Belgium Wagner, Götterdämmerung: La Monnaie Chorus and Symphony Orchestra / Alain Altinoglu (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Anaїs Spiro) from La Monnaie, Brussels, 23.2.2025 and available on YouTube or OperaVision until 23.8.2025. (JPr)
Jim Pritchard
Revelatory production of Richard Strauss’s Die Liebe der Danae in Munich
Germany Richard Strauss, Die Liebe der Danae: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Bayerische Staatsoper / Sebastien Weigle (conductor). Nationaltheater, Munich, 15.2.2025. (ALL)
(P)review of the filmed version of the NT’s The Importance of Being Earnest coming soon to a cinema near you
National Theatre Live – Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest: Filmed (directed by Matthew Amos) in London’s Lyttleton Theatre. (JPr)
Violinist Christian Tetzlaff dazzles in Sibelius, and Afkham and the CSO bring Schoenberg to life
United States Wagner, Sibelius, Schoenberg: Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Chicago Symphony Orchestra / David Afkham (conductor). Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 14.2.2025. (ZC)
Michael Volle is unsurpassable again as Wotan in David McVicar’s mostly traditional La Scala Die Walküre
Italy Wagner, Die Walküre: Soloists, Teatro alla Scala Orchestra / Simone Young (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Ella Gallieni) from La Scala, Milan, 12.2.2025 and available on demand on LaScala. (JPr)
Lise Davidsen is delightfully diva-ish in Sven-Eric Bechtolf’s ironic Vienna Ariadne auf Naxos
Austria Richard Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos: Soloists, Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Cornelius Meister (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Jasmina Eleta) from the Vienna State Opera, 28.1.2025. (JPr)
Carrie Hope Fletcher stars in Calamity Jane, an old-fashioned but still whip-cracking musical
United Kingdom Calamity Jane (adapted for the stage by Charles K Freeman from a screenplay by James O’Hanlon): Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, 28.1.2025. (JPr)
Piotr Beczała redeems himself with his stylish Radamès in Michael Mayer’s deeply traditional Met Aida
United States Verdi, Aida: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor). Broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 25.1.2025. (JPr)
