Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

Innocence, Kaija Saariaho’s masterpiece, packs a wallop in its U.S. premiere in San Francisco

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United StatesUnited States Saariaho, Innocence: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera / Clément Mao-Takacs (conductor). War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, 1.6.2024. (HS)

Rotating set for a wedding venue and the scene of a school shooting © Corey Weaver/SFO

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Garsington Opera revives its undemanding but rewarding Le nozze di Figaro

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Garsington Opera 2024 [2] – Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro: Soloists, Garsington Opera Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra / Tabita Berglund (conductor). Garsington Opera at Wormsley, 1.6.2024. (CR)

Bethany Horak-Hallett (Cherubino) and Samantha Clarke (Countess) © Julian Guidera

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Nevill Holt’s remarkably innovative Magic Flute begins a much expanded Festival programme

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Nevill Holt Festival 2024 – Mozart, The Magic Flute: Soloists, Britten Sinfonia / Finnegan Downie Dear (conductor). Nevill Holt, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, 1.6 2024. (CP)

Archie White (Dancer), Martins Smaukstelis (Tamino), Thea Kallhed Möller (Dancer), and Olivia Warburton (Pamina) © Manuel Harlan

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Garsington Opera’s music and action provide vibrant integration for – a less episodic than usual – Platée

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Garsington Opera 2024 [1] – Jean-Philippe Rameau, Platée: Soloists, Garsington Opera Chorus, The English Concert / Paul Agnew (conductor). Garsington Opera at Wormsley, 31.5.2024. (CR)

A scene from Garsington Opera’s Platée © Clive Barda/ArenaPAL

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Set in the silent movie era, The Magic Flute delivers pluses and minuses in San Francisco

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United StatesUnited States Mozart, The Magic Flute: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera / Eun Sun Kim (conductor). War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, 30.5.2024. (HS)

Lauri Vasar (Papageno) made mute by the Ladies removing his lips and teeth © Corey Weaver/SFO

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Imaginative idea allows a promising Lohengrin take flight in Hagen

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GermanyGermany Wagner, Lohengrin:  Soloists, Chorus, Extra chorus and Extras of Theater Hagen. Philharmonic Orchestra Hagen / Joseph Trafton (conductor). Theater Hagen, 20.5.2024. (DMD)

(l-r) Dong-Won Seo (King Henry), Kenneth Mattice (Herald), Dorothea Herbert (Elsa), Angela Davis (Ortrud), and Insu Hwang (Telramund) © Volker Beushausen

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Well, what did it mean to you? Homoki’s conclusion to his Zurich Ring leaves unanswered questions

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SwitzerlandSwitzerland Wagner, Götterdämmerung: Soloists, Extras at the Zurich Opera House, Chorus of Zurich Opera, Philharmonia Zürich / Gianandrea Noseda (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Michael Beyer) from Zurich Opera House, 26.5.2024. (JPr)

The Norns: (l-r) Freya Apffelstaedt, Lena Sutor-Wernich and Giselle Allen © Monika Ritterhaus

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