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

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

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

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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Nicoletta Manni and Reece Clarke excel in MacMillan’s L’histoire de Manon at Milan’s La Scala

ItalyItaly Kenneth MacMillan’s L’histoire de Manon: Dancers and Orchestra of La Scala Theatre Ballet / Paul Connelly (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Stefania Grimaldi) from La Scala, Milan, 8.7.2024. (JPr)

Nicoletta Manni (Manon) and Reece Clarke (Des Grieux)

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