PALACE OPERA AND BALLET
Experience the best of what's on stage in Europe in Bowral, with new performances screening direct from London’s Royal Ballet and Opera, Opéra National de Paris and Milan’s Teatro alla Scala!
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Royal Opera: The Marriage of Figaro
It’s Figaro’s wedding, and you’re invited to join the Almaviva household for an uproarious day of revelation and scandal. Mozart’s comic opera is packed with plot twists, forbidden desires and unforgettable melodies, combining laugh-out-loud comedy with moments of breathtaking beauty.
Language: Italian
Production Company: Royal Opera House, Trafalgar Releasing
Director – David McVicar
Cast – Luca Micheletti, Ying Fang, Huw Montague Rendall, Jacquelyn Stucker, Ginger Costa-Jackson, Peter Kálmán, Rebecca Evans, Adrian Thompson, Jeremy White
Screening Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 October at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 16 October at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Swan Lake
During his birthday’s celebration, Prince Siegfried must choose a bride. Trying to escape reality, he dreams of a perfect love. His tutor tries to bring him down to Earth and reminds him of his duties. On a dreamlike getaway, the prince meets Odette, a princess who has been transformed into a swan by the powerful sorcerer Rothbart. Only true love can break the spell. Captivated, Siegfried promises Odette to save her and invites her to his party. To trap the prince, the sorcerer sends his daughter Odile, disguised as Odette, to seduce him.
Country of origin: France
Production Company: Pathé Live
Director – Isabelle Julien
Cast – Sae Eun Park, Paul Marque, Pablo Legasa
Screening Sunday 10 November at 1:00pm
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Royal Ballet: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Tumble down the rabbit hole in this ballet adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s famous family story. Journey through Wonderland with Alice (Francesca Hayward) and encounter a host of curious characters in Christopher Wheeldon’s unique theatrical interpretation.
At a garden party on a sunny afternoon, Alice is surprised to see her parents’ friend Lewis Carroll transform into a white rabbit. When she follows him down a rabbit hole, events become curiouser and curiouser…As Alice journeys through Wonderland, she encounters countless strange creatures. She’s swept off her feet by the charming Knave of Hearts (William Bracewell), who’s on the run for stealing the tarts. Confusion piles upon confusion. Then Alice wakes with a start. Was it all a daydream?
Language: English
Production Company: Royal Opera House, Trafalgar Releasing
Director – Christopher Wheeldon
Cast – Francesca Hayward, William Bracewell
Screening Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 November at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 27 November at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
La Scala: La Rondine
For the centennial of the composer’s death, Riccardo Chailly and renowned theatre director Irina Brook bring to La Scala a colourful new production of Puccini’s bittersweet love story. The story follows the swallow (or rondine) of the title, Magna (Mariangela Sicilia), a kept woman who defies convention to chase a dream of romantic love with Ruggero (Matteo Lippi), an earnest, if naïve, young man. The central relationship unfolds in colourful locales in Paris and the south of France, all evoked with superb musical details. The agonizing desperation of the melancholic score, runs under a surface of sublime elegance.
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Production Company: Teatro alla Scala, RAI
Director – Irina Brook
Cast – Mariangela Sicilia, Matteo Lippi, Rosalia Cid, Giovanni Sala, Pietro Spagnoli
Screening Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 December at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 11 December at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Royal Ballet: The Nutcracker
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 she and her enchanted Nutcracker fight the Mouse King and visit the Sugar Plum Fairy (Anna Rose-O’Sullivan) and her Prince (Marcelino Sambé) in the glittering Kingdom of Sweets. Peter Wright’s much-loved production for The Royal Ballet, with gorgeous period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman combining the thrill of the fairy tale with spectacular dancing. A festive classic to return to again and again.
Language: English
Production Company: Royal Opera House, Trafalgar Releasing
Director – Peter Wright
Cast – Anna Rose O’Sullivan, Marcelino Sambé, Thomas Whitehead, Sophie Allnat, Leo Dixon
Screening Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 December at 1:00pm
Plus Tuesday 24 December at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Royal Ballet: Cinderella
This summer, be transported into an ethereal world where a sprinkling of fairy dust makes dreams come true. This enchanting ballet by The Royal Ballet’s Founding Choreographer Frederick Ashton is a theatrical experience for all the family. Stuck at home and put to work by her spoiled Step-Sisters, life for Cinderella (Fumi Kaneko) is dreary and dull. Everything changes when she helps a mysterious woman out...With a little bit of magic, she is transported into an ethereal new world – one where fairies bring the gifts of the seasons, where pumpkins turn into carriages, and where true love awaits.
