The Royal Opera celebrates the 400th performance of The Magic Flute on the Royal Opera House stage this autumn with a revival of David McVicar’s beloved production. Mozart’s coming-of-age story about true love and the search for wisdom is a repertoire staple of The Royal Opera, and McVicar’s production is enlivened in this revival by a host of first-class singers.
Marie Jacquot makes her Royal Opera debut conducting the performances of The Magic Flute between 10 and 25 October. Jacquot, the Chief Conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre Copenhagen and Principal Guest Conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker, comes to The Royal Opera following her acclaimed performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms this summer. She shares her conducting duties with Finnegan Downie Dear, who returns to The Royal Opera for the first time since his acclaimed Alice’s Adventures Under Ground in February 2020.
Together, they conduct two casts of outstanding talent, with Julia Bullock in the role of Pamina, her first return to Covent Garden following her 5* performance in Handel’s Theodora in 2022. She shares the role with English soprano Lucy Crowe, a Grammy-nominated singer who last performed at the Royal Opera House in The Sound Voice Project in 2024. Amitai Pati and Mingjie Lei perform as Tamino, and Huw Montague Rendall performs the role of Papageno across both casts. Kathryn Lewek performs the role of the iconic Queen of the Night, having performed the role over 300 times, and she shares the role with Greek-Scottish soprano Annie Fassea. Soloman Howard and Timo Riihonen perform as Sarastro.
The performance of The Magic Flute on Saturday 25 October will be audio described, with a touch tour available before the performance. The performance on Tuesday 28 October will feature live BSL interpretation.
The Magic Flute will be screened in cinemas worldwide on Tuesday 21 April 2026, with encores from Sunday 26 April. Find out more at https://www.rbo.org.uk/tickets-and-events/in-cinemas-the-magic-flute-details
