Classical previews: La clemenza di Tito and Kát’a Kabanova

La clemenza di Tito, Royal Opera House, 17 – 23 May

The red-letter day of Monday May 17 is being marked by performances from every company in the musical world, and Covent Garden’s contribution sounds very promising. Mozart’s final opera – an emotional maelstrom which resolves into a hymn to forgiveness – will be directed by Richard Jones and designed by Ultz; the cast will include Nicole Chevalier, Emily D’Angelo, Joshua Bloom and Edgaras Montvidas. The show will be live-streamed on 21 May.

Kát’a Kabanova, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 20 May onwards

Glyndebourne are relaunching themselves with a star-studded production of an opera they have long made their own, this time directed by Damiano Michieletto whose work often provokes extreme reactions. The title role will be sung by soprano Katerina Knezikova, with the sweet-toned tenor David Butt Philip as her lover and Katarina Dalayman as the domineering Kabanicha.