International Opera

All opera reviews from sources other that the UK

A vintage Un ballo in maschera from the Met offers thrilling voices and lavish sets

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United StatesUnited States Verdi, Un ballo in maschera: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of The Metropolitan Opera, New York / James Levine (conductor). Performance of 26.1.1991, reviewed as a Nightly Met Opera Stream on 20.8.2020. (RP)

Luciano Pavarotti (Gustavo) © Met Opera Archives

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Barrie Kosky’s busy production meets Philippe Jordan’s meticulous conducting: Bayreuth’s current Die Meistersinger

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GermanyGermany Wagner, Der Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival / Philippe Jordan (conductor). 2017 performance from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus and reviewed as a live stream on DG Stage, 19.8.2020. (CC)

Barrie Kosky’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Act I © Enrico Nawrath

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Cow-pig at the New York Stock Exchange: Castorf’s Götterdämmerung on DG Stage from Bayreuth

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GermanyGermany Wagner, Götterdämmerung: Soloists, Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra / Marek Janowski (conductor). 2016 performance from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus and reviewed when streamed for 48 hours on DG Stage. (CC)

2016’s Bayreuth Festival’s Götterdämmerung (c) Enrico Nawrath

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Animatronic Crocodiles, Furs and M(m)ime: Castorf’s Siegfried revisited on DG Stage

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GermanyGermany Wagner, Siegfried: Soloists, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra / Marek Janowski (conductor). 2016 performance from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus and reviewed when streamed for 48 hours on DG Stage. (CC)

Stefan Vinke (Siegfried) & Andreas Conrad (Mime) (c) Enrico Nawrath

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The opportunity to see and hear Connolly’s Fricka and Ventris’s Siegmund in Castorf’s Die Walküre is unmissable

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GermanyGermany Wagner, Die Walküre: Soloists, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra / Marek Janowski (conductor). 2016 performance from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus and reviewed when streamed on DG Stage. (CC)

Frank Castorf’s Die Walküre (c) Enrico Nawrath

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Schenk and Schneider-Siemssen’s Met Parsifal allowed a timeless tale to wend in its way towards redemptive transcendence

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United StatesUnited States Wagner, Parsifal: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of The Metropolitan Opera, New York / James Levine (conductor). Performance of 28.3.1992 reviewed as a Nightly Met Opera Stream in 8.8.2020. (JPr)

Kurt Moll (Gurnemanz), Waltraud Meier (Kundry) & Siegfried Jerusalem (Parsifal)

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Frank Castorf’s staggeringly intelligent, symbol-laden Bayreuth Das Rheingold is revived on DG Stage

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GermanyGermany Wagner, Das Rheingold: Soloists, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra / Marek Janowski (conductor). 2016 performance from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus and reviewed when streamed on DG Stage. (CC)

Iain Paterson (Wotan) & Nadine Weissmann (Erda)
(c) Enrico Nawrath/Bayreuther Festspiele

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Krzysztof Warlikowski’s new Elektra production ushers in 2020’s resurrected 100th Salzburg Festival

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AustriaAustria 100th Salzburg Festival – Richard Strauss, Elektra: Soloists, Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus (chorus master: Ernst Raffelsberger), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Franz Welser-Möst (conductor). Review of 1.8.2020 performance (directed for the screen by Miriam Hoyer) in Salzburg’s Felsenreitschule and streamed on ARTE Concert. (JPr)

Aušrinė Stundytė (Elektra) and Derek Welton (Orest) © Bernd Uhlig

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