Stephen Lawless

Denounced as a traitor, the dashing earl Roberto Devereux has been summoned to the court of Elizabeth I to answer for his crimes. His very life is at stake. And the only way for him to escape the executioner’s axe is to appeal to the queen’s love. But will his own heart betray him? An earl’s secret romance becomes his undoing in Gaetano Donizetti’s royal drama.

Glyndebourne's pulsating new production of the Waltz King's much-loved comic operetta. Its story centers on a magnificent masked ball, given by a Russian prince, that brings together all the main characters in various disguises. The three-act journey from boudoir to ballroom to jail provides ample opportunities for farce and humor, but also for genuine human emotion and a surprisingly realistic view of urban life.

Modest Mussorgsky's opera in prologue and four acts is performed by the Kirov Opera with performances from Olga Borodina, Alexei Steblianko and Sergei Leiferkust. Boris Godunov has obtained the throne of Russia by murdering the rightful heir Dmitry. An old monk, Pimen, witnessed this, and convinces his apprentice Grigory to avenge Dmitry's death. In the following years Grigory poses as Dmitry, raising an army against Boris, who is now convinced that he is being punished for the murder. Filmed in Russia during the collapse of the Soviet Union, this particular production of Mussorgsky's 1872 tale of political upheaval is considered a highly unique and historical moment in opera. Robert Lloyd stars in the title role of Boris Godunov.