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

Robert Carsen's Royal Opera Aida shines a spotlight on the modern military state

By Nick Boston, 05 May 2023

Robert Carsen's Aida focusses on the brutality of war, with powerful lead performances from Angel Blue, SeokJong Baek and Elīna Garanča, plus strong orchestral colours from Sir Mark Elder.

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London

08 May 2023

Royal Opera's Aida shines a spotlight on the modern military state

By Nick Boston

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Naples

Grand opera, great voices: Verdi's Don Carlo opens the San Carlo season in style

By Mark Pullinger, 29 November 2022

A delayed season opening at the Teatro di San Carlo, but a night of epic grand opera as Claus Guth and Juraj Valčuha deliver a weighty Don Carlo.

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Naples

30 Nov 2022

Grand opera, great voices: Don Carlo opens the San Carlo season

By Mark Pullinger

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Richard Jones’ tacky Samson et Dalila fails to bring down the house at Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger, 26 May 2022

Inspiration eludes the director as a new staging of Saint-Säens’ biblical epic falls flat but for some excellent musical performances led by outstanding mezzo Elīna Garanča.

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London

27 May 2022

Richard Jones’ tacky Samson et Dalila fails to bring down the house

By Mark Pullinger

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Zurich

Elīna Garanča shines as Santuzza in Zürich Opera's Cavalleria rusticana

By Laura Servidei, 18 January 2022

Tenor Marcelo Álvarez and baritone George Petean both pull double duty in this classic verismo bill, revived effectively in Grischa Asagaroff's staging.

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Zurich

20 Jan 2022

Zürich Opera presents Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci

By Laura Servidei

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Jailbird Parsifal in Vienna: stellar cast transcends Serebrennikov's problematic staging

By Mark Valencia, 18 April 2021

Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov relives his own arrest in 2017 in his new production of Wagner's Bühnenweihfestspiel at the Wiener Staatsoper.

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Vienna

21 Apr 2021

Jailbird Parsifal: stellar cast transcends a problematic staging

By Mark Valencia

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Naples

The stars shine in Naples: San Carlo inaugurates its season with Cavalleria rusticana in concert

By Mark Pullinger, 04 December 2020

What do you do when your planned season opener bites the dust? Fly in the stars and put on a concert performance of a verismo favourite.

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Naples

05 Dec 2020

The stars shine in Naples in San Carlo's concert Cav

By Mark Pullinger

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A warm Viennese embrace as Wagner and Bruckner meet in Salzburg

By Mark Pullinger, 26 August 2020

Forget powerhouse “hojotohos” and sandblasting brass. Elīna Garanča and Christian Thielemann offered more intimate portraits of these composers at the Großes Festspielhaus.

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Salzburg

26 Aug 2020

A warm Viennese embrace as Wagner and Bruckner meet in Salzburg

By Mark Pullinger

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Garanča glows in The Met's Damnation de Faust

By Cameron Kelsall, 25 January 2020

Edward Gardner's conducting brings out the nuances of Berlioz's complex score, but The Met's concert staging lacks theatrical thrust.

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New York City

26 Jan 2020

Garanča glows in The Met's Damnation de Faust

By Cameron Kelsall

Why, why, why Dalila? More disappointment at Unter den Linden

By Hugo Shirley, 24 November 2019

Daniel Barenboim conducts an underwhelming cast in the Staatsoper's new Samson et Dalila, and Argentinian director Damián Szifron's operatic debut is stale and cliché-ridden.

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Berlin

26 Nov 2019

Why, why, why Dalila? More disappointment at Unter den Linden

By Hugo Shirley

Nézet-Séguin and the Met Orchestra offer compelling Mahler and Bruckner

By Sam Jacobson, 14 June 2019

The Met Orchestra’s closing performance of the season saw Yannick Nézet-Séguin lead the ensemble in Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder with Elīna Garanča and an arresting Bruckner's Seventh Symphony.

