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

The martyrs and the oppressed: Peter Grimes at Teatro Real Madrid

By Juan José Freijo, 19 April 2021

The new production of Peter Grimes stands out as the strongest item in Teatro Real's season, with magnificent staging by Deborah Warner and superb musical direction by Ivor Bolton, with outstanding vocal and dramatic performances.

*****

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*****

Madrid

21 Apr 2021

The martyrs and the oppressed: Peter Grimes at Teatro Real Madrid

By Juan José Freijo

Teenage summer crush in Dutch National Opera's Così fan tutte

By Nicolas Nguyen, 08 October 2019

Dutch National Opera's superbly sang Così fan tutte is transposed into a teenager summer crush story.

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Amsterdam

10 Oct 2019

Teenage summer crush in Dutch National Opera's Così fan tutte

By Nicolas Nguyen

London

Billy Budd finally drops anchor again at The Royal Opera

By Mark Pullinger, 23 April 2019

After nearly two decades away from the Covent Garden stage, it was time Britten's Billy Budd came home, in a new production from Madrid by Deborah Warner.

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London

24 Apr 2019

Billy Budd finally drops anchor again at The Royal Opera

By Mark Pullinger

Echoes in the comfort zone: Saariaho's Only the Sound Remains at the Teatro Real

By Fernando Remiro, 26 October 2018

Kaija Saariaho's delightful but unchallenging fourth opera comes to Madrid with the same crew of the world première and Davone Tines, Philippe Jaroussky and Nora Kimball-Mentzos in the leading roles

***11

***11

Madrid

29 Oct 2018

Echoes in the comfort zone: Only the Sound Remains in Madrid

By Fernando Remiro

Reality and fantasy in a new production of Orlando Paladino in Munich

By Ako Imamura, 25 July 2018

Axel Ranisch's production makes heavy use of film to tell a comic story of a medieval knight in love.

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Munich

27 Jul 2018

Reality and fantasy in Orlando Paladino in Munich

By Ako Imamura

The vindication of a neglected masterpiece: a landmark Gloriana at the Teatro Real

By Fernando Remiro, 14 April 2018

Ivor Bolton and David McVicar have teamed up to create an unapologetically Brittenian Gloriana, with Anna Caterina Antonacci at the top of a great cast

*****

*****

Madrid

16 Apr 2018

A landmark Gloriana at the Teatro Real

By Fernando Remiro

The Rake’s Progress in the here and now at Dutch National Opera

By Nicolas Nguyen, 06 February 2018

Virtuoso modern stagecraft and a fine cast combine in a very enjoyable, present-day Rake’s Progress.

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Amsterdam

08 Feb 2018

The Rake’s Progress in the here and now at Dutch National Opera

By Nicolas Nguyen

Opera seria goes wild: Lucio Silla at the Teatro Real

By Fernando Remiro, 16 September 2017

The Teatro Real opened its 200th anniversary season with a revival of Claus Guth's brilliant production and a great cast, led by Kurt Streit and Silvia Tro Santafé.

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Madrid

19 Sep 2017

Opera seria goes wild: Lucio Silla at the Teatro Real

By Fernando Remiro

Deborah Warner's new Billy Budd sets a new standard in Madrid

By Fernando Remiro, 03 February 2017

Billy Budd triumphs in Madrid thanks to an inspired orchestra, a solid cast and a dream team of stage magicians.

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Madrid

06 Feb 2017

Warner's new Billy Budd sets a new standard in Madrid

By Fernando Remiro

Starkly powerful Jephtha at Dutch National Opera

By Jenny Camilleri, 09 November 2016

Concerto Köln, honed to perfection, and an accomplished cast star in Claus Guth's tense, dark staging of Handel's Jephtha.

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Amsterdam

10 Nov 2016

Starkly powerful Jephtha at Dutch National Opera

By Jenny Camilleri

Choice cast in bonbon-box Marriage of Figaro at Dutch National Opera

By Jenny Camilleri, 06 September 2016

The singing is the main attraction in Dutch National Opera’s Le nozze di Figaro, but this new production is also entertaining and looks good enough to eat.

