Audio Introductions
Audio introductions are a specialist service offered for their blind and visually impaired patrons by The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, and English National Opera, London Coliseum, London .
The audio introduction is relayed over the wireless/infra red loop at the theatre shortly before the start of each performance. It can be accessed by means of a discreet, light weight headset which is available from the theatre staff.
The commentary is usually about ten - fifteen minutes in length and provides production details of the setting, characters and costumes. It also contains background information about the production, and a brief synopsis of the first Act.
A shorter, five minute commentary covering later scenes and Acts is available during each interval.
Audio introductions are available for every performance but the productions listed below are in repertory and so are not performed every night. For further information and to book tickets please contact the venue directly. For your additional information, the dates of the first and last performances appear underneath the title.
Click on the production title to obtain further details
The Sleeping Beauty
16 January - 6 June 2023
The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden
Magic and fairytale characters are brought to life through ballet – a family favourite.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Aida
5 May - 1 June 2023
Royal Opera House
Love and duty collide and nations clash in Verdi's political drama, starring Francesco Meli, SeokJong Baek and Angel Blue and conducted by Mark Elder.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Wozzeck
19 May - 7 June 2023
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Award-winning director Deborah Warner creates a vivid new staging of Berg's opera, starring Christian Gerhaher and conducted by Antonio Pappano.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Il Trovatore
2 June - 2 July 2023
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
A devastating curse rises from the ashes in Verdi's monumental tale of superstition and rivalry.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
New Wayne McGregor /Corybantic Games/ Anastasia Act III
9 - 17 June 2023
The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden
The Royal Ballet presents British-made works old and new, from Kenneth MacMillan, Christopher Wheeldon and Wayne McGregor.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Werther
20 June - 4 July 2023
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Antonio Pappano conducts Massenet's opera of grand passion and devastating tragedy.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Don Carlo
30 June - 15 July 2023
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Nicholas Hytner's production of Verdi’s epic historical opera evokes the passion, violence and religious repression of Renaissance Spain.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Marriage of Figero
8 - 22 July 2023
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Director David McVicar brings out the revolutionary elements in Mozart’s great comic opera of intrigue, misunderstanding and forgiveness.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
La Traviata
10 - 23 July 2023
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Richard Eyre's beautiful production tells the heart-breaking story of Violetta, a courtesan who sacrifices all for love.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
The Rheingold
11 - 29 September 2023
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
When a precious hoard of gold is stolen from the river Rhine, it unleashes a chain of destructive events, pitting gods and mortals against one another for generations. Wagner’s Ring cycle boasts some of the greatest music ever written for the opera stage. Join us as we embark on a spectacular journey into the world of myth, dream and memory, with the figure of Erda – Mother Earth herself – at its centre.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
La Forza del Destino
19 Sept – 9 October 2023
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Torn apart by a tragic accident on the night of their elopement, Leonora and Don Alvaro seek refuge in spirituality and solitude. But when war brings Alvaro side-by-side with Leonora's estranged brother, the legacy of the past threatens to plunge their lives into turmoil once again.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Peter Grimes
21 September 2023 – 11 October
English National Opera, The London Coliseum
Featuring some of the most powerful and evocative opera music ever written, Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes paints a vivid picture of a small community’s transformation into a hateful mob in the face of a local tragedy.
Website: https://www.eno.org
Box Office Tele: 0207 845 9300.
Live Chat is also available Monday – Friday between 10.00 to 18.00. at eno.org
L'Elisir d'Amore
22 September – 10 October 2023
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Country boy Nemorino is determined to win the haughty Adina’s heart, but she refuses to give him the time of day. Can Doctor Dulcamara’s so-called ‘elixir of love’ work its magic?
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Don Quixote
30 Sept – 17 November 2023
The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden
Teeming with comedy, wit and an abundance of bravura choreography, Carlos Acosta's production brings the Spanish heat and romance of Cervantes' classic novel to life.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Iolanthe
5 – 25 October
English National Opera, The London Coliseum
In the corridors of power everyone's away with the fairies! Cal McCrystal returns to direct this successful production. Bringing his characteristic joyfully chaotic physical comedy, irreverence and brilliant wordplay
Website: https://www.eno.org
Box Office Tele: 0207 845 9300.
Live Chat is also available Monday – Friday between 10.00 to 18.00. at eno.org
Rigoletto
12 October – 28 November
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Verdi's devastating masterpiece pits power against innocence in a pitiless world of luxurious decadence, corruption and social decay.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Anemoi/The Cellist
20 October 2023 – 2 November 2023
The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden
Anemoi was created by First Soloist Valentino Zucchetti in 2021, emerging out of lockdown in energetic swathes of classical movement. Inspired by the Greek wind gods, Anemoi exemplifies the homegrown choreographer’s sophisticated contemporary style.
Cathy Marston’s flair for emotive storytelling shines through in The Cellist, a lyrical memoir of cellist Jacqueline du Pré’s life, which was tragically cut short by multiple sclerosis. Rich, poignant, joyous and tragic, the ballet is set to an exquisite score, itself a homage to the cello.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
La Traviata
23 October – 12 November 2023
The English National Opera, The London Coliseum
When the world worships wealth, love costs dearly. Violetta turns her back on a life of glamour, style and standing for the man she loves. But upper-class fashionable society, feeling itself spurned, decides it’s not a suitable match.
Website: https://www.eno.org
Box Office Tele: 0207 845 9300.
Live Chat is also available Monday – Friday between 10.00 to 18.00. at eno.org
7 Deaths of Maria Callas
3 - 11 November 2023
The English National Opera, The London Coliseum
As the prima donna of the 20th century, Callas lived the sentiment captured by Tosca in her aria ‘Vissi d’arte’. Tosca has defeated her adversary, but the future is a dark, gathering storm and she reflects on her life.
Website: https://www.eno.org
Box Office Tele: 0207 845 9300.
Live Chat is also available Monday – Friday between 10.00 to 18.00. at eno.org
Jephtha
8 – 24 November 2023
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Allan Clayton stars in Oliver Mears’s gripping new staging of Handel’s brooding tale of faith and sacrifice. Jephtha's belief in God is unshakeable. But when he unwittingly vows to sacrifice his own daughter, he will test the bonds of faith – and family – to the limit.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
The Dante Project
18 November – 2 December 2023
The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden
Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor, composer Thomas Adès, artist Tacita Dean, lighting designer Lucy Carter and dramaturg Uzma Hameed present a monumental reinvention of Dante's vision, by turns terrifying, lyrical and dazzling, in this compelling award-winning ballet for the full Company.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Cavalleria Rusticana/ Pagliacca
30 November – 15 December 2023
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Two tales of passion and jealousy collide in Damiano Michieletto’s Olivier Award-winning double production.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
The Nutcracker
6 December 2023 – 13 January 2024
The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden
Join Clara at a delightful Christmas Eve party that becomes a magical adventure once everyone else is tucked up in bed. Marvel at the brilliance of Tchaikovsky’s score, as Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker fight the Mouse King and visit the Sugar Plum Fairy in the glittering Kingdom of Sweets.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000
Hansel & Gretel
16 December 2023 – 7 January 2024
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Siblings Hansel and Gretel neglect their chores and decide to play games instead. Their mother returns and scolds them, accidentally breaking the jug of milk needed for dinner. She sends the children off to the forest to find strawberries.
Humperdinck's tuneful opera based on a much-loved German fairytale is given a magical staging in Antony McDonald’s mischievous production.
Website: https://www.roh.org.uk
Booking Office: 0207 304 4000