United Kingdom Rimsky-Korsakov, May Night: Soloists, Royal Academy Opera Chorus (chorus master: Richard Leach), Royal Academy Sinfonia, Gareth Hancock (conductor), Ambika P3, University of Westminster, London, 7.3.2016 (MB)
Opera & Ballet
Collected opera and ballet reviews
Ave Maya– Ballet Stars Pay Handsome Tribute to Maya Plisetskaya
United Kingdom Various Composers, Ave Maya – Ballet Gala in memory of Maya Plisetskaya: Dancers and English Ballet Philharmonic / Valery Ovsyanikov (conductor). London Coliseum, 6.3.2016. (JPr)
Maya Plisetskaya at her 85th birthday gala
A Full House for English Touring Opera’s Excellent Iphigénie en Tauride
United Kingdom Gluck, Iphigénie en Tauride: Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus of English Touring Opera, Martin André (conductor), Hackney Empire, London, 5.3.2016 (MB)
The Met’s World War II Manon Lescaut Loses the Plot
United States Puccini, Manon Lescaut: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Fabio Luisi (conductor). Broadcast live to the Empire Cinema, Basildon, Essex, from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, 5.2.16. (JPr)
(c) Ken Howard
Strength in Depth in Puccini’s Triple Bill at Covent Garden
United Kingdom Puccini, Il trittico: Soloists, Royal Opera Chorus (chorus master: Renato Balsadonna), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Nicola Luisotti (conductor). Royal Opera House, London, 29.3.2016 (MB)
(c) Bill Cooper
Herbert Fritsch’s King Arthur ̶ The Vulgar and the Sublime
Switzerland Purcell, King Arthur: Soloists, Chorus, Orchestra La Scintilla, Laurence Cummings (conductor), Zürich Opernhaus, Zurich, 3.3.2016. (RP)
An Outstanding Staging in Madrid of a Rarely-Seen Early Wagner Opera
Spain Wagner, Das Liebesverbot: Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus, Ivor Bolton/Francesc Prat (conductors), Teatro Real, Madrid, 3 & 4.3.2016. (JMI)
WNO’s Figaro Forever: a Fine Idea Realized Very Rewardingly in Large Part
United Kingdom Rossini, The Barber of Seville; Mozart, The Marriage of Figaro; Langer, Figaro Gets a Divorce: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera/ James Southall (conductor), Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 23, 24 & 27.2.2016. (GPu)
(c) Richard Hubert Smith