This week, American soprano Georgia Jarman and British tenor Kim Begley debut in the roles of Roxana and Edrisi respectively in Kasper Holten​’s greatly-anticipated new production of Szymanowski’s Król Roger at the Royal Opera House. Conducted by Covent Garden’s Musical Director, Sir Antonio Pappano, performances run from 1 – 19 May.

Having delighted the London audience three seasons ago in Richard Jones’ production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann at ENO, Król Roger marks Jarman’s return to London and her debut at the Royal Opera House. Continuing to grow her reputation as an exciting and compelling young soprano, Jarman has recently added the roles of Manon, Ellen Orford and Madame Mao to her repertoire with great success, and ends this season with another major company debut as Gilda in Lee Blakeley’s new production of Rigoletto at Santa Fe Opera.

Kim Begley began his career at Covent Garden over thirty years ago as a principle tenor and has since returned as a regular guest in such roles as Drum Major (Wozzeck), Captain Vere (Billy Budd) and Siegmund (Die Walküre). With an already wide-ranging and versatile repertoire, Edrisi marks a role debut for Kim who continues to explore new characters such as Sellem in The Rake’s Progress and Aegisth in Elektra alongside regular performances of his classic roles such as Loge and Herod.