United Kingdom Verdi, Rigoletto: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera / Pietro Rizzo (conductor). Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 21.9.2024. (GPu)
Adele Thomas’s powerful and passionate Rigoletto for the beleaguered WNO
Opera & Ballet
Collected opera and ballet reviews
Imaginative and intelligent revision of Der Freischütz in Oldenburg
Germany Weber, Der Freischütz (Additional music by Elena Kats-Chernin. Libretto by Friedrich Kind, in a new version by Susanne Felicitas Wolf): Soloists, Chorus and Extras of Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, Oldenburgisches Staatsorchester / Hendrik Vestmann (conductor). Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, 18.9.2024. (DMD)
Madame Butterfly meets Hollywood film set at the LA Opera
United States Puccini, Madame Butterfly: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of LA Opera / James Conlon (conductor). Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, 21.9.2024. (JRo)
Admire the fine singing of a rather questionable Komische Oper Messiah staging
Germany Handel, Messiah: Soloists, Choral Soloists and Project Chorus of the Komische Oper, Orchestra of the Komische Oper / George Petrou (conductor). Hangar 4, Tempelhof Airport, Berlin, 21.9.2024. (MB)
Eugene Onegin is another triumph for Northern Ireland Opera
United Kingdom Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Northern Ireland Opera / Dominic Limburg (conductor). Grand Opera House, Belfast, 17.9.2024. (RB)
Mesmerising unity in diversity in Hannover’s Satyagraha
Germany Glass, Satyagraha: Soloists, Chorus and Extras of Staatsoper Hannover, Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover / Masaru Kumakura (conductor). Staatsoper Hannover, 8.9.2024. (DMD)
Ariadne auf Naxos is presented in an unusual and highly innovative form by Iván Fischer in Budapest
Hungary R. Strauss: Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (orchestral suite) Op.60-IIIa, Ariadne auf Naxos: Soloists, Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer (conductor), Müpa Budapest, 8.9.2024. (AK)
The Lyric Opera of Chicago season opens with a compelling Rigoletto
United States Verdi, Rigoletto: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago / Enrique Mazzola (conductor). Civic Opera House, Chicago, 14.9.2024. (JLZ)
