Kirill Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmonic usher in 2024 with some memorable Wagner

GermanyGermany Wagner, Berliner Phiharmoniker Silvesterkonzert: Vida Miknevičiūtė (soprano), Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Tobias Kehrer (bass), Berliner Philharmoniker / Kirill Petrenko (conductor). Directed by Hannah Dorn and livestreamed on the Digital Concert Hall from the Philharmonie Berlin, 31.12.2023, and now archived. (JPr)

Kirill Petrenko conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra © Monica Rittershaus

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Franz Welser-Möst returns to Cleveland, sounding ‘Frankly Wiser Than Most’

United StatesUnited States Krenek, Mahler, Bartók: Cleveland Orchestra / Franz Welser-Möst (conductor). Liivestreamed on adella.com from the Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, Cleveland, 13.1.2024. (MSJ)

Franz Welser-Möst conducting the Cleveland Orchestra in the livestream

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Seen in cinemas: Dutch National Ballet’s Giselle with Olga Smirnova is conceived on a grand scale

NetherlandsNetherlands Dutch National Ballet’s Giselle: Dancers of Dutch National Ballet, Dutch Ballet Orchestra / Ermanno Florio (conductor). Filmed (directed by Isabelle Julien) at the Dutch National Opera & Ballet. Amsterdam, on 26 and 29.10.2023 and released worldwide in cinemas only from 21.1.2024. (JPr)

Olga Smirnova (Giselle) and Jacopo Tissi (Albrecht) © Alex Gouliaev

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The Met’s 2023 Nabucco cast – and conductor – act as a timely reminder of the work’s stature

United StatesUnited States Verdi, Nabucco: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Daniele Callegari (conductor). Transmitted live (directed by Habib Azar) from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, to London’s Barbican Cinema, 6.1.2024. (CC)

George Gagnidze (centre on steps as Nabucco) © Marty Sohl/Met Opera

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An excellent 2023 cast puts the fizz back into Vienna State Opera’s venerable Die Fledermaus

AustriaAustria Johann Strauss II, Die Fledermaus: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Simone Young (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Jakob Pitzer) from the Vienna State Opera, 31.12.2023. (JPr)

Hiroshi Amako (Alfred) and Camilla Nylund (Rosalinde) © WS/Michael Pöhn

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The Royal Ballet’s cosily familiar The Nutcracker returns to welcome in Christmas yet again

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Sir Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, The Schola Cantorum of The London Oratory School, London Oratory Junior Choir (director: Charles Cole), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Andrew Litton (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Peter Jones) for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 12.12.2023 and seen at Everyman Chelmsford, Essex, 18.12.2023. (JPr)

Anna Rose O’Sullivan (Sugar Plum Fairy) and Marcelino Sambé (Prince) © Alice Pennefather

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