Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | John Molloy

Showing 23 of 23 reviews

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Donizetti on steroids: a rollicking Wild West Elisir that hits all the right notes

By Andrew Larkin, 27 May 2025

Donizetti heads West in Cal McCrystal's riotous, laugh-out-loud L'elisir d’amore, where dazzling singing meets cowboy capers in a gloriously zany production for Irish National Opera.

*****

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*****

Dublin

27 May 2025

A rollicking Wild West Elisir in Dublin that hits all the right notes

By Andrew Larkin

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Dublin

Gerhard Markson delivers a moving account of Stanford's Requiem in Dublin

By Andrew Larkin, 22 November 2024

Combining operatic grandeur with intimate grief, Markson, soloists, the NSO and NSC deliver a masterful performance of Charles Villiers Stanford's Requiem.

****1

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****1

Dublin

22 Nov 2024

Gerhard Markson delivers a moving account of Stanford's Requiem

By Andrew Larkin

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Glasgow

Marx in London! Dove’s comedy impresses at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe, 13 February 2024

Marx in London! receives its UK premiere in Glasgow, with David Parry conducting the colourful score, and Stephen Barlow directing.

****1

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****1

Glasgow

13 Feb 2024

Marx in London! Dove’s comedy impresses at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe

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Glasgow

Scottish Barber of Seville packed with fun

By David Smythe, 17 October 2023

Sir Thomas Allen returns to Scottish Opera to revive The Barber of Seville with a strong cast headed by Samuel Dale Johnson, Anthony Gregory, David Stout and Simone McIntosh.

****1

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****1

Glasgow

17 Oct 2023

Scottish Barber of Seville packed with fun

By David Smythe

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Dublin

A feminist makeover for Così fan tutte at Irish National Opera

By Andrew Larkin, 23 May 2023

Polly Graham's take on Mozart's Così fan tutte is full of humour and political commentary, while the singing is a joy to hear.

***11

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***11

Dublin

23 May 2023

A feminist makeover for Così fan tutte at Irish National Opera

By Andrew Larkin

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Glasgow

Theatre meets opera in delightful Midsummer Night’s Dream at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe, 22 February 2022

Dominic Hill brings a touch of the theatre to a finely sung new production of Britten's opera, with Stuart Stratford conducting a driven ensemble.

*****

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*****

Glasgow

22 Feb 2022

A delightful Midsummer Night’s Dream at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe

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Wexford

An imaginative, psychological take on Catalani's Edmea at Wexford Festival Opera

By Andrew Larkin, 22 October 2021

A journey through the subconscious of the main protagonist Edmea, with Anne-Sophie Duprels as the eponymous heroine.

***11

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***11

Wexford

22 Oct 2021

An imaginative, psychological take on Catalani's Edmea in Wexford

By Andrew Larkin

Dublin

Superlative Celine Byrne makes INO's Butterfly a memorable experience

By Andrew Larkin, 24 March 2019

Byrne is stunning in the title role while a strong cast of singers, orchestra, classic sets and dramatic acting make this a thoroughly enjoyable performance.

*****

*****

Dublin

24 Mar 2019

Celine Byrne makes INO's Butterfly a memorable experience

By Andrew Larkin

Dublin

Scene-stealing villains in Irish National Opera's futuristic Hoffmann

By Pia Maltri, 14 September 2018

Tom Creed's take on Offenbach's opéra fantastique works best in the Olympia act in this new production in Dublin.

***11

***11

Dublin

14 Sep 2018

Irish National Opera's futuristic Hoffmann

By Pia Maltri

London

Ariadne aus Glasgow: Strauss’ opera gets a few twists at Opera Holland Park

By Matthew Rye, 17 July 2018

A spirited and seamless production of Strauss’s Ariadne is aided by some excellent singing and playing at London’s premier summer opera festival.

****1

****1

London

17 Jul 2018

Ariadne aus Glasgow: a few twists at Opera Holland Park

By Matthew Rye

Dublin

Fun and frolics at Irish National Opera's Figaro

By Andrew Larkin, 17 April 2018

A wonderful ful-filled caper by the Irish National Opera of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro with Erraught as Susanna and Miskelly as Cherubino really impressing.

****1

****1

Dublin

17 Apr 2018

Fun and frolics at Irish National Opera's Figaro

By Andrew Larkin

Glasgow

Scottish Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos is witty and passionate

By David Smythe, 24 March 2018

Antony McDonald’s take on Ariadne auf Naxos, a co-production from Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park, sparkles with wit.

