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

Not a great day for the patriarchy: Ersan Mondtag's gripping new Salome emphasises grotesque caricatures and ends with a bloody, plot-twisting coup d’état.

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Antwerp

29 Dec 2024

Grotesque and gripping: Opera Ballet Vlaanderen unveils a new Salome

By Mark Pullinger

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Antwerp

Magnifique! L'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France plays French music in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman, 21 October 2024

Franck conducts Franck! In Antwerp Mikko Franck and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France play the Symphony in D minor and are joined by Sol Gabetta for Lalo.

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Antwerp

23 Oct 2024

Magnifique! L'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

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Antwerp

The Czech Philharmonic thrills in an evening of Dvořák in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman, 21 March 2024

What better way is there to celebrate Czech music than with an all-Dvořák programme brought by the Czech Philharmonic under their chief conductor Semyon Bychkov?

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Antwerp

22 Mar 2024

The Czech Philharmonic thrills in an evening of Dvořák in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

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Antwerp

Power to the people! Milo Rau's revolutionary Clemenza di Tito opens in Antwerp

By Eleanor Knight, 10 September 2023

Revolution is not for the fainthearted in Milo Rau’s decolonized production of Mozart's opera seria for Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.

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Antwerp

12 Sep 2023

Power to the people! A revolutionary Clemenza di Tito

By Eleanor Knight

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Antwerp

Royal Ballet Flanders: it's either bemusing or brilliant!

By Jonathan Gray, 03 June 2023

Three linked works of contemporary ballet provoke a very mixed response.

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Antwerp

05 Jun 2023

Royal Ballet Flanders: it's either bemusing or brilliant!

By Jonathan Gray

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Antwerp

Speaking truth to power: Jaap van Zweden conducts Shostakovich in Antwerp

By Eleanor Knight, 21 April 2023

In a brilliant performance of the "Leningrad" Symphony, Jaap van Zweden proved that great music knows no cultural borders.

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Antwerp

24 Apr 2023

Speaking truth to power: Jaap van Zweden conducts Shostakovich

By Eleanor Knight

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Antwerp

Rachmaninov to remember from the Bergen Philharmonic in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman, 16 February 2023

Víkingur Ólafsson's appearance may have been most anticipated, but it is Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances that impresses most as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner make a welcome return to Antwerp.

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Antwerp

18 Feb 2023

Rachmaninov to remember from the Bergen Philharmonic in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

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Antwerp

Jansen dazzles Antwerp in fine Prokofiev with Pappano and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe

By Clare Varney, 03 December 2022

Janine Jansen’s exquisite reading of Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto leaves the Belgian audience on a high.

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Antwerp

05 Dec 2022

Jansen dazzles Antwerp in fine Prokofiev with Pappano and the COE

By Clare Varney

Antwerp

Elder and Elgar: riveting Enigma Variations from Sir Mark in Antwerp

By Cameron Kelsall, 14 May 2021

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie d'Oustrac also met the dramatic and musical challenges of Berlioz's Les Nuits d’été.

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Antwerp

14 May 2021

Elder and Elgar: riveting Enigma Variations from Sir Mark in Antwerp

By Cameron Kelsall

Antwerp

Philippe Herreweghe conducts an energetic Mozart Requiem in Antwerp

By Edward Sava-Segal, 07 May 2021

Despite distancing, the members of Collegium Vocale Gent filled the Queen Elisabeth Hall with an impressively cohesive sound, transparent and powerful at the same time.

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Antwerp

08 May 2021

Philippe Herreweghe conducts an energetic Mozart Requiem in Antwerp

By Edward Sava-Segal

Antwerp

Dido and Aeneas reworked as performance art at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen

By Cameron Kelsall, 24 April 2021

Though ambitious and occasionally arresting, this revised and expanded take on the Purcell classic suffers from subtraction by addition.

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Antwerp

27 Apr 2021

Dido and Aeneas reworked as performance art

By Cameron Kelsall

Antwerp

Debussy rebuild fails the House of Usher

By Kurt Gottschalk, 27 February 2021

The question isn’t if Van Parys and Schoeters did right by Poe so much as if they did right by Debussy. Poe will prevail. Debussy’s opera remains unfinished.

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Antwerp

01 Mar 2021

Debussy rebuild fails the House of Usher

By Kurt Gottschalk

Antwerp

Jaap van Zweden welcomed back in Antwerp

By Zoltán Szabó, 12 February 2021

The Dutch conductor returns to his old orchestra for a concert stream of Beethoven, with Nicholas Angelich, and Tchaikovsky.