Language: English
Production Company: Royal Opera House, Trafalgar Releasing
Director – Frederick Ashton
Cast – Fumi Kaneko, William Bracewell
Screening Saturday 25 & Sunday 26 January at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 29 January at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
La Scala: La Forza del Destino
La Scala’s gala season opening is always a glittering affair, and a highlight of the international arts calendar. This year the stars – Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier – align for Leo Muscato’s new production of Verdi’s grand tale of ill-fated love. Riccardo Chailly conducts a work that offers some of Verdi’s most memorable melodies, including its haunting overture, the rousing 'Rataplan' march and Leonora's soaring prayer, 'La vergine degli angeli'.
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Production Company: Teatro alla Scala, RAI
Director – Leo Muscato
Cast –Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier, Fabrizio Beggi, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Alexander Vinogradov, Marco Filippo Romano
Screening Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 February at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 5 February at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Royal Opera: The Tales of Hoffmann
Four women: four curious love stories. The great Juan Diego Flórez leads a fantastic cast in Offenbach's dream-like opera. Through the haze of the years, a poet remembers the women he loved. But when it comes to matters of the heart, nothing is as it seems. Particularly when the devil himself (Alex Esposito) is involved...
Journeying back to his school days, Hoffmann relives his childhood romance with Olympia (Olga Pudova), a model student in every sense. Doomed love follows him into adulthood, where the dancer, Antonia (Ermonela Jaho), is taken from him too soon. Meanwhile, the sensual courtesan Giulietta (Maria Costa-Jackson) has her own secret agenda. As memory and fantasy becomes increasingly blurred, will Hoffmann find the enigmatic Stella before it is too late?
Language: French
Production Company: Royal Opera House, Trafalgar Releasing
Director – Damiano Michieletto
Cast – Juan Diego Flórez, Alex Esposito, Olga Pudova, Ermonela Jaho, Maria Costa-Jackson, Julie Boulianne
Screening Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 February at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 19 February at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
ACO: The Four Seasons – A Music Film
The Australian Chamber Orchestra has always forged its own path. With Artistic Director and violinist Richard Tognetti at the helm, the ACO has been producing films for over a decade, from their award-winning collaborations with BAFTA-nominated director Jennifer Peedom (‘Mountain’, ‘River’) to their acclaimed series of cinematic music films, ‘ACO StudioCasts’. Directed by Matisse Ruby, ‘The Four Seasons’ film release is the latest from this ground-breaking, world-renowned ensemble.
Arguably the most popular and recognisable piece of classical music ever written, this performance directed by Richard Tognetti, highlights the profound symbiosis between Vivaldi’s Venice and the Middle East. Interspersing Vivaldi’s masterpiece with music by Australian-Egyptian composer and Oud virtuoso Joseph Tawardros, the film honours Vivaldi’s classic while giving it new life. A must-see for music lovers and cinephiles alike.
Language: English
Production Company: Australian Chamber Orchestra
Director – Matisse Ruby
Cast – Richard Tognetti, Joseph Tawadros, James Tawadros
Screening Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 March at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 5 March at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Opéra de Paris: Carmen
This classic Paris Opera performance of Calixto Bieito’s contemporary staging kindles every passion.
The first words uttered by Carmen (Elīna Garanča) mark one of the greatest entrances in the history of opera and express all that need be said: “Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame”. With a devilish sway of the hips and a hint of Andalusian flair, the beautiful cigar-maker sets her sights on a soldier: Don José (Roberto Alagna). Fate will do the rest...
Carmen’s irrepressible freedom, coupled with a need to live ever more intensely on a knife-edge, is present in Calixto Bieito’s contemporary production as in no other. The luxury cast is conducted by Sir Mark Elder.
