Building on the huge success of Olivier award winning Kát’a Kabanová, The Royal Opera stages the third opera in its Leoš
Janáček cycle, Jenůfa, directed by Claus Guth with a stellar cast
that includes Asmik Grigorian, who makes her Royal Opera debut in the title
role, and Karita Mattila as Kostelnička.
In a co-commission between the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and
The Royal Opera, composer Matt Rogers and librettist Sally O’Reilly bring
the world premiere of She Described It To Death to the Linbury
stage.
The Jette Parker Young Artists Programme welcomes five new singers and one
stage director onto the Programme for the 2019/20 Season: their work will
showcase world-class talent at its best, both in the Linbury Theatre and on
the main stage.
The Royal Ballet draws on its rich cultural heritage while embracing the
diverse and contemporary in its 2019/20 Season. The Company unveils five
new productions, including four world premieres and co-productions. The
Company will celebrate international partnerships and award-winning artists
and companies from across the globe.
Alongside classics such as Manon, The Sleeping Beauty and
Liam Scarlett’s critically-acclaimed production of Swan Lake, The
Royal Ballet joins forces with Birmingham Royal Ballet in a Heritage
programme capturing the unique history of the Company and the extraordinary
choreographic creativity of Ninette de Valois, Frederick Ashton and Kenneth
MacMillan. The Royal Ballet also partners with CCN Ballet de Lorraine to
mark the Merce Cunningham centennial in a production of Cross Currents, which will see three dancers from The Royal Ballet
join forces with dancers from Paris Opera Ballet and Royal Ballet Flanders
in the first visit to Paris in 15 years. The Company is also looking
forward to the long-awaited return of repertory classic Coppélia
at Christmas, in its first staging by The Royal Ballet for more than a
decade.
The Royal Ballet celebrates the contemporary with four world premieres,
including new commissions from Liam Scarlett, Cathy Marston and Pam
Tanowitz, who makes her Royal Opera House debut. Wayne McGregor presents
the world premiere of The Dante Project in collaboration with
Thomas Adès, Tacita Dean, Lucy Carter and Uzma Hameed.
The new Linbury Theatre provides a world-class stage for The Royal Ballet
and a host of pioneering national and international artistic companies.
Female choreographers lead the programme, with new work from Pam Tanowitz,
Morgann Runacre-Temple and Sharon Eyal. Mlindi Kulashe makes his
choreographic debut with Northern Ballet, and Carlos Acosta’s
company Acosta Danza performs new, Cuban-inspired work perfectly suited to
the state-of-the-art Linbury Theatre. In a co-production between The Royal
Ballet, Rambert and BBC Films, Rambert also perform the world premiere of Aisha and Abhaya, a modern fairy tale with choreography by Sharon
Eyal.
The Royal Opera House’s programme of free and ticketed daytime festivals,
activities and events encompasses almost 200 separate events over the
course of the next Season, and will include free lunchtime performances,
the continuation of its popular Opera and Ballet Dots programme (for
children aged three months to five years) as well as 11 Family Sundays,
which welcome diverse new audiences to our art forms.
The Royal Opera House’s national learning programme, which has engaged more
than 35,000 students, 531 schools and 1,255 teachers across the country so
far this Season, has bold ambitions for 2019/20. The Royal Opera House will
partner with Doncaster through ‘Doncaster Creates’ (Doncaster’s Culture
Development programme), Cast (Doncaster’s £22m performance venue) and
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. Through the ROH National Learning
Programme, the Royal Opera House will work with every school in Doncaster
over three years, staging a mass community engagement performance in summer
2020. Alongside this, The Royal Ballet will perform in a gala in Doncaster,
and the ROH’s popular Chance to Dance talent development programme will
also continue.
Cinema highlights from the 19/20 Royal Opera House season include: The
Royal Ballet’s Coppélia, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, and opera broadcasts featuring world-renowned opera
stars such as Jonas Kaufmann (in Fidelio), Bryn Terfel (in Don Pasquale) and Nina Stemme (in Elektra). Free culture
returns to communities across the country, from Aberdeen to the Isle of
Wight as through our BP Big Screens we share three world class productions
free of charge in 19/20. Full details and titles to be announced later this
year.
