United Kingdom Handel, Xerxes (sung in Italian with surtitles): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Northern College of Music/Roger Hamilton (conductor), Royal Northern College of Music Theatre, Manchester, 22.3.2012 (RJF)
International Opera
All opera reviews from sources other that the UK
Vancouver’s Barber Survives Transplantation
Canada Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia: Vancouver Opera, soloists, Robert Tweten (conductor), Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, British Columbia. 17.3.2012 (BJ)
Unintentional Humor in Händel’s “Rinaldo” at Chicago Lyric
United States Händel, Rinaldo: Soloists, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Harry Bicket (conductor), Civic Opera House, Chicago. 16.3.2012 (JLZ)
Compelling Das Rheingold Launches Teatro Argentino’s First Ring Cycle
Argentina Wagner: Das Rheingold: Soloists and Orchestra of Teatro Argentino. Conductor: Alejo Pérez, Teatro Argentino, La Plata. 17.3.2012. (JSJ)
A Foursome of Mimís in Barcelona
Spain Giacomo Puccini: La bohème: Soloists, Orquestra and Chorus Gran Teatre del Liceu, Victor Pablo Pérez (conductor), Barcelona’s Liceu, 12, 13, 15, 16.3.2012. (JMI)
Wild Thing, She Makes Your Heart Sing; Meow
Spain Manuel Penella: El gato montés: Soloists, Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Coro del Teatro de la Zarzuela, Óliver Díaz (conductor), Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, 3.3.2012 (JMI)
Stagecraft Dominates in Seattle Opera’s Orphée et Eurydice
United States Gluck, Orphée et Eurydice: Seattle Opera, soloists, Gary Thor Wedow (conductor), Jose Maria Condemi (director), Phillip Lienau (sets), Heidi Zamora (costumes), Connie Yun (lighting), Joyce Degenfelder (hair and makeup design), Yannis Adoniou (choreography), Beth Kirchhoff (chorus master), Philip A. Kelsey and David McDade (musical preparation), McCaw Hall, Seattle, 25 & 29.2.2012 (BJ)
Memories of Another Past: Stefan Herheim’s La bohème
Norway Puccini, La bohème: Soloists, Norwegian National Opera Orchestra, Chorus, and Children’s Chorus, Eivind Gullberg Jensen (conductor), Oslo Opera, 23.1.2012 (JFL)