Events

Handel’s Messiah

Jones Hall will be filled with joyous refrains and exultant arias, including the iconic “Hallelujah” Chorus, in this powerful presentation of the greatest story ever told.

The Headless Soldier: An Opera Triptych

In a world premiere, two of the UK’s most vital and influential queer voices join forces for a three-part operatic first. Mark Ravenhill (Shopping and F**king) and Conor Mitchell’s (Abomination: A DUP Opera) piercing new work looks beneath the perfect lives of Helen, her husband, Thomas and their haunted son, Zach – finding a hidden, much closer war.

The latest collaboration between the award-winning Belfast Ensemble and Outburst Queer Arts Festival, this powerful triptych of short operas is performed in one night, blending multi-media with live performance, international soloists and chamber orchestra.

Candide

Performances of Bernstein’s comic operetta Candide at Wales Millennium Centre in June will bring the 2022/2023 season to a close. Full dates TBC.

Henry VIII

First produced in 1883, at a time when French opera was seeking to reinvent itself, Henry VIII is a final tribute to the historical panoramas of grand opera. The work tells the story of the infamous Tudor king who, having fallen in love with Anne Boleyn, sets out to divorce Catherine of Aragon, thereby causing a rift between the Church of England and Rome.

The Diary of One Who Disappeared

A young man dreams of a forbidden love. An old man dreams of the young man he used to be. Between them lies the forest of myths and memory … From Janáček’s lieder cycle, Ivo van Hove has created an interior drama, in the image of the old Czech composer’s passion for his ultimate muse.

Ariodante

Handel’s heavenly music connects to a story about love, jealousy, intrigue and betrayal. A breathtaking production by David McVicker, one of today’s greatest directors, conducted by Jean-Christophe Spinosi, the renowned Baroque conductor, with the Barocada Orchestra.

La Clemenza di Tito

One of Mozart’s last operas, La clemenza di Tito (The clemency of Titus), is a story of friendship and forgiveness triumphing over jealousy and violence.

Miranda

In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero, the ex-duke of Milan, leaves his daughter Miranda in the dark about the reason for her being on an island. Now the magical Prospero is ruler of the island and orders Ariel to capsize the ship with his enemies, including the king’s son Ferdinand, not far from the coast. It comes as it must: Ferdinand and Miranda fall in love. But soon Ferdinand is confronted with his former life and a game of confusion begins.

Clorinda Agonistes

Resistance. Resilience. Rebellion. Internationally celebrated Shobana Jeyasingh Dance presents this explosive union of opera, dance and film in a thrillingly inventive new production.

Inspired by Monteverdi’s masterpiece, Il Combattimento, in this visceral production the fiery Saracen female warrior Clorinda battles the Crusader Tancredi in ancient Jerusalem, ferociously defiant in the face of danger. The second half brings us bang up to date, catapulting Clorinda into the 21st century as a woman still determined to tell her own story in her own way.