The Royal Opera House announced its 2023/24 season, launching in September with the start of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Das Rhinegold, conducted by Antonio Pappano in his final season as the house’s music director.

Coming full circle, Pappano’s last new production will be Strauss’s Elektra in January 2024 with Nina Stemme in the title role, and Karita Mattila as the haunted queen Klytämnestra. Other new productions include Handel’s final opera Jephtha in a staging by Oliver Mears, conducted by Laurence Cummings and new staging of Bizet’s Carmen in April 2024 in a co-production with Teatro Real Madrid and La Scala, the title role shared between Aigul Akhmetshina and Vasilisa Berzhanskaya.

The Linbury Theatre hosts new works, including Woman & Machine by London-born artist ESKA, and George Benjamin’s latest opera Picture a day like this following the work’s world premier this summer at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

The 2023/24 season also features a number of revivals, including Christof Loy’s La Forza del Destino, Laurent Pelly’s L’elisir d’amore, Oliver Mears’ Rigoletto, Damiano Michieletto’s double-bill Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci, Richard Jones’s production of La bohème, Jonathan Kent’s Tosca and Katie Mitchell’s production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, and Jan Philipp Gloger’s production of Così fan tutte.

Pappano’s farewell Gala will take place in May, when a cast of soloists perform alongside the house’s Chorus and Orchestra to celebrate 23 years of his service to the house. In June 2024, The Royal Opera will then return to Japan, touring for the first time since 2019 and presenting performances of Rigoletto and Turandot.

Announcing the new season, Director Oliver Mears said: ‘Despite opera in the UK being under pressure as never before, The Royal Opera is determined to mark Antonio Pappano’s final season with ambition and style across our diverse output.’