Forget its reputation as art for the culturally elite. If Italian superstar tenor Vittorio Grigolo has his way, modern opera will soon take its place as pure entertainment for the masses.
Audiences in Tokyo can share his passion this autumn as the very best from London's Royal Opera House take the stage. Fans can choose between two universal tales: A deal with the devil or facing down a jealous double-crosser.
For The Royal Opera's 2019 Japan tour, Grigolo will appear in Tokyo on Sept. 12 in the title role of Charles-Francois Gounod's "Faust," based on the play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and reworked by David McVicar with cinematic devilry within a gorgeously imagined 19th-century Paris. Acclaimed young American soprano Rachel Willis-Sorensen makes her debut opposite Grigolo as Marguerite — also Willis-Sorensen's first performance ever in Japan — and Italian veteran Ildebrando D'Arcangelo stars as Mephistopheles.