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Amsterdam

08 Sep 2016

Bonbon-box Marriage of Figaro at DNO

By Jenny Camilleri

Nobody expects Wagnerian comedy: Das Liebesverbot at Teatro Real

By Fernando Remiro, 22 February 2016

Kasper Holten's new production fails to convince about the alleged virtues of Wagner's outcast comic opera.

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**111

Madrid

24 Feb 2016

Nobody expects Wagnerian comedy: Das Liebesverbot

By Fernando Remiro

London

The One with Figaro’s Wedding: a deftly directed revival at Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger, 15 September 2015

Leah Hausman's revival of David McVicar's production allows the comedy to stem from the situations set up by Mozart and da Ponte... aided by Erwin Schrott's witty Figaro.

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London

16 Sep 2015

The One with Figaro’s Wedding

By Mark Pullinger

Glyndebourne

Alchemy from Barrie Kosky in Handel's Saul at Glyndebourne

By David Karlin, 26 July 2015

With the help of a star-studded cast, Barrie Kosky's imaginative staging delivers a production of Handel's Saul which has just about everything going for it: choreography, voices, acting. A must-see.

*****

*****

Glyndebourne

27 Jul 2015

Alchemy from Barrie Kosky in Handel's Saul

By David Karlin

Frankfurt am Main

Amorously enormously entangled: L'Orontea in Frankfurt

By Christoph Wurzel, 14 February 2015

L'Orontea was premièred as turbulent Carneval entertainment in 1656. Now it is experiencing a fast-paced new staging as modern opera gag at Frankfurt Opera.

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Frankfurt am Main

24 Feb 2015

Amorously enormously entangled

By Christoph Wurzel

Figaro in Munich: great singing and acting on a blank backdrop

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 08 December 2014

In this minimalist period production of Figaro, the singing and acting are the centre of attention. A very talented cast carries the show, delivering beautiful singing and engaging comedy.

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Munich

09 Dec 2014

Figaro in Munich: great singing

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

Berlin

In Berlin Claus Guth's Screw turns differently

By Max Woods, 15 November 2014

Claus Guth gives the Staatsoper Berlin a Turn of the Screw unlike any other.

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Berlin

17 Nov 2014

In Berlin Claus Guth's Screw turns differently

By Max Woods

A colorful, fantastical Entführung at the Bayerische Staatsoper

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 21 September 2014

The cast performs on flying, technicolor sofas in this colorful rendition of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. In an unusual revision of the text, we are guided through the opera by a narrator and backdrop artist.

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Munich

22 Sep 2014

A colourful, fantastical Entführung

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

Le nozze di Figaro kick-starts a new season at the Teatro Real

By Laura Furones, 15 September 2014

A classical setting and a varying degree of vocal and dramatic success for Mozart's miraculous score to Le nozze di Figaro.

***11

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Madrid

17 Sep 2014

Figaro kick-starts new season at Teatro Real

By Laura Furones

Sheer heaven - L'Orfeo in Munich's Prince Regent Theatre

By Benedikt Zacher, 23 July 2014

Pale ghostly faces, flowers in heaven and a spell binding Christian Gerhaher: Munich celebrates Monteverdi's Orfeo.

*****

*****

Munich

24 Jul 2014

L'Orfeo in Munich's Prince Regent Theatre

By Benedikt Zacher

An evening of wonder, or The Marriage of Figaro

By Larissa Schütz, 17 July 2014

What man wants most is that which he cannot have. With a great deal of humour and attention to detail, Dieter Dorn leads Figaro and the household of his baronial palace through its “day of madness” to give us an evening of wonder.

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Munich

18 Jul 2014

An evening of wonder, or The marriage of Figaro

By Larissa Schütz

Salzburg

A walk through the soul of the 19th century

By Larissa Schütz, 10 April 2014

Alisa Weilerstein and the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, under the baton of Ivor Bolton, give us a glimpse of the variety of ideas of Schumann and Mendelssohn

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Salzburg

14 Apr 2014

A walk through the soul of the 19th century

By Larissa Schütz

Warlikowski's descent to the roots of tragedy: Alceste in Madrid

By Fernando Remiro, 02 March 2014

With this new production of Gluck's Alceste in Madrid, Krzysztof Warlikowski uses a well known popular icon to drag the audience into a two-way process of dramatic exploration.

