Royal Opera House

Victor Frankenstein is about to leave home for university, away from his family and Elizabeth, the woman he loves. Just before he departs, his mother dies in childbirth. Victor becomes obsessed with the idea of bringing his mother back to life, and his relentless studies eventually lead him to animate non-living matter. Repulsed by the Creature he has brought into the world, he flees.

Six years later, Victor returns to his family. The Creature follows and watches him with Elizabeth, longing to be accepted by them. Victor is haunted by visions of what he has done. On the day of his wedding to Elizabeth, the Creature appears, mesmerized by Elizabeth's beauty. Victor finds him and, in panic, the Creature kills Elizabeth. Distraught, Victor kills himself, leaving the Creature abandoned once more, cradling his creator.
 

Love and friendship triumph in Carlos Acosta's vibrant production of this dazzling ballet.

Disillusioned with life, the aged philosopher Faust calls upon Satan to help him. The devil Méphistophélès appears and strikes a bargain with the philosopher: he will give him youth and the love of the beautiful Marguerite, if Faust will hand over his soul. Faust agrees, and Méphistophélès arranges matters so that Marguerite loses interest in her suitor Siébel and becomes infatuated with Faust.        

Faust initially seems to love Marguerite in return, but soon abandons her. Her brother Valentin returns from the war and is furious to find his sister pregnant. Will Faust repent his destructive actions and can their souls be saved?

Kenneth MacMillan poignant setting of Sergei Prokofiev’s classic score draws out the emotional and psychological intensity of the tale. Romeo and Juliet contains three passionate pas de deux: the lovers’ first meeting, the famous balcony scene and the devastating final tragedy, in which Romeo dances desperately with the lifeless Juliet.

Rome in 1800 is in political chaos. Cesare Angelotti, a former consul of the short-lived Roman Republic, has escaped imprisonment, and seeks refuge in the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle. The painter and republican sympathizer Mario Cavaradossi promises to hide him at his country villa. Baron Scarpia, Rome's tyrannical Chief of Police, suspects that Cavaradossi has helped Angelotti to escape. He persuades the painter's opera singer lover Floria Tosca, whom he himself desires, that Cavaradossi has betrayed her. She leaves to confront Cavaradossi at his villa and Scarpia orders his men to follow her, in the hope they'll find Angelotti.

Scarpia arrests Cavaradossi, and tortures him in Tosca's presence until she reveals Angelotti's hiding place. Scarpia subsequently condemns Cavaradossi to death. Alone with Tosca, Scarpia tells her that he will save Cavaradossi - but only if Tosca spends the night with him. Will Tosca yield to the man she hates to save the man she loves?

Carmen is the best-known work by French composer Georges Bizet, and one of the most famous operas in the entire art form – numbers such as the Habanera and the Toreador Song have permeated the popular consciousness as little else has. The opera’s heady combination of passion, sensuality and violence initially proved too much for the stage, and it was a critical failure on its 1875 premiere. Bizet died shortly after, and never learned of the spectacular success his Carmen would achieve: the opera has been performed more than five hundred times at Covent Garden alone.