Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

Cumbria Opera Group’s brand new work Kings, Witches, Lovers and Souls showcases the region’s mythic past

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Jen Hartley, Kings, Witches, Lovers and Souls: Eleanor McIntosh (soprano), Anne Elizabeth Cooper (mezzo-soprano), Johnny Hill (baritone), Jonny Danciger (director), Cumbria Youth Chorus, Cumbria Opera Group / Joe Davies & Alastair Burton (co-musical directors), Penrith Playhouse, 31.8.2024. (SRT)

Eleanor McIntosh (soprano), Anne Elizabeth Cooper (mezzo-soprano), Johnny Hill (baritone) and members of Cumbria Opera Group © Christopher Tribble

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An excellent cast brings Peter Sellars’s Salzburg production of The Gambler vividly to life

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AustriaAustria Salzburg Festival 2024 [10] – Prokofiev, The Gambler: Soloists, Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Timur Zangiev (conductor). Felsenreitschule, Salzburg, 25.8.2024. (MB)

[l-r] Sean Panikkar (Alexey), Violeta Urmana (Babulenka) and Asmik Grigorian (Polina) © SF/Ruth Walz)

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For all the power of Rihab Chaieb’s (anti-)hero, this was a mixed Glyndebourne Carmen at the Proms

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom PROM 52 – Bizet, Carmen from Glyndebourne: Soloists, Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Anja Bihlmaier (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 29.8.2024. (CC)

Bizet’s Carmen from Glyndebourne at the BBC Proms © BBC/Andy Paradise

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Excellent cast let down by lifeless conducting and a confusing Salzburg production of Les contes d’Hoffmann

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AustriaAustria Salzburg Festival 2024 [8] – Offenbach, Les contes d’Hoffmann: Soloists, Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Marc Minkowski (conductor). Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 24.8.2024. (MB)

Les contes d’Hoffmann: Benjamin Bernheim (Hoffmann), Kate Lindsey (Muse/Nicklausse) and Kathryn Lewek (Stella) © SF/Monika Rittershaus

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Rossini’s Ermione receives a visually overwhelming production in Pesaro

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ItalyItaly Rossini Opera Festival 2024 [2] – Rossini, Ermione: Soloists, Coro del teatro ventidio basso, Orchestra sinfonica nazionale della RAI / Michele Mariotti (conductor). Vitrifrigo Arena, Pesaro, 9.8.2024. (AB)

Anastasia Bartoli (Ermione) and  Juan Diego Flórez (Oreste) © Amati Biaccardi

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