Royal Opera House, London
Running time: 2hrs 15mins
Age Restrictions: This production is recommended for ages 12+.
Tickets from £51.00
A storm of longing. Richard Jones’s intimate, stripped-back staging beautifully realises Janáček’s opera of yearning and destruction, which stars Corinne Winters. Jakub Hrůša draws out the expressive lines of the Czech composer’s score, which is infused with traditional folk melodies of his – and Hrůša’s – home country.
Trapped in a loveless marriage, a claustrophobic community and under the authoritative rule of her mother-in-law, a young and vulnerable woman is swept up in a passionate affair. But newly awakened hope soon turns to despair as Kát’a is consumed by waves of longing and guilt.
Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
Bow Street
London
WC2E 9DD
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in the London district of Covent Garden. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later Handel's first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.
The current building is the third theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1857. The façade, foyer and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The Royal Opera House seats 2,268 people and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high. The main auditorium is a Grade 1 listed building.
Travel by train: Charing Cross. Nearest tube: Covent Garden