Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

The Royal Ballet are on great form in Wheeldon’s phantasmagorical Alice’s Adventures, but it’s too long

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Koen Kessels (conductor). Directed for the screen by Ross MacGibbon and seen at Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 15.10.2024. (JPr)

William Bracewell (The Knave of Hearts) and Francesca Hayward (Alice) © Alice Pennefather

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In Bremerhaven’s Turandot, the plot is the princess’ drug-induced hallucination

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GermanyGermany Puccini, Turandot: Soloists and Chorus, Extra chorus and Children’s chorus of Stadttheater Bremerhaven, Philharmonic Orchestra Bremerhaven / Davide Perniceni (conductor). Stadttheater Bremerhaven, 10.10.2024. (DM-D)

[l-r] Victoria Kunze (Liù), Thomas Paul (Calàf), Agnes Selma Weiland (Turandot) © Heiko Sandelmann

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Barlett Sher’s Tales of Hoffmann revival at the Met loses the emotional core of this complex opera

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United StatesUnited States Offenbach, Les contes d’Hoffmann: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Marco Armiliato (conductor). Broadcast Live in HD from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 5.10.2024. (JPr)

Vasilisa Berzhanskaya (Nicklausse), Benjamin Bernheim (Hoffmann), and Christian Van Horn (Lindorf) © Karen Almond/Met Opera

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