Live satellite broadcasts

Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) and John Heffernan (Dracula) lead the cast in Shakespeare’s romcom of sun, sea and mistaken identity.

The legendary hotel Messina on the Italian Riveria has been visited by artists, celebrities and royalty. But when the owner’s daughter weds a dashing young soldier, not all guests are in the mood for love.

A string of scandalous deceptions soon surround not only the young couple, but also the adamantly single Beatrice and Benedick.

Following the award-winning success of National Theatre Live’s Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night and Antony and Cleopatra, director Simon Godwin returns with this irresistible comedy, broadcast live from the National Theatre stage.

A rollicking new comedy by Richard Bean (One Man, Two Guvnors) and Oliver Chris (Twelfth Night).

After an aerial dog fight, Pilot Officer Jack Absolute flies home to win the heart of his old flame, Lydia Languish. Back on British soil, Jack’s advances soon turn to anarchy when the young heiress demands to be loved on her own, very particular, terms.

Emily Burns directs this spectacularly entertaining new version of Sheridan’s The Rivals. Featuring a cast including Caroline Quentin, Laurie Davidson, Natalie Simpson and Kelvin Fletcher.

‘One of the funniest productions in the National’s history.’ Guardian on One Man, Two Guvnors

Princess Aida has been kidnapped: a valuable prize in a war between Egypt and Ethiopia. Meanwhile, the ambitious soldier Radames wrestles with his feelings for her. As they draw closer together, each must make an agonizing choice between their loyalty to home, and their love for each other.

In this new production, director Robert Carsen situates Verdi’s large-scale political drama within a contemporary world, framing its power struggles and toxic jealousies in the apparatus of a modern, totalitarian state. Royal Opera Music Director Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi’s glorious, monumental score.

Directed by Robert Carsen, conducted by Antonio Pappano and sung by Elena Stikhina (Aida), Francesco Meli (Radames), Agnieszka Rehlis (Amneris, Ldovic Tézier (Amnasro), Soloman Howard (Ramfis) and In Sung Sim (King of Egypt).

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

Paris, 1900. Penniless writer Rodolfo believes that art is all he needs – until he meets Mimì, the lonely seamstress who lives upstairs. So begins a timeless love story that blooms, fades, and rekindles with the passing seasons. But while the couple’s friends Marcello and Musetta passionately row and make up, a force greater than love threatens Rodolfo and Mimì.

Richard Jones’s production evokes the vivid contrasts of fin de siècle Paris, from Bohemian apartments to glittering arcades.

Directed by Richard Jones, conducted by  Kevin John Edusei, and sung by Ailyn Pérez (Mimì), Juan Diego Flórez (Rodolfo), Andrey Zhilikhovsky (Marcello), Danielle de Niese (Musetta), Ross Ramgobin (Schaunard), Michael Mofidian (Colline).

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

Original by Anton Chekhov, in a version by Anya Reiss and directed by Jamie Lloyd.

Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) makes her West End debut in this 21st century retelling of Anton Chekhov’s tale of love and loneliness.

A young woman is desperate for fame and a way out. A young man is pining after the woman of his dreams. A successful writer longs for a sense of achievement. An actress wants to fight the changing of the times. In an isolated home in the countryside, dreams lie in tatters, hopes are dashed, and hearts broken. With nowhere left to turn, the only option is to turn on each other.

Following his critically acclaimed five-star production of Cyrano de Bergerac, Jamie Lloyd brings Anya Reiss’ adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s classic play to stage. Filmed live in London’s West End with a cast including Tom Rhys Harries (White Lines), Daniel Monks (The Normal Heart), Sophie Wu (Fresh Meat) and Indira Varma (Game of Thrones).

The Royal Ballet’s dazzling Principals lead an evening not to be missed, their sparkling talents a perfect fit for a diamond anniversary. Celebrating the 60^th anniversary of The Friends of Covent Garden, this programme recognises the amazing support of all ROH Friends past and present.

The showcase will demonstrate the breadth and diversity of The Royal Ballet’s repertory in classical, contemporary and heritage works. It will also include world premieres of short ballets by choreographers Pam Tanowitz, Joseph Toonga and Valentino Zucchetti as well as The Royal Ballet’s first performance of For Four by Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon and a performance of George Balanchine’s Diamonds.

The Royal Ballet’s dazzling Principals lead an evening not to be missed, their sparkling talents a perfect fit for a diamond anniversary. Celebrating the 60^th anniversary of The Friends of Covent Garden, this programme recognises the amazing support of all ROH Friends past and present.

