Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

Balance issues and uneven singing compromise a handsome Vivaldi production in Wexford

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IrelandIreland Wexford Festival Opera 2019 [2] – Vivaldi, Dorilla in Tempe: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Wexford Festival Opera / Andrea Marchiol (conductor), O’Reilly Theatre, National Opera House, Wexford, 26.10.2019. (RB)

Rosa Bove (Filindo), with dancers (c) Clive Barda

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Iván Fischer’s overly respectful reading of Orfeo in Geneva

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SwitzerlandSwitzerland Monteverdi, Orfeo: Soloists, Choir and Dancers of the Iván Fischer Opera Company (chorus master: Soma Dinyes), Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer (conductor), Grand Théâtre de Genève, 28.10.2019. (ALL)

Emőke Baráth, Antonio Abete and Valerio Contaldo; (c) Judith Horváth

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An outstanding production of Massenet’s Don Quichotte by Wexford Festival Opera

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IrelandIreland Wexford Festival Opera 2019 [1] – Massenet, Don Quichotte:  Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Wexford Festival Opera / Timothy Myers (conductor), Wexford Opera House, Wexford Opera Festival, Wexford, 25.10.2019. (RB)

Aigul Akhmetshina and Goderdz Janelidze (c) Clive Barda

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Fontanals-Simmons and Hoare are standouts in ENO’s The Mask of Orpheus though orchestra gets glitterball

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Birtwistle, The Mask of Orpheus: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of English National Opera / Martyn Brabbins & James Henshaw (conductors). Electronic music realised by Barry Anderson. London Coliseum, 29.10.2019. (CC)

Peter Hoare, Claron McFadden and
Marta Fontanals-Simmons © Alastair Muir

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In Los Angeles, the Mariinsky Ballet in Balanchine’s sparkling Jewels

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United StatesUnited States Fauré, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, George Balanchine’s Jewels: Artists of the Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra / Alexei Repnikov (conductor), Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, 26.10.2019. (JRo)


Renata Shakirova in ‘Rubies’. Photo by Natasha Razina © State Academic Mariinsky Theatre

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