Royal Opera House Partners With The Luna Drive In Cinema For New Streaming Series

This week the Royal Opera House has announced in partnership with The Luna Drive In Cinema, broadcasts of four Royal Opera House favourites at iconic drive-in cinema locations around the country.

Broadcasts of The Royal Opera's La bohème and La traviata, as well as The Royal Ballet's Swan Lake and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will be screened in stunning outdoor locations including Blenheim Palace, Warwick Castle, Allianz Park, Knebworth House, Tatton Park and Harewood House.

The screenings use state-of-the-art broadcast technology to ensure perfect sound and picture quality, providing a truly unique viewing experience and the chance to enjoy the best of ballet and opera from the comfort of your car. The performances will take place from 26 July, with booking available online.

ROH will be partnering with BBC Bitesize Daily as part of their 'activity week' next week. The free online study resource will be jam packed with videos, step-by-step guides and guided lesson plans that link to the dance curriculum and will draw on the wealth of famous work from The Royal Ballet. The programme is adaptable and will be suitable for kids in Year 1 through to Year 10 from Monday, available on the BBC Bitesize website.

The next in ROH's series of free online broadcasts will include the YouTube and Facebook premiere streams of The Royal Opera's Faust on Friday 17 July at 7pm BST. David McVicar's production tells the story of the aged philosopher Faust who makes a bargain with the devil Méphistophélès: in return for youth and the love of Marguerite, Faust will surrender his soul to the devil. The 2019 recording stars Michael Fabiano as Faust, Erwin Schrott as Méphistophélès and Irina Lungu as Marguerite. The Royal Opera Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House are conducted by Dan Ettinger.

The following week, on Friday 24 July at 7pm BST, ROH will broadcast The Royal Ballet's landmark production of the classic fairy tale The Sleeping Beauty. With choreography by Marius Petipa, additional choreography by Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell and Christopher Wheeldon and a masterful score by Tchaikovsky, the 2020 recording stars Fumi Kaneko as Princess Aurora, Federico Bonelli as Prince Florimund, Kristen McNally as Carabosse and Gina Storm-Jensen as the Lilac Fairy. Simon Hewett conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

This week ROH will present the final installment of our Create and Learn online programme of home learning for schoolchildren as we reach the final week of the summer term. ROH invites children and parents to look back at some of the amazing activities they have created together and have a go at any of the activities they have missed, or revisit any of their favourite creations from the last eleven weeks.

Royal Opera House content continues to be available as part of our ongoing partnership with the BBC. On Thursday 16 July at 2pm, BBC Radio 3 will broadcast The Royal Opera's performance of Richard Jones's La bohème (2017), conducted by Antonio Pappano and starring Nicole Car as Mimì and Michael Fabiano as Rodolfo. Currently available on demand on BBC Sounds are The Royal Opera's performances of Szymanowski's King Roger (2015), Dvořák's Rusalka (2012), Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (2013), Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (2014), Strauss's Elektra (2013) and Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia (2016).

On Friday 10 July at 7pm, and available afterwards on BBC iPlayer, BBC Four will screen Royal Opera House: The Reopening in which Anita Rani, Katie Derham and Antonio Pappano will introduce highlights from the three Live from Covent Garden concerts. The 90-minute programme will include the world premiere of Wayne McGregor's Morgen performed by Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales, Vadim Muntagirov's performance of Frederick Ashton's Dance of the Blessed Spirits, the central pas de deux from Kenneth MacMillan's Concerto performed by Fumi Kaneko and Reece Clarke and a pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour performed by Mayara Magri and Matthew Ball. Also featured are performances of classic opera arias and songs by Gerald Finley, Louise Alder, Toby Spence, David Butt Philip, Sarah Connolly and the Royal Opera House's Jette Parker Young Artists, alongside musicians from the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.