragedy based on Pushkin’s verse drama of the same name. The international cast includes Simon Keenlyside singing the role of Onegin and Krassimira Stoyanova in the role of Tatyana, with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Robin Ticciati. The opera is introduced by Kasper Holten who makes his debut as stage director at the ROH.

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BBC iPlayer time now expired

Tatyana – Krassimira Stoyanova
Olga – Elena Maximova
Prince Gremin – Peter Rose
Eugene Onegin – Simon Keenlyside
Lensky – Pavol Breslik
Madame Larina – Diana Montague

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Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Conductor Robin Ticciati
Director Kasper Holten

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Link to full cast and creative

Interactive guide to the opera

Review from The Independent

Audience reaction to this production

Audience tweets from the live cinema screening in February 2013

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Something really interesting from the ROH!

As reported by THIS observant blogger, there is a live streaming from ROH  not of a staged opera but of that mysterious space … Behind The Scenes.

Update -

If you click on The Space you can see a video of Act 3 of The Valkyrie.  You can view the backstage action, view from the audience or admire Pappano for 1.5 hours!

APPARENTLY AVAILABLE WORLD WIDE!

image from Trilogy broadcast

From The Guardian music blog:

For the full day of Monday January 7 you can watch, live and for free, life backstage at the Royal Opera House, London with rehearsals, masterclasses and much more.

Possible highlight – masterclass with Pappano at 18.00 but surely something for everyone.

Starts at 10.30 GMT and continues uninterrupted for 10 hours!

LINK to Guardian Music Blog for information

Or watch through the ROH web site

Or, if you prefer, through The Space … with detailed timetable for the day.

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Wagner re-cycled on the radio

Der Ring des Nibelungen

Keith Warner’s production from the ROH with Pappano conducting

Repeated on BBC radio 3 and again on iPlayer!

If you happened to miss the BBC radio3 broadcast of Wagner’s Ring Cycle from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden earlier this year then there is another opportunity as the whole thing starts all over again on Christmas Eve.

Click on the link for details, cast, reviews and production photographs

Das Rheingold on Christmas Eve at 16.30 with Bryn Terfel and Sarah Connoly.

Die Walküre Act 1 on Christmas Day at 16.30 with Westbroek and  O’Neill.

Die Walküre Act 2 on Boxing Day at 16.30 with all four above singers.

Die Walküre Act 3 on 27 December at 16.30.

Siegfried Act 1 on 28 December at 16.30.

Siegfried Act 2 on New Year’s Eve at 16.30

Siegfried Act 3 on New Year’s Day at 16.30

Götterdämmerung Prologue and Act 1 on 2 January at 16.30.

Götterdämmerung Act 2 on 3 January at 16.30

Götterdämmerung Act 3 on 4 January at 16.30.

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Robert le diable: live from the ROH

Saturday 15 December 2012 at 17.45 GMT on BBC radio 3

World time converter in the side bar  – >

MEYERBEER’S ROBERT LE DIABLE – Live from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Robert Le Diable sitzprobe November 2012. photocredit ROH

In the words of the BBC:

Laurent Pelly’s new production of Robert le diable brings Meyerbeer’s grand opera to the Covent Garden stage for the first time since 1890. Though hugely successful when it had its premiere in Paris in 1831 – Chopin described it as “a masterpiece…Meyerbeer has made himself immortal” – the opera subsequently fell out of favour and was rarely performed in the 20th century. It depicts a grand battle between good and evil, as Robert’s genuine love for Isabelle, expressed in tender duets, is threatened by the malevolent influence of the deceptively charming Bertram. With a sensational plot featuring courtly entertainments, jousting, romance and the supernatural, the work features one of opera’s most memorable scenes – the ballet of the nuns.

BBC iPlayer time now expired

Robert ….. Bryan Hymel (tenor)
Bertram ….. John Relyea (bass)
Raimbaut ….. Jean-François Borras (tenor)
Alice ….. Marina Poplavskaya (soprano)
Isabelle ….. Patrizia Ciofi (soprano)
Alberti ….. Nicolas Courjal (bass)
Priest/Chevalier ….. Jihoon Kim (bass)
Herald/Chevalier ….. Pablo Bemsch (tenor)
Master of Ceremonies/Chevalier ….. David Butt Philip (tenor)
Chevalier ….. Ashley Riches (baritone)
Dame ….. Dusica Bijelic (soprano)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden - Daniel Oren, conductor

Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes

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Intermezzo’s entertaining review and lots of production photos

