See Anna Netrebko open the Royal Opera House season in a new production of Puccini’s Tosca this September: with a star studded cast including tenor Freddie De Tommaso, hailed as ‘the new Placido Domingo’, and acclaimed bass-baritone Gerald Finley: with Champagne Dinner and River View room at The Savoy Hotel London

You are invited to the Royal Opera House to see the great Russian diva Anna Netrebko, one of the most influential operatic figures of the 21st century, open the Royal Opera Season starring in the title role of Puccini’s finest opera, Tosca. We shall see literally some of the world’s greatest opera stars. This will surely be an event not to miss!

Headline news is, of course, the return of Anna Netrebko to Covent Garden. She will open the Royal Opera season in Puccini’s best-loved opera—a signature role she has made her own. Packed with soaring music and with a devastating ending, Toscais a profoundly moving celebration of art, music and courageous love. Netrebko leads a star-studded cast including Italian-English tenor Freddie De Tommaso, a young operatic star in the finest Tosca tradition—and celebrated Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley, with a voice and stature for which he is acclaimed worldwide, plays villainous Scarpia.

The date is Thursday, September 18, the performance is a sell-out, but we have a very limited number of centre seats in the Orchestra Stalls so that our Members do not miss what is sure to be a thrilling operatic evening—having first enjoyed a delicious Three-Course Champagne Dinner at The Savoy Hotel. And to savour the evening to the full, we have the perfect finale—a night’s stay in a luxurious Superior King River View room at The Savoy Hotel.

For CountryClubuk Members the entire evening costs only £759 per person instead of the full price of £1,005 per person which others will pay. Our Club price includes the full event: Orchestra Stalls seats at the Royal Opera House, three-course Champagne Dinner at at The Savoy Hotel, taxi to and from the Royal Opera House, and your night’s stay in a River View room at The Savoy.

No opera lover will want to miss being there in person for this much awaited event. And for a special occasion it will be the perfect celebration gift.

All eyes and ears will be on Anna Netrebko. Throughout an illustrious career beginning in 1994, Anna Netrebko has arguably become a reigning prima donna of the 21st century. The toast of season opening productions at the Teatro alla Scala in Milano or the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the first classical music artist named to Time magazine’s annual list of the world’s 100 most influential people, Netrebko has consistently distinguished herself inside and outside the world of opera.

She is certainly a Superdiva—and Puccini’s Tosca is a Superdiva. Singer and role are well-matched both musically and temperamentally. Vibrant, powerful and focused, according to the critics Netrebko’s Tosca gives ‘the sort of high-quality singing, matched with a dramatic temperament, that Covent Garden has heard all too rarely in this role over the last few years’.

Anna Netrebko’s style is to flood the auditorium with huge waves of sound—the critics call her voice ‘a miracle’. To have ‘a voice that can sing high, sing low, can fill any house with surround sound stereo volume, and with a gorgeous, plush timbre to boot, that’s God’s gift’.

And this magnificent diva remains at the top of her game. To great acclaim, her most recent performance debuted the iconic role of Lise in Tchaikovksy’s The Queen of Spades in June at the Wiener Staatsoper. Influential critic Kurier wrote, ‘With her dark-timbered soprano, she expresses the loneliness and lostness of her character with a truthfulness that is deeply moving … Netrebko sings beautifully, bringing out the colours of her voice, and is rightly applauded at length for her performance.’ Die Presse adds, ‘An evening with Anna Netrebko on stage promises exciting musical theatre. The expressiveness of this singer-actress is complete.’

‘Nobody sings like that anymore. Except for one’ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). ‘What Netrebko does is simply phenomenal.’

Meanwhile Freddie De Tomasso is a phenomenal voice and talent in the tradition of the great Italian tenor voices. He has captured widespread acclaim with headline-grabbing debuts and chart-topping album releases.

The British-Italian tenor shot to fame in December 2021 when he jumped in as Cavaradossi in Royal Opera’s production of Tosca, thus becoming at the age of 28 the youngest ever tenor to perform the role on the iconic stage and the first Brit since 1963. His appearance prompted critics and press to unanimously declare that a new star was born.

Wrote the critics, ‘Freddie De Tomasso’s Cavaradossi has ‘a top of the voice that is gloriously free and ringing—and he knows it’.

And as villainous Scarpia, the star in the Royal Opera firmament is the Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley, who can steal the show in any opera.

Finley will be centre stage in Tosca—dominating the action, centre of attention. Whenever he is on stage Finley is in total command, vocally and dramatically, and he is ever alert to the sinuous subtleties of Puccini’s stunning score, dark and menacing, and ruthless in his determination to possess Tosca. He knows instinctively that all devious schemers can present a plausible face to the world while sowing seeds of doubt in malleable minds. Finley can draw the greatest ovation on any opera night.

This new production is a Royal Opera House ‘must-see’ in itself. It draws on the historical backdrop of Rome in 1800, a political world of control and suspicion, expressively evoked. The pageantry of church ritual, the darkness of a brooding study with its hidden torture chamber and the false optimism of the light of a Roman dawn—all throw into relief the love of the beautiful diva Tosca, the idealism of her lover Cavaradossi and the deadly, destructive obsession of the malevolent Chief of Police, Scarpia.

The whole evening will be one of glamour, excitement and passion, with some of the world’s finest opera stars singing Puccini’s most beautiful and passionate music in a brand new Royal Opera production. With the music and voices soaring from grandiose to threatening to sombre, including such great set pieces as the Act I ‘Te Deum’ and the arias ‘Vissi d’arte’ and ‘E lucevan le stelle’, this performance is one which will truly set the Royal Opera auditorium alight. It adds up to the kind of soaring operatic experience which all opera lovers want to experience, and one they will never forget.

BOOK THIS SPECIAL NIGHT AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE, COVENT GARDEN, AND THE SAVOY HOTEL

The evening will be made even more pleasurable by a Three-Course Champagne Dinner in the stylish new restaurant, The Gallery at the Savoy Hotel, as a perfect venue for our pre-theatre three-course Champagne Dinner. Transformed to Art Deco-inspired opulence, decked out with polished wood and glittering mirrors, it is a luxurious setting. And with its links to London’s artistic past, the Savoy will form a fascinating opening scene prior to this performance at Covent Garden—and a real treat in itself.

And after the performance our spacious Luxury King River View room at The Savoy Hotel awaits. This beautifully appointed room directly overlooks the River Thames, offering unbeatable panoramic views east and west of the river, and across to the vibrant Southbank. As one of the best luxury hotel rooms in London, it captures the charm of the Edwardian style, providing a stylish retreat to relax after our evening at the Royal Opera House.

Through our special CountryClubuk arrangements we have centre seats in the Orchestra Stalls for the evening performance of Tosca on Thursday, September 18. This, together with a delicious Three-Course Pre-Theatre Champagne Dinner at The Savoy, your taxi to and from Covent Garden, and one night in a Luxury King River View room at The Savoy, are all at the advantageous rate of only £759 per person for you as a CountryClubuk Member. The full value is £1,005. We have limited tickets, and they will be allocated on a strict first-come-first-served basis, so please follow the link below to book now:

Click here for instant online reservations for the full Opera with Three-Course Champagne Dinner and Luxury King River View room at The Savoy Hotel. Or call Member Services on 020 7399 2960.

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