Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

McVicar’s La Scala Siegfried is so good in parts – Young, Vogt and Volle particularly – but fails in others

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ItalyItaly Wagner, Siegfried: Soloists, Teatro alla Scala Orchestra / Simone Young (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Anna Gettel) from La Scala, Milan, 13.6.2025 and available on demand on LaScala TV. (JPr)

Siegfried final scene © Teatro alla Scala/Brescia e Amisano

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Exceptional display of dancing from all concerned as Takada and Ball star in The Royal Ballet’s Giselle

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Adolphe Adam, Giselle: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Orchestra / Vello Pähn (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Ross MacGibbon) from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. 3.3.2026. (JPr)

Akane Takada (Giselle) and Matthew Ball (Albrecht) © RBO/Andrej Uspenski

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There was much evidence that the Staatsoper audience in Berlin enjoyed their first Janáček Vixen

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GermanyGermany Janáček, The Cunning Little Vixen: Soloists, Children’s Choir of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (director: Vinzenz Weissenburger), Staatsopernchor Berlin (director: Dani Juris), Staatskapelle Berlin / Sir Simon Rattle (conductor). Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, 28.2.2026. (MB)

Staatsoper Unter den Linden’s The Cunning Little Vixen © Monika Rittershaus

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ENO’s concert staging of Così fan tutte provided the audience with enjoyment in spades

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Mozart, Così fan tutte (concert staging): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of English National Opera / Alexander Joel (conductor). Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 27.2.2026. (MC)

[l-r] Lucy Crowe (Fiordiligi), Ailish Tynan (Despina) and Taylor Raven (Dorabella) © Matthew Johnson

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