Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

Through a glass darkly in Grange Park Opera’s gloomily convincing Don Carlo

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Grange Park Opera 2026 [1] – Verdi, Don Carlo: Soloists, Grange Park Chorus, Orchestra of English National Opera / Gianluca Marciano (conductor). Grange Park Opera, West Horsley, 6.6.2026. (CR)

Julian Close (The Grand Inquisitor) and Matthew Rose (Philip II) © Marc Brenner

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Nadja Loschky’s Carmen disappointed in a production saved by the professionalism of the performers

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GermanyGermany Bizet, Carmen: Soloists, Semperoper Children’s Choir, Saxon State Opera Chorus and Orchestra / Lorenzo Passerini (conductor). Semperoper Dresden, 1.6.2026. (MC)

[l-r] Eve-Maud Hubeaux (Carmen), Lasse Myhr (Alter Ego of Don José), Attilio Glaser (Don José) and Marjukka Tepponen (Micaëla) © Monika Rittershaus

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Cologne concert Götterdämmerung performance brings Ring cycle project to a glorious conclusion

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GermanyGermany Wagner, Götterdämmerung: Dresden Festival Chorus of the Richard-Wagner-Academy, KlangVerwaltung Chorus, Dresden Festival Orchestra, Concerto Cologne / Kent Nagano (conductor). Philharmonie Cologne, 4.6.2026. (DM-D)

Kent Nagano conducts Götterdämmerung (previously in Dresden) © Oliver Killig

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With such a first-class cast it was hard not to be delighted by Dresden’s uplifting Nino Rota rarity

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GermanyGermany Nino Rota, Il cappello di paglia di Firenze (Der Florentiner Hut / The Italian Straw Hat): Soloists, Saxon State Opera Chorus and Orchestra / Daniele Squeo (conductor). Semperoper Dresden, 31.5.2026. (MC)

Semperoper Dresden’s The Italian Straw Hat © Mark Schulze Steinen

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Longborough assembles five outstanding exponents of Handel for their courageous Orlando production

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Longborough Festival Opera 2026 [1] – Handel, Orlando: Soloists, Academy of Ancient Music / Christopher Moulds (conductor). Longborough Festival Opera, Gloucestershire, 31.5.2026. (CP)

Olivia Higginbottom, Kelli-Ann Masterson (Dorinda) and Katie Bray (Medoro) © Matthew Williams-Ellis

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