Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

New Zealand Opera’s Tosca: what a production, voices, playing and conducting!

by

New ZealandNew Zealand Puccini, Tosca: Soloists, Freemasons New Zealand Opera Chorus, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / Tobias Ringborg (conductor). St. James Theatre, Wellington. 10.10.2015. (PM)

Tosca (1)-500
Simon O’Neill (Cavaradossi) and Orla Boylan (Tosca) (c) Neil Mackenzie

Read more

Kaufmann is not the best thing about Konwitschny’s Vienna Don Carlos which stands the test of time

by

AustriaAustria Verdi, Don Carlos: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Bertrand de Billy (conductor). 4.10.2020 performance (directed for TV by Dominik Kepczynski) and reviewed when streamed on 22.11.2020. (JPr)

Don Carlos – Jonas Kaufmann (Don Carlos), Igor Golovantenko (Rodrigue)
and Michele Pertusi (Philippe II)

Read more

It maybe a Weill but give Opera North’s The Seven Deadly Sins a chance if you can

by

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Weill, The Seven Deadly Sins: Soloists, Orchestra of Opera North / James Holmes (conductor). Livestreamed (directed by Jonathan Haswell) from Leeds Playhouse’s Quarry Theatre, 21.11.2020. (JPr)

Shelley Eva Haden (Anna II) & Wallis Giunta (Anna I) © Tristram Kenton

Read more

Musical splendours in a wonderful performance of Handel’s Ariodante livestreamed from the Royal Opera House

by

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Handel, Ariodante in Concert: Soloists, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Christian Curnyn (conductor). Livestream (directed for TV by Peter Jones) from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 20.11.2020. (JPr)

Chen Reiss (Ginevra), Gerald Finley (King of Scotland) & Paula Murrihy (Ariodante)

Read more

A rarely performed eighteenth-century opera: The Anonymous Lover by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

by

United StatesUnited States Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, The Anonymous Lover: Soloists and Orchestra of LA Opera / James Conlon (conductor). Colburn School’s Zipper Hall, Los Angeles, streaming from 14.11.2020 – 29.11.2020. (JRo)

A scene from LA Opera’s The Anonymous Lover (c) Larry Ho

Read more

Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo in Piacenza moved from fierce energy to the most tender emotions

by

ItalyItaly Handel, Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, HWV 72 (1708, ed. Longo/Pe/Guglielmi): Soloists, Ensemble barocco La Lira di Orfeo / Luca Guglielmi (harpsichord / conductor). Livestream from Teatro Municipale, Piacenza, via OperaStreaming (click here) and also streamed via Facebook, 15.11.2020. (CC)

Aci (Raffaele Pe) in Aci, Galatea e Polifemo

Read more

Simply the dance: highlight after highlight from The Royal Ballet: Live – Within the Golden Hour

by

United KingdomUnited Kingdom The Royal Ballet: Live – Within the Golden Hour: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Jonathan Lo (conductor). Live-streamed from The Royal Opera House, London, 13.11.2020 (JO’D)

Monotones II – Nicol Edmonds, Melissa Hamilton, and Reece Clarke

Read more

Modena’s refreshing Dido and Aeneas is a real rethinking of the music and the drama from

by

ItalyItaly Purcell, Dido and Aeneas: Soloists, Coro Lirico di Modena I Madrigalisti Estensi, Ensemble Alraune / Mario Sollazzo (conductor). Live streaming from Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti, Modena, on YouTube (and Opera on Video), 8.11.2020. (CC)

Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti’s Dido and Aeneas

Read more