Read about the role of Isabelle being recast at the last moment in the Mail Online

Curtain calls from 9th December performance on YouTube

A selection of tweets about the production

Access to free scores

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L’elisir d’amore live from ROH

Saturday December 1 2012 at 19.15 GMT on BBC radio 3

World time converter in the side bar  – >

Laurent Pelly’s production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore

live from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

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video courtesy of ROH

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The young farm worker Nemorino is passionately in love with Adina, the farm’s beautiful owner, but his attempts at winning her heart are thwarted by the boastful military sargeant Belcore, who secures Adina’s hand in marriage. Can Nemorino’s fortunes in love be turned around by the quack doctor Dulcamara and his magic potions?

BBC iPlayer time now expired

Adina ….. Aleksandra Kurzak (soprano)
Nemorino ….. Roberto Alagna (tenor)
Belcore ….. Fabio Capitanucci (bass)
Dulcamara ….. Ambrogio Maestri (bass)
Giannetta ….. Susana Gaspar (soprano)

Chorus of the Royal Opera
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,  Bruno Campanella, conductor.

Review from One Stop Arts

Review from The Guardian

Review from Opera Britannia

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Götterdämmerung from the ROH

Wednesday  24 October  2012 at 15:45 on BBC radio 3

Wagner’s Götterdämmerung
Live from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

3 Norns in a tangle. 

Maria Radner, Karen Cargill and Elisabeth Meister. Photocredit: Clive Barda/ROH 2012

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In the last music drama of Wagner’s Ring cycle, live from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Brunnhilde sends Siegfried off into the world; but he soon becomes enmeshed in the intrigues of Hagen who uses Siegfried to get back the magic ring from Brunnhilde. In a world of deceit where love potions and magic helmets are used for evil ends it is left to Brunnhilde to show understanding and forgiveness. In the final conflagration she returns the ring of power to the forces of nature as she rides into the cleansing flames.

BBC iPlayer time now expired

First Norn…..Maria Radner (Contralto)
Second Norn…..Karen Cargill (Mezzo-Soprano)
Third Norn…..Elisabeth Meister (Soprano)
Brünnhilde…..Susan Bullock (Soprano)
Siegfried…..Stefan Vinke (Tenor)
Gunther…..Peter Coleman-Wright (Baritone)
Hagen…..John Tomlinson (Bass)
Gutrune…..Rachel Willis-Sorensen (Soprano)
Waltraute…..Mihoko Fujimura (Mezzo-Soprano)
Alberich…..Wolfgang Koch (Baritone)
Woglinde…..Nadine Livingston (Soprano)
Wellgunde…..Kai Ruutel (Mezzo-Soprano)
Flosshilde…..Harriet Williams (Mezzo-Soprano)
Royal Opera House Orchestra, Royal Opera House Chorus, Conductor – Antonio Pappano

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Access to free scores

Reactions to the production

Review from Londonist.com

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Siegfried – live from the ROH

 Sunday 21 October 2012 at 14.45 on BBC radio 3 

Wagner’s Siegfried
Live from The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Photocredit Clive Barda/ROH 2012

In the third drama of the Ring, live from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the cunning dwarf, Mime, tries to manipulate the young hero, Siegfried, into stealing the magic ring from the dragon, Fafner, with the sword Nothung. But his plans go awry and Siegfried takes the ring for himself and goes on to awaken the Valkyrie, Brunnhilde, who is surrounded by a ring of fire.

Donald Macleod is joined by Wagner expert John Deathridge

Mime…..Gerhard Siegel (Tenor)
Siegfried…..Stefan Vinke (Tenor)
Wanderer (Wotan)….. Bryn Terfel (Bass-Baritone)
Alberich…..Wolfgang Koch (Baritone)
Fafner…..Eric Halfvarson (Bass)
Woodbird…..Sophie Bevan (Soprano)
Erda…..Maria Radner (Contralto)
Brünnhilde…..Susan Bullock (Soprano)
The Orchestra of The Royal Opera House,  Conductor, Antonio Pappano

BBC iPlayer time now expired

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Das Rheingold broadcast

Die Walküre broadcast

Götterdämmerung is on Wednesday 24th

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Access to free scores

Comments and Tweets about Siegfried and more photos

Comprehensive review from  The Wagnerian

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Verdi’s Otello with Anja Harteros

SATURDAY 20 OCTOBER at 18.00 on BBC radio 3

VERDI’S  OTELLO

Recorded at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden earlier this year

video courtesy of OperaCurtainCalls

Verdi’s Otello

Saturday’s Opera on 3 on BBC radio 3 is Verdi’s great late Shakesperean opera Otello, recorded at the Royal Opera House in July. The young Latvian tenor Aleksanders Antonenko takes the hugely demanding role of Otello, the respected black general whose downfall is his jealousy. Lucio Gallo sings the manipulative Iago who is determined to destroy his nemesis, and Anja Harteros Otello’s loyal but doomed wife.