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New York City

17 Jun 2019

Nézet-Séguin and Met Orchestra offer compelling Mahler and Bruckner

By Sam Jacobson

Crushed velvet: Elīna Garanča holds Wigmore Hall spellbound

By Mark Valencia, 17 February 2019

With Malcolm Martineau, the Latvian mezzo delivered poise and polish and transcendent Rückert Lieder.

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London

18 Feb 2019

Crushed velvet: Elīna Garanča holds Wigmore Hall spellbound

By Mark Valencia

A chiaroscuro-free, shiny Samson et Dalila at The Met

By Robert Levine, 24 September 2018

The Met's new season opens with a new Samson et Dalila only marginally more trashy than Saint-Saëns’ peculiar brand of kitschy orientalism.

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New York City

25 Sep 2018

A chiaroscuro-free, shiny Samson et Dalila at The Met

By Robert Levine

Vocal wonder: Elīna Garanča's Mahler with the Vienna Philharmonic

By Chanda VanderHart, 16 June 2018

...the perpetuum mobile character building to a raucously joyous finale that elicited genuine, generous applause.

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Vienna

18 Jun 2018

Vocal wonder: Elīna Garanča's Mahler with the Vienna Phil

By Chanda VanderHart

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Softly awakes my cold, cold heart: a tepid Samson et Dalila in Vienna

By Mark Pullinger, 12 May 2018

Saint-Saëns' exotic dip into the Bible is given a cool update in Alexandra Liedtke's new production at the Wiener Staatsoper.

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Vienna

13 May 2018

Softly awakes my cold, cold heart: Samson et Dalila

By Mark Pullinger

Baden-Baden

Berliner Philharmoniker redefine Shake, Rattle & Roll in Baden-Baden

By Jonathan Sutherland, 25 March 2018

Elīna Garanča brings subtle sonorities to an otherwise bravura and boisterous concert by Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic.

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Baden-Baden

29 Mar 2018

Berliner Philharmoniker redefine Shake, Rattle & Roll in Baden-Baden

By Jonathan Sutherland

Evil under the sun: Hymel triumphs in Cav and Pag at Covent Garden

By David Karlin, 02 December 2017

Even stronger than first time round, Michieletto's impressive staging is complemented by an outstanding double role debut from Hymel and a heartbreaking Santuzza from Elīna Garanča.

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London

03 Dec 2017

Evil under the sun: Hymel triumphs in Cav and Pag

By David Karlin

Gold-plated Don Carlos cast compensates for Warlikowski’s frosty Paris staging

By Mark Pullinger, 28 October 2017

Krzysztof Warlikowski’s new Paris staging of Verdi's epic Don Carlos is cold and glassy, but the vocal performances at the Bastille more than compensate.

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Paris

31 Oct 2017

Gold-plated cast compensates for frosty staging

By Mark Pullinger

A Rosenkavalier for the radio at The Met

By Robert Levine, 17 April 2017

There are several things wrong with the new Robert Carsen directed Der Rosenkavalier that just opened at the Met, but the singing is not among them.

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New York City

18 Apr 2017

A Rosenkavalier for the radio

By Robert Levine

Radvanovsky tackles another Donizetti queen in The Met's Roberto Devereux

By Robert Levine, 28 March 2016

Sondra Radvanovsky tackles another Donizetti queen - Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux - at The Met.

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New York City

29 Mar 2016

Radvanovsky tackles another Donizetti queen

By Robert Levine

Repressed passions, Russian melancholy: Elīna Garanča makes a splendid Wigmore Hall debut

By Mark Pullinger, 11 December 2015

Poise, control, stillness. Within two minutes of her Wigmore Hall debut, the qualities that make Elīna Garanča a consummate Lieder recitalist were evident.

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London

12 Dec 2015

Repressed passions, Russian melancholy

By Mark Pullinger

A polished, grounded diva: Garanča’s “Solistenkonzert” at the Wiener Staatsoper

By Chanda VanderHart, 15 April 2015

Elina Garanča was alluring in a lovely recital of Brahms, Duparc and Rachmaninov with pianist Malcolm Martineau.

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Vienna

17 Apr 2015

Elina Garanča: a polished, grounded diva

By Chanda VanderHart

Milan

Low voltage Carmen in Emma Dante's return to La Scala

By James Imam, 28 March 2015

On a balmy evening in Milan, there was anticipation in the air as queues stretched way back for a sold out performance of Carmen. But a flat atmosphere soon fell in the auditorium itself, with lacklustre singing and confused staging to blame.

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Milan

30 Mar 2015

Low voltage Carmen in Emma Dante's return to La Scala

By James Imam

Elīna Garanča stars in a funny and touching Rosenkavalier at the Deutsche Oper

By Christie Franke, 14 December 2014

Michaela Kaune, Albert Pesendorfer, Eun Yee You and Elīna Garanča transported the audience to a lost time and place, even while embodying their characters’ ultimate timelessness.

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Berlin

16 Dec 2014

Elīna Garanča stars in a touching Rosenkavalier

By Christie Franke

Fire and ice: Rachvelishvili and Antonenko lead a successful Carmen revival at The Met

By Ako Imamura, 30 September 2014

The Met's revival of Carmen, with its rotating set, has a successful opening night with a strong cast, an insightful conductor, a superb orchestra and chorus, all working well as a team.

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New York City

01 Oct 2014

Fire and ice: Carmen at The Met

By Ako Imamura

Amsterdam

Elīna Garanča gives a polished performance of Schumann, Berg and Strauss at the Concertgebouw

By Nicolas Nguyen, 06 May 2014

The celebrated Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča is not unknown to the Amsterdam public. Here, she returned to the Amsterdam Concertgebouw to give a very polished performance of songs by Schumann, Berg and Strauss.

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Amsterdam

08 May 2014

Elīna Garanča gives a polished performance of Schumann, Berg and Strauss at the Concertgebouw

By Nicolas Nguyen

Riccardo Muti conducts an impressive Verdi's Requiem at the Salzburg Festival

By Benedetta Saglietti, 15 August 2013

Apart from the precious Quattro pezzi sacri, Verdi wrote very little sacred music until this Requiem, probably due to his agnosticism. When Alessandro Manzoni, one of the most important and admired Italian literary figures, died on the 22nd of May 1873, Verdi felt that something in the Italian cultural world had come to an end.

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Salzburg

21 Aug 2013

Riccardo Muti conducts an impressive Verdi's Requiem at the Salzburg Festival

By Benedetta Saglietti

Werther at the Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon, 30 April 2013

Goethe’s epistolary novel Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (“The Sorrows of Young Werther”) hit the 1774 zeitgeist not only because it brought back emotion to the rather sober Age of Enlightenment, but because the tragic title hero sports a multi-faceted character that lends itself to various interpretations and projections, therefore making it easy to feel sympathy or even partly identify with the

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Vienna

03 May 2013

Werther at the Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon

Elina Garanča's NYC recital debut is calm, cool and collected

By Zerbinetta, 06 April 2013

Elina Garanča can always be counted on for a coolly polished performance. Her silvery mezzo is beautiful, even throughout her range, and impeccably on pitch. She is musically tasteful, and her sound has grown in recent years. But something often seems to be missing. While she’s too accomplished to call bland, her performances rarely show evidence of a beating heart.

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New York City

08 Apr 2013

Elina Garanča's NYC recital debut is calm, cool and collected

By Zerbinetta

The Met in HD: La Clemenza di Tito, 2012

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 01 December 2012

Read our review of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's production of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito in its 2012 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

New York City

01 Dec 2013

The Met in HD: La Clemenza di Tito, 2012

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

Elina Garanča thrills in concert at the Barbican

By David Karlin, 02 October 2012

As crowd-pulling operatic divas go, most of the attention goes to the sopranos. But a select number of mezzos have the same kind of following, and Latvia's Elina Garanča is high on that list. There are just a few roles where the mezzo is the main character of the opera (many of the others are "witches and bitches", as Garanča puts it), and the big one of those is Carmen.

