Darkness and light confront each other in Simon McBurney’s brilliantly inventive Met Die Zauberflöte

United StatesUnited States The Met: Live in HD – Mozart, Die Zauberflöte: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York / Nathalie Stutzmann (conductor). Broadcast Live in HD (directed by Gary Halvorson) from the Metropolitan Opera House to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 3.6.2023. (JPr)

Erin Morley (Pamina) and Thomas Oliemans (Papageno) © Karen Almond / Met Opera

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Matthew Ball’s Prince Florimund was the revelation of The Royal Ballet’s ‘signature’ The Sleeping Beauty

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tchaikovsky, The Sleeping Beauty: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Students of The Royal Ballet School, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Orchestra / Jonathan Lo (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Ross MacGibbon) from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, (introduced by Dame Darcey Bussell and Petroc Trelawny) to Cineworld Basildon, Essex. 25.5.2023. (JPr)

Matthew Ball (Prince Florimund) and Yasmine Naghdi (Princess Aurora) © Bill Cooper

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The Met’s fine production of Champion conveys important social messages

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Terence Blanchard, Champion:  Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor).  Broadcast Live in HD (directed by Gary Halvorson) from New York’s Metropolitan Opera to Dundonald Omniplex Cinema, Belfast, 29.4.2023. (RB)

A scene from Champion © Ken Howard / Met Opera

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The Met’s revival of Robert Carsen’s Rosenkavalier was the most enjoyable performance of it I’ve ever seen

United StatesUnited States The Met: Live in HD – Richard Strauss, Der RosenkavalierSoloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Simone Young (conductor). Broadcast live to the Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 15.4.2023. (JPr)

[l to r] Samantha Hankey (Octavian), Lise Davidsen (Marschallin) and Erin Morley (Sophie) in the final trio © Ken Howard/Met Opera

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The Royal Ballet exhibits Ashton’s Cinderella choreography in their Disneyfied new staging

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Prokofiev, Cinderella: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Koen Kessels (conductor). Broadcast (directed by Ross MacGibbon) from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 12.4.2023. (JPr)

Vadim Muntagirov (The Prince) and Marianela Núñez (Cinderella) © Tristram Kenton

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The orchestral virtuosity in Melbourne Opera’s Götterdämmerung is a lasting memory of their Ring

AustraliaAustralia Wagner, Götterdämmerung: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Melbourne Opera / Anthony Negus (conductor). Livestreamed on Australian Digital Concert Hall from the Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo, 2.4.2023. (JPr)

Bradley Daley (Siegfried), Steven Gallop (Hagen) and Christopher Hillier (Gunther) © Robin Halls

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The Met’s Falstaff was not laugh-out-loud funny but was still totally engaging and entertaining

United StatesUnited States Verdi, Falstaff: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Daniele Rustioni (conductor). Broadcast (directed for the screen by Habib Azar) from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 1.4.2023. (JPr)

Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Mistress Quickly) and Michael Volle (Falstaff) © Karen Almond / Met Opera

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A tremendous celebration of the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninov’s birth in Yekaterinburg

Russian FederationRussian Federation Rachmaninov. Visible Music Festival: Soloists, Yekaterinburg Philharmonic Choir /Andrei Petrenko (conductor), Ural Youth Symphony Orchestra / Andrei Petrenko (conductor). Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Hall, from Virtual Concert Hall relay, 30.3.2023. (GT)

After the Aleko performance at the Rachmaninov. Visible Music Festival

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