Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

Magnificent orchestral work under Eun Sun Kim elevates SFO’s Tristan und Isolde

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United StatesUnited States Wagner, Tristan und Isolde: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera / Eun Sun Kim (conductor). War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, 23.10.2024. (HS)

Anja Kempe (Isolde) and Simon O’Neill (Tristan) in the Act II love duet © Corey Weaver

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Kupfer’s La Scala, Milan, Der Rosenkavalier is more thoughtful sophistication than brazen opulence

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ItalyItaly Richard Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier: Soloists, Chorus and Treble Voices Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala Academy, Teatro alla Scala Orchestra / Kirill Petrenko (conductor). Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 19.10.2024. (CR)

Harry Kupfer’s Der Rosenkavalier © Brescia e Amisano

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The Royal Ballet are on great form in Wheeldon’s phantasmagorical Alice’s Adventures, but it’s too long

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Koen Kessels (conductor). Directed for the screen by Ross MacGibbon and seen at Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 15.10.2024. (JPr)

William Bracewell (The Knave of Hearts) and Francesca Hayward (Alice) © Alice Pennefather

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