Verdi expert Roger Parker joins Martin Handley in the box to discuss the music and history of this “unusual and often problematic opera”, and there are also contributions from cast members and conductor Antonio Pappano.

 BBC iPlayer time now expired

Otello…..Aleksandrs Antonenko (Tenor)
Desdemona …..Anja Harteros (Soprano)
Iago…..Lucio Gallo (Baritone)
Cassio…..Antonio Poli (Tenor)
Emilia…..Hanna Hipp (Mezzo-Soprano)
Roderigo…..Ji-Hyun Kim (Tenor)
Montano…..Jihoon Kim (Bass Baritone)
Lodovico…..Brindley Sherratt (Bass)
Royal Opera House Orchestra,  Royal Opera House Chorus,  Conductor, Antonio Pappano

Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes

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Hannah Hipp as Emilia and Anja Harteros as Desdemona. Photocredit: Catherine Ashmore

Access to free scores

Review and photos from One Stop Arts

Review from The Financial Times

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Die Walküre live from the ROH

THURSDAY 18 OCTOBER  at 16.45 on BBC radio 3

DIE WALKÜRE  – WAGNER live from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Strike a light! it’s Bryn Terfel as Wotan in Die Walküre.   Photocredit: Clive Barda

The programme is presented by Donald Macleod

In the second of the Ring dramas, live from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, we move from the realm of the gods to the human sphere, where love enters the story in the blossoming relationship between the twins Siegmund and Sieglinde. But Fricka, as guardian of marriage, insists that her husband, Wotan, strikes down Siegmund for his transgression. And we meet one of the main characters in the story, the Valkyrie, Brunnhilde who fails to carry out Wotan’s order to destroy Siegmund. As a result she is stripped of her divinity and left on a fire-encircled rock.

Or this, far more entertaining, synopsis from the BBC written earlier this season:

If only Top God and serial philanderer Wotan had been able to keep his trousers on, he would have saved himself a great deal of trouble. As it is, eleven of his children stalk the stage, causing havoc in one way or another. Nine of them have chosen the career path of warrior-maidens – the Valkyries – including their leader (and Wotan’s favourite) Brünnhilde. The other two are a pair of twins, Siegmund and Sieglinde. They have chosen the rather more questionable use of their time to be lovers – a relationship not only incestuous but also adulterous, since Sieglinde is already married. Wotan sends Big Sister Brünnhilde to guard the lovers, much to the chagrin of his missus, Fricka. Chagrin, because her job (ironically enough considering what her husband has put her through) is Goddess of the Sanctity of Marriage. Throw in a magic sword and the usual disobedience a father can expect from his kids and, sure as eggs is eggs, there’ll be tears before bedtime.

Donald Macleod is joined by Wagner expert Barbara Eichner.

 iPlayer time now expired

Siegmund…..Simon O’Neill (Tenor)

Sieglinde…..Eva-Maria Westbroek (Soprano)
Hunding…..John Tomlinson (Bass)
Wotan…..Bryn Terfel (Bass-Baritone)
Brünnhilde…..Susan Bullock (Soprano)
Fricka…..Sarah Connolly (Mezzo-Soprano)
Gerhilde…..Alwyn Mellor (Soprano)
Ortlinde…..Katherine Broderick (Soprano)
Waltraute…..Karen Cargill (Mezzo-Soprano)
Schwertleite…..Anna Burford (Mezzo-Soprano)
Helmwige…..Elisabeth Meister (Soprano)
Siegrune…..Sarah Castle (Mezzo-Soprano)
Grimgerde…..Clare Shearer (Mezzo-Soprano)
Rossweisse…..Madeleine Shaw (Mezzo-Soprano)

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Information about the broadcast of the whole Ring Cycle
Review from The Guardian

Comments, photos and Tweets about Die Walküre

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Wagner’s Ring Cycle live from ROH ( original broadcast )

