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Hojotoho! La Scala’s new Walküre opens with a stellar cast

By Laura Servidei, 05 February 2025

With bad-ass punk valkyries and rich in fantasy overtones, Sir David McVicar's La Scala Ring cycle continues.

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Milan

07 Feb 2025

Hojotoho! La Scala’s new Walküre opens with a stellar cast

By Laura Servidei

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A new Ring in Milan! Das Rheingold shines at La Scala

By Laura Servidei, 03 November 2024

La Scala presents a new production of Richard Wagner's masterpiece by David McVicar with a superb cast under the considerate baton of Simone Young.

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Milan

04 Nov 2024

A new Ring in Milan! Das Rheingold shines at La Scala

By Laura Servidei

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Rusalka makes a splash in a long overdue Teatro alla Scala debut

By Laura Servidei, 13 June 2023

Conductor Tomáš Hanus leads a great cast in a stunningly beautiful production of Dvořák’s masterpiece directed by Emma Dante.

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Milan

15 Jun 2023

Rusalka makes a splash in a long overdue Teatro alla Scala debut

By Laura Servidei

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Naples

Die Walküre in Naples: the age of gods is over

By Lorenzo Fiorito, 20 April 2023

Director Federico Tiezzi's production offered an intimate interpretation of the second opera in the Ring cycle.

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Naples

22 Apr 2023

Die Walküre in Naples: the age of gods is over

By Lorenzo Fiorito

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Season finale: a disappointing ending to Bayreuth's Götterdämmerung

By Matthew Rye, 15 August 2022

Despite many perceptive details, Bayreuth's new Ring culminates in a rather damp squib of an ending.

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Bayreuth

16 Aug 2022

Season finale: a disappointing ending to Bayreuth's Götterdämmerung

By Matthew Rye

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Drunk on ambition at Bayreuth: Siegfried takes us deeper into a forest of ideas

By Matthew Rye, 13 August 2022

Will Siegfried get his girl? Will she turn out to be his sister? And has the ultimate prize already got into the wrong hands? More posers from Bayreuth's intriguing new Ring.

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Bayreuth

14 Aug 2022

Drunk on ambition: Siegfried takes us deeper into a forest of ideas

By Matthew Rye

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Family saga: Bayreuth's new Rheingold presents a story of today

By Matthew Rye, 10 August 2022

The Bayreuth Festival's new Ring gets off to a promising start with a tautly directed Rheingold, but will we find out what it all means?

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Bayreuth

11 Aug 2022

Family saga: Bayreuth's new Rheingold presents a story of today

By Matthew Rye

Super stars: musical riches in Munich's new Tristan und Isolde

By Hugo Shirley, 29 June 2021

The Bayerische Staatsoper's new Tristan und Isolde, featuring two stellar role debuts, is scenically disappointing but musically superb.

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Munich

01 Jul 2021

Super stars: musical riches in Munich's new Tristan und Isolde

By Hugo Shirley

Sometimes a flute is just a flute: Everding’s classic production of Die Zauberflöte in Munich

By Laura Servidei, 06 February 2020

The Bayerische Staatsoper revives once again a beloved production, with a first rate cast.

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Munich

08 Feb 2020

Sometimes a flute is just a flute: Die Zauberflöte in Munich

By Laura Servidei

Amsterdam

Once more around the catwalk: Audi's Walküre in Amsterdam

By Nicolas Nguyen, 16 November 2019

Dutch National Opera revives Pierre Audi's acclaimed Die Walküre for the very last time.

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Amsterdam

18 Nov 2019

Once more around the catwalk: Audi's Walküre in Amsterdam

By Nicolas Nguyen

Cleveland

Stupendous Tristan und Isolde in Cleveland with Stemme and Welser-Möst

By Ako Imamura, 29 April 2018

The Cleveland Orchestra celebrated its 100th anniversary with a memorable concert performance of Tristan und Isolde with magnificent Nina Stemme.

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Cleveland

01 May 2018

Stupendous Tristan und Isolde in Cleveland

By Ako Imamura

Die schweigsame Frau: a commedia del Kosky staging in Munich

By Jonathan Sutherland, 15 November 2017

Barrie Kosky’s clever direction enlivens a Strauss rarity at the Bayerische Staatsoper but the minimalist stage setting sinks HMS Schweigsame Frau.

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Munich

17 Nov 2017

A commedia del Kosky staging in Munich

By Jonathan Sutherland

Dresden

A stunning Götterdämmerung in Dresden

By Ako Imamura, 01 November 2017

An exceptional musical performance was enhanced by a streamlined but ultimately moving staging in an evening of near perfection in Dresden.

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Dresden

02 Nov 2017

A stunning Götterdämmerung in Dresden

By Ako Imamura

Testé, Spyres and Pudova stand out in Bavarian State Opera's Hoffmann

By David Karlin, 30 July 2017

Offenbach's vivid setting of ETA Hoffmann's fantastic tales gets an enjoyable outing, with Spyres, Testé and Pudova the undoubted stars of the show.

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Munich

31 Jul 2017

Testé, Spyres and Pudova stand out in Hoffmann

By David Karlin

Fairy Music: Petrenko conducts a revelatory Frau ohne Schatten in Munich

By Hugo Shirley, 02 July 2017

A musical performance of stunning quality underpins this revival of Krzysztof Warlikowski's lavish, ambiguous Strauss staging.

