Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

Bremerhaven’s Hänsel und Gretel has the children escaping into their own dreamworld

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GermanyGermany Humperdinck, Hänsel und Gretel: Soloists, Ladies of the Chorus, Children’s chorus of Stadttheater Bremerhaven, Philharmonic Orchestra Bremerhaven / Hartmut Brüsch (conductor). Bremerhaven, 28.12.2024. (DM-D)

Marcin Hutek (Peter), Kristín Anna Guðmundsdóttir (Gertrud), Boshana Milkov (Hänsel), and Victoria Kunze (Gretel) © Heiko Sandelmann

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Xabier Anduaga triumphs in Munich’s new production of La fille du régiment

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GermanyGermany Donizetti, La fille du régiment: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Bayerische Staatsoper / Stefano Montanari (conductor). Nationaltheater, Munich, 31.12.2024. (ALL)

Bayerische Staatsoper’s La fille du régiment – Sunnyi Melles (centre, La Duchesse de Crakentorp) © Geoffrey Schied

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McCrystal’s too merry Glyndebourne Merry Widow lacks the depth it deserves despite a fine ensemble

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow: Soloists, The Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra / John Wilson (conductor). Filmed (directed by Rhodri Huw) at the Glyndebourne Opera House and broadcast on BBC Four on 25.12.2024 and available on iPlayer. (JPr)

The entrance of Hanna Glawari (Danielle de Niese) in The Merry Widow Act I © Tristram Kenton

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Sky Arts shows the constructive chaos behind English National Ballet’s work-in-progress new Nutcracker

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Backstage with English National Ballet (Sky Arts, series directed by Zoë Dobson) & English National Ballet’s Nutcracker (directed for TV by Peter Jones): English National Ballet, English National Ballet Philharmonic / Maria Seletskaja (conductor). Filmed at the London Coliseum and first broadcast on Sky Arts on 23.12.2024. (JPr)

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