Language: French with English subtitles
Production Company: Opera national de Paris, Pathé
Director – Calixto Bieito
Cast – Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, Maria Agresta, Ildar Abdrazakov, Vannina Santoni, Antoinette Dennefeld
Screening Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 March at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 26 March at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Royal Ballet: Swan Lake
Classical ballet's most powerful tale of love, treachery and forgiveness. Bringing together Tchaikovsky’s sensational score with the incredible imagination of choreographer Liam Scarlett and designer John Macfarlane, ‘Swan Lake’ on the big screen is an exceptional way to experience this ultimate ballet classic. Prince Siegfried (Matthew Ball) chances upon a flock of swans while out hunting. When one of the swans turns into a beautiful woman, Odette (Yasmine Naghdi), he is enraptured. But she is under a spell that holds her captive, allowing her to regain her human form only at night. Von Rothbart (Thomas Whitehead), arbiter of Odette's curse, tricks the Prince into declaring his love for the identical Odile and thus breaking his vow to Odette. Doomed to remain a swan forever, Odette has but one way to break the sorcerer's spell…
Language: English
Production Company: Royal Opera House, Trafalgar Releasing
Director – Liam Scarlett
Cast – Yasmine Naghdi, Matthew Ball
Screening Saturday 29 & Sunday 30 March at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 2 April at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
La Scala: Eugene Onegin
Teatro alla Scala presents a new production of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece of unrequited love, drawn from Pushkin’s novel.
Acclaimed soprano Aida Garifullina stars as Tatyana, the naïve young girl who grows into a sophisticated beauty. Baritone Alexey Markov sings the title role of the nobleman who lives to regret his blasé rejection of Tatyana’s love and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with his best friend Lensky (Dmitry Korchak).
The tender music is entrusted to the exciting Timur Zangiev, and staging is in the hands of prolific stage and film director Mario Martone, now in his tenth La Scala production.
Language: Russian, with English subtitles
Production Company: Teatro alla Scala, RAI
Director – Mario Martone
Cast – Alexey Markov, Aida Garifullina, Elmina Hasan, Dmitry Korchak, Dmitry Ulyanov
Screening Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 April at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 16 April at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Royal Ballet: Romeo and Juliet
The greatest love story ever told – through ballet. An ancient family feud casts a long shadow over the town of Verona. In this hothouse of tension, brawls are quick to break out and both sides get caught in the crossfire. The Capulets and Montagues are sworn enemies. Yet it is love at first sight for Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet when they meet each other at the Capulet ball, into which Romeo has snuck. The two fall in love and they profess their devotion to each other at Juliet’s balcony. They secretly get married. The stakes are raised for the young couple when Romeo avenges the death of his friend Mercutio who has been killed by Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin. For this, Romeo is exiled from Verona. Meanwhile, Juliet’s parents are forcing her to marry another suitor. In order to be together, Romeo and Juliet must risk it all…
Language: English
Production Company: Royal Opera House, Trafalgar Releasing
Director – Kenneth MacMillan
Cast – The Royal Ballet
Screening Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 April at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 30 April at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Royal Opera: Turandot
Puccini’s captivating opera of a cold-hearted princess and her mysterious suitor. Featuring the ever-popular ‘Nessun dorma’, this opera of love and revenge is brought to life in a dazzling production. The beautiful but icy Princess Turandot (Sondra Radvanovksy) will only marry a man who can correctly answer three riddles. Those who fail are brutally beheaded. But when an unknown prince arrives, the balance of power in Turandot’s court is forever shaken, as the mysterious stranger does what no other has been able to.
Language: Italian
Production Company: Royal Opera House, Trafalgar Releasing
Director – Andrei Serban
Cast – Sondra Radvanovsky, SeokJong Baek, Anna Princeva, Adam Palka, Hansung Yoo, Aled Hall, Michael Gibson, Paul Hopwood, Ossian Huskinson
Screening Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 May at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 7 May at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Teatro di San Carlo: Rusalka
Captured live from Naples’ splendid San Carlo Theatre – the world’s oldest continuously running public opera venue - where it opened the company’s theatrical season, acclaimed director Dmitri Tcherniakov stages a new production of Dvořák’s beautiful, supremely romantic opera about a water sprite Rusalka (here the stunning soprano Asmik Grigorian) who longs to find love.
Maestro Dan Ettinger conducts a terrific cast that also includes exciting young British tenor Adam Smith, Ekaterina Gubanova, Anita Rachvelishvili and Gábor Bretz.
Language: Czech with English subtitles
Production Company: Teatro di San Carlo, RAI
Director – Dmitri Tcherniakov
Cast – Asmik Grigorian, Adam Smith, Gabor Bretz, Anita Rachvelishvili, Ekaterina Gubanova, Peter Hoare
Screening Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 May at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 21 May at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Opera di Roma: Simon Boccanegra
Captured live at Opera di Roma’s season opening night, Richard Jones’ eagerly anticipated new production of Verdi’s searing and intensely emotional opera.
