Christopher Wheeldon’s Like Water for Chocolate for The Royal Ballet provides food for thought

United KingdomUnited Kingdom The Royal Ballet’s Like Water for Chocolate: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Siân Griffiths (mezzo-soprano), Tomás Barreiro (guitar), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Alondra de la Parra (conductor). Recorded (directed by Ross MacGibbon) at the Royal Opera House, Covent, Garden, 9.6.2022 and shown at Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 19.1.2023. (JPr)

Francesca Hayward (Tita) and Marcelino Sambé (Pedro) © Tristram Kenton

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Netrebko leads a fine cast and an exceptional orchestra breathing life into a venerable Vienna La bohème

AustriaAustria Puccini, La bohème: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Bertrand de Billy (conductor). Recorded (directed by Jakob Pitzer) at Vienna State Opera on 11.9.2022 and streamed on 14.2.2023. (JPr)

Anna Netrebko (Mimì) © Wiener Staatsoper/Michael Pöhn

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Emma O’Halloran’s Mary Motorhead and Trade premiere at Prototype

United StatesUnited States Prototype 2023 [2] – Emma O’Halloran, Trade and Mary Motorhead: Kyle Bielfield, Marc Kudisch, Naomi Louisa O’Connell (performers), Novus NY / Elaine Kelly (music direction). Abrons Arts Center, New York, 13.1.2023. (RP)

Naomi Louisa O’Connell (Mary Motorhead) © Maria Baranov

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Thanks to Yoncheva and Beczała at the Met, Fedora was worth seeing once but never again

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Giordano, Fedora: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Marco Armiliato (conductor). Broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 14.1.2023. (JPr)

Piotr Beczała (Loris) and Sonya Yoncheva (Fedora) © Ken Howard/Met Opera

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Reliving memories of Rudolf Nureyev’s 1968 The Nutcracker production for The Royal Ballet

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Rudolf Nureyev’s The Nutcracker: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden Opera Chorus / John Lanchbery (conductor). Filmed (directed by John Vernon) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 10.3.1968 and re-released on DVD by Opus Arte in 2020. (JPr)

Rudolf Nureyev (Drosselmeyer) and Merle Park (Clara)

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Gustavo Dudamel’s first Tristan und Isolde is immersed in Bill Viola’s video

United StatesUnited States Wagner, Tristan und Isolde: Soloists, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra / Gustavo Dudamel (conductor). Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, 15-17.12.2022. (LV)

Michael Weinius as Tristan © Mathew Imaging/Los Angeles Philharmonic Association

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