Festival 2024

An excellent cast brings Peter Sellars’s Salzburg production of The Gambler vividly to life

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AustriaAustria Salzburg Festival 2024 [10] – Prokofiev, The Gambler: Soloists, Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Timur Zangiev (conductor). Felsenreitschule, Salzburg, 25.8.2024. (MB)

[l-r] Sean Panikkar (Alexey), Violeta Urmana (Babulenka) and Asmik Grigorian (Polina) © SF/Ruth Walz)

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For all the power of Rihab Chaieb’s (anti-)hero, this was a mixed Glyndebourne Carmen at the Proms

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom PROM 52 – Bizet, Carmen from Glyndebourne: Soloists, Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Anja Bihlmaier (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 29.8.2024. (CC)

Bizet’s Carmen from Glyndebourne at the BBC Proms © BBC/Andy Paradise

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A blazing Glagolitic Mass from Hrůša and the Czech Philharmonic at the Proms

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom PROM 50 – Kaprálová, Dvořák, Janáček: Mao Fujita (piano), Corinne Winters (soprano), Bella Adamova (mezzo-soprano), David Butt Philip (tenor), Pavel Švingr (bass), Christian Schmitt (organ), Prague Philharmonic Choir (choirmaster Lukáš Vasilek), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Jakub Hrůša (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 28.8.2024. (CK)

Jakub Hrůša conducts pianist Mao Fujita and the Czech Philharmonic © BBC/Andy Paradise

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Confusing mix of styles in Maxim Emelyanchev’s approach to Mozart in Salzburg

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AustriaAustria Salzburg Festival 2024 [9] – Mozart: Isabelle Unterer (oboe), Bernhard Mitmesser (clarinet), Álvaro Canales Albert (bassoon), Paul Pitzek (horn), Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra / Maxim Emelyanchev (fortepiano / conductor). Grosser Saal, Salzburg, 25.8.2024. (MB)

Maxim Emelyanychev (conductor/piano), Álvaro Canales Albert (bassoon), Bernhard Mitmesser (clarinet), Paul Pitzek (horn) and Isabella Unterer (oboe) © SF/Marco Borrelli

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Excellent cast let down by lifeless conducting and a confusing Salzburg production of Les contes d’Hoffmann

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AustriaAustria Salzburg Festival 2024 [8] – Offenbach, Les contes d’Hoffmann: Soloists, Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Marc Minkowski (conductor). Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 24.8.2024. (MB)

Les contes d’Hoffmann: Benjamin Bernheim (Hoffmann), Kate Lindsey (Muse/Nicklausse) and Kathryn Lewek (Stella) © SF/Monika Rittershaus

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