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Munich

04 Jul 2017

A revelatory Frau ohne Schatten in Munich

By Hugo Shirley

Vienna

Stefan Vinke’s smiling hero saves an otherwise sluggish Siegfried in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland, 28 May 2017

Stefan Vinke was a convincing, petulant, pouty Siegfried in the third episode in Wagner's Ring cycle in Vienna.

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Vienna

30 May 2017

Vinke’s smiling hero saves an otherwise sluggish Siegfried

By Jonathan Sutherland

Vienna

Indulgence and corruption: Bechtolf's Ring returns to the Wiener Staatsoper

By Katherine Syer, 30 April 2017

A festive air was palpable – the house was technically sold out – as the first of a set of three Ring cycles launched at the Wiener Staatsoper.

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Vienna

02 May 2017

Bechtolf's Ring returns to the Wiener Staatsoper

By Katherine Syer

Stockholm

A majestic Boris Godunov at the Konserthuset in Stockholm

By Laura Servidei, 08 March 2017

The Stockholm Concert Hall hosts the Göteborg Symphonic Orchestra and Opera Chorus for a concert performance of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov.

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Stockholm

10 Mar 2017

A majestic Boris Godunov in Stockholm

By Laura Servidei

Chicago

Massive set overshadows the Lyric Opera's Les Troyens

By Dan Wang, 13 November 2016

This production, directed by Tim Albery and with sets and costumes by Tobias Hoheisel, boasts more than one megastar.

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Chicago

16 Nov 2016

Massive set overshadows the Lyric Opera's Les Troyens

By Dan Wang

Chicago

Transcendent Bruckner as Muti closes CSO’s 125th season

By Sam Jacobson, 25 June 2016

In the final weekend of season, Muti led the CSO in a divinely inspired Bruckner Ninth, fittingly paired with the Te Deum.

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Chicago

30 Jun 2016

Transcendent Bruckner closes CSO’s 125th season

By Sam Jacobson

Munich’s uneven Ring finishes with a strong Götterdämmerung

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 20 March 2015

The Bayerische Staatsoper's Ring cycle has been full of ups and downs. It ended on an up, thanks to Petrenko's brilliant conducting, a strong cast, and a fun staging.

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Munich

21 Mar 2015

A strong Götterdämmerung to finish the Munich Ring

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

A thrilling Die Walküre in Munich raises the bar in this Ring

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 28 February 2015

A perfect cast and great conducting make the Bayerische Staatsoper's Die Walküre thrilling and memorable.

*****

*****

Munich

01 Mar 2015

A thrilling Die Walküre in Munich

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

Munich's Rheingold: beautiful, but leaves many questions

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 20 February 2015

Kriegenburg's staging of Wagner's Ring cycle begins with a visually appealing but intellectually empty Rheingold.

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Munich

22 Feb 2015

Munich's Rheingold: beautiful, but leaves many questions

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

Grotesque, gritty Die Soldaten at La Scala

By James Imam, 17 January 2015

Tonight's setting of Die Soldaten in a WWI stable is so sordid you can almost feel the rats gnawing. Alvis Hermanis was right to warn in a newspaper interview that we would leave the theatre feeling shocked.

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Milan

19 Jan 2015

Grotesque, gritty Die Soldaten at La Scala

By James Imam

A near-perfect Manon Lescaut in Munich

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 15 November 2014

Neuenfels' production of Manon Lescaut for the Bayerische Staatsoper is strange but coherent. With a perfect cast and tight musical direction, this is about as good as Puccini opera gets.

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Munich

16 Nov 2014

A near-perfect Manon Lescaut in Munich

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

Die Soldaten in Munich is uncomfortable, ugly, violent... and perfect

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 31 October 2014

The Bayerische Staatsoper presents an ugly, brutal staging of Zimmermann's Die Soldaten – which is exactly as it should be. Barbara Hannigan's Marie steals the show, but the entire cast manage seemingly impossible musical and dramatic feats.

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Munich

01 Nov 2014

Die Soldaten is uncomfortable, ugly, violent... and perfect

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

From kebab shop to the New York Stock Exchange: Attila Jun stars in Bayreuth's Götterdämmerung

By David Karlin, 27 August 2014

Attila Jun's outstanding Hagen and Catherine Foster's sublime Brünnhilde light up the last episode of Frank Castorf's puzzling Ring.

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Bayreuth

28 Aug 2014

Attila Jun stars in Bayreuth's Götterdämmerung

By David Karlin

Back to Baku: Die Walküre in Bayreuth

By David Karlin, 23 August 2014

Kirill Petrenko starts Die Walküre with a flourish as Frank Castorf’s staging takes us back to the Baku oilfields in late tsarist Russia.

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Bayreuth

24 Aug 2014

Back to Baku: Die Walküre in Bayreuth

By David Karlin

Oleg Bryjak impresses in Frank Castorf's striking, tawdry and generally baffling Das Rheingold

By David Karlin, 22 August 2014

In this second year of Bayreuth's bicentennial Der Ring, Oleg Bryjak shines as an outstanding Alberich. Frank Castorf's production is striking but as yet incomprehensible.

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Bayreuth

23 Aug 2014

Baffling in Bayreuth

By David Karlin

A stage populated by children: Die Frau Ohne Schatten a musical treat in Munich

By Ako Imamura, 03 July 2014

A revival of the new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Munich Opera Festival brings back four of the principals in a brilliantly sung performance of Richard Strauss' masterpiece.

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Munich

04 Jul 2014

Die Frau Ohne Schatten a musical treat in Munich

By Ako Imamura