As part of the BBC Arts Culture in Quarantine season, five operas will be available to watch on the BBC iPlayer from Saturday 20 June. The operas – staged between 2009 and 2019 – come from Glyndebourne, Garsington, Aldeburgh Festival and Birmingham Opera.
Britten's Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh Beach
This 2013 Aldeburgh Festival open-air staging of Britten's Peter Grimes took place on Aldeburgh Beach, against the backdrop of the North Sea. As part of Britten's centenary celebrations, this production features Alan Oke as the title role and Giselle Allen as Ellen Orford.
The cast are supported by the Britten-Pears Orchestra, as well as the Choruses of Opera North and Guildhall School of Music & Drama, under Steuart Bedford.
Verdi's Othello at Birmingham Opera
This 2009 immersive production of Verdi's Othello by Graham Vick stars Ronald Samm as the eponymous lead, who became the first black tenor to sing the role in the UK.
He is joined by Keel Watson as Iago and Stephanie Corley as Desdemona.
Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at Garsington Opera
This 2017 staging of John Cox's 2005 production stars Joshua Bloom as Figaro, Jennifer France as Susanna, Duncan Rock as the Count and Kirsten MacKinnon as the Countess.
Britten's The Turn of the Screw at Garsington Opera
Britten's setting of Henry James's novel The Turn of the Screw was staged at Garsington in 2019, with a cast including Sophie Bevan and Ed Lyon.
Rossini's The Barber of Seville from Glyndebourne
This 2016 production of Barber's comedy stars two Glyndebourne favourites: Danielle de Niese as Rosina and Alessandro Corbelli as Dr Bartolo.
