Today, the Royal Ballet and Opera launches its 2025/26 Season, unveiling an unforgettable programme of new commissions, world premieres and much-loved revivals alongside the first annual festival connecting the worlds of opera and technology.   

• Royal Opera’s first Season with new Music Director Jakub Hrůša featuring eight new opera productions   
• Royal Ballet world premieres by Wayne McGregor, Cathy Marston, Akram Khan and choreographic duo Sol León and Paul Lightfoot 
• First Royal Ballet presentation of work by American choreographer Justin Peck  
• Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker returns for Christmas 
• RBO/Shift - a new festival exploring the ever-evolving intersection between opera and technology  
• Royal Opera premieres new production of Tosca by Oliver Mears 
• Tickets from £5 on sale from 2 July 2025  

In 2025/26, The Royal Opera welcomes Music Director Jakub Hrůša, and Principal Guest Conductor Speranza Scappucci, who join Royal Ballet Music Director Koen Kessels as RBO’s trio of Maestri. 

Opening the Season, Hrůša and Director of Opera Oliver Mears present a new production of Tosca – one of eight new productions throughout the year. Hrůša will go on to lead The Royal Opera’s first-ever staging of Janáček’s haunting and enigmatic opera The Makropulos Case, in a contemporary new production by Katie Mitchell. He will also conduct the first revival of Deborah Warner’s acclaimed production of Peter Grimes and, in a nod to his musical heritage, he will lead the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and Royal Opera Chorus in a concert featuring music by Bartók and Dvořák.

Jakub Hrůša, Music Director of The Royal Opera said:   'From my first experience working at The Royal Opera in 2018, it was clear to me that here is a place where the art form can be performed at the highest conceivable level. The repertoire we will work on together will be diverse and open to all directions and styles, covering the entire span of 300 years of the core repertoire. I am immensely looking forward to all of this and feel so beautifully welcomed by RBO.'

RBO/SHIFT

Netia Jones, Associate Director of The Royal Opera said: ‘For 300 years, opera makers have adopted contemporary technologies for live performance. The new frontier for opera, as for the world, is AI. Artificial intelligence represents a paradigm shift - only the arrival of electricity might equal its profound potential effect on theatre, and on the society around it. AI has the potential to affect every aspect of creativity and thought, and RBO/Shift aims to explore what it might mean for opera making, and what might be the most original, responsible, intriguing and imaginative ways of approaching it.’ 

New productions

The Royal Opera’s exploration of Benjamin Britten works continues in the Linbury Theatre with a chilling new production of The Turn of the Screw. Bassem Akiki conducts this atmospheric new staging, created by Natalie Abrahami and Michael Levine. The Jette Parker Artists present the work of three female composers in one show - Jette Parker Artists: Three Chamber Operas. Directed and conducted by JPAs Talia Stern and Peggy Wu, the mixed bill features Elizabeth Maconchy’s The Departure, Charlotte Bray’s Making Arrangements and Elena Langer’s Four Sisters.   

Oliver Mears, Director of Opera, The Royal Opera said:  ‘Our 2025/26 Season represents an exciting new chapter for the Company. Starting their tenures as Music Director and Principal Guest Conductor, Jakub Hrůša and Speranza Scappucci bring their unique musical brilliance and ability to communicate and inspire, continuing our proud tradition of superlative music-making; Netia Jones begins her tenure as Associate Director with a focus on bold innovation and AI; and across both stages we are thrilled to present productions featuring the very finest singers, conductors and directors. In sum – a season of great theatre, great music, and some of the greatest masterpieces of the repertoire.’ 

