Royal Ballet and Opera announce their 2026/27 season

The Royal Opera includes new productions such as a reimagining of Mozart’s comedy of manners Così fan tutte, while the Royal Ballet will mark Wayne McGregor's two decades at the venue with revivals of Chroma and MADDADDAM.

The Royal Ballet and Opera have announced their 2026/27 season, which includes 10 new opera productions and revivals of Chroma and MADDADDAM to mark Wayne McGregor's two decades as Resident Choreographer at the Royal Ballet.

The Royal Opera includes new productions such as a reimagining of Mozart’s comedy of manners Così fan tutte, led by Royal Opera Associate Director Netia Jones. Thomas Hengelbrock conducts.

Evgeny Titov makes his House debut with Wagner's Parsifal. Royal Opera Music Director Jakub Hrůša conducts, and will return to helm a new production of Un ballo in maschera, directed by Philipp Stölzl (also in his House debut), and a revival of Richard Jones’ production of Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová. He also leads a concert performance of Duke Bluebeard’s Castle paired with The Rite of Spring. The Royal Opera’s Principal Guest Conductor, Speranza Scappucci, leads the revival of Richard Jones’s Il trittico.

Barrie Kosky brings his journey through Wagner’s Ring cycle to its conclusion with Götterdämmerung, conducted by Conductor Laureate of The Royal Opera Antonio Pappano. Pappano also reunites with Director of Opera Oliver Mears for a new production of La Gioconda, which has not been staged at Covent Garden for almost a century.

The season also features Kosky’s new staging of Handel’s Hercules, conducted by Baroque specialist Laurence Cummings.

Netia Jones’s first programmed Linbury Theatre season will include the world premiere of Brett Dean’s double bill Good Sometimes Queen, directed by Ola Ince. The Company also revives 4.48 Psychosis, Philip Venables’ operatic adaptation of Sarah Kane’s 2000 play. Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir sees her chamber opera UR_ brought to the stage in Jones’s production.

The season will include the first-ever staging of Rameau by The Royal Opera at Covent Garden. American director R.B. Schlather makes his House debut alongside Camille Delaforge, who conducts the Irish Baroque Orchestra.

The season will also feature first revivals such as Christof Loy’s staging of Strauss’ Elektra, conducted by Semyon Bychkov, Richard Jones’ Olivier Award‑winning Alcina conducted by David Bates, and Oliver Mears’ Tosca, conducted by Daniel Oren.

David McVicar’s production of The Magic Flute, conducted by Dalia Stasevska and Julia Jones; Kasper Holten’s Don Giovanni, conducted by Stefano Montanari; Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen, conducted by Sesto Quatrini; Robert Carsen’s Aida, conducted by Michele Mariotti; and Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s Madama Butterfly, conducted by Henrik Nánási will also feature in the season.

The Royal Ballet season will include a celebration of Wayne McGregor's 20th anniversary as Resident Choreographer, including a revival of Chroma, which radically explores the extremes of the human body. This celebration continues with the return of his multi‑sensory epic MADDADDAM, following its UK premiere in 2024. Inspired by Margaret Atwood’s trilogy of novels and with an original score by Max Richter, the work is one of McGregor’s most visionary and ambitious creations.

A mixed programme, Disruptors, in May 2027 will invite audiences to experience ballet through four genre‑defying works: Pam Tanowitz helms Or Forevermore, joined by Never Known, the 2024 creation by Royal Ballet dancer and choreographer Joshua Junker, while Akram Khan's poetic pas de deux Hunting a Whisper in the Wind completes the programme.

The season opens with Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, and is followed by Visionaries: Robbins and MacMillan, bringing together two 20th‑century masterpieces: MacMillan’s Song of the Earth and Jerome Robbins’s Dances at a Gathering.

In January 2027, The Royal Ballet honours its Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton with Landmarks: Unmissable Ashton – a chance to experience Les Rendezvous, Symphonic Variations and Daphnis and Chloë.

Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker will return at Christmas, revived in his centenary year. Liam Scarlett’s production of Swan Lake for The Royal Ballet also returns, uniting Tchaikovsky’s sweeping score with John Macfarlane’s designs.

Check back for shows in the Royal Ballet and Opera seasons on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Oliver Mears's Tosca at the Royal Opera House. (Photo by Marc Brenner)