Germany Puccini: Tosca: Soloists, Chorus of Leipzig Opera and Gewandhaus Orchestra / Moritz Gnann (conductor). Leipzig Opera, 10.1.2024. (GT)
Leipzig’s superbly cast Tosca has an original and visually stunning production
Gregor Tassie
Nicola Benedetti gives a magnificent performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto in Glasgow
United Kingdom Montgomery, Mozart, Beethoven: Nicola Benedetti (violinist), Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (director / violin). City Halls, Glasgow, 15.12.2023. (GT)
Brno’s magnificent production of Richard Strauss’s masterpiece Salome with terrific singing by a star soprano
Czech Republic Richard Strauss, Salome: Soloists, Orchestra of Brno Opera / Marko Ivanovic (conductor). National Theatre Brno, 25.11.2023. (GT)
Dvořák’s underrated operatic masterpiece triumphs with superb singing in Brno’s excellent production
Czech Republic Dvořák, The Jacobin: Soloists, Dancers, Children’s Choir, Chorus and Orchestra of the Janáček Theatre Brno / Jacub Klecker (conductor). National Theatre Brno, 26.11.2023. (GT)
Dennis Russell Davies presents a masterful interpretation of Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony in Brno
Czech Republic Skrowaczewski, Bruckner: Brno Philharmonic Orchestra / Dennis Russell Davies (conductor). Janáček Theatre, Brno, 24.11.2023. (GT)
Alexandra Dovgan’s mesmeric poetic artistry and virtuosity with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon
Portugal Sibelius, Chopin, Beethoven: Alexandra Dovgan (piano), Gulbenkian Orchestra / Risto Joost (conductor), Large Auditorium of the Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 9.11.2023. (GT)
Gregor Tassie in conversation with soprano Ayla Dobreva
Sofia Opera’s Woodbird Ayla Dobreva talks to Gregor Tassie
Apart from the stupendous production standards, a great deal of the acclaim for the 2023 Plamen Kartaloff Ring cycle was for the singers in the roles of Wotan, Brünnhilde and Hagen, but the coloratura soprano Ayla Dobreva as the Woodbird provided one of the most striking performances in Siegfried. Dobreva performed in all four operas of the cycle; firstly, as Woglinde in the opening scene of Das Rheingold singing when soaring on a trampoline, in Die Walküre, she was Helmwige mounted on one of eight red horses of the Valkyries, and finally challenging Alberich in the closing scene in Götterdämmerung. She was also one of the Flower Maidens in Parsifal, but it was her spectacular entry on a trapeze that made the biggest impression of all.
Neglected symphonies get a fresh hearing from the Berlin Philharmonic together with some gorgeous Mozart
Germany Martines, Mozart, Schmidt: Evgeny Kissin (pianist), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Fabio Luisi (conductor). Live in the Digital Concert Hall from the Philharmonie Berlin, 7.10.2023. (GT)
