Sondra Radvanovsky excels vocally as Imogene in Teatro di San Carlo’s concert performance of Il pirata

ItalyItaly Bellini, Il pirata (concert version): Chorus (chorus director: Gea Garatti Ansini) and Orchestra of Teatro di San Carlo / Antonino Fogliani (conductor). Recorded live at Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, on 16.1.2021 and available as a livestream from 5.2.2021. (JPr)

Teatro di San Carlo’s concert performance of Il pirata

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Watch Swan Lake ENB’s latest Ballet on Demand and see how it deserves applause and cheers in Liverpool

United KingdomUnited Kingdom English National Ballet’s Swan Lake: Dancers of English National Ballet, English National Ballet Philharmonic / Gavin Sutherland (conductor). Filmed at the Liverpool Empire on 21.11.2018 and available to rent through Ballet on Demand (click here) from 1.2.2021. (JO’D)

Jurgita Dronina (Odette) and Isaac Hernández (Siegfried) © Laurent Liotardo

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Piacenza’s Gianni Schicchi is an entertaining hour’s music and drama, to remind us of Puccini’s genius

ItalyItaly Puccini, Gianni Schicchi: Soloists, Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana / Massimiliano Stefanelli (conductor). Performed at Teatro Municipale, Piacenza, Italy, and livestreamed (directed by Fabio Dolci) on 22.1.2021 and available to view on YouTube. (CC)

Teatro Municipale’s Gianni Schicchi

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Bon spectacle! Paris Opera Ballet’s Opening Gala 2021 at Palais Garnier is exactly that

FranceFrance Paris Opera Ballet’s Opening Gala: Etoiles, Premier Dancers, Corps de Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet School’s students, The Paris Opera Orchestra / Vello Pähn (conductor). Livestreamed (directed by Floris Bernard and Jean-Luc Antoine) from the Palais Garnier, Paris, on 30.1.2021. (JO’D)

Défilé du Ballet at Paris Opera Ballet’s Opening Gala (c) Julien Benhamou

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The fine staging and performance of Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg in Berlin

GermanyGermany Zemlinsky, Der Zwerg: Soloists, Ladies of the Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin / Donald Runnicles (conductor). Filmed (directed by Götz Filenius) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in March 2013. Reviewed when streamed in January 2021 and the earlier published review from a performance on 12.4.2019. (JP) (MB)

Deutsche Oper Berlin’s Der Zwerg (c) Monika Ritterhaus

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Robert Carsen’s funny and not-too-serious Die Zauberflöte is performed in Paris during lockdown

FranceFrance Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (La Flûte enchantée, The Magic Flute): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Opéra national de Paris / Cornelius Meister (conductor). Performed at – and livestreamed (directed by Jérémie Cuvillier) – from Opéra Bastille, Paris, on 22.1.2021. (JPr)

Robert Carsen’s Die Zauberflöte final scene

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For Verdi’s 200th, Hui He’s Aida lights up Arena di Verona in La Fura dels Baus’s mix of the traditional, modern, and quixotic

ItalyItaly Arena di Verona Opera Festival 2013 – Verdi, Aida: Soloists, Ballet, Chorus and Orchestra of Arena di Verona / Omer Meir Wellber (conductor). Performance of 14.6.2013 and currently available on Marquee TV as a livestream (directed by Andy Sommer). (JPr)

La Fura del Baus’s Aida final scene

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Goodnight Vienna: Plácido Domingo’s Nabucco is his farewell to Vienna State Opera and there is no one there to see it

AustriaAustria Verdi, Nabucco: Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Marco Armiliato (conductor). Livestreamed (directed by Jakob Pitzer) from Vienna State Opera, 22.1.2021. (JPr)

Vienna State Opera’s Nabucco final scene

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