Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Bertrand de Billy

Mass appeal: Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites revived at the Met

By Cameron Kelsall, 15 January 2023

John Dexter's production, now among the longest-serving in the company's repertory, remains a marvel of simple, effective storytelling.

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New York City

15 Jan 2023

Mass appeal: Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites revived at the Met

By Cameron Kelsall

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Giving the Devil his due: Méphistophélès steals the show in the Wiener Staatsoper's Faust

By George Jahn, 04 November 2021

Adam Palka shines as the devil in this revival of Frank Castorf's multimedia staging that relocates the work to mid-20th century Paris, around the end of the Algerian War.

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Vienna

04 Nov 2021

Méphistophélès steals the show in Staatsoper's Faust

By George Jahn

Munich

Puccini’s Il trittico: a successful revival in Munich

By Laura Servidei, 11 June 2021

Ermonela Jaho steals the scene as Suor Angelica in a very successful revival of Lotte de Beer’s production.

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Munich

11 Jun 2021

Puccini’s Il trittico: a successful revival in Munich

By Laura Servidei

Gounod in the Time of Corona: Frank Castorf's many-layered Faust lands in Vienna

By Chanda VanderHart, 29 April 2021

Faust and Méphistophélès pal around like buddies in Castorf's multi-media staging, the devil here less diabolical and more anarchistic party-boy.

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Vienna

29 Apr 2021

Gounod in the Time of Corona: Frank Castorf's many-layered Faust

By Chanda VanderHart

Tosca aeterna: Anna Netrebko commands attention in Vienna

By Zoltán Szabó, 13 December 2020

The Russian diva makes her Vienna role debut in Margarethe Wallmann's classic 1958 production.

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Vienna

13 Dec 2020

Tosca aeterna: Anna Netrebko commands attention in Vienna

By Zoltán Szabó

Konwitschny’s controversial Don Carlos a must-see at the Wiener Staatsoper

By Chanda VanderHart, 04 October 2020

A five-hour operatic marathon as the full, five-act French version of Verdi's epic Don Carlos returns to the Staatsoper after a seven-year hiatus.

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Vienna

04 Oct 2020

Konwitschny’s controversial Don Carlos a must-see in Vienna

By Chanda VanderHart

A French Connection: Poulenc and Fauré from the LPO

By Dominic Lowe, 18 January 2020

Bertrand de Billy made his debut with the LPO in an all-French programme headlined by Fauré's Requiem and preceded by a rewarding pairing of Poulenc's Organ Concerto and Sept Repons des Tenebres

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London

18 Jan 2020

A French Connection: Poulenc and Fauré from the LPO

By Dominic Lowe

Trittico's 100th anniversary and Domingo's 50th celebrated at The Met

By Robert Levine, 26 November 2018

All three operas in Puccini's triptych are strongly cast in this revival.

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New York City

26 Nov 2018

Trittico's 100th anniversary and Domingo's 50th

By Robert Levine

High Cs to burn: Netrebko stars in The Met’s new, hot-blooded Tosca

By Robert Levine, 30 April 2018

And the new, Spring casting for David McVicar's new production of Tosca has an ace in the hole – Anna Netrebko – and she certainly did not disappoint.

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New York City

30 Apr 2018

High Cs to burn: Netrebko stars as Tosca

By Robert Levine

A pleasant last première of the season at the Metropolitan Opera

By Edward Sava-Segal, 20 April 2018

Laurent Pelly’s staging provided some of the most memorable moments in this performance of Cendrillon.

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New York City

20 Apr 2018

A pleasant Cendrillon première at the Metropolitan Opera

By Edward Sava-Segal

Superb Yoncheva and Beczała in The Met's Luisa Miller, anchored by Domingo

By Robert Levine, 02 April 2018

The role of Luisa, some of the daintier coloratura aside, fits Sonya Yoncheva like a glove.

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New York City

02 Apr 2018

Superb Yoncheva and Beczała in Met's Luisa Miller

By Robert Levine

Giant haystacks: Pelly's sunny L'elisir d'amore romps back to Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger, 27 May 2017

This was meant to be Pretty Yende's night, but it was Armenian tenor Liparit Avetisyan who stole hearts as country bumpkin Nemorino.

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London

27 May 2017

Giant haystacks: Pelly's sunny L'elisir d'amore

By Mark Pullinger

Royal Opera's Don Carlo revival fails to completely catch fire

By Mark Pullinger, 12 May 2017

Has Health and Safety finally caught up with the Spanish Inquisition? A flameless auto-da-fé and some low-key individual performances meant this revival took time to hit its stride.

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London

12 May 2017

Don Carlo revival fails to completely catch fire

By Mark Pullinger

Warlikowski's provocative staging of Iphigénie en Tauride a theatrical experience in Paris

By Katherine Syer, 02 December 2016

A compelling staging of Gluck's 1779 opera in Paris.

