Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

A patchwork of Leonard Bernstein’s life in John Neumeier’s Bernstein Dances

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United StatesUnited States Bernstein, Bernstein Dances: Dancers of the Hamburg Ballet, Tai Murray (violin), Sebastian Knauer (piano), members of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and other artists / Garrett Keast (conductor). Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, 13.3.2020. (JRo)

Bernstein Dances © Los Angeles Opera

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Focus is on Lise Davidsen but Isabel Leonard, Brenda Rae and Marek Janowski make the Met’s Ariadne an ensemble success

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United StatesUnited States Richard Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Marek Janowski (conductor). Transmitted live (directed by Gary Halvorson) from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, 12.3.2022. (JPr)

Brenda Rae (Zerbinetta) and Isabel Leonard (Composer) (c) Marty Sohl

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Peter Grimes comes ashore as the Dutchman in Stefan Herheim’s new Munich production

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GermanyGermany Britten, Peter Grimes: Soloists, Children’s Chorus, Chorus and Orchestra of the Bayerische Staatsoper / Edward Gardner (conductor). Livestreamed (directed by Miriam Hoyer) from Munich’s Nationaltheater, 6.3.2022. (JPr)

Stuart Skelton (Grimes, centre) in Bayerische Staatsoper’s Peter Grimes © W Hoesl

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Shades of the present haunt Russia’s past as parodied by Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Rimsky-Korsakov, The Golden Cockerel: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of English Touring Opera / Gerry Cornelius (conductor). Hackney Empire. London, 5.3.2022. (CC)

Alys Mererid Roberts (Cockerel), Robert Lewis (Astrologer) and Grant Doyle (King Dodon) © Richard Hubert Smith

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