Over two weeks, Radio 3 listeners can hear a complete Ring cycle

in live performances from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle full of musical and dramatic extremes. The music ranges from Siegmund and Sieglinde’s rapturous love duet in Die Walküre to Hagen’s terrifying summoning of Gunther’s vassals. It encompasses Wotan’s despairing Act II monologue in Die Walküre and the violent close to Act II of Götterdämmerung, as well as Siegfried’s joyful forging song in Act I of Siegfried and the idyllic depiction of nature in Act II of Siegfried. Throughout the cycle, the richly varied orchestration and the use of motifs eloquently depict characters’ states of mind and events in the drama.

photocredit: Clive Barda/ROH 2012

In the words of the ROH:

The Royal Opera House production of Der Ring des Nibelungen uses symbols from myth and Wagner’s time, and even from the 20th century and the present day, bringing out both the realistic and fantastical elements in this operatic cycle. Genetics, astronomy, philosophy, 19th-century ideas on drama, industrialization and psychology are all explored in the designs and in director Keith Warner’s interpretation.

BBC Opera on 3 Guide to The Ring

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TUESDAY 16 OCTOBER at 19.00

Bryn Terfel as Wotan and Sarah Connolly as Fricka. Photocredit: Cive Barda/ROT 2012

The cycle begins with Das Rheingold, in which Wagner sets up the theme of love and power that runs through the entire work.

At the centre of this musical universe is the chief of the gods, Wotan, played by the Welsh man-mountain Bryn Terfel in his first complete performance of the part in the UK  …  ”As Wotan, Terfel, now fully inside the role, has towering stage presence, intelligence, anguish, a sense of this god’s bloody-mindedness and fallibility. His “Farewell” to Brünnhilde stirred immense pathos” … Fiona Maddocks of The Observer.

Mezzo Sarah Connolly tackles her first Fricka  … “The evening’s best performance undoubtedly came from Sarah Connolly, whose impeccable Fricka must have had Wagner sighing contentedly in whatever corner of hell he has been assigned – “that’s how I meant my music to be sung”… Rupert Christiansen of The Telegraph.

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In Das Rheingold, the dwarf Alberich renounces love and steals the Rhinegold from which he forges a magic ring. Meanwhile Wotan, chief of the gods, has built his mighty fortress Valhalla with the help of the giants. But in order to pay them back, Wotan in turn needs to steal the Rhinegold back from Alberich. And so with this double theft Wagner sets up the theme of love versus power that reverberates throughout all four dramas.

This programme includes interviews with the artists and also with Wagner expert John Deathridge.

BBC iPlayer time now expired

Woglinde…..Nadine Livingston (Soprano)
Wellgunde….. Kai Rüütel  (Mezzo-Soprano)
Flosshilde…..Harriet Williams (Mezzo-Soprano)
Alberich…..Wolfgang Koch (Baritone)
Wotan…..Bryn Terfel (Bass-Baritone)
Fricka…..Sarah Connolly (Mezzo-Soprano)
Freia…..Ann Petersen (Soprano)
Fasolt…..Iain Paterson (Bass)
Fafner…..Eric Halfvarson (Bass)
Froh…..Andrew Rees (Tenor)
Donner…..Peter Coleman-Wright (Baritone)
Loge…..Stig Andersen (Tenor)
Mime…..Gerhard Siegel (Tenor)
Erda…..Maria Radner (Contralto)
Orchestra of The Royal Opera House,  Conductor Antonio Pappano.

Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes

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Comment and beautiful photos from Intermezzo

Some reviews, photos and Tweets after the opening night of  Das Rheingold

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ROH Les Troyens – video on demand no longer available

サイドバーの翻訳ツールがあります — >

DON’T MISS THIS!

 On demand viewing available NOW – at least in the UK, the Netherlands,

Germany, France, Australia, west & east coast USA and JAPAN!

このリンクをクリックし   それは見ていて自由である

Click this  Link to The Space – now finished

Click here for interesting talks about the opera by Antonio Pappano

and other information about the production

photocredit: Bill Cooper/ROH

  This performance is available on demand on The Space until the end of October and shown internationally on the big screen in November as part of the 2012/13 Cinema season.…

 The five individual acts of the opera are available on-demand on

The Space for worldwide audiences.

