Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

An uplifting, small-scale production of The Boatswain’s Mate at Buxton was a real treat

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Buxton International Festival 2024 [1] – Ethel Smyth, The Boatswain’s Mate: Soloists, Chorus and Instrumental Trio / Rebecca Warren (direction). Buxton International Festival, Pavilion Arts Centre, Derbyshire, 8.7.2024. (MC)

[l-r] Rebecca Warren (piano), Elizabeth Findon (Mrs Waters) and Theo Perry (Ned Travers) © Genevieve Girling

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Visually demanding and musically convincing Die Walküre in Saarbrücken

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GermanyGermany Wagner, Die Walküre: Soloists, Chorus of Saarländisches Staatstheater. Saarländisches Staatsorchester / Stefan Neubert (conductor). Saarländisches Staatstheater, Saarbrücken, 29.6.2024. (DMD)

Aile Asszonyi (centre front, Brünnhilde) and Thomas Johannes Mayer (right, Wotan) © Martin Kaufhold

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A delightful performance of The Fairy Queen by the Armonico Consort and Players in Thaxted

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Thaxted Festival 2024 [3] – Purcell, The Fairy Queen, Z 629: Oz Clarke (narrator), Eloise Irving, Hannah Fraser Mackenzie, Laura Moretto (sopranos), William Towers (alto), Matthew Pochin (tenor), Robert Davies (bass), Armonico Consort & Baroque Players / Christopher Monks (harpsichord / director). Thaxted Parish Church, 6.7.2024. (CC)

Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at the Thaxted Festival 2024

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Livermore’s new Turandot is in an opium haze at Milan’s La Scala as Netrebko and Eyvazov are victorious

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ItalyItaly Puccini, Turandot: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan / Michele Gamba (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Anna Gettel) from La Scala, Milan, 4.7.2024. (JPr)

Davide Livermore’s production of Turandot Act I © Teatro alla Scala / Brescia e Amisano

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Garsington Opera’s impressively alert Un giorno di regno should keep you amused and absorbed

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Garsington Opera 2024 [4] – Verdi, Un giorno di regno: Soloists, Garsington Opera Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra / Chris Hopkins (conductor). Garsington Opera at Wormsley, 1.7.2024. (CR)

Christine Rice as La Marchesa del Poggio © Julian Guidera

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Vienna State Opera’s Nureyev Gala rekindles memories of the legendary dancer and choreographer

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AustriaAustria Vienna State Opera’s Nureyev Gala: Dancers of Vienna State Ballet and guests, Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Wolfgang Heinz (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Balázs Delbó) from the Vienna State Opera, 29.6.2024. (JPr)

Harald Lander’s Études (Alexey Popov, Kiyoka Hashimoto and Davide Dato) © Ashley Taylor/Vienna State Ballet

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