Has just been announced, bringing a temporary hiatus to the speculation that has been going on.
First the bad news. No Plácido. I've already gone into sulk mode and thrown my toys out of the pram. Sod the ROH, see if I care.
The season starts with Faust, with Angela Gheorghiu the highlight. John Relyea gets to wear the black sparkly dress.
We also have a concert performance at The Barbican of La Juive. Mainly a good solid British cast; Nicole Cabell (Cardiff Singer of the Year) makes her debut.
La Finta Giardineria is fully staged: I figured it might be a concert performance. The English Baroque Soloists are the band.
The we have Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Although I'm not a Shostakovitch fan, this is on my MUST SEE list - a fantastic production.
Bird of Night by Dominique Le Gendre appears in the Linbury (and out of left-field as far as mmofm is concerned...!)
We then have La Boheme, with Marcelo Alvarez (!) (I'll give Frank Lopardo a miss, except that he's in the cast with Robert Gleadow - a mmofm 'One To Watch' - as Colline)
Then we have Queen of Spades, with Gerald Finley (yay!)
A double-cast Carmen, new production. Lead role is Anna Maria Antonacci and Marina Domashenko. Jonas Kaufmann (!) and Marco Berti share Don Jose - so, no Alagna...Francesca Zambello directs.
La Fille du Regiment, follows, as predicted with Juan Diego Florez (!) and Natalie Dessay
Marcelo Alvarez (!) returns as Manrico in Il Trovatore, with Catherine Nagelstad and Stephanie Blythe.
Madama Butterfly, I'll miss. None of the cast is a pull factor.
Handel's Orlando is followed by a revival of The Tempest. Mainly the original cast in the main parts, although Kate Royal is added to the list.
The there is the L'heure espagnole/ Gianni Schicchi double bill. Yann Beuron, an mmofm One To Watch is in the former; Bryn Terfel is the major pull factor for the latter.
Stiffelio stars Jose Cura (ah well, never mind) and Sondra Radvanovsky.
Owen Wingrave (unpredicted on this blog) crops up in the Linbury
Pelleas et Meliande stars my favourite baritone (Gerald Finley), my favourite mezzo (Angelika Kirchschlager) and the frequently shirtless Simon Keenlyside. I suppose I shall have to learn not to hate Debussy. Simon Rattle conducts.
Fidelio stars Karita Mattila and a very good if not necessarily star-studded cast - although Simon O'Neill is being heralded as the latest heldentenor. Andrew Staples, very much an mmofm 'One to Watch' makes his ROH debut. Splendid.
Don Giovanni is the Big One for summer with Erwin Schrott, Jonathan Lemalu (ah well, never mind), Anna Netrebko, Ana Maria Martinez and a generally impressive cast.
Charles Mackerras conducts Kat'a Kabanova.
A concert performance of Thais stars Renee Fleming, Thomas Hampson and Joseph Calleja.
Tosca with Violeta Urmana, Salvator Licitra (oh please, do we have to) and Mark Delevan (shrug). This is one of many productions featuring Robert Gleadow.
Rigoletto and Cosi fan Tutte finish the season.
So well done to the mmofm community. We've done bloody well in predicting this, and the only predicted one that isn't scheduled is Le nozze di figaro.
Biggest thanks of all to the various less-than-discrete singers and/or their agents who make it all possible!
But I'm still sulking at there being no Pláci and no Rolando. I'm going to have to get on a bloody aeroplane, innit?
Update: MusicOMH has a sensible preview
Update update: Cunning Little Vixen previews it. Best quote:
There probably should be laws against putting Gerald Finley, Simon Keenlyside and Robert Gleadow on the same stage in the same opera at the same time.