REVIVALS

Revivals of world-class repertory classics include a trio of Verdi’s best-loved operas. Speranza Scappucci makes her debut as Principal Guest Conductor of The Royal Opera, drawing out the signature Italianate lyricism of The Sicilian Vespers. She leads an all-star cast, including Marina Rebeka, SeokJong Baek, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo and Quinn Kelsey, in Stefan Herheim’s vivid production. Mark Elder conducts Verdi’s most famous masterpiece, Rigoletto. Two exceptional casts including George Petean, Daniel Luis de Vicente, Aida Garifullina, Rosa Feola, Robyn Allegra Parton, Liparit Avetisyan and Iván Ayón Rivas take to the stage in Oliver Mears’ darkly seductive production. Ermonela Jaho, Pretty Yende and Rachel Willis-Sørensen star in Richard Eyre’s classic production of La traviata, conducted by Antonello Manacorda and Giacomo Sagripanti.   

Alexander Soddy conducts the full forces of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in the first revival of Richard Jones’ acclaimed production of Samson et Dalila starring SeokJong Baek and Aigul Akhmetshina in the title roles.   

Daniel Oren conducts Andrei Șerban’s dazzling production of Puccini’s Turandot, with Anna Netrebko, Maida Hundeling and Anna Pirozzi sharing the title role and Yusif Eyvazov, Arsen Soghomonyan and Roberto Alagna sharing the role of Calaf. Richard Jones’ beloved staging of La bohème is also revived, conducted by Lorenzo Passerini and starring Juliana Grigoryan, Hrachuhí Bassénz, Freddie De Tommaso and Stefan Pop.   

Alex Esposito, Louise Alder, Andrey Zhilikhovsky, and Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha star as Figaro, Susanna, the Count and the Countess in David McVicar’s The Marriage of Figaro, conducted by Giedrė Šlekytė. McVicar’s The Magic Flute returns, with two star casts, including Julia Bullock, Lucy Crowe, Huw Montague Rendall, Amitai Pati and Mingjie Lei (who both make House debuts), led by French conductor Marie Jacquot in her Covent Garden debut. Finnegan Downie Dear also conducts.   

Richard Jones’ acclaimed staging of Mussorgsky’s awe-inspiring opera Boris Godunov returns, with Mark Wigglesworth conducting Bryn Terfel as the tormented Tsar.    

In May, our two resident Companies come together with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and Royal Opera Chorus in a special gala evening of music and dance. And in June, superstar soprano Anna Netrebko performs an intimate recital of songs and arias by German, Russian and French composers on the main stage, accompanied on the piano by Pavel Nebolsin.    

Closing the Season, Yves Abel conducts Laurent Pelly’s La fille du régiment starring Sara Blanch who makes her main stage debut alongside Juan Diego Flórez and Jonah Hoskins, who makes his House debut.  

From new faces to new works, The Royal Ballet’s 2025/26 Season brings the best of British ballet to the stage. Highlights include world premieres from two of the UK’s leading choreographers, Wayne McGregor and Cathy Marston. In Wayne McGregor: Alchemies, a mixed programme of pure poetry and power, the Company presents the world premiere of a new McGregor ballet, alongside two recent works that are testament to the choreographer's ceaseless imagination and fiercely collaborative spirit. Following her award-winning success with The Cellist, a brand-new abstract work by Cathy Marston forms part of Perspectives: Balanchine, Marston, Peck. This world premiere takes inspiration from its score, Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto. Also featured is George Balanchine’s ethereal Serenade and Justin Peck’s uplifting Everywhere We Go – the first work by Peck to be performed by The Royal Ballet.  

In a thrilling Royal Ballet debut, choreographic duo Paul Lightfoot and Sol León will stage a double bill, So Are We: León and Lightfoot. Originally choreographed as a film by Lightfoot during the pandemic in homage to the balletic art form, STANDBY will now be recreated by the duo as a world premiere for the Company, accompanied by a newly composed score by Ilya Demutsky. Shoot the Moon, celebrating its 20th anniversary, explores relationships and the solitude that lies within them. 

