Spain San Sebastián Music Fortnight – Bizet, Carmen: Easo Chorus, Euskadi Orchestra / José Miguel Pérez Sierra (conductor). Auditorio Kursaal, San Sebastián, Spain, 10.8.2024. (JMI)
San Sebastián’s disappointing Carmen falls short on emotion
Opera & Ballet
Collected opera and ballet reviews
The storytelling impresses in Amy Lane’s (mostly) straightforward new Longborough Die Walküre
United Kingdom Longborough Festival Opera [3] – Wagner, Die Walküre: Soloists, Long borough Festival Orchestra / Anthony Negus (conductor). Recorded at Loughborough (directed by Matthew Dilley) on 26.6.2024 and available on OperaVision and YouTube until 9.2.2025. (JPr)
Andreas Homoki’s Carmen returns full circle to Paris’s Opéra-Comique at the EIF
United Kingdom Edinburgh International Festival 2024 [4]: Bizet, Carmen: Soloists, Accentus, Maitrise Populaire de l’Opéra-Comique, Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Louis Langrée (conductor), Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 8.8.2024 (SRT)
Extravagance and excellence vie in Meyerbeer’s Le prophète at Bard SummerScape
United States Meyerbeer, Le prophète: Soloists, ‘Marche du Sacre’ Banda, Bard Festival Chorus, Dancers, Enfants, American Symphony Orchestra / Leon Botstein (conductor). Bard SummerScape, Fisher Center at Bard, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 4.8.2024. (RP)
Much fine singing to admire in the Tannhäuser revival at Bayreuth
Germany Bayreuth Festival 2024 [4] – Wagner, Tannhäuser: Soloists, Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra / Nathalie Stutzmann (conductor). Festspielhaus, Bayreuth, 4.8.2023. (MB)
Longborough Festival Opera completes a wonderful season with an intriguing La bohème
United Kingdom Longborough Festival Opera [2] – Puccini, La bohème: Soloists, Longborough Festival Orchestra / Alice Farnham (conductor). Longborough, Cotswolds, 30.7.2024. (CP)
Fine singing but problematic conducting as Der fliegende Holländer is revived at Bayreuth
Germany Bayreuth Festival 2024 [2] – Wagner, Der fliegende Holländer: Soloists, Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra / Oksana Lyniv (conductor). Festspielhaus, Bayreuth, 1.8.2024. (MB)
Garsington Opera’s A Trip to the Moon will have children and adults delight in the magic of live theatre
United Kingdom Garsington Opera 2024 [5] – Andrew Norman, A Trip to the Moon: Soloists, Garsington Opera Adult and Youth Companies, Primary and Infant School Companies, and Philharmonia Orchestra / Douglas Boyd (conductor). Garsington Opera at Wormsley, 30.7.2024. (CR)
