Opera & Ballet – Seen and Heard International

An excellent Madrid production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s tale of the tsar

06/05/2025 by José Irurzun

Spain Rimsky-Korsakov, The Tale of Tsar Saltan: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real / Ouri Bronchti (conductor). Teatro Real, Madrid, 2.5.2025. (JMI)

Svetlana Aksenova (Militrisa) and Bogdan Volkov (Gvidon) © J. del Real

Handel’s Jephtha is presented for the first time in Madrid’s Teatro Real

04/05/2025 by José Irurzun

Spain Handel, Jephtha (concert performance): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Il Pomo d’Oro / Francesco Corti (conductor). Teatro Real, Madrid, 1.5.2025. (JMI)

Federica Lombardi shines in a first-class production of Le nozze di Figaro from The Met: Live in HD

04/05/2025 by Robert Beattie

United States Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Metropolitan Opera, New York / Joana Mallwitz (conductor), Metropolitan Opera, New York, performance of 26.4.2025, seen at Avenue Cinema, Belfast, 30.4.2025. (RB)

Olga Kulchynska (Susanna), Federica Lombardi (Countess) and Sun-Ly Pierce (lying, Cherubino) © Evan Zimmerman/Met Opera

An excellent revival of Salieri’s Il mondo alla rovescia in Salzburg

02/05/2025 by Mark Berry

Austria Salieri, Il mondo alla rovescia: Soloists, Chorus and Supplementary Chorus of the Salzburg Landestheater, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra / Carlo Benedetto Cimento (conductor). Salzburg Landestheater, 30.4.2025. (MB)

Daniele Macciantelli (La Generala) and George Humphreys (Il Conte) © Tobias Witzgall

A first revival of Scottish Ballet’s The Crucible proves it is a bankable classic

02/05/202501/05/2025 by Simon Thompson

United Kingdom Scottish Ballet’s The Crucible: Dancers and Orchestra of Scottish Ballet / Daniel Parkinson (conductor). Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 1.5.2025. (SRT)

Scottish Ballet’s *The Crucible* © Rimbaud Patron

Beneath different veils: Claus Guth’s Salome at the Metropolitan Opera

02/05/202501/05/2025 by Edward Sava-Segal

United States Richard Strauss, Salome: Soloists, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor). Metropolitan Opera, New York, 29.4.2025. (ES-S)

Elza van den Heever (Salome) and Peter Mattei (Jochanaan) © Evan Zimmerman/Met Opera

A thoughtful and well performed production of Eugene Onegin in Innsbruck

30/04/2025 by Mark Berry

Austria Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin: Soloists, Actors, Chorus and Extra Chorus of the Tiroler Landestheater, Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck / Matthew Toogood (conductor). Tiroler Landestheater, Innsbruck, 26.4.2025. (MB)

Tiroler Landestheater’s *Eugene Onegin* © Birgit Gufler

Eleonora Buratto was an outstanding Cio-Cio-San in Berlin Philharmonic’s exceptional Madama Butterfly

29/04/2025 by Jim Pritchard

Germany Puccini, Madama Butterfly (concert performance): Soloists, Rundfunkchor Berlin (chief conductor: Gijs Leenaars), Berliner Philharmoniker / Kirill Petrenko (conductor). Broadcast live from the Berlin Philharmonie (directed by Michael Beyer) on the Digital Concert Hall, 27.4.2025. (JPr)