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Opera

Best Covent Garden Opera and Dance this winter

By Claudia Pritchard on 9/10/2019

Diaries out: booking opens 9AM, Thurs 24 Oct for traditional and innovative ballet plus Verdi, Beethoven and a new family opera

Society hostess Violetta faces death in La Traviata. Photo: Tristram Kenton

La Traviata, Royal Opera House

Richard Eyre's timeless production of Verdi's opera has been delighting Covent Garden audiences for 25 years, and it's hard to find better story-telling, singing or staging. A society hostess finds true love, but it is complicated by social pressure and illness...

WHEN

17 Dec 2019 – 23 Mar 2020, 21 performances, times vary

WHERE

Royal Opera House
Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

Onegin. Natalia Osipova as Tatiana (c) ROH 2015 Tristram Kenton

The Royal Ballet, Onegin, ROH

Welcome return of the John Cranko ballet based on Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel Yevgeniy Onegin. Danced to orchestral versions of Tchaikovsky's piano music, Cranko's ballet tells the story of innocent Tatiana, snubbed by the worldly Onegin, who realises his mistake too late.

WHEN

18 Jan 2020 – 29 Feb 2020, 19:30 Sat 19:00, 18 Jan mat 13:30 Dur.: 2 hours 30 mins inc two intervals

WHERE

Royal Opera House
Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

Alice is plunged into a madcap world in Gerald Barry's opera

Alice's Adventures Under Ground, Royal Opera House

As if life for Alice under ground were not mad enough, here comes an opera in which all the familiar characters charge through a single crazy hour. Gerald Barry's madcap music and an all-star cast give Lewis Carroll's story an extra twist.

WHEN

04 Feb 2020 – 09 Feb 2020, Nine performances, times vary. Running time: 1hr

WHERE

Royal Opera House
Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

Acosta Danza, El Cruce Sobre el Niagara, photo Andrew Lang

Acosta Danza Up Close, Linbury Theatre

The Cuban troupe created by the former Royal Ballet star dancer Carlos Acosta takes up a 10-day residency at the Linbury Theatre. They perform five works, three new to London, by Cuban and international choreographers.

WHEN

13 Feb 2020 – 24 Feb 2020, 19:45 Mat Sun 16, 23 at 14:45; no performance Mon 17 Dur.: 2 hours 15 mins TBC

WHERE

Royal Opera House
Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

Jonas Kaufmann stars at the Royal Opera House in Fidelio

Fidelio, Royal Opera House

Jonas Kaufmann stars as the political prisoner Florestan with Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen as Eleonore, the woman who rescues him in a landmark new production of Beethoven's only opera.

WHEN

01 Mar 2020 – 17 Mar 2020, six performances, times vary

WHERE

Royal Opera House
Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

Marianela Nuñez as Odille, Vadim Muntagirov as Siegfried (c) ROH 2018 Bill Cooper

The Royal Ballet, Swan Lake, Royal Opera House

The Royal Ballet’s sumptuous new production of the timeless classic to music by Tchaikovsky returns to Covent Garden for the first time since its acclaimed debut two years ago. Liam Scarlett's version succeeds in being both traditional and attractive to modern audiences.

WHEN

05 Mar 2020 – 16 May 2020, 19:30:00 Some early evening starts; mat starting times vary (see website) Dur.: 3 hours inc 2 intervals

WHERE

Royal Opera House
Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

Best Covent Garden Opera and Dance this winter

Diaries out: booking opens 9AM, Thurs 24 Oct for traditional and innovative ballet plus Verdi, Beethoven and a new family opera

La Traviata, Royal Opera House

The Royal Ballet, Onegin, ROH

Alice's Adventures Under Ground, Royal Opera House

Acosta Danza Up Close, Linbury Theatre

Fidelio, Royal Opera House

The Royal Ballet, Swan Lake, Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House

Beethoven

Verdi

Gerald Barry

Jonas Kaufmann

Carlos Acosta

John Cranko

Tchaikovsky

Sadler's Wells Spring 2020 highlights

Messiah: London Christmas performances of Handel's oratorio

The Royal Ballet, Manon review ★★★★★

Gerald Barry interview: meet the composer of 'Alice's Adventures Under Ground' and a Handelian romp

Opera at Covent Garden 2019/20

English National Ballet, Le Corsaire review ★★★★★