The story concerns the enlightenment of the Christian King Roger II by a young shepherd who represents pagan ideals. Kasper Holten’s production (The Royal Opera’s first) of Król Roger (King Roger) brought the opera back to the London stage after an absence of almost 40 years. Karol Szymanowski’s masterpiece powerfully presents the dilemmas of culture versus nature and man versus beast, and movingly depicts King Roger’s inner struggles as he moves from an impossible life of repressed desires to the other extreme, giving in to his own demons. Meanwhile, Roger’s people, seduced by the promises of the mysterious Shepherd, are drawn towards totalitarianism and repression. Antonio Pappano conducts Szymanowksi’s opulent and beautiful score, with a cast including Mariusz Kwiecień as Roger (one of the greatest interpreters of the role today), Saimir Pirgu as the Shepherd, and Georgia Jarman in her Royal Opera debut as Roger’s loving queen Roxana.

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the...

Passion, jealousy and betrayal take center stage at Londons Royal Opera House in a spectacular produ...

At first glance, the title of Shostakovich’s opera seems to speak for itself: Katherina, neglected a...

Gustav Von Aschenbach, a passionate composer, arrives in Venice as a result of wanderlust and there ...

Jules Massanet's lyrical opera is transformed into a superb film production by Petr Weigl, shot on l...

Frantisek Filip film version of the Smetana opera.

This tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigol...

Mirella Freni, Placido Domingo, Christa Ludwig, and Robert Kerns star in this Jean-Pierre Ponnelle-d...

A group of merchants and vikings navigate dramatic events both within and without in this epic music...

Live performance from Zürich Opera House, 2001. “Vesselina Kasarova’s Rosina turned this Barber int...

The stupendous climax to Wagner’s four-part Ring cycle is brilliantly realized by the Otto Schenk/Gü...

The first-ever audio-visual recording of this opera – directed by Christof Loy, conducted by Marc Al...

Starring Jonas Kaufmann as Bacchus and featuring Emily Magee with Daniel Harding conducting the Vien...

Set in a South Bohemian village, this faithful film version of Smetana’s opera follows farmer Krušin...

A 2002 live performance of Mikel Rouse's Dennis Cleveland, a multimedia opera set entirely on a tele...