Royal Opera House will broadcast live to cinemas

The Royal Opera House is to broadcast operas and ballets live to cinemas across Britain this autumn.

The opening night of the 2008-09 season at Covent Garden will be the first performance to be seen at UK cinemas.

It will feature Mozart's Don Giovanni with a cast including Simon Keenlyside, Joyce DiDonato and Ramon Vargas on 8 September.

Other star-studded performances will include Richard Eyre's production of Verdi's La Traviata, with RÈnee Fleming, Joseph Calleja and Thomas Hampson and Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck with Angelika Kirchschlager and Thomas Allen.

Covent Garden will become the first company in the world to relay ballet live to cinemas when it presents Frederick Ashton's Ondine with the company of the Royal Ballet next year.

Tony Hall, the Royal Opera House's chief executive, said: "This is a wonderful day for us to be announcing our first season of cinema screenings which will bring some of the finest opera and ballet in the world direct from the opera house to people all across the UK and beyond.

"It's a responsibility and a commitment that we have to make our work available to as wide an audience as possible."

The season will be shown in the City Screen/Picturehouse circuit of cinemas including the Ritzy in Brixton and the Gate in Notting Hill. Prices will be £20 and below for live screenings with prerecorded opera and ballet at £12.50 and below.