Award-winning director Ellen Kent at helm of La Bohème and Aida operas heading for Sheffield

La Bohème will be staged on January 29, 2023 and Aida on April 29,2023 when Ellen Kent will direct both productions featuring the Ukranian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv at the City Hall.

There will be international soloists, highly praised chorus and a full orchestra.

La Bohème is one of the most romantic tale of the doomed, consumptive Mimi and her love for a penniless writer.

This classic tale of Parisian love and loss features many famous arias including ‘Your Tiny Hand is Frozen’, ‘They Call Me Mimi’ and ‘Muzetta’s Waltz’.

Traditionally staged, the production will have beautiful sets and costumes.

The set reflects the Bohemian art of the period and will include a local brass band, snow effects and Muzetta’s dog will also make an entrance.

Aida, the grandest of all Ellen Kent’s operas, returns to the UK with a stunning new traditional production, boasting an impressive set built by Set-Up Scenery in the UK, who also build sets for the Royal Opera Covent Garden.

In Aida, the splendour of Egypt is set against the grandeur of the Coliseum of Rome with Ellen Kent’s direction influenced by the ancient Greek dramas of Euripides and symbolising the powerful religious hold of the priests of Egypt. This tragic story of war, jealousy and revenge at whose heart is the doomed love of the beautiful Ethiopian slave girl, Aida, and the Egyptian hero, Radames, is brought to life in a production set against one of the greatest pieces of music Verdi ever wrote with the well-known arias “Celeste Aida”,“Ritorna Vincitor” and the classic “Triumphal March” featuring a temple dance, cascades of glittering gold and amazing fire performers.

Sung in Italian with English surtitles.

Tickets for La Boheme and Aida are on sale now, priced from £14, via www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk