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

The combination of spectacular backdrops and evocative film projections are visually stunning and the dancers are superb, but Wayne McGregor's MaddAddam is difficult to follow.

***11

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***11

London

15 Nov 2024

The Royal Ballet: MaddAddam is carried by sublime performances

By Amanda Jennings

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New York City

Uneven Woolf Works is a strong vehicle for a legendary ballerina

By Ivy Lin, 28 June 2024

Final verdict on Woolf Works? It’s sprawling, uneven, with parts that are thrilling and other parts that are prosaic and shallow.

***11

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***11

New York City

30 Jun 2024

Uneven Woolf Works is a strong vehicle for a legendary ballerina

By Ivy Lin

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Toronto

Jamie Manton's Cunning Little Vixen falls flat in Toronto

By Michelle Assay, 26 January 2024

After more than a quarter of a century, Janáček’s late masterpiece returns to the Canadian Opera Company, but falls short in charm, magic, and humour.

**111

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**111

Toronto

28 Jan 2024

Jamie Manton's Cunning Little Vixen falls flat in Toronto

By Michelle Assay

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London

Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel strikes a sour note at the Royal Opera House

By Mark Valencia, 16 December 2023

A forgettable Hansel and Gretel is the worst offence of Antony McDonald’s leaden staging which returns to Covent Garden.

**111

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**111

London

18 Dec 2023

Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel strikes a sour note

By Mark Valencia

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London

The Dante Project: beautiful dancing but hard to discern a narrative

By Deborah Weiss, 25 November 2023

Thomas Adès' score does most of the storytelling in this epic production, though the dancing is superlative.

***11

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***11

London

27 Nov 2023

The Dante Project: beautiful dancing but hard to discern a narrative

By Deborah Weiss

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Copenhagen

Singing and stage direction impress in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw in Copenhagen

By David Karlin, 06 October 2023

Anthony Almeida and Rosanna Vize's deconstructed ghostly country house provides plenty of tension; fine vocal qualities are marred by poor intelligibility.

***11

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***11

Copenhagen

07 Oct 2023

Britten’s The Turn of the Screw in Copenhagen

By David Karlin

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London

The Royal Ballet: dynamism and contrast in its latest triple bill

By Graham Watts, 09 June 2023

A mixed programme of all-British choreography, including a world premiere, offers something for everyone.

***11

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***11

London

11 Jun 2023

The Royal Ballet: dynamism and contrast in its latest triple bill

By Graham Watts

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London

Enchanting Alessandra Ferri returns in Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works

By Graham Watts, 01 March 2023

Every decade or so, The Royal Ballet creates a new work that will endure in its signature collection, and there's little doubt that Woolf Works deserves its place among that elite.

****1

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****1

London

02 Mar 2023

Enchanting Alessandra Ferri returns in Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works

By Graham Watts

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Sydney

Hallberg showcases new talent in Australian Ballet's Instruments of Dance

By Chantal Nguyen, 10 November 2022

Australian Ballet's latest triple bill features fresh young talent and new names to watch in creations by Wayne McGregor, Alice Topp and Justin Peck.

****1

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****1

Sydney

16 Nov 2022

New talent showcased in Australian Ballet's Instruments of Dance

By Chantal Nguyen

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London

Big-hearted, quirky, fun: Richard Jones' Alcina for The Royal Opera

By David Karlin, 08 November 2022

Lisette Oropesa leads strong vocal performances in Handel's madcap tale of love and sorcery. Richard Jones' production is visually all over the place, but in a good way.

****1

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****1

London

09 Nov 2022

Big-hearted, quirky, fun: Richard Jones' Alcina for The Royal Opera

By David Karlin

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Milan

Wayne McGregor takes Stravinsky's rituals to desolate and cruel lands at La Scala

By Silvia Poletti, 24 June 2022

McGregor's new creation for the Milanese company imagines Les Noces as a sequel to his take on The Rite of Spring.

***11

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***11

Milan

26 Jun 2022

McGregor takes Stravinsky's rituals to desolate and cruel lands

By Silvia Poletti

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London

A fine tail: new Cunning Little Vixen at English National Opera

By Dominic Lowe, 20 February 2022

ENO has a long and fine history in Janáček’s corpus, and Jamie Manton's new production, performed by a cast that revels in the clash between nature and mankind, has much in which to delight.

****1

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****1

London

22 Feb 2022

A fine tail: new Cunning Little Vixen at English National Opera

By Dominic Lowe

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Rome

Kátya Kabanová flies to Rome for the first time

By Lorenzo Fiorito, 23 January 2022

Richard Jones' setting is superb in its bare minimalism, but he pays great attention to all the psychological nuances in Janáček's opera.

*****

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*****

Rome

25 Jan 2022

Kátya Kabanová flies to Rome for the first time

By Lorenzo Fiorito

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London

Paradise? Hell is more fun in Wayne McGregor's Dante Project for The Royal Ballet

By Sarah Kirkup, 14 October 2021

McGregor and Adès' collaboration for The Royal Ballet is impressive, but doesn't always tug at the heartstrings.