The showcase will demonstrate the breadth and diversity of The Royal Ballet’s repertory in classical, contemporary and heritage works. It will also include world premieres of short ballets by choreographers Pam Tanowitz, Joseph Toonga and Valentino Zucchetti as well as The Royal Ballet’s first performance of For Four by Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon and a performance of George Balanchine’s Diamonds.

Join Clara at a delightful Christmas Eve party that becomes a magical adventure once everyone else is tucked up in bed. Marvel at the brilliance of Tchaikovsky’s score, as Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker fight the Mouse King and visit the Sugar Plum Fairy (Fumi Kaneko) and her Prince (William Bracewell) in the glittering Kingdom of Sweets. Peter Wright’s much-loved production for The Royal Ballet, with gorgeous period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, keeps true to the spirit of this festive ballet classic, combining the thrill of the fairy tale with spectacular classical dancing.

Join Clara at a delightful Christmas Eve party that becomes a magical adventure once everyone else is tucked up in bed. Marvel at the brilliance of Tchaikovsky’s score, as Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker fight the Mouse King and visit the Sugar Plum Fairy (Fumi Kaneko) and her Prince (William Bracewell) in the glittering Kingdom of Sweets. Peter Wright’s much-loved production for The Royal Ballet, with gorgeous period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, keeps true to the spirit of this festive ballet classic, combining the thrill of the fairy tale with spectacular classical dancing.

A modern Mexican classic of magic realism provides the basis for The Royal Ballet’s new full-length work, reuniting Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon with the creative team who transformed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale into dance, composer Joby Talbot and designer Bob Crowley.

The ballet is inspired by Laura Esquivel’s novel – a captivating family saga where the central character’s emotions spill out through cooking to influence everyone around her in startling and dramatic ways. In this co-production with American Ballet Theatre, Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra also acts as musical consultant for Talbot’s newly commissioned score, and Wheeldon has worked closely with Esquivel to reshape her richly layered story into an entertaining and engrossing new ballet.

A modern Mexican classic of magic realism provides the basis for The Royal Ballet’s new full-length work, reuniting Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon with the creative team who transformed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale into dance, composer Joby Talbot and designer Bob Crowley.

The ballet is inspired by Laura Esquivel’s novel – a captivating family saga where the central character’s emotions spill out through cooking to influence everyone around her in startling and dramatic ways. In this co-production with American Ballet Theatre, Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra also acts as musical consultant for Talbot’s newly commissioned score, and Wheeldon has worked closely with Esquivel to reshape her richly layered story into an entertaining and engrossing new ballet.

By Arthur Miler and directed by Lyndsey Turner

A witch hunt is beginning in Arthur Miller’s captivating parable of power with Erin Doherty (The Crown) and Brendan Cowell (Yerma).

Raised to be seen but not heard, a group of young women in Salem suddenly find their words have an almighty power.  As a climate of fear, vendetta and accusation spreads through the community, no one is safe from trial.

Lyndsey Turner (Hamlet) directs this contemporary new staging, designed by Tony Award-winner Es Devlin (The Lehman Trilogy). Captured live from the Olivier stage at the National Theatre.

When Rosina falls in love with a mysterious young suitor who calls himself Lindoro, she must use all her cunning – and a little help from her local barber – to outwit her calculating guardian Dr Bartolo.

Expect heart-melting serenades, ridiculous disguises and a fairytale ending waiting just out of reach. From the barber’s famous opening number ‘Largo al factotum,’ with its cry of ‘Figaro! Figaro!,’ to Rosina’s feisty aria ‘Una voce poco fa,’ Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera is a riotously entertaining affair. Rafael Payare makes his Royal Opera House debut conducting an outstanding international cast that includes Andrzej Filończyk, Aigul Akhmetshina, Lawrence Brownlee and Bryn Terfel.

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

When Rosina falls in love with a mysterious young suitor who calls himself Lindoro, she must use all her cunning – and a little help from her local barber – to outwit her calculating guardian Dr Bartolo.

Expect heart-melting serenades, ridiculous disguises and a fairytale ending waiting just out of reach. From the barber’s famous opening number ‘Largo al factotum,’ with its cry of ‘Figaro! Figaro!,’ to Rosina’s feisty aria ‘Una voce poco fa,’ Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera is a riotously entertaining affair. Rafael Payare makes his Royal Opera House debut conducting an outstanding international cast that includes Andrzej Filończyk, Aigul Akhmetshina, Lawrence Brownlee and Bryn Terfel.