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Paris

02 Dec 2016

Warlikowski's provocative Iphigénie en Tauride

By Katherine Syer

A workmanlike Carmen at the Royal Opera

By David Karlin, 19 October 2015

For anyone seeing Carmen for the first time, this Royal Opera revival will have been a more than satisfactory evening. Old hands hoping to see something extra will find it in Hymel's Don José and Car's Micaëla, but not elsewhere.

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London

19 Oct 2015

A workmanlike Carmen at the Royal Opera

By David Karlin

Orange

Il trovatore at Chorégies d'Orange: a robbery in the interval

By Sébastien Herbecq, 01 August 2015

Les Chorégies d'Orange present a new production of Verdi's Il trovatore with mixed results.

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Orange

01 Aug 2015

Il trovatore at Chorégies d'Orange

By Sébastien Herbecq

Chicago

Starting with a storm: Otello at the Lyric Opera of Chicago

By Dan Wang, 05 October 2013

Amid red carpets and canapés, the Lyric Opera’s 2013/14 season opened on Saturday night with a work that perfectly suited the storm gathering above as ball-gowned luminaries swept into the hall: Verdi’s Otello, that late masterpiece of mood and terraced intensities.

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Chicago

05 Oct 2013

Starting with a storm: Otello at the Lyric Opera of Chicago

By Dan Wang

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

30 Apr 2013

Werther at the Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon

Laurent Pelly's story book Cendrillon

By David Karlin, 11 July 2011

I once heard a lecture by Gérard Mortier, then head of the Paris Opera, contrasting the twin operatic traditions starting from Monteverdi's serious and affecting dramma per musica and the lavish court entertainments of Lully. A couple of centuries on, there's no need to ask the side of the fence on which Massenet's Cendrillon falls.

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London

11 Jul 2011

Laurent Pelly's story book Cendrillon

By David Karlin

The Theater an der Wien’s subtle Dialogues des Carmélites

By Zerbinetta, 21 April 2011

Never a city to shy away from seasonal programming, this Easter Vienna is offering productions of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Gounod’s Faust, and Wagner’s Parsifal. The latter two, at the Staatsoper, are familiar, but audiences should run to see the Theater an der Wien’s enthralling revival of Poulenc’s relatively rarely-produced masterwork.

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Vienna

21 Apr 2011

The Theater an der Wien’s subtle Dialogues des Carmélites

By Zerbinetta

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Beliebt-Bewährtes mit Schuss: Werther an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon, 08 March 2025

Andrei Şerbans Inszenierung überzeugt einmal mehr am Haus am Ring.

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Vienna

08 Mar 2025

Beliebt-Bewährtes mit Schuss: Werther an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon

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O zittre nicht... auch wenn es spukt: Barbora Horákovás Zauberflöte an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon, 30 January 2025

Die Regisseurin Barbora Horáková hat reichlich Ideen und stellt das Leben an sich in den Mittelpunkt ihrer Neuinszenierung. Leider kann Die Zauberflöte musikalisch da nicht mithalten.

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Vienna

30 Jan 2025

O zittre nicht... auch wenn es spukt: eine neue Zauberflöte in Wien

By Snapdragon

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Mit dem Metronom: Les Contes d'Hoffmann an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon, 16 December 2024

Vor allem Andrei Șerbans fantasievolle, zeitlos-elegante Inszenierung ist ein Plädoyer, Hoffmann viel öfters auf den Spielplan zu setzen.

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Vienna

16 Dec 2024

Mit dem Metronom: Les Contes d'Hoffmann an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon

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La Vestale de Lydia Steier enflamme l’Opéra Bastille

By Erwan Gentric, 15 June 2024

Après Salomé, Lydia Steier signe une nouvelle mise en scène forte, dans un ouvrage de Spontini qui mérite son retour à Paris, surtout quand il est porté par une belle distribution.

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Paris

15 Jun 2024

La Vestale de Lydia Steier enflamme l’Opéra Bastille

By Erwan Gentric

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Faust an der Wiener Staatsoper: Frank Castorfs fulminantes Bühnenspektakel

By Snapdragon, 29 May 2024

Eine temporeiche Inszenierung und eine starke Besetzung – Gounods Faust war noch nie so kurzweilig. Chapeau!

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Vienna

29 May 2024

Faust an der Wiener Staatsoper: Castorfs fulminantes Bühnenspektakel

By Snapdragon

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Ins Schwarze getroffen: Guillaume Tell an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon, 13 March 2024

Die triumphalen Rossini-Festspiele am Ring gehen mit Guillaume Tell in die nächste Runde...

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Vienna

13 Mar 2024

Ins Schwarze getroffen: Guillaume Tell an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon

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Sister Action: Dialogues des Carmélites an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon, 24 May 2023

Vor allem das großartige Sänger*innen-Ensemble berührt zutiefst in Magdalena Fuchsbergers Neuinszenierung am Ring.

