The performances will be relayed live from The Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera's performance of Puccini's Tosca will be beamed live to the Center Parcs holiday village in Sherwood Forest next month.

And Royal Ballet star Alina Cojocaru will be seen in Onegin by audiences in Trafalgar Square and Victoria Park.

The screenings are part of a scheme to reach people who would not normally watch ballet or opera.

Big screens in the Covent Garden Piazza, Canary Wharf, Belfast Botanical Gardens and Capitol City Academy, Brent, will also provide audiences with a live link-up to Tosca on Tuesday 13 July.

'Unique' experience

Martin Dalby, chief executive at Center Parcs, said: "We are hugely excited by the opportunity to partner The Royal Opera House to screen a live performance of Puccini's Tosca at our Sherwood Forest resort in Nottinghamshire.

"Our forest will provide an amazing natural backdrop for this performance, which I am sure will create a unique experience for our guest and visitors."

London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, said the screening of Onegin in Trafalgar Square and Victoria Park on 17 June would "enrich London cultural life".

Last year, screenings of the live performances from the Royal Opera House in Belfast, Gateshead, Liverpool, Canary Wharf Tower Hamlets and the Covent Garden Piazza attracted more than 40,000 people.

Audience increase

Tony Hall, chief executive of the Royal Opera House, said: 'We are delighted to be collaborating with two new partners on another opportunity to bring the work of The Royal Opera House to as wide a public as possible.

"With the additional large capacities this year of Trafalgar Square and Center Parcs we should increase our audiences considerably."

On Saturday 19 June, the cast of Faust will join people watching the opera on a big screen in Covent Garden Piazza.

The relayed performance will start 15 minutes after the performance begins at the Royal Opera House, so the cast, including Roberto Alagna and Bryn Terfel, can join the outdoor audience for the live relay at the end.