        Reactions to the production

Cassandre	Anna Antonacci
Chorèbe	Fabio Capitanucci
Enée	Bryan Hymel
Didon	Eva-Maria Westbroek
Narbal	Brindley Sherratt
Anna	Hanna Hipp
Ascagne	Barbara Senator
Priam	Robert Lloyd
Hécube	Pamela Helen Stephen
Ghost of Hector	Jihoon Kim
Panthée	Ashley Holland
Hélénus	Ji Hyun Kim
Greek Captain	Lukas Jakobski
Trojan Soldier	Daniel Grice
Iopas	Ji-Min Park
Hylas	Ed Lyon
Chorus	Royal Opera Chorus
	Orchestra of the Royal Opera House- conductor Antonio Pappano

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About 5 hours 30 minutes, including two intervals

Review from Intermezzo with fabulous production and curtain call photos

Review from the NY Times

Review from The Stage

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Robert Carsen’s Falstaff from ROH

Saturday June 30 2012 at 18.00 UK time on BBC radio 3

Recorded at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden earlier this year

photocredit: Catherine Ashmore

Falstaff  is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare’s plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV and was Verdi’s last opera.

Link to BBC iPlayer for 7 days

In the words of the BBC:

Sir John Falstaff is fat and greedy, lecherous and ridiculous. And short of cash. He tries to kill two birds with one stone when he pursues two wealthy women, setting in motion a train of events which inevitably lead to his comeuppance. Verdi’s late, great Shakespeare-based opera is a comic tour de force, overflowing with energy and a seemingly infinite succession of musical ideas. Robert Carsen’s new production for Covent Garden, updates the action to 1950s Windsor and features an ensemble cast lead by one of the great Falstaffs of our day, Ambrogio Maestri.

Presented by Ivan Hewett in conversation with Alexandra Wilson.

Falstaff…..Ambrogio Maestri (Baritone)
Mrs Alice Ford…..Ana Maria Martinez (Soprano)
Nannetta…..Amanda Forsythe (Soprano)
Mrs Meg Page…..Kai Ruutel (Mezzo-Soprano)
Mistress Quickly…..Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Contralto)
Fenton…..Joel Prieto (Tenor)
Ford…..Dalibor Jenis (Baritone)
Dr Caius…..Carlo Bosi (Tenor)
Bardolph…..Alasdair Elliott (Tenor)
Pistol…..Lukas Jakobski (Bass)

Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conductor, Daniele Gatti.

Falstaff in rehearsal with photo gallery

Fabulous photos from Catherine Ashmore

Review from The Guardian

Video of curtain calls at ROH

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Don Giovanni – on BBC radio

Don Giovanni

Recorded recently at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Saturday  23 June 2012 at 18:00 UK time

World time converter in the side bar  – >

photocredit: Mike Hoban/ROH 

Don Giovanni – Mozart’s tale of vengeance and retribution, even from beyond the grave – in its latest incarnation at the Royal Opera House, with Erwin Schrott in the title role, and Alex Esposito as his servant Leporello. The conductor is Constantinos Carydis.

Link to BBC for synopsis and photo gallery

Don Giovanni…..Erwin Schrott (Bass)
Leporello…..Alex Esposito (Bass)
Commendatore…..Reinhard Hagen (Bass)
Donna Elvira…..Ruxandra Donose (Mezzo-Soprano)
Donna Anna…..Carmela Remigio (Soprano)
Don Ottavio…..Pavol Breslik (Tenor)
Zerlina…..Kate Lindsey (Mezzo-Soprano)
Masetto…..Matthew Rose (Bass)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera, Conductor…..Constantinos Carydis

Review from One Stop Arts

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Fabulous photo gallery from Mike Hoban

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La Bohème from the ROH

photocredit: Mike Hoban/ROH

Link for synopsis and gallery of photos

Recorded at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden earlier this year

Rodolfo…..Joseph Calleja (Tenor)
Mimi…..Carmen Giannattasio (Soprano)
Marcello…..Fabio Maria Capitanucci (Baritone)
Schaunard…..Thomas Oliemans (Tenor)
Colline…..Yuri Vorobiev (Bass)
Musetta…..Nuccia Focile (Soprano)
Benoit…..Jeremy White (Bass)
Alcindoro…..Donald Maxwell (Baritone)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House.  Conductor…..Semyon Bychkov.

Duration: 2 hours and 45 minutes

Review from The Arts Desk

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Dvorak’s Rusalka from ROH on BBC radio

RUSALKA – DVORAK

Recorded earlier this year at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

2 June 2012 at 18.00 UK time on BBC radio 3

World time converter in the side bar  – >

photocredit: Clive Barda

Production by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito

Reactions to this production - published by ROH.