****1

****1

Glasgow

24 Mar 2018

Scottish Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos is witty and passionate

By David Smythe

Dublin

The Big Bang: a starry launch for Irish National Opera

By Pia Maltri, 09 January 2018

The biggest stigma associated with opera in Ireland is not that it is an elitist art form, but that it is not “Irish”, and that it doesn’t belong to Irish culture, more of a recent import, like pasta, or avocado.

*****

*****

Dublin

09 Jan 2018

The Big Bang: a starry launch for Irish National Opera

By Pia Maltri

Dublin

Intriguing Irish opera Eithne makes a comeback after a century

By Andrew Larkin, 14 October 2017

Based on Irish mythology, Opera Theatre Company deiver a compelling concert performance of an exceedingly rare Irish opera Eithne

****1

****1

Dublin

14 Oct 2017

Eithne makes a Dublin comeback

By Andrew Larkin

Buxton

Fresh peaches of temptation: Britten's Albert Herring at Buxton

By Charlotte Valori, 08 July 2017

A period-perfect Albert Herring from Francis Matthews for Buxton International Festival takes time to settle into its stride, but provides plenty of laughs along the way.

****1

****1

Buxton

08 Jul 2017

Fresh peaches of temptation

By Charlotte Valori

Bologna

Bologna's Teatro Comunale scores a slam dunk with Britten's Peter Grimes

By James Imam, 18 May 2017

The Comunale had teamed up with Bologna's basketball team Virtus to create a 50%-off ticket deal aimed at drawing new audiences. The subject matter of this opera might not seem the most immediately accessible, but this was playing to capture the imaginations of opera newbies.

****1

****1

Bologna

18 May 2017

Bologna's Teatro Comunale scores a slam dunk

By James Imam

Belfast

Hedonism and downfall in Oliver Mears' farewell production at Northern Ireland Opera

By Judith Wiemers, 18 November 2016

Oliver Mears' impressively-cast farewell production in Belfast combines gripping drama and exuberant fun in a symbol-packed reading of Don Giovanni.

****1

****1

Belfast

18 Nov 2016

Hedonism and downfall: Don Giovanni in Belfast

By Judith Wiemers

Dublin

Don Giovanni in a new adaptation by Roddy Doyle

By Pia Maltri, 29 September 2016

Roddy Doyle's new translation is ingenious more often than incongruous; John Molloy's Leporello steals the show in the Opera Theatre's Don Giovanni.

***11

***11

Dublin

29 Sep 2016

Don Giovanni in a new adaptation by Roddy Doyle

By Pia Maltri

Dublin

Tara Erraught's Rosina steals the show in hilarious Rossini Barber

By Andrew Larkin, 20 April 2016

Stellar singing and excellent acting makes this a brilliantly satisfying and amusing 1970s take on Rossini's classic The Barber of Seville.

****1

****1

Dublin

20 Apr 2016

Erraught's Rosina steals the show in Dublin

By Andrew Larkin

Dublin

Lust, greed and corruption: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

By Terry Blain, 13 June 2014

Mahagonny surfaces for just the second time in Ireland, in a collaborative production resonating harshly with the country's recent economic history.

****1

****1

Dublin

13 Jun 2014

Lust, greed and corruption: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

By Terry Blain

Dublin

Nixon in China lands in Dublin for triumphant Irish première

By Terry Blain, 11 May 2014

The Irish première of John Adams' Nixon in China results in an inspiring and triumphant evening in Dublin.

****1

****1

Dublin

11 May 2014

Nixon in China lands in Dublin for triumphant Irish première

By Terry Blain

London

Stravinsky's Renard at The Rest is Noise with Barbara Hannigan and the London Sinfonietta

By Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, 10 February 2013

Venturing into the Paris of the 1910s and 1920s, the Southbank Centre’s The Rest is Noise festival continues its journey through a brambly thicket of 20th-century music. Sunday’s programme focused on the output of Igor Stravinsky, the Russian composer who famously engendered riotous uproar at the Paris Opera House in 1913 with his savage ballet Le sacre du printemps.

*****

*****

London

10 Feb 2013

Stravinsky's Renard at The Rest is Noise with Barbara Hannigan and the London Sinfonietta

By Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade

London

Rufus Norris' Don Giovanni returns to ENO

By Julia Savage, 17 October 2012

Three years ago, John Berry, ENO’s Artistic Director, invited acclaimed theatre director Rufus Norris to reinvent Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Unfortunately, it was not much of a success, and was panned by critics. This year, the production has returned to ENO, with some changes, albeit none that are particularly remarkable. ENO’s publicity machine has, this time round, gone on an advertising offensive.

**111

**111

London

17 Oct 2012

Rufus Norris' Don Giovanni returns to ENO

By Julia Savage