United States Verdi, Rigoletto: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of LA Opera / James Conlon (conductor). Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, 31.5.2025. (JRo)
An extraordinary night of music and drama: Quinn Kelsey in LA Opera’s Rigoletto
Opera & Ballet
Collected opera and ballet reviews
Il trovatore in Vienna: Stoyanova, Beczała, Semenchuk and Salsi are great; if perhaps not Caruso’s ‘best’
Austria Verdi, Il trovatore: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Marco Armiliato (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Anna Gettel) from the Vienna State Opera, 30.5.2025. (JPr)
Heartbeat Opera’s reimagined Faust is as powerful as it is popular
United States Gounod, Faust: Soloists, Band / Jacob Ashworth (conductor). Heartbeat Opera, Baruch Performing Arts Center, New York, 24.5.2025. (RP)
Vaudeville comes to Longborough in a UK premiere of Wahnfried: the birth of the Wagner cult
United Kingdom Avner Dorman, Wahnfried: the birth of the Wagner cult: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Longborough Festival Opera / Justin Brown (conductor). Longborough, Gloucestershire. 27.5.2025. (CP)
Cultural hedonism gets explored as Tannhäuser returns to Vienna State Opera in a new production
Austria Wagner, Tannhäuser: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Philippe Jordan (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Dominic Kepczynski) from the Vienna State Opera, 25.5.2025. (JPr)
Sonya Yoncheva unveils her heartbreaking, luminous Lisa in The Queen of Spades at the Met
United States Tchaikovsky, The Queen of Spades: Soloists, Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra / Keri-Lynn Wilson (conductor). Metropolitan Opera, New York, 23.5.2025. (RP)
The pizzazz of An American in Paris redeems Wheeldon revisiting old choreographic friends
United Kingdom Ballet to Broadway: Wheeldon Works – Fool’s Paradise, The Two of Us, Us, An American in Paris: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Koen Kessels (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Ross MacGibbon) from the Royal Opera House, London, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 22.5.2025. (JPr)
A very rare opportunity from Insula in Paris to see Robert Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri staged
France Robert Schumann, Das Paradies und die Peri, Op.50 (1843): Soloists, accentus, Insula / Laurence Equilbey (conductor). La Seine Musicale, Paris, 17.5.2025. (CC)
