Today, the Royal Opera House has today announced that, in addition to both The Dante Project and Giselle, a further five productions will be released on select dates from New Year’s Eve, offering audiences across the globe a rich range of ballet and opera this New Year.
From Friday 31 December 2021, 14:00 GMT, audiences will be able to stream The Royal Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty – a story set to Tchaikovsky’s stunning score, here performed with breathtaking precision and panache by Principals Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov . Long considered a staple of the repertory, the ballet was first presented at Covent Garden in 1946 after the post-war re-opening of the Royal Opera House – starring Margot Fonteyn and Robert Helpmann in the lead roles – and was restaged 60 years later by the then Director of The Royal Ballet Monica Mason and Christopher Newton, returning Oliver Messel’s stunning original designs and glittering costumes to the stage.
In the new year, from The Royal Opera, audiences will be able to enjoy David McVicar’s wonderfully theatrical production of Gounod’s Faust – a grand operatic spectacle based on Part I of Goethe’s epic poem of the same name. Starring Michael Fabiano as Faust, Erwin Schrott as the devil Méphistophélès and Irina Lungu as Marguerite, the opera includes such highlights as the devil’s demonic aria ‘Le veau d’or’, Marguerite’s dazzling coloratura Jewel Song and the Act IV Soldiers’ Chorus. It will be available on demand from Friday 14 January 2022, 18:00 GMT.
On Thursday 20 January 2022, Verdi’s early masterpiece Nabucco will be live-streamed direct from the ROH. The production – that night starring award-winning baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat as Nabucco, internationally celebrated soprano Anna Netrebko as Abigaille, and world-renowned bass Alexander Vinogradov as Zaccaria – tells a tragic tale of one desperate father and his two daughters, set against an epic biblical backdrop. The broadcast will commence at 19:30 GMT and costs £16.
Towards the end of the month, audiences will be able to enjoy Christopher Wheeldon’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s late romance The Winter’s Tale, showcasing stunning designs and atmospheric music by the team who brought us Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: Bob Crowley and Joby Talbot . The ballet, widely acclaimed by critics and audiences alike for its intelligent, distinctive and emotionally powerful rendering of the play into dance, is performed by recently retired Principal Edward Watson, current Principals Lauren Cuthbertson, Sarah Lamb, Steven McRae and Federico Bonelli, and former Principal Zenaida Yanowsky. It will be available from 18:00 GMT on Friday 28 January 2022.
And finally, Marguerite and Armand – a ballet specially created in 1963 for Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn by The Royal Ballet’s founding choreographer Frederick Ashton – will be available online from Friday 4 February 2022, 18:00 GMT. Drawing from the same inspiration as Verdi’s La traviata and set to music by Franz Liszt, the production portrays the burgeoning love between its two title characters, here danced by former Principal Zenaida Yanowsky and renowned guest artist Roberto Bolle.
This new selection joins content currently available on the Royal Opera House website: Phyllida Lloyd’s sinister production of Verdi’s Macbeth, available until Tuesday 28 December 2021; Peter Wright’s masterful production of Giselle, available until Sunday 2 January 2022, danced by a stellar cast that includes Principal Yasmine Naghdi in the title role, Principal Matthew Ball as Albrecht and Principal Marianela Nuñez as Myrtha; and Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor’s 2021 world premiere The Dante Project, a major collaboration between trailblazing forces of the contemporary arts scene, available until Wednesday 19 January 2022.
It adds to further free content on BBC Channels too: Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel on BBC Radio 3, Christmas Day; and Richard Jones’s recent production of Puccini’s La bohème on BBC Four, Sunday 26 December 2021.
All productions will be available to watch for 30 days on stream.roh.org.uk/products. Each new title, barring Nabucco, costs £10.
