The stars, Mkhitaryan and Bernheim, align in Massenet’s Manon revived at Vienna State Opera

AustriaAustria Massenet, Manon: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Betrand de Billy (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Dominik Kepczynski) from the Vienna State Opera 17.1.2026. (JPr)

Benjamin Bernheim (Des Grieux) and Kristina Mkhitaryan (Manon) © Weiner Staatsoper

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Ermonela Jaho disappoints in the umpteenth revival of Sir Richard Eyre’s Covent Garden La traviata

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Verdi, La traviata: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Antonello Manacorda (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Ian Russell) from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 14.1.2026. (JPr)

Aleksei Isaev (Georgio Germont) and  Giovanni Sala (Alfredo Germont) © Pamela Raith

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Oklahoma! from the Orchestra of St. Luke’s came ripping through a sold-out Carnegie Hall

United StatesUnited States Rodgers & Hammerstein, Oklahoma!: Soloists, Orchestra of St. Luke’s / Rob Berman (conductor). Carnegie Hall, New York, 12.1. 2025. (RP)

Emmett O’Hanlon (Curly) and Micaela Diamond (Laurey) in Oklahoma! © Rebecca J. Michelson

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Despite a stellar double act, Charles Edwards makes a new Met I puritani more confusing than it need be

United StatesUnited States The Met: Live in HD – Bellini, I puritani: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Marco Armiliato (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Habib Azar) from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, on 10.1.2026 and seen at Everyman Chelmsford on 13.1.2026. (JPr)

Lisette Oropesa (Elvira) and Lawrence Brownlee (Arturo) © Ken Howard/The Met

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Gayle Tufts was the magnetic pivot in Bremen’s exuberant Hello Dolly

GermanyGermany Jerry Herman, Hello Dolly: Soloists, Chorus and Extras of Bremen Theatre, Bremen Philharmonic / Lukas Ziesché (conductor). Bremen Theatre, 26.12.2025. (DM-D)

[l-r] Gayle Tufts (Dolly Levi), Christoph Heinrich (Horace Vandergelder), Ian Spinetti (Cornelius Hackl) and Ulrike Mayer (Irene Molloy) © Jörg Landsberg

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Misconceived and clichéd: the puppetry of the new Vienna Fidelio eclipses its singers and orchestra

AustriaAustria Beethoven, Fidelio: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Franz Welser-Möst (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Dominik Kepczynski) from Vienna State Opera, 19.12.2025. (JPr)

Rocco’s ‘gold’ aria – [l-r] Kathrin Zukowski (Marzelline), Tareq Nazmi (Rocco) and Malin Byström (Leonore) © Werner Kmetitsch/WS

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Andris Nelsons’s direction of Shostakovich Ten is a masterly finale to this magnificent concert in Berlin

GermanyGermany Dupré, Dvořák, Shostakovich: Benjamin Beilman (violin), Jan Liebermann (organ), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Andris Nelsons (conductor). A Digital Concert Hall broadcast from the Philharmonie Berlin, 13.12.2025. (GT)

Andris Nelsons conducts violinist Benjamin Beilman and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra © Frederike van der Straeten

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