International Opera

All opera reviews from sources other that the UK

Returning to David McVicar’s 2015 Vienna Tristan which showcased singers willing to stand and deliver

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AustriaAustria Wagner, Tristan und Isolde: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Peter Schneider (conductor). 18.1.2015 performance and streamed by Wiener Staatsoper Live at Home and reviewed on 28.5.2020. (JPr)

Vienna State Opera’s Tristan und Isolde

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The Met’s 2007 Il barbiere di Siviglia proves an escape from our current reality and a couple of hours of bliss

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United StatesUnited States Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Maurizio Benini (conductor). Performance of 24.3.2007 and reviewed as a Nightly Met Opera Stream (MM-B)

Peter Mattei (Figaro), Joyce DiDonato (Rosina), & Juan Diego Flórez (Count Almaviva) © Ken Howard/Met Opera

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‘Mein lieber Schwan’: can a 1986 Met Lohengrin teach us anything 34 years later?

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United StatesUnited States Wagner, Lohengrin: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / James Levine (conductor). 10.1.1986 performance from the Metropolitan Opera House reviewed as a Nightly Met Opera Stream on 20.5.2020. (JPr)

Peter Hofmann (Lohengrin), John Macurdy (Henry) & Éva Marton (Elsa)

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Opera Philadelphia’s Digital Festival O Presents We Shall Not Be Moved

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United StatesUnited States Roumain, We Shall Not Be Moved: Soloists, Opera Philadelphia Orchestra / Viswa Subbaraman (conductor). Opera Philadelphia, Wilma Theater, Philadelphia. Performance of 20.9.2017 reviewed as part of Digital Festival O. (RP)

Lauren Whitehead (Un/Sung) in We Shall Not Be Moved (c) Dominic M. Mercier

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Looking back at Petra Lang’s vividly sung Brünnhilde in Vienna State Opera’s 2017 Götterdämmerung

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AustriaAustria Wagner, Götterdämmerung: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera / Peter Schneider (conductor). Performance of 5.6.2017 from the Vienna State Opera and reviewed as a Wiener Staatsoper Live stream on 19.5.2020. (JPr)

Petra Lang (Brünnhilde), Falk Struckmann (Hagen), and Markus Eiche (Gunther)

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The Met’s first live TV broadcast: memories of Pavarotti and Scotto in a 1977 La bohème

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United StatesUnited States Puccini, La bohème: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York / James Levine (conductor). 15.3.1977 performance reviewed as the Viewers’ Choice Nightly Met Opera Stream on 9.5.2020. (JPr)

Renata Scotto (Mimì) and Luciano Pavarotti (Rodolfo) © Met Opera Archives

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An opera for this time and place – Raymond J. Lustig’s Semmelweis

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HungaryHungary R. J. Lustig, Semmelweis: Soloists, Dancers, Béla Bartók Chamber Choir of Szolnok, Chamber Orchestra of the Budapest Operetta Theater / Dániel Dinyés (conductor). Bartók Plusz Opera Festival, Miskolc National Theatre, Miskolc. World premiere performance of 9.6.2018 reviewed as a video (available click here). (RP)

Enikő Lévai (Susan) and Szilveszter Szabó (Semmelweis)
© Budapest Operetta Theater and Bartok Plusz Opera Festival

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Looking back at Piotr Beczala encoring his triumphant Cavaradossi in Vienna’s classic Tosca

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AustriaAustria Puccini, Tosca: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera / Marco Armiliato (conductor). Directed for the screen by Ella Gallieni and recorded at the Vienna State Opera on 23.6.2019 and reviewed on 28.4.2020. (JPr)

Piotr Beczala as Cavaradossi

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