Filmed live at Covent Garden's Royal Opera House in 1981, this staging of Camille Saint-Saens's opera takes on one of the Bible's most famous tales. After trying to force the Hebrews to worship his god, the Philistine ruler meets an untimely end at the hands of the prodigiously powerful Samson (Jon Vickers), who leads the Hebrews in a revolt. But beautiful Philistine Dalila (Shirley Verrett) uses her seductive wiles to weaken the strapping hero.

Sarah Lamb and Vadim Muntagirov star as tragic lovers Manon and Des Grieux in this performance of Kenneth MacMillans Manon, a classic of the Royal Ballet repertory. Nicholas Gerogiadiss period designs set the ballet in the contrasting worlds of Paris Luxury and Louisiana swampland, while the intense emotion of MacMillans choreography is complemented by a score drawn from Massenets music. The impassioned pas de deux from Manon and Des Grieux drive this tragic story, and make Manon one of MacMillans most powerful dramas.

‘The school for lovers’, Mozart’s alternative title for Così fan tutte, is given a playful, theatrical treatment by German director Jan Philipp Gloger, who sets this new production for The Royal Opera in a theatre. The four lovers are performed by a cast of young rising stars, with Sabina Puértolas as the fun-loving Despina and acclaimed German baritone and comic genius Johannes Martin Kränzle as the impresario Don Alfonso, who leads the lovers on a role-playing journey full of picturesque settings. Semyon Bychkov conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in one of Mozart’s most beautiful scores, packed with wonderful arias and ensembles.

Captured live at London’s Royal Opera House, this Barbiere, with its unbeatable cast and the directors’ characteristic wit and intelligence, offers a unique dramatic twist: Joyce DiDonato, who had broken her leg on the opening night, went on with the show. As she said: “Being trapped in the wheelchair was a quite literal way of demonstrating Rosina's huge desire to break free.

Mozart's comic opera tells the story of Belmonte, a Spanish Nobleman, who arrives at a Turkish palace in search of his beloved Konstanze who has become part of Pasha Selim's harem. Together Belmonte and Konstanze plan her escape. Filmed at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in 1988, Georg Solti conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House. Deon van der Walt and Inga Nielsen star. “Solti's effervescence and warmth inspire a splendid cast, especially Nielsen's unusually desperate, passionate Constanze and antagonists Moll and Watson. Richly comic and brilliant sung.” - BBC Music Magazine

‘Jonas Kaufmann Sings an ‘Otello’ for the Ages’- New York Times. On a sweltering night at London’s Royal Opera House in June 2017, Jonas Kaufmann made his debut performance as Otello - one of the most coveted and challenging roles in the tenor operatic repertoire. The Guardian commented on his performance: “Kaufmann thrills in a dark, expres-sionistic staging”. This new production by director Keith Warner presents a simultaneously modern and abstract approach to one of Verdi’s greatest operas.

Mozart's fourth opera - written when he was only 14 - displays all the hallmarks of the fresh, inventive writing that was to flourish into extraordinary genius in his later works and, with a cast as good as this, The Royal Opera's production takes Mitridate, re di Ponto to the highest levels of operatic achievement. Based on a play by Jean Racine, it is a story of jealous love and political intrigue.

A grand opera that dominated the stages of Europe for most of the 19th century, Robert le diable is a masterpiece.
Director Laurent Pelly breathes new life into Giacomo Meyerbeer’s great spectacle and audaciously entertaining moral fable, in this colourful new staging for The Royal Opera. The wonderful score includes brilliant arias, dramatic ensembles, rousing choruses and a ballet of ghostly nuns, and with the wavering hero of the title sung by Bryan Hymel, acclaimed for his role as Énée in Les Troyens for The Royal Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, this is an unmissable experience.

Diana Damrau and Angelika Kirchschlager star in the acclaimed 2008 production of Humperdinck's famous fairytale opera, in the company of two of Britain's most revered musical figures: Thomas Allen, playing the role of the Father, and the legendary conductor Colin Davis. Directors Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser combine their characteristic wit and a dash of deliciously dark comedy with the opera's fairytale charm. Humperdinck's music mixes catchy folk-like songs with sumptuous instrumental colour, making the result as tunefully approachable, musically memorable and visually delightful as opera gets. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in full Surround Sound.

A grand opera that dominated the stages of Europe for most of the 19th century, Robert le diable is a masterpiece. Director Laurent Pelly breathes new life into Giacomo Meyerbeer’s great spectacle and audaciously entertaining moral fable, in this colourful new staging for The Royal Opera. The wonderful score includes brilliant arias, dramatic ensembles, rousing choruses and a ballet of ghostly nuns, and with the wavering hero of the title sung by Bryan Hymel, acclaimed for his role as Énée in Les Troyens for The Royal Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, this is an unmissable experience.

With Anna Caterina Antonacci and Jonas Kaufmann bringing rare erotic intensity to the drama of Carmen and Don Jose, this Royal Opera production is a darkly passionate reading of one of the world's favourite operas. Under the baton of Music Director Antonio Pappano, Bizet's irresistible score drives the tragedy forward - powering a landmark staging of a musical masterpiece.

Verdi’s best-loved work, is performed here by a star cast in a revival of Richard Eyre’s highly acclaimed 1994 production. Music Director Antonio Pappano conducts La traviata for the first time at Covent Garden. American soprano Renée Fleming returns to Covent Garden to sing Violetta for the first time with The Royal Opera. La traviata was first performed at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice in March 1853.

When Carlo Maria Giulini returned to conducting public performances of opera after an absence of fourteen years, he chose for the occasion one of the enduring comic masterpieces - Verdi's Falstaff. The composer was almost eighty when he broke the six-year silence following the premiere of Otello, and startled the musical world by revealing his complete mastery of comic invention. Renato Bruson, the renowned interpreter of Verdi and one of the leading lyric baritones of the day, sings the title role.

Verdi's drama of revenge, in its stunning new production by David McVicar, is filled with some of the composer's most celebrated music. Sir Edward Downes conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House with a cast which includes Paolo Gavanelli, Marcelo Alvarez, and Christine Schäfer.

This Covent Garden performance has transferred to video and DVD remarkably successfully, partly because the singing and acting of the principals is so good, but chiefly because conductor Georg Solti finds an excellent balance between sharp characterisation and sumptuous romance; between wit and mischief on the one hand and profound feelings on the other. Though sensitive to its beauties, Solti keeps the music moving along, never becoming sloppy or over-indulgent.