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Vienna

24 May 2023

Sister Action: Dialogues des Carmélites an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Snapdragon

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Klangschönheit mit wenig Emotion: Manon an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Isabella Steppan, 04 May 2023

An der Wiener Staatsoper begeistern Orchester und Sänger zwar mit technischer Finesse, blieben aber Emotion schuldig.

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Vienna

04 May 2023

Klangschönheit mit wenig Emotion: Manon an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Isabella Steppan

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Berlin

Sombre Carmen à Berlin, avec Gaëlle Arquez et Stanislas de Barbeyrac

By Emma Granier, 05 February 2023

La mise en scène de Martin Kušej accentue le caractère sombre du célèbre opéra de Bizet, dans lequel le duo de chanteurs français se distingue.

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Berlin

05 Feb 2023

Sombre Carmen à Berlin, avec Gaëlle Arquez et Stanislas de Barbeyrac

By Emma Granier

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La bohème an der Wiener Staatsoper: Ersatzprogramm zur Saisoneröffnung

By Isabella Steppan, 08 September 2022

Eleonora Buratto und Vittorio Grigolo lassen in Puccinis Schmachtfetzen verloren geglaubte Opernglanzzeiten wieder auferstehen; ein bisschen mehr Pathos hätte dem Orchester aber nicht geschadet.

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Vienna

08 Sep 2022

La bohème an der Wiener Staatsoper: Ersatzprogramm zur Saisoneröffnung

By Isabella Steppan

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Un Don Giovanni noir et carnassier à Bastille

By Philippe Ramin, 01 February 2022

Présentée à Garnier en 2018, la mise en scène fascinante d'Ivo van Hove est parfaitement adaptée à la nef de Bastille. Nicole Car se distingue dans une distribution remarquable.

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Paris

01 Feb 2022

Un Don Giovanni noir et carnassier à Bastille

By Philippe Ramin

Massenets Werther stirbt einsam an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Isabella Steppan, 10 December 2020

Piotr Beczała sang erstmals im Haus am Ring den Werther und Gaëlle Arquez debütierte als Charlotte; ein großer Opernabend, der im Normalbetrieb ein Publikumshit gewesen wäre.

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Vienna

10 Dec 2020

Massenets Werther stirbt einsam an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Isabella Steppan

Spontinis La vestale als symbolträchtige Revue am Theater an der Wien

By Snapdragon, 18 November 2019

Trotz aller Schwächen lohnt ein Besuch, auch wenn man manchmal beide Augen zudrücken muss.

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Vienna

18 Nov 2019

La vestale als symbolträchtige Revue am Theater an der Wien

By Snapdragon

La froide élégance à la française du National au TCE

By Clara Leonardi, 11 October 2019

Au TCE, le National manque de conviction pour défendre Fauré et Dutilleux. On retiendra plutôt un Stabat Mater de Poulenc transcendé par Emőke Baráth, touchée par la grâce.

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Paris

11 Oct 2019

La froide élégance à la française du National au TCE

By Clara Leonardi

Otello en noir et blanc : Kurzak éblouit, Alagna sombre

By Tristan Labouret, 07 March 2019

À l'Opéra Bastille, le retour de la mise en scène d'Andrei Serban produit un Otello mitigé, où l'étincelante Aleksandra Kurzak répond à un Roberto Alagna défaillant.

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Paris

07 Mar 2019

Otello en noir et blanc : Kurzak éblouit, Alagna sombre

By Tristan Labouret

Un Bal masqué sans fard à Bastille

By Suzanne Lay-Canessa, 16 January 2018

Fallait-il condamner la simplicité de l’intrigue à tant de simplisme esthétique ? Retour sur Un bal masqué où l’expressivité, les nuances et l’ambiguïté seront à rechercher chez les interprètes.

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Paris

16 Jan 2018

Un Bal masqué sans fard à 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

10 Mar 2017

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

By Maeva Da Cruz

Macbeth im Theater an der Wien: Verirrt im Garten der Lüste

By Snapdragon, 15 November 2016

Verdis Macbeth als Beitrag zum Hieronymus Bosch-Gedenkjahr: Schauriges zu schöner Musik, Inszenierung mit vielen Fragezeichen.

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Vienna

15 Nov 2016

Verirrt im Garten der Lüste

By Snapdragon

Munich

La Juive an der Bayerischen Staatsoper: Fromental Halévy in Reinstform

By Norman Schwarze, 30 June 2016

Die Bayerische Staatsoper eröffnet mit einer etwas handzahmen Inszenierung vom Fromental Halévys La Juive die Opernfestspiele 2016.

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Munich

30 Jun 2016

Halévy in Reinstform

By Norman Schwarze

Capriccio im Theater an der Wien: Wider die Suche nach der verlorenen Zeit

By Snapdragon, 21 April 2016

Capriccio in einer klugen, herausfordernden Inszenierung und in hervorragender Besetzung - ein Ereignis.

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Vienna

21 Apr 2016

Wider die Suche nach der verlorenen Zeit

By Snapdragon