Royal Opera House, Covent Garden announces its 2018/19 programme for the coming Season and will include world premieres, major new productions and classic revivals.
Five Rayfield Allied artists will appear throughout the season.
Following her successes with Così fan tutte (“A remarkable performance” – The Guardian) and Die Zauberflöte (“a performance that stands out for its verve and clarity” – Financial Times) Julia Jones returns to conduct Carmen. She also conducts the opera this season at Oper Wuppertal (where she is General Music Director) having previously conducted it in Cagliari, Lisbon, Vienna and Stuttgart. Julia is known for both the clarity and the fire of her interpretations, with recent and upcoming appearances including Oper Frankfurt, Opéra national du Rhin, Seattle Opera, Den Norske Opera and the Royal Opera in Stockholm.
Phillip Rhodes makes his Covent Garden debut as Escamillo Carmen. Phillip sang the role at The Grange Festival last season receiving fantastic reviews. Following a busy season at Opera North in the roles of Alfio/Silvio Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci and Count Anckarström Un ballo in maschera, Phillip will make his role debut at Grange Park Opera as Jud Fry Oklahoma! and begins next season in the role of Scarpia Tosca at Nederlandse Reisopera.
Tenor Sam Furness will make his Royal Opera House debut as The Novice Billy Budd and The Simpleton Boris Godunov. Sam has recently made his role debut as Don José Carmen (Jyväskylä Opera) and will make his role debut this summer as Flamand Capriccio (Garsington Opera). He has been described as having “a voice with star quality, and Furness can float it delicately over a final chord as readily as he can send it slamming to the back of the hall” (The Arts Desk).
David Stout returns to the Royal Opera House as Roucher Andrea Chénier. David regularly sings at Welsh National Opera and has recently sung at English National Opera, Theater St Gallen and the Grand Théâtre de Genève. He recently received excellent reviews as Leporello Don Giovanni at Welsh National Opera: “As Leporello David Stout was – as he always is – a powerful stage presence. Stout seems completely at home on stage to a degree by no means universally to be found amongst British singers. His Leporello well sung throughout, was equally convincing as a servant-clown and as a would-be honest man” (Seen and Heard International).
Hubert Francis returns to the Royal Opera House once again in the role of Spoletta Tosca. Hugh is a well-known face to Covent Garden audiences since his first of many Spoletta appearances there in 2004. He remains a stalwart of the house. Next season he will also cover the role of Mime in Das Rheingold and Siegfried.
