Rameau’s lost Samson is evidently a labour not only of love but also of conviction for all

FranceFrance Festival d’Aix-en-Provence [5] – Rameau, Samson: Soloists, Pygmalion / Raphaël Pichon (conductor). Théâtre de l’Archevêché, Aix-en-Provence, 12.7.2024. (MB)

Samson at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2024 © Monika Rittershaus

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Hail Fellows, well played: Youthful Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra comes of age in Shostakovich’s Fifth

United StatesUnited States Tanglewood Festival 2024 [2] – Dvořák, Coleridge-Taylor and Shostakovich: Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra / Ross Jamie Collins, Na’zir McFadden, Andris Nelsons (conductors). Koussevitsky Music Shed. Lenox, 8.7.2024. (CSa)

Na’zir McFadden conducts the TMCO © Hilary Scott / BSO

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Despite reservations, memory of Gluck at Aix will doubtless endure

FranceFrance Festival d’Aix-en-Provence [4] – Gluck, Iphigénie en Aulide and Iphigénie en Tauride: Soloists, Le Choeur d’Astrée (chorus director: Richard Wilberforce), Le Concert d’Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm (conductor). Grand Théâtre de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, 11.7.2024 (MB)

Iphigenie en Tauride at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2024 © Monika Rittershaus

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Buxton’s new and first-rate Ernani production by Jamie Manton provided captivating drama

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Buxton International Festival [3] – Verdi, Ernani: Soloists, BIF Chorus, Orchestra of Opera North / Adrian Kelly (conductor). Buxton International Festival, Buxton Opera House, Derbyshire, 10.7.2024. (MC)

Cast of Ernani with André Heyboer (centre) as Don Carlo © Genevieve Girling

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Having caught up with Katie Mitchell’s Aix production, Pelléas will never quite be the same again

FranceFrance Festival d’Aix-en-Provence [2] – Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande: Soloists, Chorus (chorus master: Benedict Kearns) and Orchestra of the Lyon Opera / Susanna Mälkki (conductor). Grand Théâtre de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, 9.7.2024. (MB)

Pelléas et Mélisande at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2024 © Jean-Louis Fernandez

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