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

Directed by Clint Dyer

An extraordinary new production of Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedy, directed by Clint Dyer with a cast that includes Giles Terera (Hamilton), Rosy McEwen (The Alienist) and Paul Hilton (The Inheritance).

She’s a bright, headstrong daughter of a senator; elevated by her status but stifled by its expectations. He’s refugee of slavery; having risen to the top of a white world, he finds love across racial lines has a cost.

Wed in secret, Desdemona and Othello crave a new life together. But as unseen forces conspire against them, they find their future is not theirs to decide.

Othello is filmed live on the Lyttleton stage of the National Theatre.

In the court of Princess Turandot, suitors who fail to solve her riddles are brutally killed. But when a mysterious Prince answers one correctly, suddenly he holds all the power – and a glorious secret. When life hangs in the balance, can love conquer all?

Puccini’s score is rich in musical marvels (featuring the famous aria ‘Nessun dorma’), while Andrei Serban’s production draws on Chinese theatrical traditions to evoke a colourful fantasy tableau of ancient Peking. Antonio Pappano conducts Anna Pirozzi in the title role and Yonghoon Lee as Calaf.

[;cy] Yn llys y Dywysoges Turandot, mae cyfreithwyr sy’n methu â datrys ei phosau yn cael eu lladd yn greulon. Ond pan fydd Tywysog dirgel yn ateb un yn gywir, yn sydyn mae’n dal yr holl rym – a chyfrinach ogoneddus. Pan fydd bywyd yn hongian yn y fantol, a all cariad goncro’r cyfan?

Mae sgôr Puccini yn gyforiog o ryfeddodau cerddorol (yn cynnwys yr aria enwog ‘Nessun dorma’), tra bod cynhyrchiad Andrei Serban yn tynnu ar draddodiadau theatrig Tsieineaidd i ennyn tableau ffantasi lliwgar o Peking hynafol. Antonio Pappano sy’n arwain Anna Pirozzi yn y brif ran ac Yonghoon Lee fel Calaf.

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

In the court of Princess Turandot, suitors who fail to solve her riddles are brutally killed. But when a mysterious Prince answers one correctly, suddenly he holds all the power – and a glorious secret. When life hangs in the balance, can love conquer all?

Puccini’s score is rich in musical marvels (featuring the famous aria ‘Nessun dorma’), while Andrei Serban’s production draws on Chinese theatrical traditions to evoke a colourful fantasy tableau of ancient Peking. Antonio Pappano conducts Anna Pirozzi in the title role and Yonghoon Lee as Calaf.

[;cy] Yn llys y Dywysoges Turandot, mae cyfreithwyr sy’n methu â datrys ei phosau yn cael eu lladd yn greulon. Ond pan fydd Tywysog dirgel yn ateb un yn gywir, yn sydyn mae’n dal yr holl rym – a chyfrinach ogoneddus. Pan fydd bywyd yn hongian yn y fantol, a all cariad goncro’r cyfan?

Mae sgôr Puccini yn gyforiog o ryfeddodau cerddorol (yn cynnwys yr aria enwog ‘Nessun dorma’), tra bod cynhyrchiad Andrei Serban yn tynnu ar draddodiadau theatrig Tsieineaidd i ennyn tableau ffantasi lliwgar o Peking hynafol. Antonio Pappano sy’n arwain Anna Pirozzi yn y brif ran ac Yonghoon Lee fel Calaf.

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

Royal Ballet Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella celebrates its 75^th anniversary this Season. The ballet’s opening night in 1948, featuring Moira Shearer and Michael Somes in the lead roles, was received rapturously. After over a decade away from the Royal Opera House stage, Ashton’s timeless reworking of Charles Perrault’s famous rags-to-riches story returns, showcasing the choreographer’s deft musicality and the beauty of Prokofiev’s transcendent score. A creative team steeped in the magic of theatre, film, dance and opera brings new atmosphere to Cinderella’s ethereal world of fairy godmothers and pumpkin carriages, handsome princes and finding true love.

