United Kingdom Puccini, Tosca: Soloists, Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra / Emmanuel Villaume (conductor). Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. 9.1.2016. (JPr)
Viva La Diva! Angela Gheorghiu Returns as Tosca at Covent Garden
Opera & Ballet
Collected opera and ballet reviews
The Met Presents Bizet’s Pearl Fishers for the First Time in a Century
United States Bizet, Les Pêcheurs de perles: Soloists, Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda (conductor), Metropolitan Opera, New York City, 4.1.2016. (RP)
A Bravura Performance by Mark Le Brocq in Bell’s A Christmas Carol
United Kingdom Iain Bell, A Christmas Carol: Mark Le Brocq (narrator), Chamber Orchestra of Welsh National Opera /James Southall (conductor), Weston Studio, Millennium Centre, Cardiff. 20.12.2015. (GPu)
An Intriguing Revival of a Relatively Obscure Donizetti Opera
Spain Donizetti, Il Duca d’Alba: Orchestra Oviedo Filarmonia, Chorus Ópera de Oviedo, Roberto Tolomelli (conductor), Teatro Campoamor, Oviedo, 19.12.2015. (JMI)
Confusing Eugene Onegin with Responsive Orchestra under Bychkov at Covent Garden
United Kingdom Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin: Soloists, Royal Opera Chorus and Extra Chorus (chorus master: Renata Balsadonna), Dancers, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Semyon Bychkov (conductor), Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 19.12.2015. (MB)
and Nicole Car (Tatyana) (c) Bill Cooper
Viaggio à Reims Fails to Amuse in Zurich Opera’s Production
Switzerland Rossini, Il Viaggio à Reims: Soloists, Chorus of the Zurich Opera, Philharmonia Zurich, Conductor: Daniele Rustioni. Zurich Opera, Zurich. 18.12.15. (JR)
Bel Canto: A New Opera, All-Too Topical
United States Jimmy Lopez, Bel Canto: Soloists, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Sir Andrew Davis (conductor), Civic Opera House, Chicago. 12.12.2015 (JLZ)
English National Ballet’s Nutcracker Continues to Cast its Magical Spell
United Kingdom Tchaikovsky, Nutcracker: Dancers of English National Ballet, Students from the English Ballet School, Supplemented Choir from Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and English National Ballet Philharmonic/Gavin Sutherland (conductor), London Coliseum, London, 16.12.2015. (JPr)
(c) Laurent Liotardo