***11

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***11

London

15 Oct 2021

Paradise? Hell is more fun in Wayne McGregor's Dante Project

By Sarah Kirkup

Alresford

Dance@TheGrange presents McGregor, Marston and young choreographers

By Sarah Kirkup, 26 June 2019

The second Dance@TheGrange builds on its reputation for fearless programming, with performances from Company Wayne McGregor and Ballet Black, and a standout new work by Ballet Black's Mthuthuzeli November

****1

****1

Alresford

28 Jun 2019

Dance@TheGrange: McGregor, Marston and young choreographers

By Sarah Kirkup

London

Marion Motin's Rouge blows the cobwebs away in Rambert's triple bill

By Graham Watts, 14 May 2019

A new manifesto for Rambert under new management of Benoit Swan Pouffer.

***11

***11

London

16 May 2019

Rouge blows the cobwebs away in Rambert's triple bill

By Graham Watts

Milan

Fluctuating around Virginia's tissues of the mind: Woolf Works at La Scala

By Alessandra Tribotti, 07 April 2019

Alessandra Ferri, the former La Scala Prima Ballerina Assoluta, makes her triumphant return to Milan as the moving incarnation of Virginia Woolf in Wayne McGregor's most mature, complete and striking piece to date.

*****

*****

Milan

23 Apr 2019

Fluctuating around Virginia's tissues of the mind

By Alessandra Tribotti

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Milan

La finta giardiniera: Mozart’s early masterpiece charms at La Scala

By Laura Servidei, 20 October 2018

Diego Fasolis leads a period performance of Mozart’s early masterpiece with a strong cast and a clever production.

****1

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****1

Milan

22 Oct 2018

Mozart’s early masterpiece charms at La Scala

By Laura Servidei

London

English National Opera presents a fervent Gerontius at the Southbank Centre

By Kathryn Wareham, 01 July 2017

English National Opera join with the BBC Singers to make Royal Festival Hall debut.

****1

****1

London

03 Jul 2017

English National Opera presents a fervent Gerontius

By Kathryn Wareham

London

Wayne McGregor celebrates ten years at the Royal Ballet

By Philippa Newis, 14 November 2016

Wayne McGregor's triple bill at the Royal Opera House celebrates his 10th year as Resident Choreographer of the Royal Ballet. His insatiable curiosity and driving creativity has brought challenge, change and occasionally controversy to the cornerstone of British ballet.

****1

****1

London

16 Nov 2016

McGregor: 10 years at the Royal Ballet

By Philippa Newis

London

Falling down a rabbit hole at Sadler's Wells

By Philippa Newis, 07 June 2016

No Body is a promenade performance that reveals the intimacies of a working theatre. Without dancers, the audience is exposed to an immersive experience of light, sound and video.

****1

****1

London

10 Jun 2016

No Body

By Philippa Newis

Beijing

Sylvie Guillem's final tour: Life in Progress

By Catherine Sutherland, 10 October 2015

Explosive and animated, Sylvie Guillem moves with an inimitable combination of energy, joie de vivre and delicacy throughout her final show, Life in Progress, at Beijing’s National Center for Performing Arts.

****1

****1

Beijing

13 Oct 2015

Guillem, always in progress

By Catherine Sutherland

Montreal

Wayne McGregor astounds with FAR

By Nancy Berman, 06 February 2014

Wayne McGregor astounds with his choreographic virtuosity, entrancing soundtrack and mesmerizing set design in FAR: this postmodern look at the body creates a veritable lexicon of movement. At Théâtre Maisonneuve, Montréal.

****1

****1

Montreal

08 Feb 2014

Wayne McGregor's FAR in Montréal

By Nancy Berman

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Paris

Le rideau déchiré : Les Noces de Figaro selon Netia Jones à Garnier

By Pierre Liscia-Beaurenaut, 23 November 2022

Une mise en scène aussi amusante que brillante d'intelligence, un plateau vocal au diapason et un orchestre des grands soirs : Les Noces de Figaro présentées au Palais Garnier ont tout pour plaire !

*****

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*****

Paris

26 Nov 2022

Le rideau déchiré : Les Noces de Figaro à Garnier

By Pierre Liscia-Beaurenaut

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Paris

Au Palais Garnier : Noces de Figaro ou Divorce d'Almaviva ?

By Stéphane Lelièvre, 07 February 2022

Le chef-d'œuvre mozartien est desservi par une lecture scénique qui tombe parfois dans le contresens, mais la distribution et la direction de Gustavo Dudamel en font une belle réussite musicale.

***11

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***11

Paris

09 Feb 2022

Au Palais Garnier : Noces de Figaro ou Divorce d'Almaviva ?

By Stéphane Lelièvre