In July, contemporary choreographer Akram Khan poetically draws inspiration from Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin in a new full-length ballet, Carnage and the Divine. Themes of innocence, desire, hope and memory will be explored through Khan’s contemporary lens, metaphorical sensibility and distinctive dance language. This brand-new production brings to the forefront Khan’s collaborative spirit alongside a world-class creative team, dancers of The Royal Ballet and guest artists.   

Following its world premiere at Manchester International Festival, A Single Man will be presented in the Linbury Theatre. Former Royal Ballet dancer Jonathan Watkins reimagines Christopher Isherwood’s novel A Single Man as an exhilarating contemporary ballet with new live music from John Grant and Jasmin Kent Rodgman. Former Royal Ballet Principal Edward Watston shares the title role of George with guest artist Jonathan Goddard. 

In the year of Glen Tetley's centenary, the American choreographer's surreal 1962 Pierrot Lunaire is revived. Re-interpreting Arnold Schoenberg’s atonal spoken song melodrama of the same name, Tetley takes stock characters from the 18th-century theatrical tradition of commedia dell’arte and throws them into an austere set by designer Rouben Ter-Arutunian. 

Following its recently acclaimed critical reception, Osipova/Linbury returns to the Linbury Theatre in a programme shining a spotlight on Principal dancer Natalia Osipova. The programme will include a revival of The Exhibition by Norwegian choreographer Jo Strømgren. 

Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet said: ‘We’re delighted to unveil this Season's programme, which celebrates the boundless creativity and vision of the Company. From beloved revivals by our founding and resident choreographers, to thrilling new works on our stages, each piece represents a unique voice and perspective, inviting audiences into compelling worlds of movement and expression. At the heart of every Season are our remarkable Royal Ballet dancers, and we’re honoured to collaborate with such talented artists and with guest companies - sharing these transformative performances with our audiences.’ 

REVIVALS 

Inspired by dark and gripping real life events, Royal Ballet classic Mayerling returns to the Main Stage. Depicting the sexual and morbid obsessions of Crown Prince Rudolf leading to the murder-suicide scandal with his mistress Mary Vetsera, Kenneth MacMillan's 1978 ballet remains a masterpiece of storytelling. Expect to see the Company at its dramatic finest across potent ensemble scenes and some of the most daring and emotionally demanding pas de deux in the ballet repertory.  

Two much-loved Peter Wright productions are revived this Season. Set to Adolphe Adam’s evocative score and with atmospheric designs by John Macfarlane, the acclaimed Romantic classic Giselle conjures up earthly and otherworldly realms in a tale of love, betrayal and redemption. Wright’s sparkling 1984 production of The Nutcracker returns in time for Christmas. With breathtaking choreography, Tchaikovsky’s spectacular score and Julia Trevelyan Oman’s timeless designs, this family favourite is not to be missed.  

In September, Like Water for Chocolate is revived for the first time. Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel’s 1989 book of the same name provides the basis for Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon’s adaptation, with music and designs by Wheeldon’s longstanding collaborators Joby Talbot and Bob Crowley.  And in January 2026 we revive Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works, inspired by the life and work of Virginia Woolf, with music by Max Richter.

VISITING COMPANIES

This will also be the largest ever Season of accessible performances, offering audio-described, captioned, British Sign Language (BSL) interpreted performances, supporting resources such as touch tours and visual story guides, and sensory adapted relaxed performances of productions including A Single Man, Little Red Riding Hood, Pierrot Lunaire, La Fille mal gardée, and for opera: Last Days and JPA: Three Chamber Operas.  

Shows for Schools 

Alex Beard, Chief Executive of the Royal Ballet and Opera, said: ‘This Season more people than ever before will have the opportunity to enjoy the incredible work on our stages, in schools and cinemas across the UK, and through streaming and digital media, right across the world. Central to the mission that guides us, we are absolutely committed to extend our leading nationwide schools and community outreach programmes, ensuring that people of all ages and backgrounds can experience the joys of singing, dance and design.’