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London

03 Oct 2012

Elina Garanča thrills in concert at the Barbican

By David Karlin

Salzburg's first spiritual festival closes with Verdi's Requiem

By Zwölftöner, 01 September 2012

Faith and glamour have bookended this year’s Salzburg Festival, a move met with incredulity in certain quarters and yet one not entirely alien to Austrian customs, if one looks to the 20 or so most glittering events of the Viennese ball season, which is promptly curtailed by Ash Wednesday (still observed by much of the population here with high Catholic asceticism).

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Salzburg

08 Jan 2013

Salzburg's first spiritual festival closes with Verdi's Requiem

By Zwölftöner

The Met in HD, Carmen, 2010

By Timothy Robson, 16 January 2010

Read our review of Richard Eyre's production of Carmen by Bizet in its 2010 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

New York City

01 Dec 2013

The Met in HD, Carmen, 2010

By Timothy Robson

The Met in HD, Cenerentola, 2009

By Katy S. Austin, 09 May 2009

Read our review of Cesare Lievi's production of Rossini's Cenerentola in its 2009 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

New York City

01 Dec 2013

The Met in HD, Cenerentola, 2009

By Katy S. Austin

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Liebe und das Leid der Welt: Aida-Premiere an der Staatsoper Berlin

By Svenja Koch, 03 October 2023

Calixto Bieito will in seiner Neuadaption von Verdis wohl bekanntester Oper viel und erreicht damit so ziemlich nichts. Zum Glück gibt es Elīna Garanča.

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Berlin

04 Oct 2023

Liebe und das Leid der Welt: Aida-Premiere an der Staatsoper Berlin

By Svenja Koch

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Netrebko, Kaufmann, Garanča: Aida mit Staraufgebot an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Norman Schwarze, 18 January 2023

Dank eines unglaublichen Staraufgebots am Haus am Ring, wurde auch die 126. Aufführung der Aida zum Erfolg – trotz kleiner Schwächen bei Kaufmann und Netrebko

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Vienna

19 Jan 2023

Netrebko, Kaufmann, Garanča: Aida an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Norman Schwarze

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Baden-Baden

Intensiver Mahler von Robin Ticciati und den Münchner Philharmonikern in Baden-Baden

By Christoph Wurzel, 13 December 2022

Technisch perfekt führte Robin Ticciati mit den Münchner Philharmonikern Mahlers Dritte Symphonie in Baden-Baden auf. Doch leider kam Mahlers musikalischer Humor etwas zu kurz.

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Baden-Baden

15 Dec 2022

Intensiver Mahler von Robin Ticciati und den Münchner Philharmonikern

By Christoph Wurzel

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Bühnenbrutalität und große Stimmen: Carmen an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Isabella Steppan, 09 September 2022

Starbesetzt sorgte Georges Bizets Oper in Calixto Bieitos Inszenierung an der Wiener Staatsoper für ein ausverkauftes Haus und Standing Ovations.

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Vienna

11 Sep 2022

Bühnenbrutalität und große Stimmen: Carmen an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Isabella Steppan

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Verlässliches Festspiel-Highlight: Thielemann, Garanča und die Wiener Philharmoniker

By Isabella Steppan, 30 July 2022

Christian Thielemann und die Wiener Philharmoniker stellten einmal mehr unter Beweis, dass sie ein unschlagbares Team sind; für eleganten Mezzoklang sorgte Elīna Garanča.

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Salzburg

01 Aug 2022

Verlässliches Festspiel-Highlight: Thielemann, Garanča, Philharmoniker

By Isabella Steppan

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Feurige Liebe und eiskalte Rache: Adriana Lecouvreur an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Isabella Steppan, 29 October 2021

Francesco Cileas Werk bietet im Haus am Ring in dieser Vorstellungsserie alles, was man von großer Oper erwartet – Drama, Diven und musikalischen Genuss.

