McGregor’s choreography challenges the dancers but Osipova is a magnetic stage presence in Woolf Works

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works – a triptych: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Students of The Royal Ballet School, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Koen Kessels (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Ross MacGibbon) from the Royal Opera House to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 9.2.2026. (JPr)

Natalia Osipova as Virginia Woolf (and Marcelino Sambé as Septimus) in Wayne McGregor’s I now, I then © 2026 Johan Persson

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The stars, Mkhitaryan and Bernheim, align in Massenet’s Manon revived at Vienna State Opera

AustriaAustria Massenet, Manon: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Betrand de Billy (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Dominik Kepczynski) from the Vienna State Opera 17.1.2026. (JPr)

Benjamin Bernheim (Des Grieux) and Kristina Mkhitaryan (Manon) © Weiner Staatsoper

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Ermonela Jaho disappoints in the umpteenth revival of Sir Richard Eyre’s Covent Garden La traviata

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Verdi, La traviata: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Antonello Manacorda (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Ian Russell) from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 14.1.2026. (JPr)

Aleksei Isaev (Georgio Germont) and  Giovanni Sala (Alfredo Germont) © Pamela Raith

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Despite a stellar double act, Charles Edwards makes a new Met I puritani more confusing than it need be

United StatesUnited States The Met: Live in HD – Bellini, I puritani: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Marco Armiliato (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Habib Azar) from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, on 10.1.2026 and seen at Everyman Chelmsford on 13.1.2026. (JPr)

Lisette Oropesa (Elvira) and Lawrence Brownlee (Arturo) © Ken Howard/The Met

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Misconceived and clichéd: the puppetry of the new Vienna Fidelio eclipses its singers and orchestra

AustriaAustria Beethoven, Fidelio: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Franz Welser-Möst (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Dominik Kepczynski) from Vienna State Opera, 19.12.2025. (JPr)

Rocco’s ‘gold’ aria – [l-r] Kathrin Zukowski (Marzelline), Tareq Nazmi (Rocco) and Malin Byström (Leonore) © Werner Kmetitsch/WS

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Andris Nelsons’s direction of Shostakovich Ten is a masterly finale to this magnificent concert in Berlin

GermanyGermany Dupré, Dvořák, Shostakovich: Benjamin Beilman (violin), Jan Liebermann (organ), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Andris Nelsons (conductor). A Digital Concert Hall broadcast from the Philharmonie Berlin, 13.12.2025. (GT)

Andris Nelsons conducts violinist Benjamin Beilman and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra © Frederike van der Straeten

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The Met’s Andrea Chénier has impressive singing from Beczała and Yoncheva and Rustioni’s sure hand

United StatesUnited States The Met: Live in HD – Giordano, Andrea Chénier: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Daniele Rustioni (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Gary Halvorson) from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 13.12.2025. (JPr)

Piotr Beczała (Andrea Chénier) and Sonya Yoncheva in Act I © Karen Almond/Met Opera

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The Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker, though venerable, is still a showcase for the company and attracts new audiences

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Sir Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Students of The Royal Ballet School, The Schola Cantorum of The London Oratory School, London Oratory Junior Choir (director: Charles Cole), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Charlotte Politi (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Peter Jones) for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 10.12.2025. (JPr)

Reece Clarke (Prince) and Mayara Magri (Sugar Plum Fairy) © Andrej Uspenski

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