The Metropolitan Opera’s Florencia en el Amazonas fails to float my boat

United StatesUnited States Daniel Catán, Florencia en el Amazonas: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor). Transmitted live (directed by Gary Halvorson) and seen at Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 9.12.2023. (JPr)

Ailyn Pérez (Florencia Grimaldi) with waterlilies © Ken Howard/Met Opera

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La Scala’s new ‘stand and deliver’ Don Carlo is excellently sung with Netrebko and Garanča outstanding

ItalyItaly Verdi, Don Carlo: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus / Riccardo Chailly (conductor). Livestreamed on Medici.tv from Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 7.12.2023. (JPr)

Anna Netrebko (Elisabeth de Valois) © Brescia e Amisano/Teatro alla Scala

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Dancing in a Winter Wonderland: Aljaž and Janette return to celebrate love, kindness, family and Christmas

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Aljaž and Janette – Dancing in a Winter Wonderland: Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara (co-creators and choreography) and Company (Miranda Wilford, Adrian Hansel [featured singers], Robbie Kmetoni, Faye Huddleston [lead partners], Kiera Brunton, Jack Dargen, Kate Kenrick, George Michaelides, Tonyé Scott-Obene, Rose Wild [ensemble]), Gareth Walker (show director and choreographer), Scott Coldwell (associate director and assistant chorographer), Matt Howes (musical director), Doug FF Cairns (set and lighting designer), Ryan Howard (screen content). Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, 1.12.2023. (JPr)

Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara © Fiona Whyte for The TCB Group

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You’ll remember Asmik Grigorian’s singing as Salome long after Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production is forgotten

GermanyGermany Richard Strauss, Salome: Soloists, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg / Kent Nagano (conductor). Recorded live (directed by Andy Sommer) at the Staatsoper Hamburg on 29.11.2023 and available until 27.4.2024 on ARTE Concert. (JPr)

John Daszak (Herod), Kyle Ketelsen (Jokanaan) and Asmik Grigorian (Salome) © Monika Rittershaus

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Robert Wilson’s static Paris Turandot focuses the mind on Puccini’s score and some excellent singing

FranceFrance Puccini, Turandot: Soloists, Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine, Chorus, Children’s Choir and Orchestra of Paris Opera / Marco Armiliato (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by François Roussillon) from the Opéra Bastille, Paris, 13.11.2023. (JPr)\

Iréne Theorin (Turandot) and Brian Jagde (Calaf) in Robert Wilson’s Turandot

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Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote is reviewed through today’s lens: could the Royal Ballet dance any better?

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Minkus (arr. and orch. Martin Yates), Don Quixote: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Valery Ovsyanikov (conductor). Recorded live (directed by Ross MacGibbon) at the Royal Opera House, London, 7.11.2023 and seen at Everyman Cinema, Chelmsford, Essex. 13.11.2023. (JPr)

Matthew Ball as Basilio in Don Quixote © Andrej Uspenski

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