La Bohème (Puccini, Giacomo (1858-1924))  

From 4-11 September British Youth Opera (BYO) offers the chance to hear the next generation of opera singers in new productions of La bohème and Euridice at Sadler’s Wells’ Peacock Theatre.

Each year BYO auditions the best students and recent graduates from the country’s music colleges and selects over 60 of them to take part in its intensive Summer Season. After nearly two months of coaching and rehearsals, the singers take to the stage for a week of performances, when audiences (and casting agents) will be on the look out for the opera stars of the future.

Led by a creative team whose operatic credits include English National Opera, the Royal Opera House, New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Salzburg Festival this year’s productions of La bohème and Euridice provide the perfect vehicles for BYO’s young singers.

Puccini’s La bohème is probably the most romantic of all operas and BYO’s production is sure to capture the youthful passion and energy of the young Bohemians at the opera’s heart.

BYO singers this year include John Pierce (as Rodolfo, La bohème) who will represent Wales in next year’s Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Past BYO singers have gone on to win international prizes and sing leading roles in opera houses worldwide, from Covent Garden and Glyndebourne to Bayreuth Festival and the Sydney Opera House – this is truly a chance to hear opera’s next generation!

Tickets £10 - £36

Opening night VIP tickets available priced £95, including interval drinks and post-show buffet reception with the cast.

Die Fledermaus, Op.56 (Strauss II, Johann (1825-1899))  

Strauss' well-known operetta "Die Fledermaus" is presented at the Volksoper Vienna.

"The bat" is a comedy of light-hearted deceit, filled with lively dance music. Bourgeois citizen Eisenstein must go to prison because of an oversight by his lawyer. Hearing this news, Alfred, former lover of Eisenstein's wife, Rosalinda, decides to use her husband's absence to renew his suit. Then, Eisenstein's friend Falke arrives, dressed as a bat, and invites the unwitting husband to postpone his imprisonment for a few hours and attend a masquerade. The pair depart and Alfred arrives, only to be mistaken for Eisenstein and carted off to jail.
At the ball, Eisenstein is dazzled by a mysterious Hungarian countess, who is none other than his wife in disguise. Afterwards, he turns himself in at the jail, only to find Alfred and Rosalinda already there. As the three confront each other, the rest of the cast magically appears, tension dissolves and all unite in singing the praises of champagne....

This Viennese operetta deserves to be enjoyed throughout the year, and not just on New Year's Eve!