During the first week of November, the Mariinsky Theatre returns to the UK for an operatic showcase of Wagner's Ring in Birmingham at the historic Hippodrome and three operas originally written for the Mariinsky including the most recent Levsha (The Left-hander) by Rodion Shchedrin. With a 300-strong troop of musicians, soloists and chorus starting the tour in Cardiff with Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery, Valery Gergiev proceeds to London to present Russia's national epic Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov followed by the UK premiere of The Lefthander, both in concert versions at the Barbican.
Presented by Cape Town Opera, Show Boat is a musical of the old American South, rich with nostalgia, humour, love stories and well-loved melodies such as Ol' Man River and Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man. This ever-popular critically acclaimed musical will be on stage at the Opera House at Artscape, Cape Town for four performances only from 16 to 18 May 2014 before the production tours the United Kingdom from 2 July to 2 August 2014. Tickets for the limited South African season are on sale at Computicket.
Internationally acclaimed Welsh opera and concert bass-baritone Bryn Terfel will perform two concerts only at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town on Friday, 2nd May and Saturday, 3rd May 2014. With a host of awards and accolades including a GRAMMY Award, a CBE and the Queen's Medal for Music to his name, Terfel is one of the most sought-after opera singers in the world.
Cape Town Opera returns to the UK this June & July for a tour of their acclaimed Porgy and Bess, culminating in a two week run at the London Coliseum. Tsakane Maswanganyi, who previously thrilled audiences in the title role of Carmen Jones at the Royal Festival Hall will play Bess, while Xolela Sixaba will reprise the role of Porgy having won great acclaim for his performance in 2009.
Following a short tour in 2009 Cape Town Opera returns to the UK in 2012 to bring its production of Porgy and Bess to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Canterbury and Southampton before arriving in London for a two week run at the London Coliseum.
