Articles by Sarah Batschelet

A concert repertoire played by the fine Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Haitink conducting, was a promising alliance for the last concert of this year’s Easter festival in Lucerne.

Based on a story published by Heinrich Heine in 1834, Giselle has long stood as a front runner in the classical ballet canon.

Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos plays – and conducts – the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in works by Mozart, Schoeck and Beethoven.

Works by Rolf Liebermann, Mozart and Mahler recently brought down the house at Zurich’s Tonhalle Maag, in no small part because of Martin Fröst’s illuminating performance.

Marking a century after Vaslav Nijinsky’s last solo performance, Marco Goecke’s ballet gives a new dynamic to the name and story of the legendary Polish-born Russian dancer.

Under conductor Thomas Hengelbrock, the Tonhalle Orchester ensemble and 60-voice configuration of the Balthasar Neumann Choir perform the legendary Elijah oratorio at Zurich’s Tonhalle Maag.

In the Swiss capital city,the Tanzcompagnie Konzert Theater Bern recently danced a two-part programme of riveting works by Sharon Eyal and Jo Strømgren.

Zurich Opera stages Tatjana Gürbaca’s production of Mozart’s La finta giardiniera. True to the opera buffa genre, it teems with silliness.

Ligeti's “anti-anti opera” opens in Zurich in a new production by Tatjana Gürbaca. 

Chinese composer/conductor Tan Dun presented colourful works both he and another compatriot had composed together with pieces by Stravinsky.

In a magical and widely-varied programme, the Zurich Ballet pays homage to the celebrated Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián by performing four of his extraordinary works together for the first time.

While Bellini’s two-act opera Norma underscores the religious wars between the ancient Druids and Romans, it also highlights an emotive personal conflict that is veiled in deceit and cultural discrepancy.

Widely thought a pinnacle of 20th century dance, John Neumeier’s “Die Kameliendame” ballet recently celebrated its 100th performance at the Bayerisches Staatsoper in Munich.

In Georges Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles, two men’s vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for the same woman. Only one man lives to tell the tale. 

The last weekend concerts before the holidays at the Tonhalle Maag featured soloist Janine Jansen, the virtuoso Dutch violinist who is Artist-in-Residence here this year.

In Zurich, ballet director Christian Spuck recently launched the second season of the multi-layered ballet he choreographed to the great P.I. Tchaikovsky score.

Hats off to Andreas Homoki, Artistic Director at the Zurich Opera House, for staging a musical around “the chill of ghostly shadows”.

The Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich recently struck a perfect balance of emotive and restraint in music by Brahms, Bartók and Saint-Saëns.

Slolem Aleichem's classic of Yiddish literature is familiar through the musical “Fiddler on the Roof”. Choreographer Richard Wherlock’s adaptation retells the story in vibrant, contemporary dance.

Conductor Donald Runnicles and pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard deliver a highly expressive performance with pieces by Elgar, Mozart and Strauss.