In 14th century Genoa, Boccanegra (baritone Luca Salsi) is a powerful man, but the secrets of his past haunt him: twenty-five years ago, his young lover died, and their daughter mysteriously vanished. Just as he thinks he might have found her, his enemies start to move against him.
Opera di Roma Music Director Michele Mariotti conducts the fabulous score.
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Production Company: Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, RAI
Director – Richard Jones
Cast – Luca Salsi, Eleonora Buratto, Michele Pertusi, Stefan Pop, Gevorg Hakobyan, Luciano Leoni
Screening Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 May at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 28 May at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Paris Opera Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty
In 1961, Rudolf Nureyev toured Paris with the Kirov, enthralling audiences as the Prince in The Sleeping Beauty. Thirty years later, he proposed a new choreography of what he considered to be “the ballet of ballets” for the Paris Opera Ballet. Retaining the spectacular enchantment of the ballet and the sparkling charm of Tchaikovsky’s music, Nureyev brought a new balance to Marius Petipa’s original choreography by giving more prominence to the male roles.
Returning to the Paris Opera stage after an absence of ten years, there is no doubt that Aurora and Désiré, the Lilac Fairy and the Blue Bird, not forgetting the terrible Carabosse, will fascinate new generations.
Language: French with English subtitles
Production Company: Opéra national de Paris, Pathé
Director – Rudolf Nureyev
Cast – Paris Opera Ballet
Screening Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 June at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 11 June at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Royal Opera: Die Walküre
Gods and mortals battle in the second chapter of Wagner’s Ring cycle. Conductor Antonio Pappano and director Barrie Kosky reunite to continue the mythical adventure that began with Das Rheingold in 2023. On a stormy night, fate brings two strangers – Sieglinde (Lise Davidson) and Siegmund (Stanislas de Barbeyrac) together, unleashing a love with the power to end worlds. Meanwhile, in the realm of the gods, an epic battle ensues between their ruler Wotan (Christopher Maltman) and his rebellious daughter, Brünnhilde (Elisabet Strid).
Language: German
Production Company: Royal Opera House, Trafalgar Releasing
Director – Barrie Kosky
Cast – Christopher Maltman, Elisabet Strid, Lise Davidsen, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Soloman Howard, Marina Prudenskaya, Maida Hundeling, Katie Lowe, Lee Bisset, Claire Barnett-Jones, Catherine Carby, Alison Kettlewell, Monika-Evelin Liiv, Rhonda Brown
Screening Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 June at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 18 June at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Royal Ballet: Ballet to Broadway
Four of The Royal Ballet's Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon’s most distinctive short works are brought to the Covent Garden stage, bringing together sensuous contemporary ballet with the energy of musical theatre. ‘Fool’s Paradise’ (2007), ‘The Two of Us’ (2020), ‘Us’ (2017), ‘An American in Paris’ (2005): four stories of tender devotion and blossoming romance, showcasing Wheeldon’s remarkable choreographic range.
Language: English
Production Company: Royal Opera House, Trafalgar Releasing
Director – Christopher Wheeldon
Cast – The Royal Ballet
Screening Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 June at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 2 July at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Opéra de Paris: Madama Butterfly
Poor Cio-Cio-San! The 15-year-old geisha (here superb soprano Eleonora Buratto) who, having renounced her family and Japanese traditions for the love of an American naval officer (Stefan Pop), finds herself abandoned in favour of a Western wife. Puccini used this classic theme of a woman seduced and abandoned to create an opera with lush orchestration and burning lyricism.
For singular American director Robert Wilson, this Japanese tragedy of a woman as fragile as a butterfly’s wings proves the ideal environment in which to display his signature refined formalism. Far from the traditional fans and cherry branches, he uses stylised acting and a stripped-down space to allow the melodic lines to blossom in all their purity.
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Production Company: Opéra national de Paris, Pathé
Director – Robert Wilson
Cast – Eleonora Buratto, Stefan Pop, Christopher Maltman, Aude Extrémo, Carlo Bosi, Vartan Gabrielian
Screening Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 July at 1:00pm
Plus Wednesday 23 July at 11:00am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
