United Kingdom Mozart, The Magic Flute: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera / Damian Iorio (conductor). Theatre Cymru, Llandudno, 24.4.2019. (RJF)
WNO’s Scintillatingly Sung and Played The Magic Flute Deserved a New Staging
Opera & Ballet
Collected opera and ballet reviews
Oscar Straus’s Operetta Entertains the Zurich Opera Audience
Switzerland Oscar Straus: Eine Frau, die weiss, was sie will!: Dagmar Manzel, Max Hopp (singing actors), musicians / Adam Benzwi (conductor), Zurich Opera, Zurich 27.4.2019. (JR)
WNO’s Very Well Sung Un ballo in maschera in Llandudno
United Kingdom Verdi, Un ballo in maschera: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera / Gareth Jones (conductor). Theatre Cymru, Llandudno, 24.4 2019. (RJF)
& Mary Elizabeth Williams (Amelia) (c) Bill Cooper
So Much to Absorb in Kentridge’s Much-Trimmed Il ritorno d’Ulysse
France Monteverdi, Il ritorno d’Ulysse in patria (abridged Kentridge/Pierlot): Soloists, Handspring Puppet Company, Ricercar Consort / Philippe Pierlot (viola da gamba/director). Opéra Royal de Versailles, 18.4.2019. (CC)
A New Production of Falstaff Opens in Madrid
Spain Verdi, Falstaff: Teatro Real Chorus and Orchestra / Daniele Rustioni (conductor), Teatro Real, Madrid, 23 & 24.4.2019. (JMI)
The Royal Opera’s Unforgettable Billy Budd
United Kingdom Britten, Billy Budd (1960 two-act revised version): Soloists, Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Ivor Bolton (conductor). Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 23.4.2019. (CC)
(c) Catherine Ashmore
Musical Virtues of Staatsoper’s Meistersinger Hampered by Incoherent Production
Germany Wagner, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Soloists, Staatsopernchor Berlin (chorus director: Martin Wright), Staatskapelle Berlin / Daniel Barenboim (conductor). Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin. 21.4.2019. (MB)
The Komische Oper’s La bohème is More Memorable than Poro
Germany Puccini, La bohème and Handel, Poro: Soloists, Children’s Chorus (chorus director: Dagmar Fiebach), Chorus (chorus director: David Cavelius), and Orchestra of the Komische Oper, Berlin / Jordan de Souza and Jörg Halubeck (conductors). Komische Oper, Berlin, 19. and 20.4.2019. (MB)