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Antwerp

15 Feb 2021

Jaap van Zweden welcomed back in Antwerp

By Zoltán Szabó

Antwerp

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen's Memento Mori: a paradigm shift in filming dance

By Graham Watts, 06 February 2021

Dance of a truly gripping and magical quality as Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s compellingly beautiful work is translated for the screen.

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Antwerp

07 Feb 2021

Memento Mori: a paradigm shift in filming dance

By Graham Watts

Antwerp

All-Russian Sunday matinee double bill from Elim Chan and the Antwerp Symphony

By Marc Haegeman, 02 February 2020

Interrupted melody in Vondráček’s Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto, but magnificent playing from Chan and the Antwerp Symphony.

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Antwerp

03 Feb 2020

All-Russian Sunday matinee double bill from Elim Chan in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

Antwerp

Magnificent Beethoven tribute from Chailly and the Filarmonica della Scala in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman, 23 January 2020

"Beethoven 250" starts in grand form with thrilling performances of Egmont and Symphonies 5 and 8 in Antwerp.

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Antwerp

24 Jan 2020

Magnificent Beethoven tribute from Chailly in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

Antwerp

Alexandre Kantorow wows with the Mariinsky Orchestra in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman, 15 October 2019

Think of a poet irresistibly teasing your senses by his creative use of rhythm, his unpredictable style of speech and his unfailing imagination.

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Antwerp

17 Oct 2019

Alexandre Kantorow wows with the Mariinsky Orchestra in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

Antwerp

The American Dream still lives in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman, 03 May 2019

Špaček subtly illuminated the tough and serious first movement with shafts of light, convincingly sweetened his tone for the lyricism of the intermezzo-like Andante moderato, and gave a dazzling display in the exhilarating finale.

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Antwerp

05 May 2019

The American Dream still lives in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

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Antwerp

Mob mentality: a powerful La Juive at Opera Vlaanderen

By Mark Pullinger, 10 March 2019

Peter Konwitschny's production strips away much of the religious symbolism, presenting the difference between Jews and Christians as little more than the dyed colour of their hands.

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Antwerp

11 Mar 2019

Mob mentality: a powerful La Juive at Opera Vlaanderen

By Mark Pullinger

Antwerp

Isabelle Faust shines in German early romantics programme from Gardiner and the LSO

By Marc Haegeman, 30 January 2019

A memorable evening: LSO horns on tremendous form with Sir John Eliot Gardiner on the podium and Isabelle Faust in stellar performance.

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Antwerp

02 Feb 2019

Isabelle Faust shines with Gardiner and the LSO

By Marc Haegeman

Antwerp

Beguiling Tchaikovsky from Alban Gerhardt and Klaus Mäkelä in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman, 28 October 2018

The Rococo Variations show Pyotr Ilyich at his most beguiling and Gerhardt’s cello made the Andante sostenuto variation sing from every bar.

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Antwerp

29 Oct 2018

Beguiling Tchaikovsky from Gerhardt and Mäkelä in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

Antwerp

Radiant Vilde Frang opens Antwerp season

By Marc Haegeman, 09 September 2018

Attentive to the dynamics and tempi, Frang meshed her violin with the orchestra, naturally coming into the footlights or receding into an accompanying role when required. In effect, the performance had a feel of an improvisation.

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Antwerp

12 Sep 2018

Radiant Vilde Frang opens Antwerp season

By Marc Haegeman

Antwerp

Alice Sara Ott and Edo de Waart bring magnificent Mozart and Dvořák to Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman, 19 May 2018

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra make Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony sound like new, while Alice Sara Ott’s joy in playing Mozart is palpable.

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Antwerp

21 May 2018

Ott and de Waart bring magnificent Mozart and Dvořák to Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

Antwerp

Thrilling Beethoven and Mahler from Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman, 18 April 2018

A night to remember in Antwerp as Salonen and the Philharmonia demonstrated once again that, in the right hands, familiar repertory can still prove compelling and even surprising.

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Antwerp

20 Apr 2018

Thrilling Beethoven and Mahler in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

Antwerp

Miracle in a wasteland: Das Wunder der Heliane returns to Flanders

By John Johnston, 01 October 2017

At its local Antwerp première, David Bösch’s new production of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane makes it the only house ever to have mounted twice.

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Antwerp

02 Oct 2017

Miracle in a wasteland: Das Wunder der Heliane

By John Johnston

Antwerp

Agrippina meets Dynasty: Joan Collins' spirit hovers over Antwerp

By Laura Servidei, 25 March 2017

Opera Vlaanderen revives a production of Handel's Agrippina based on American soap operas of the 1980s.

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Antwerp

27 Mar 2017

Agrippina meets Dynasty in Antwerp

By Laura Servidei

Antwerp

Multi-media stress test for Antwerp’s new Queen Elisabeth Hall

By Sam Johnstone, 18 March 2017

Overshadowed by its Hanseatic cousin Hamburg, Antwerp recently celebrated the opening of its own new concert hall. In his Symphony no. 2, Wim Henderickx tested the hall's capabilities with a multi-media extravaganza.

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Antwerp

21 Mar 2017

Multi-media stress test for Antwerp’s new hall

By Sam Johnstone

Antwerp

Confusing darkness: Inside the mind of the Moor with Thalheimer's Otello in Antwerp

By David Pinedo, 14 February 2016

The unclear ideas and the excessive blackness in Thalheimer’s concept failed to convince, but Stoyanov and Joel’s presentation of Verdi’s score made up for those problems.

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Antwerp

16 Feb 2016

Inside the mind of the Moor with Thalheimer's Otello in Antwerp

By David Pinedo

Antwerp

Understated elegance: Robert Carsen's sublime La bohème in Antwerp

By David Pinedo, 27 December 2015

Robert Carsen's understated elegance on stage counterbalances Puccini’s highly charged melodrama.

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Antwerp

29 Dec 2015

Understated elegance: Robert Carsen's sublime Bohème

By David Pinedo

Antwerp

Geschichte(n) erzählen: Vox Luminis mit vierfachem Carissimi

By Jens Klier, 05 February 2025

Die eigene Entstehung abbildend, nutzte Meuniers Ensemble Vanitas und drei Historiae, um dem umworbenen Komponisten erneut und neu seine aus Wort und Harmonie erwachsende, beachtenswerte Aufwartung zu machen.

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Antwerp

06 Feb 2025

Geschichte(n) erzählen: Vox Luminis mit vierfachem Carissimi

By Jens Klier

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Antwerp

Überragender Meilenstein: Monteverdis Marienvesper von Pichon und Pygmalion

By Jens Klier, 20 September 2024

Wenn sich vom ersten bis letzten Ton Gänsehaut einstellt, dann huldigen die Künstler ihrer Klasse, der Faszination des Komponisten und einer unsterblichen Welt.

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Antwerp

21 Sep 2024

Überragender Meilenstein: Monteverdis Marienvesper von Raphaël Pichon

By Jens Klier

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Antwerp

Vingt-cinq ans après, la Jenůfa de Robert Carsen est de retour à Anvers

By Stéphane Lelièvre, 08 June 2024

Un quart de siècle après sa création à l’Opéra de Flandre, la mise en scène du chef-d'œuvre de Janáček par l'artiste canadien n'a rien perdu de sa poésie.

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Antwerp

10 Jun 2024

Vingt-cinq ans après, la Jenůfa de Carsen est de retour à Anvers

By Stéphane Lelièvre

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Antwerp

Les sextuors contrastés du Quatuor Belcea avec Tabea Zimmermann et Jean-Guihen Queyras à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman, 11 May 2024

Après un Premier Sextuor op. 18 de Brahms assez déroutant car comme interprété avec le frein à main, le Deuxième Sextuor op. 36 a donné lieu à un jeu généreux et convaincant.

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Antwerp

12 May 2024

Les sextuors contrastés du Quatuor Belcea et ses invités à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman

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Antwerp

Willkommen zurück: das European Union Baroque Orchestra spielt wieder

By Jens Klier, 13 October 2023

Der zweiten kleinen Tournee des neuen Restart-Jahrgangs, der ersten in Belgien und am AMUZ-Sitz seit 2018, mangelte es nicht an Symbolik; und damit nicht an Freudentänzen über die EUBO-Reaktivierung.

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Antwerp

14 Oct 2023

Willkommen zurück: das European Union Baroque Orchestra spielt wieder

By Jens Klier

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Antwerp

Brücke in die mährische Rarität: Wiener Kult und Cornetto mit Il Gardellino

By Jens Klier, 08 September 2023

Bei der AMUZ-Saisoneröffung stellte Bruce Dickey zum zweiten Mal, jetzt mit Ensemble und Chor unter Leitung Peter Van Heyghens, würdevoll eine Nepomuk-Messe und andere Archivschätze vor.

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Antwerp

09 Sep 2023

Wiener Kult und Cornetto mit Il Gardellino

By Jens Klier

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Antwerp

2 x 2 = Moll: Vox Luminis und B'Rock mit Michael Haydn und Mozart

By Jens Klier, 25 May 2023

Bei seinem Betritt klassischen Neulands konnte sich Meuniers aufgestocktes Vokalensemble auf seine Qualitäten und denen des Orchesters unter Konzertmeisterin Bernardini verlassen; das Feld war und ist bestellt für weitere Wegpunkte.

