Jim Pritchard

Krzysztof Warlikowski’s new Elektra production ushers in 2020’s resurrected 100th Salzburg Festival

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AustriaAustria Richard Strauss, Elektra: Soloists, Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus (chorus master: Ernst Raffelsberger), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Franz Welser-Möst (conductor). Review of 1.8.2020 performance (directed for the screen by Miriam Hoyer) in Salzburg’s Felsenreitschule and streamed on ARTE Concert. (JPr)

Aušrinė Stundytė (Elektra) and Derek Welton (Orest) © Bernd Uhlig

Read moreKrzysztof Warlikowski’s new Elektra production ushers in 2020’s resurrected 100th Salzburg Festival

Viva La Diva! Anna Netrebko sang Tosca in Naples and brought some light to our current darkness

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ItalyItaly Puccini, Tosca (concert version): Soloists, Chorus (chorus master: Gea Garatti Ansini), Children Chorus (chorus master: Stefania Rinaldi), and Orchestra of Teatro di San Carlo / Juraj Valčuha (conductor). July 2020 performance in the Piazza del Plebiscito, live streamed and reviewed on 30.7.2020. (JPr)

Ludovic Tézier (Scarpia) & Anna Netrebko (Tosca) © Mario Wurzburger

Read moreViva La Diva! Anna Netrebko sang Tosca in Naples and brought some light to our current darkness

Lise Davidsen’s compellingly expressive singing doesn’t entirely rescue Tobias Kratzer’s Fidelio

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Beethoven, Fidelio: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Sir Antonio Pappano (conductor). Performance of 9.3.2020 (directed for the screen by Rhodri Huw), televised on BBC Four, and reviewed on 26.7.2020. (JPr)

Amanda Forsythe (Marzelline), Georg Zeppenfeld (Rocco) & Lise Davidsen (Leonore)
(c) Bill Cooper

Read moreLise Davidsen’s compellingly expressive singing doesn’t entirely rescue Tobias Kratzer’s Fidelio

Watching this 1982 Met Tannhäuser – with Cassilly, Marton and Weikl – after nearly four decades leaves strong abiding memories

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United StatesUnited States Wagner, Tannhäuser: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / James Levine (conductor). Performance of 20.12.1982 and reviewed as a Nightly Met Opera Stream on 22.7.2020. (JPr)

Éva Marton (Elisabeth) and Richard Cassilly (Tannhäuser)

Read moreWatching this 1982 Met Tannhäuser – with Cassilly, Marton and Weikl – after nearly four decades leaves strong abiding memories

Intimate arrangements for tenor and harp of Latin American songs finds Rolando Villazón close to his best again

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FranceFrance Serenata Latina: Rolando Villazón (tenor) and Xavier de Maistre (harp). Live stream from Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Paris, and reviewed on 17.7.2020. (JPr)

Xavier de Maistre (harp) & Rolando Villazón (tenor)

Read moreIntimate arrangements for tenor and harp of Latin American songs finds Rolando Villazón close to his best again

Salieri was not supremely talented but Lucian Msamati undoubtedly proves he is in NT’s 2017 Amadeus

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom National Theatre at Home – Anthony Shaffer’s Amadeus: Performance of 2.2.2017 reviewed on 17.7.2020. (JPr)

Adam Gillen (Mozart) and Lucian Msamati (Salieri)

Read moreSalieri was not supremely talented but Lucian Msamati undoubtedly proves he is in NT’s 2017 Amadeus

In 2020 Ben Heppner and Jane Eaglen sing once again to us in the Met’s 1999 Tristan und Isolde

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United StatesUnited States Wagner, Tristan und Isolde: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / James Levine (conductor). Performance of 11.12.1999 reviewed as a Nightly Met Opera Stream on 13.7.2020. (JPr)

Jane Eaglen and Ben Heppner in the Met’s Tristan und Isolde

Read moreIn 2020 Ben Heppner and Jane Eaglen sing once again to us in the Met’s 1999 Tristan und Isolde

In 2017 Zenaida Yanowsky bid ‘adieu’ to The Royal Ballet allowing its Ashton heritage to be reconsidered in 2020

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Frederick Ashton Triple Bill – The Dream / Symphonic Variations / Marguerite and Armand: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, London Oratory Junior Choir (directed by Charles Cole), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Emmanuel Plasson (conductor). Review of a 7.6.2017 performance, directed for the screen by Ross MacGibbon, and shown on Sky Arts. (JPr)

Zenaida Yanowsky (Marguerite) and Roberto Bolle (Armand) (c) Tristram Kenton

Read moreIn 2017 Zenaida Yanowsky bid ‘adieu’ to The Royal Ballet allowing its Ashton heritage to be reconsidered in 2020