Opera and ballet at Wolverhampton's Light House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK38Aj4EIIA

Wolverhampton's Light House cinema is continuing its successful Music on Screen season into 2012, with spectacular operas and ballet beamed from the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

The productions are Puccini's Il Trittico, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Verdi's Rigoletto and the ballet La Fille Mal Gardée.

Il Trittico - Monday, February, 20 - 6.30 for 6.45pm:

Not seen at Convent Garden for nearly 50 years in the complete triptych, this is a triumph for the Royal Opera House's music director, Antonio Pappano and director Richard Jones.

First performed in 1918, Puccini at first conceived of three contrasting operas drawn from Dante's Divine Comedy. However, in the end he based only the third on Dante, the farcical Gianni Schicchi with its stylistic roots in Commedia Dell'arte.

About this production, Fiona Maddocks wrote: 'For a night at the opera, it was even funnier than A Night at the Opera.'

The first is a dark, violent, brooding tale of murder and jealousy, Il Tarabbo (The Cloak), adapted from a contemporary play and is a verisimo piece set on a Seine barge.

The central 'panel' was Puccini's personal favourite and is Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) and is an original libretto.

This is an uplifting story of religious redemption, given a new twist in Richard Jones' revelatory staging.

Running time: 3hrs 45min including two intervals

Romeo and Juliet - Thursday, March 22 - 7.15 for 7.30pm:

Now one of the most popular and enduring ballets of all time, Romeo and Juliet had a difficult birth. Although Prokofiev completed the score in 1935, the work was not performed in full until 1938, significantly in Czechoslovakia rather than in Russia, where Pravda had recently criticized 'degenerate modernists' including Piotrovsky, who had created the synopsis for Romeo and Juliet, and where the Bolshoi Ballet had pronounced it 'undanceable'.

A revised version was eventually given in Leningrad in 1940 followed by a presentation in Germany in 1962 and the US premier in1969. However, it was the Kenneth MacMillan's 1965 interpretation, one the greatest examples of 20th-century choreography, that put it firmly into the international repertoire and which is being revived by the Royal Opera House this season.

Beautifully staged with rich period costumes and designs, this Romeo and Juliet is certain to draw audiences into its intense drama with some of today's finest dancers including Lauren Cuthbertson and Sergei Polunin matched to the powerful sounds of Prokefiev's music under the baton of Pavel Sorokin.

Running time: 3hrs including two intervals

Rigoletto - Tuesday, April 17 - 7.15 for 7.30pm:

Rigoletto is based on the play Le Roi S'amuse by Victor Hugo, the libretto by Francesco Piave who had already working on five of Verdi's operas.

Northern Italy was controlled by Austria at the time and the Austrian censor denied consent for the production; it was viewed as subversive in its portrayal of a decedent, womanising king. Piave favoured compromise but Verdi preferred to have direct negotiations with the censors, arguing point by point.

In the end, he had to make a number of changes to the original Hugo play including making the king a duke who ruled over an imaginary 'Mantova' rather than France and changing the title of the work.

The premier of Rigoletto was at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851 and was a complete triumph (with La donna è mobile being sung in the streets the next day) and has remained in the 'top ten' ever since.

This production by David McVicar has become of firm favourite with Royal Opera House audiences. It stars Dmitri Platinias as the bitter hunchback jester, Rigoletto, Ekaterina Siurina as his pure and beautiful daughter, Gilda, and Vittorio Grigolo and licentious Duke of Mantova in one of Verdi's most Shakespearian of operas with seduction, revenge and devastating tragedy. The conductor is John Eliot Gardiner.

Running time: 2hrs 50min including two intervals

La Fille Mal Gardée - Wednesday 16 May - 7.15 for 7.30pm:

Fredrick Ashton's sunny story of young love is one of the most delightful and popular works in the Royal Ballet repertory. Full of charm, the story follows the youthful affections of Lise and Colas as they arrange their secret assignations right under the nose of Lise's protective mother, the Widow Simone.

The setting in a storybook village with dancing hens, a maypole and clog dancing, together with Ferdinand Herold's tuneful score, add up to evening that will appeal all ages and all lovers of dance.

La Fille Mal Gardée or (the girl who needs watching) is one of the oldest and most important works in the ballet repertory, first performed in 1789, and has been kept alive by way of many revivals ever since.

This is a revival of the landmark 1960 production in which the music was arranged by John Lanchbery and the sets were designed by Osbert Lancaster. Performers include Roberta Marquez and Steven McRae. The conductor is Barry Wordsworth.

Running time: 2hrs 15min including an interval

Tickets for all the productions are £18 for adults and £12.50 under 15s. For more info or to book tickets visit www.light-house.co.uk

For in-depth information about the productions visit www.roh.org.uk