Jim Pritchard

A micro-managed Salzburg Mahler Ninth from Andris Nelsons and the VPO was fine, how could it not be?

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AustriaAustria Salzburg Festival [5] – Mahler, Symphony No.9: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Andris Nelsons (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Leopold Knötzl) from the Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 11.8.2024 and available on STAGE+. (JPr)

Andris Nelsons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Salzburg

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What a delight it was to see and hear the talented young NYO musicians in stormy Wagner and epic Mahler

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom PROM 30 – Wagner, Mazzoli, Howard, Mahler: Musicians from NYO Inspire, The National Youth Orchestra / Alexandre Bloch (conductor), Tess Jackson (conductor, Howard). Recorded (directed by Rhodri Huw) at the Royal Albert Hall, London, 10.8.2024 and available for a limited time on BBC iPlayer. (JPr)

Alexandre Bloch conducts the National Youth Orchestra © BBC/Chris Christodoulou

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The storytelling impresses in Amy Lane’s (mostly) straightforward new Longborough Die Walküre

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Longborough Festival Opera [3] – Wagner, Die Walküre: Soloists, Long borough Festival Orchestra / Anthony Negus (conductor). Recorded at Loughborough (directed by Matthew Dilley) on 26.6.2024 and available on OperaVision and YouTube until 9.2.2025. (JPr)

Paul Carey Jones (Wotan) and Madeleine Shaw (Fricka) © Matthew Williams-Ellis

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Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson’s new Bayreuth Tristan lacks coherence, dramatic cogency and better singing

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GermanyGermany Bayreuth Festival 2024 [1] – Wagner, Tristan und Isolde: Soloists, Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra / Semyon Bychkov (conductor). Recorded live (directed by Michael Beyer) at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, 25.7.2024. (JPr)

Bayreuther Festspiele 2024 – Tristan und Isolde Act III © Enrico Nawrath

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A Verdi Requiem at the BBC Proms potent with operatic theatricality

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom PROM 6 – Verdi, Requiem: Latonia Moore (soprano), Karen Cargill (mezzo-soprano), SeokJong Baek (tenor), Solomon Howard (bass), Crouch End Festival Chorus (chorus master: David Temple), BBC National Chorus of Wales (chorus master: Adrian Partington), BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Ryan Bancroft (conductor). Recorded live (directed by Alison Bartrop) at the Royal Albert Hall, London, 23.7.2024. (JPr)

Latonia Moore © BBC/Chris Christodoulou

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