Link to BBC for synopsis

This episode of Opera on 3 is a recording of the Royal Opera’s first fully staged production of Dvořak’s Rusalka. In a radical interpretation by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito, Dvořak’s “lyric fairytale” stars Finnish soprano Camilla Nylund in the title role and Yannick Nezet-Seguin makes his Royal Opera debut conducting the late Romantic score, which features the celebrated aria “Song to the Moon”.

Rusalka…..Camilla Nylund (Soprano)
Vodnik, Spirit Of The Lake…..Alan Held (Baritone)
Prince…..Bryan Hymel (Tenor)
Foreign Princess…..Petra Lang (Mezzo-Soprano)
Jezibaba…..Agnes Zwierko (Mezzo-Soprano)

Voice Of Huntsman…..Daniel Grice (Bass Baritone)
Gamekeeper…..Gyula Orendt (Baritone)
Kitchen Boy…..Ilse Eerens (Soprano)
Wood Nymph…..Anna Devin (Soprano)
Wood Nymph…..Madeleine Pierard (Soprano)
Wood Nymph…..Justina Gringyte (Mezzo-Soprano)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Conductor….. Yannick Nézet-Séguin 

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FABULOUS PHOTO GALLERY from Clive Barda

Review from The Independent

Review from The FT

Free scores

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The Marriage of Figaro from ROH on BBC radio

Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro on BBC radio 3

Recorded earlier this year at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Saturday  26 May 2012 at 18:00 UK time on BBC radio 3

world time converter in the side bar  – >

Anna Bonitatibus as Cherubino. photocredit Bill Cooper 

Le Nozze di Figaro, K.492

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91)
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838)

Ildebrando D’Arcangelo stars as Figaro, Lucas Meachem as Count Almaviva and Aleksandra Kurzak as Susanna in Mozart’s great comic opera. Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera.

When Count Almaviva takes an over-eager interest in his cunning manservant’s wife-to-be, he sets off an elaborate train of events and finds himself thwarted many times. But after a day of madness and a night of confusion, everything ends more or less happily.

Figaro…..Ildebrando D’ Arcangelo (Bass)
Susanna…..Aleksandra Kurzak (Soprano)
Bartolo…..Carlo Lepore (Bass)
Marcellina…..Ann Murray (Mezzo-Soprano)
Cherubino…..Anna Bonitatibus (Mezzo-Soprano)
Count Almaviva…..Lucas Meachem (Baritone)
Basilio…..Bonaventura Bottone (Tenor)
Antonio…..Jeremy White (Bass)
Don Curzio…..Harry Nicoll (Tenor)
Barbarina…..Susana Gaspar (Soprano)
Countess Almaviva…..Kate Royal (Soprano)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conductor Antonio Pappano

Gallery of fabulous photos from Bill Cooper

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Review from Intermezzo

Review from Opera Today

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Synopsis

Free scores

Libretto

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Judith Weir’s “Miss Fortune” on BBC radio

Judith Weir’s new opera Miss Fortune

Recorded at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden earlier this year

Saturday 19 May 2012 at 18.00 UK time

World time converter in the side bar  – >

image from unknown source via http://www.breakinconvention.com

Emma Bell with dancers from Soul Mavericks

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Link to BBC for synopsis

This episode of Opera on 3 is a recording of the British premiere of Judith Weir’s new opera Miss Fortune, from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Miss Tina Fortune is born into a wealthy family, but loses her luck thanks to the meddling hands of Fate, who is ever-present on stage with her. Her fortune only begins to improve when she confronts Fate, and they come to a truce. Judith Weir’s new opera includes break-dancing, lottery wins, exploding kebab vans, and some beautiful music.

Gallery of FABULOUS photos by Bill Cooper

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents and talks to Judith Weir and conductor Paul Daniel about the opera.

Tina…..Emma Bell (Soprano)
Simon…..Jacques Imbrailo – Baritone)
Fate…..Andrew Watts (Counter-Tenor)
Donna…..Anne-Marie Owens (Mezzo-Soprano)
Hassan…..Noah Stewart (Tenor)
Lord Fortune…..Alan Ewing (Bass)
Lady Fortune…..Kathryn Harries (Soprano)
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Royal Opera House Chorus, Conductor…..Paul Daniel

Duration 2 hours

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Comment from Michael White, voted Britain’s least boring music critic by listeners of Classic FM.

Review from The Arts Desk

Interview on Soundcloud in which Judith Weir discusses with Petroc Trelawny how she composes

and the challenges of being both composer and librettist for this opera.

An interview with Judith Weir in Composition Today

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