English National Opera’s deeply affecting Mozart Requiem is a matter of life and death

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Mozart, Requiem in D Minor: Elizabeth Llewellyn (soprano), Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Ed Lyon (tenor), and Gerald Finley CBE (bass-baritone). Chorus and Orchestra of English National Opera / Mark Wigglesworth (conductor). Pre-recorded (6.11.2020) at the London Coliseum and broadcast on BBC Two on 14.11.2020. (JPr)

Elizabeth Llewellyn © Clive Barda

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Ticciati, Rattle, and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin bring musical solace to a corona-blighted city

GermanyGermany Vaughan Williams, Purcell, Birtwistle, Mahler: Magdalena Kožená (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Staples (tenor), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Robin Ticciati and Sir Simon Rattle (conductors). Livestreamed (directed by Jörg Thomas Mohr) from Philharmonie Berlin. 7.11.2020. (JPr)

DSO’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

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Anna Pirozzi and Yusif Eyvazov were outstanding in Teatro Massimo’s concert performance of Manon Lescaut

ItalyItaly Puccini, Manon Lescaut (in concert form): Chorus (chorus master: Ciro Visco) and Orchestra of Teatro Massimo / Jader Bignamini (conductor). 21.10.2020 performance live-streamed (directed by Antonio Di Giovanni) from Teatro Massimo, Palermo. (JPr)

Teatro Massimo’s Manon Lescaut

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Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak are memorable in Vienna’s Pagliacci on a sad night for the city

AustriaAustria Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera / Marco Armiliato (conductor). 2.11.2020 performance reviewed as a live stream (directed by Ella Gallieni) on 5.11.2020. (JPr)

Vienna State Opera’s Cavalleria rusticana

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Guildhall School’s Triple Bill is an impressive, if thought-provoking, socially distanced achievement

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Triple Bill: Guildhall School Orchestra / Dominic Wheeler (conductor). Live stream from the GSMD’s Silk Street Theatre and reviewed on 2.11.2020. (JPr)

Zanetto – Ella de Jongh (Silvia) and Jessica Ouston (Zanetto)

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LSO’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle all too briefly opened the door to a live audience

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Bartók: Karen Cargill (mezzo-soprano), Gerald Finley (bass-baritone), London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle (conductor). Concert filmed (directed by Jonathan Haswell) on 3.9.2020 at Jerwood Hall, LSO St Luke’s, London, and available (on demand for 90 days) on YouTube from 1.11.2020. (JPr)

Soloists, conductor and orchestra of LSO’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle 

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A New Dark Age from three female composers is the Royal Opera’s requiem for the world we have lost in 2020

United KingdomUnited Kingdom New Dark Age The Knife of Dawn and A New Dark Age: Soloists, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Jonathon Heywood (conductor, The Knife of Dawn), Natalie Murray Beale (conductor, A New Dark Age). Live-streamed from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 24.10.2020 (JPr)

A New Dark Age (c) Tristram Kenton

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