‘First Night’ of the Proms 2020: a wonderful performance by the BBC Singers and Symphony Orchestra

United KingdomUnited Kingdom BBC Proms Live – Hannah Kendall, Whitacre, Copland, Beethoven: Alison Teale (cor anglais), Phillip Cobb (trumpet), BBC Singers (conductor: Nicholas Chalmers), BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Two, 28.8.2020. (CS)

BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo
(c) BBC/Chris Christodoulou

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Centenary Bayreuth Ring revisited: a prosaic staging is well-acted, though the singing is variable

GermanyGermany Wagner, Siegfried: Soloists, Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival / Pierre Boulez (conductor). Filmed at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1980 and reviewed on DG Stage on 28.8.2020. (JPr)

Manfred Jung (Siegfried) and Heinz Zednik (Mime)

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100th Salzburg Festival: Garanča’s Wagner is impressive and so is Thielemann and the VPO’s Bruckner

AustriaAustria 100th Salzburg Festival – Wagner & Bruckner: Elīna Garanča (mezzo-soprano), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Christian Thielemann (conductor). Performance of 22.8.2020 reviewed as an Arte Concert free live stream from the Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg, on 26.8.2020. (JPr)

Elīna Garanča and Christian Thielemann (c) Marco Borrelli

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Forty years on, Patrice Chéreau’s Bayreuth Die Walküre is just an upstairs, downstairs, costume drama

GermanyGermany Wagner, Die Walküre: Soloists, Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival / Pierre Boulez (conductor). Filmed at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1980 and reviewed on DG Stage on 26.8.2020. (JPr)

Patrice Chéreau’s Die Walküre final scene

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Dancers past and present catch the eye in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s magical 2010 Cinderella

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Home from HomeCinderella: Dancers of Birmingham Royal Ballet, Royal Ballet Sinfonia / Koen Kessels (conductor). 2010 performance from the Birmingham Hippodrome reviewed as a live stream on 25.8.2020. (JO’D)

Elisha Willis (Cinderella) and Artists of BRB (c) Bill Cooper

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Das Rheingold begins another look at Patrice Chéreau’s legendary Centenary Ring

GermanyGermany Wagner, Das Rheingold: Soloists, Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival / Pierre Boulez (conductor). Filmed at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1980 and reviewed on DG Stage on 25.8.2020. (JPr)

Patrice Chéreau’s Bayreuth Das Rheingold

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Kathleen Battle sparkles in a 1988 Il barbiere di Siviglia from the Met

United StatesUnited States Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of The Metropolitan Opera / Ralf Weikert (conductor). Performance of 3.12.1988 reviewed as a Nightly Met Opera Stream on 22.8.2020. (RP)

Leo Nucci (Figaro) and Kathleen Battle (Rosina)
© Metropolitan Opera

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Aspen Music Festival: Hadelich handles both ends of the recital dance

United StatesUnited States Aspen Music Festival – Various: Augustin Hadelich (violin and piano), performance recorded at Hadelich’s home in Connecticut and presented virtually by Aspen Music Festival, 23.8.2020. (HS)

Augustin Hadelich accompanies himself

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