Royal Ballet Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella celebrates its 75^th anniversary this Season. The ballet’s opening night in 1948, featuring Moira Shearer and Michael Somes in the lead roles, was received rapturously. After over a decade away from the Royal Opera House stage, Ashton’s timeless reworking of Charles Perrault’s famous rags-to-riches story returns, showcasing the choreographer’s deft musicality and the beauty of Prokofiev’s transcendent score. A creative team steeped in the magic of theatre, film, dance and opera brings new atmosphere to Cinderella’s ethereal world of fairy godmothers and pumpkin carriages, handsome princes and finding true love.

Servants Figaro and Susanna are filled with excitement on their wedding day, but there’s a hitch: their employer, the Count Almaviva, has dishonourable intentions of his own towards the bride-to-be.

With more twists than a page boy’s stockings, the story of Mozart’s comic opera will surprise and delight you at every turn. Come for the music and stay for the cross-dressing hilarity, all unfolding over the course of one crazy, topsy-turvy day in the Almaviva household. Royal Opera Music Director Antonio Pappano conducts a truly international cast in David McVicar’s timeless production. (recorded on 11 and 22 January 2022)

Riccardo Fassi (Figaro), Giulia Semenzato (Susanna), Germán E. Alcántara (Count Almaviva), Federica Lombardi (Countess Almaviva), Hanna Hipp (Cherubino), Gregory Bonfatti (Don Basili), Monica Bacelli (Marcellina), Gianluca Buratto (Bartolo), Jeremy White (Antonio), Alexandra Lowe (Barbarina) and  Alasdair Elliott (Don Curzio).

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

Servants Figaro and Susanna are filled with excitement on their wedding day, but there’s a hitch: their employer, the Count Almaviva, has dishonourable intentions of his own towards the bride-to-be.

With more twists than a page boy’s stockings, the story of Mozart’s comic opera will surprise and delight you at every turn. Come for the music and stay for the cross-dressing hilarity, all unfolding over the course of one crazy, topsy-turvy day in the Almaviva household. Royal Opera Music Director Antonio Pappano conducts a truly international cast in David McVicar’s timeless production. (recorded on 11 and 22 January 2022)

Riccardo Fassi (Figaro), Giulia Semenzato (Susanna), Germán E. Alcántara (Count Almaviva), Federica Lombardi (Countess Almaviva), Hanna Hipp (Cherubino), Gregory Bonfatti (Don Basili), Monica Bacelli (Marcellina), Gianluca Buratto (Bartolo), Jeremy White (Antonio), Alexandra Lowe (Barbarina) and  Alasdair Elliott (Don Curzio).

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

The Sleeping Beauty holds a very special place in The Royal Ballet’s heart and history. It was the first performance given by the Company when the Royal Opera House reopened at Covent Garden in 1946 after World War II. In 2006, this original staging was revived and has been delighting audiences ever since. Frederick Ashton famously cited the pure classicism of Marius Petipa’s 19^th-century ballet as a private lesson in the atmospheric art and craft of choreography. Be swept away by Tchaikovsky’s ravishing music and Oliver Messel’s sumptuous fairytale designs with this true gem from the classical ballet repertory.

The Sleeping Beauty holds a very special place in The Royal Ballet’s heart and history. It was the first performance given by the Company when the Royal Opera House reopened at Covent Garden in 1946 after World War II. In 2006, this original staging was revived and has been delighting audiences ever since. Frederick Ashton famously cited the pure classicism of Marius Petipa’s 19^th-century ballet as a private lesson in the atmospheric art and craft of choreography. Be swept away by Tchaikovsky’s ravishing music and Oliver Messel’s sumptuous fairytale designs with this true gem from the classical ballet repertory.

Passions run high as Manrico and the Count di Luna compete for the affections of Leonora. Little do they know, Manrico’s mother Azucena has been keeping a terrible secret for decades. Soon a curse from the past will rise up from the ashes with devastating implications for them all.

Starring Ludovic Tézier and Jamie Barton, Adele Thomas’s energetic staging sets Verdi’s tale in a Hieronymus Bosch-inspired universe of medieval superstition. Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi’s dramatic score, which features the famous ‘Anvil’ chorus.

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

Passions run high as Manrico and the Count di Luna compete for the affections of Leonora. Little do they know, Manrico’s mother Azucena has been keeping a terrible secret for decades. Soon a curse from the past will rise up from the ashes with devastating implications for them all.

Starring Ludovic Tézier and Jamie Barton, Adele Thomas’s energetic staging sets Verdi’s tale in a Hieronymus Bosch-inspired universe of medieval superstition. Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi’s dramatic score, which features the famous ‘Anvil’ chorus.

Sung in Italian with English subtitles