Royal Opera House goes hi-tech to offer its productions on DVD

The Royal Opera House is installing hi-tech recording equipment which will eventually enable it to issue some of its greatest productions on DVD.

The Royal Opera House is installing hi-tech recording equipment which will eventually enable it to issue some of its greatest productions on DVD.

Antonio Pappano, its music director, said they had done a deal with Sony to install state-of-the-art camera equipment so that entire productions could be preserved in addition to the CD recordings its orchestra already makes.

The move was prompted by the knowledge that the music business was becoming "more visually orientated" - at the same time as the traditional recording business is regarded as slowly dying, Mr Pappano said yesterday at the launch of its 2005-06 season.

The equipment will get its first test this summer when the multiple camera system is used to relay opera and ballet productions to 20 giant screens from Aberdeen to Belfast.

May 2006 will be the Royal Ballet's 75th anniversary. A highlight will be a production of The Sleeping Beauty which will be a homage to Dame Ninette de Valois, the founder of the company.

Student standby tickets costing £10 are to be offered for the first time on at least 5,000 seats a season under an extension of the Travelex sponsorship deal, it was also announced yesterday.