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Vienna

01 Nov 2021

Feurige Liebe und eiskalte Rache: Adriana Lecouvreur in Wien

By Isabella Steppan

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Graz

Liederabend im Doppelpack: Elīna Garanča in Graz

By Isabella Steppan, 19 September 2021

Begleitet von Pianist Malcolm Martineau bot die Mezzosopranistin im Grazer Stefaniensaal gleich zwei Mal am selben Abend eine Reise durch Lieder von Strauss, Guridi und Rachmaninow.

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Graz

21 Sep 2021

Liederabend im Doppelpack: Elīna Garanča in Graz

By Isabella Steppan

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Perfektion und Leidenschaft im Großen Festspielhaus

By Isabella Steppan, 01 August 2021

Christian Thielemann, die Wiener Philharmoniker und Elīna Garanča demonstrieren einmal mehr, dass sie das ultimative Konzert-Dream Team der Salzburger Festspiele sind.

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Salzburg

03 Aug 2021

Perfektion und Leidenschaft im Großen Festspielhaus

By Isabella Steppan

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Göttliche Liebe: Mahlers Dritte mit Lorenzo Viotti und den Berliner Philharmonikern

By Sebastian Urmoneit, 27 February 2020

Lorenzo Viotti lässt Mahlers Dritte Symphonie zu einem großen Klangereignis werden.

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Berlin

29 Feb 2020

Göttliche Liebe: Mahlers Dritte mit den Berliner Philharmonikern

By Sebastian Urmoneit

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Daniel Barenboim und Elīna Garanča brillieren auf hoher See

By Sebastian Urmoneit, 17 December 2019

Barenboim und seine Staatskapelle beschenken die Berliner mit einem weiteren wunderbaren Konzert.

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Berlin

18 Dec 2019

Daniel Barenboim und Elīna Garanča brillieren auf hoher See

By Sebastian Urmoneit

Wenn Erwartungen übererfüllt werden: Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon, 11 March 2019

Elīna Garanča gibt als Santuzza ein beeindruckend gefühlvolles Wiener Rollendebüt.

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Vienna

14 Mar 2019

Wenn Erwartungen übererfüllt werden: Cav & Pag in Wien

By Snapdragon

Oedipus wrecks : Don Carlos fait palpiter Bastille

By Suzanne Lay-Canessa, 19 October 2017

C’est peu dire que la nouvelle production de Warlikowski, après les deux reprises qui ont ouvert cette saison de l’Opéra de Paris, était attendue. Promesses tenues.

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Paris

20 Oct 2017

Oedipus wrecks : Don Carlos fait palpiter Bastille

By Suzanne Lay-Canessa

Opéra Bastille, Carmen : De l'éternelle difficulté à illustrer le désir

By Maeva Da Cruz, 10 March 2017

Carmen dans la mise en scène de Calixto Bieto, présentée actuellement à l'Opéra Bastille, dépeint une héroïne victime du machisme et d'un certain ordre moral conservateur, tout en affirmant sa nécessité d'indépendance et la légimité de ses désirs de liberté.

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Paris

15 Mar 2017

Opéra Bastille, Carmen : De l'éternelle difficulté à illustrer le désir

By Maeva Da Cruz

Cavalleria rusticana, Sancta Susanna : un diptyque visuellement contrariant

By Maeva Da Cruz, 30 November 2016

Proposition étonnante, la programmation des deux oeuvres dans une même soirée fait le pari des contrastes, mais parvient difficilement à se tenir à distance d'un traitement narratif très vertical et moralisateur.

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Paris

02 Dec 2016

Cavalleria rusticana, Sancta Susanna : un diptyque visuellement contrariant

By Maeva Da Cruz

Munich

Bayerische Staatsoper zeigt Donizettis La Favorite mit subtiler Tristesse

By Norman Schwarze, 31 October 2016

Die Bayerische Staatsoper sorgt mit Donizettis La Favorite für muskalische Höhepunkt, setzt dabei jedoch auf eine äußerst karge Inszenierung, die nicht restlos überzeugen kann.

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Munich

03 Nov 2016

Subtile Tristesse in La Favorite

By Norman Schwarze