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Antwerp

27 May 2023

2 x 2 = Moll: Vox Luminis und B'Rock mit Michael Haydn und Mozart

By Jens Klier

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Antwerp

Alexis Kossenko exhume un merveilleux Zoroastre à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman, 28 April 2022

Dans la belle Salle bleue du Singel à Anvers, Alexis Kossenko exhume la version originale du rare Zoroastre de Rameau avec une distribution de grande qualité.

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Antwerp

29 Apr 2022

Alexis Kossenko exhume un merveilleux Zoroastre à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman

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Antwerp

Entflammtes Herz fürs Original: Zoroastre in der Premierenfassung von 1749

By Jens Klier, 28 April 2022

Les Ambassadeurs – La Grande Ecurie, der Chœur de Chambre de Namur und Solisten zeigen unter Alexis Kossenko eine theatralische Weltpremiere mit lichtgestaltlichen Qualitäten.

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Antwerp

29 Apr 2022

Entflammtes Herz fürs Original: Zoroastre

By Jens Klier

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Antwerp

Der Silbersee à Anvers : du jamais vu !

By Patrice Lieberman, 03 October 2021

À l'Opéra de Flandre, l'ouvrage rare de Kurt Weill bénéficie de la mise en scène extraordinairement inventive d'Ersan Mondtag et d'une excellente distribution.

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Antwerp

06 Oct 2021

Der Silbersee à Anvers : du jamais vu !

By Patrice Lieberman

Antwerp

Leben und Lernen mit Bach: Collegium Vocale Gents tröstlicher Gruß aus Belgien

By Jens Klier, 04 February 2021

Das CVG und seine Solisten geben unter Herreweghe mit der Kraft der Musik und Worte den intentionsgetreuen Sinn, der ernste Sorgen beiseiteschiebt.

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Antwerp

04 Feb 2021

Leben und Lernen mit Bach: Collegium Vocale Gents Gruß aus Belgien

By Jens Klier

Antwerp

Schubert fast in Superlative: Die Große vom B'Rock Orchestra und René Jacobs

By Jens Klier, 10 December 2020

Mit Schnörkellosigkeit, Strenge, Luzidität und Feinfühligkeit bewältigen die Musiker in ihrem Schubert-Zyklus die Selbstidentität ausstrahlende Achte.

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Antwerp

10 Dec 2020

Schubert fast in Superlative: Die Große vom B'Rock Orchestra

By Jens Klier

Antwerp

Come back, Euridice!: García Alarcóns Wunsch-Rückkehr zu Monteverdis L'Orfeo

By Jens Klier, 17 January 2020

Eine verheißungsvolle Kraft der Tonsprache Monteverdis, der nur ein minimales Quäntchen zur Ergriffenheitsschwelle fehlte für den Olymp.

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Antwerp

18 Jan 2020

Come back, Euridice!: Eine Wunsch-Rückkehr zu Monteverdis L'Orfeo

By Jens Klier

Antwerp

Ein barockes Nachhausekommen: Bach und Händel mit den Balthasar-Neumann-Ensembles

By Jens Klier, 25 September 2019

Was für eine Freude, diesen begeisterten und begeisternden Stimmen zu lauschen – eine Auffahrt in den Musikhimmel für Hengelbrocks Chor und Orchester!

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Antwerp

26 Sep 2019

Ein barockes Nachhausekommen mit den Balthasar-Neumann-Ensembles

By Jens Klier

Antwerp

Soif de pouvoir et folie meurtrière : Macbeth à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman, 27 June 2019

La mise en scène de Michael Thalheimer va à l’essentiel dans Macbeth, dernière production du mandat d'Aviel Cahn à la tête de l’Opéra de Flandre.

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Antwerp

01 Jul 2019

Soif de pouvoir et folie meurtrière : Macbeth à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman

Antwerp

Quand l’amour de l’art rend fou : Cardillac à l'Opéra de Flandre

By Patrice Lieberman, 03 February 2019

Nouvelle production à l'Opéra de Flandre : le trop rare Cardillac de Hindemith, dans l'excellente mise en scène de Guy Joosten. Menée par le superbe Simon Neal, la distribution homogène contribue à la réussite de l'ouvrage.

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Antwerp

08 Feb 2019

Quand l’amour de l’art rend fou : Cardillac à l'Opéra de Flandre

By Patrice Lieberman

Antwerp

À la recherche du temps perdu : Les Pêcheurs de perles à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman, 16 December 2018

Pour sa première mise en scène à l'Opéra de Flandre, le FC Bergman joue sur la nostalgie de Pêcheurs de perles placés en maison de retraite. Une approche audacieuse qui ne manque pas d'émouvoir.

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Antwerp

18 Dec 2018

À la recherche du temps perdu : Les Pêcheurs de perles à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman