Richard Farnes steps in to conduct Death in Venice at the Royal Opera House

It has been announced that Richard Farnes will step in to conduct the Royal Opera House production of Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice, following the news that Sir Mark Elder has had to withdraw due to recent surgery.

Richard made his Royal Opera debut in 2002 conducting Simon Boccanegra and has since returned to conduct Il trovatore. He will conduct Don Carlo for The Royal Opera during the summer of 2020.

Richard last conducted this piece in 2013 for Opera North, while he was their Music Director, and in 2016 he also stepped in to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in a concert performance fo The Turn of the Screw at the Barbican Hall in London, following the death of Sir Colin Davis. He most recently conducted Britten for Garsington Opera, when he led a production of The Turn of the Screw for the summer 2019 festival season.

This production of Death in Venice, which opens on 21 November, is directed by David McVicar, and features Mark Padmore in the role of Aschenbach, with Gerald Finley as Traveller and Tim Mead as the Voice of Apollo, with the orchestra and chorus of the Royal Opera House.

There are a limited number of tickets available for these performances.