In a one-night-only event on Saturday 20 September, Jakub Hrůša officially begins his tenure as Music Director of The Royal Opera with a concert that brings the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus centre stage.
The performance, part of the Royal Opera’s 2025/26 Season, casts a spotlight on the orchestra and chorus as storytellers in their own right. Rather than playing a supporting role in full-scale opera, they take to the Main Stage in a standalone programme featuring Bartók’s Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin and Dvořák’s The Spectre’s Bride.
Two of the soloists, Kateřina Kněžíková (soprano) and Pavol Kubáň (baritone), make their Royal Opera debuts, joined by tenor Pavel Černoch. The concert will also travel to Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on Monday 22 September, reinforcing Hrůša’s international standing as a conductor and deepening ties between European cultural institutions.
“Both these pieces are full of theatrical elements, drama, lyrical beauty and intricacy,” Hrůša said ahead of the performance. “They are perfect for our Orchestra and Chorus, who bring out these elements in our operas and ballets every night. I’m thrilled they have a dedicated moment to shine.”
As a conductor known for his vivid interpretations of Central European repertoire, Hrůša’s choice of programme for this inaugural concert speaks volumes. Bartók’s Miraculous Mandarin, first staged as a ballet in 1926, pushes the orchestra to extreme rhythmic and textural complexity. Dvořák’s Spectre’s Bride, a rarely performed choral gem, weaves ghostly storytelling through rich melodic invention and dramatic narration.
The evening is billed not as a formal gala, but as a musical statement of intent: a new chapter for The Royal Opera, and a chance to hear its foundational artists—players and chorus—in a more direct spotlight.
