Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

Tautly focused The Turn of the Screw creates a creepy psychological mood at Santa Fe Opera

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United StatesUnited States Britten, The Turn of the Screw: Soloists, chorus and orchestra of Santa Fe Opera / Gemma New (conductor). Crosby Theatre, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1.8.2025. (HS)

Jacquelyn Stucker (The Governess), Everett Baumgarten (Miles) and Brenton Ryan (Peter Quint) in The Turn of the Screw © Curtis Brown

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John Matthew Myers stars in a triumphant revival of Smetana’s Dalibor at Bard

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United StatesUnited States Smetana, Dalibor: Soloists, Bard Festival Chorale, American Symphony Orchestra / Leon Botstein (conductor). SummerScape Opera, Fischer Center at Bard, Annandale-on-Hudson, 30.8.2025. (RP)

Cadie J. Bryan (Milada) and John Matthew Myers (Dalibor) © Maria Baranova

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For the Liceu’s West Side Story with its star singers, the Oscar goes to … Gustavo Dudamel

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SpainSpain Bernstein, West Side Story (concert version): Soloists, Chorus (chorus director: Pablo Assante) and Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu / Gustavo Dudamel (conductor). Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona, 29.7.2025. (JMI)

Juan Diego Flórez (Tony) and Nadine Sierra (Maria) © D. Ruano

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Matthias Davids makes Wagner’s Die Meistersinger fun again at Bayreuth

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GermanyGermany Bayreuth Festival 2025 [1] – Wagner, Die Meistersinger von Nϋrnberg: Soloists, Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra / Daniele Gatti (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Michael Beyer) from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus and available on STAGE+, 25.7.2025. (JPr)

Die Meistersinger von Nϋrnberg Act I © Enrico Nawarth/Bayreuther Festspiele

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