Richard Jones's new staging of Bellini's last opera, set in the English Civil War, brought Lisette Oropesa to Covent Garden as Elvira.
The Royal Opera staged Bellini’s I puritani on the Main Stage at Covent Garden from Tuesday 30 June to Sunday 19 July 2026, in a new production by Richard Jones, the first at the house in nearly 35 years.
Bellini’s last opera premiered at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris on 24 January 1835, to a libretto by the exiled poet Carlo Pepoli. It draws on Têtes rondes et cavaliers, a play by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine set in the English Civil War. Bellini planned two acts and moved to three on the advice of Rossini, who had become a friend.
The story is set in Plymouth. Elvira, a Puritan commander’s daughter, is to marry the Royalist Arturo, who leaves on their wedding day to help a captive queen escape. Elvira believes he has abandoned her and loses her reason.
Jones, whose credits for the house include Festen, worked with designs by Hyemi Shin and Nicky Gillibrand, movement direction by Sarah Fahie and video by Sasha Balmazi-Owen. Riccardo Frizza made his Royal Opera debut as conductor. Lisette Oropesa sang Elvira and Francesco Demuro Arturo, with Andrzej Filończyk as Riccardo, Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Giorgio and Marcela Rahal as the queen, Enrichetta, and the Jette Parker Artist Giorgi Guliashvili as Bruno Roberton. The opera was sung in Italian and ran for 3 hours 5 minutes with one interval.