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René Jacobs and Sunhae Im tackle Handel’s Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno in Dortmund’s acoustically dry Reinoldihaus. Despite challenges, Im’s radiant soprano and B’Rock Orchestra’s basso continuo group shine. 

Amid an uncertain future for the Mostly Mozart Festival, conductor Louis Langrée led a fiery program that overflowed with rage rather than grief.

Europa Galante's musicians’ collective expertise in playing music of the 17th and 18th centuries is indisputable and was in full display once again in Bucharest. 

Jacobs has found in the excellent musicians of this orchestra the perfect laboratory to explore his conception of Mozart.

At the Holland Festival, the performance of Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with film images by Julian Rosefeldt does not quite unfold as the spectacle it promises on paper.

An opera that pokes fun at opera seria? An opera that features backstage preparations for a show, followed by an opera within an opera? No, it’s not Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. 

Holland Festival revives Pierre Audi’s 2012 production of Handel’s Orlando. Conducted by baroque specialist René Jacobs and featuring an strong cast, it is a great occasion to witness American countertenor Bejun Mehta in what has become, over the past decade, his signature role.

Innovative programming from Manfred Honeck mingles readings, music, and chant in memory of Mozart.

One thing is for sure: whether you like Baroque opera or not, you will never be bored by an opera conducted by René Jacobs. By shaking up convention with his subtle readings, sometimes even rewriting the composer’s score, the Belgian conductor is the one of those rare few who always find an elegant way to bring the repetitive mannerisms of the Baroque to life.

In Pierre Audi’s new production of Handel’s Orlando, currently running at La Monnaie in Brussels (until 12 May, and thereafter available free online on their website for three weeks), the knight Orlando is portrayed as a modern-day fireman who in his fascination with fire has become an arsonist – “pyromane” as Audi explains in the programme.

Librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte billed Don Giovanni a “dramma giocoso,” literally a “jocular drama,” and, unsurprisingly, finding the balance between comedy and drama is the key to any good production.

Die absurd-packende Geschichte wussten die versierten Ausführungsgaranten beeindruckend zu handeln, wobei der Dirigent einmal mehr bestätigte, Barockopern auf ein besonderes Level zu heben.

Ein auf allen Ebenen aufgehendes Regiekonzept Schumachers traf auf die Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin unter Hofstetter, die auch einen Knaller nach dem nächsten gestaltete.

Die Musiker trugen die eingepflanzten Mozart-Produktions-Leuchtfeuer in halbszenischer Köstlichkeit in die Kölner Philharmonie.

Synecdoque de la Passion et donc référence la plus évidente en pleine semaine sainte, la Passion selon Saint Matthieu, monumentale, canonique, proprement géniale, bouleverse et surprend encore son auditeur.

El RIAS-Kammerchor y la Akademie Für Alte Musik de Berlín se presentaron en el Palau de la Música Catalana para ofrecer una cristalina versión de la Pasión según San Mateo de la mano de René Jacobs que, centrada en la voz y el texto, levantó las ovaciones del público.

Le carême musical de René Jacobs et de l’Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin fait rayonner Christophe Dumaux.

Thomas Zehetmair assume une direction audacieuse non sans frôler la Chute.

Le magicien René Jacobs a ressuscité Haendel à la Chapelle Royale de Versailles.