The Royal Opera House (ROH) has revealed details of the two new operatic releases from the Royal Opera that will be available to watch via the Covent Garden-based opera house’s streaming service, ROH Stream, this month.
Audiences will be able to view David McVicar’s theatrical production of Gounod’s epic masterpiece Faust (1859). This grand operatic spectacle features a French libretto by poet and playwright Jules Barbier and prolific librettist Michel Carré adapted from the latter’s play Faust et Marguerite, based on Part I of Goethe’s epic poem, ‘Faust, a Tragedy’.
Disillusioned with life, the aged philosopher Faust calls on Satan to help him. The devil Méphistophélès appears and strikes a bargain: he will give the philosopher back his youth and the love of the beautiful Marguerite, if Faust will hand over his soul.
This 2019 revival of McVicar’s 2004 production stars American tenor Michael Fabiano as Faust, Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott as Méphistophélès and Russian soprano Irina Lungu as Marguerite. The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House comes under the baton of conductor Dan Ettinger.
The show will be available to watch on demand from 6pm on 14 January 2022 until 11.59pm on 13 February 2022. Tickets cost £10.
Director Daniele Abbado’s staging of Verdi’s early masterpiece Nabucco (1842) will be live-streamed direct from the ROH at 7.30pm on 20 January 2022. Following the stream, a film of the performance will be available to watch on demand until 11.59pm on 19 February 2022. Access to the broadcast costs £16.
Nabucco is the opera that is considered to have permanently established Verdi’s reputation as a composer. The story follows the plight of the Jews as they are assaulted, conquered and subsequently exiled from their homeland by the Babylonian king Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar II). The Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Lamentations and Daniel and the 1836 play of the same name by French playwrights Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornu.
This production features award-winning Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat as Nabucco, Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska and Russian mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya as his daughters Abigaille and Fenena respectively, Uzbekistani tenor Najmiddin Mavlyanov as the latter’s lover Ismaele and world-renowned Russian bass Alexander Vinogradov as Zaccaria, high priest of the Jews. It is conducted by Daniel Oren.
In addition to the operas, there will be three productions from the Royal Ballet. The Sleeping Beauty – a story set to Tchaikovsky’s stunning score, performed with precision and panache by Principals Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov – is available to the end of the month.
Christopher Wheeldon’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s late romance The Winter’s Tale 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 6pm on 28 January 2022.
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 4 February 2022, 6pm.
These titles will be available for 30 days at a cost of £10 each.
The productions are all available to view via ROH Stream on a computer, tablet, smartphone or TV. You will need to set up a free account. Please note that ROH Stream isn’t available on Internet Explorer. For further details, to set up your account and to buy tickets, go to ROH Stream.
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Erwin Schrott sings the role of Méphistophélès in the Royal Opera’s 2019 revival of Gounod’s Faust (Tristram Kenton). The production forms part of the roster of the Royal Opera House’s online offerings this month.