***11

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Madrid

06 Mar 2014

Warlikowski's descent to the roots of tragedy: Alceste in Madrid

By Fernando Remiro

Barrie Kosky's visually stunning take on Gluck's Armide at De Nederlandse Opera

By Nicolas Nguyen, 10 October 2013

After Cavalli’s Ercole Amante in 2009 and Handel’s Deidamia in 2011, De Nederlandse Opera is continuing its exploration of obscure Baroque operas with Gluck’s Armide, until 27 October.I always wondered why Armide was Gluck’s own favourite work.

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Amsterdam

14 Oct 2013

Barrie Kosky's visually stunning take on Gluck's Armide at De Nederlandse Opera

By Nicolas Nguyen

Murder, ghosts and colossal choirs: Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder at the Wiener Festwochen

By Chanda VanderHart, 22 June 2013

Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder are not performed often, and one reason involves simple logistics. Not only is a professional orchestra of gigantic proportions required, but also five soloists with Wagnerian voices, a narrator, an eight-part mixed chorus, three four-part male choirs, and a conductor crazy enough to try to keep some 400 musicians from going off the rails.

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Vienna

25 Jun 2013

Murder, ghosts and colossal choirs: Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder at the Wiener Festwochen

By Chanda VanderHart

"Wiener Klassiker" world class: Leonidas Kavakos and the Vienna Symphony enthrall

By Chanda VanderHart, 04 June 2013

Entering a standing-room-only hall on Tuesday evening in the Grosser Saal of the Musikverein, Leonidas Kavakos calmly made his way to center stage, hugged the concert master, smiled at the orchestra and then cued the beginning of Mozart’s Violin Concerto no. 3 in G major, which he both played and conducted.

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Vienna

24 Jun 2013

"Wiener Klassiker" world class: Leonidas Kavakos and the Vienna Symphony enthrall

By Chanda VanderHart

Luisi brings logic and inevitable joy to one of his last Vienna Symphony concerts

By Caitlin Smith, 13 March 2013

The great jazz composer Bob Brookmeyer used to instruct his students that they should never write a solo section in their composition until it was absolutely inevitable that a solo should take place.

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Vienna

15 Mar 2013

Luisi brings logic and inevitable joy to one of his last Vienna Symphony concerts

By Caitlin Smith

Gluck's Alceste at the Vienna Staatsoper: Chronicle of a death foretold

By Snapdragon, 15 November 2012

Alceste is the short and sombre story of a wife who gives her life to save that of her husband, King Admète of Thessaly, a deed which ultimately convinces the gods to reprieve both of them. Gluck, hoping to avoid the over-decorated vocal style then in vogue, set this plot to unadorned vocal lines to give depth to the underlying emotions.

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Vienna

19 Nov 2012

Gluck's Alceste at the Vienna Staatsoper: Chronicle of a death foretold

By Snapdragon

Eliahu Inbal rescues Wiener Symphoniker's Mozart and Bruckner

By Zwölftöner, 09 May 2012

The Wiener Symphoniker has suffered recently from more late conductor cancellations than most orchestras, and things reached a peak last season when their chief conductor Fabio Luisi pulled out of a string of engagements in order to substitute for James Levine at the Met.

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Vienna

13 May 2012

Eliahu Inbal rescues Wiener Symphoniker's Mozart and Bruckner

By Zwölftöner

Music is the food of thought in L'Orfeo at the Theater an der Wien

By Zwölftöner, 20 December 2011

The last production I saw of L’Orfeo explored the idea of music as a manipulative force, suggesting disturbing consequences to the docility it can engender. Director Claus Guth is less concerned with Orfeo the musician, and makes minimal acknowledgement of the work’s pastoral and mythic elements.

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Vienna

29 Dec 2011

Music is the food of thought in L'Orfeo at the Theater an der Wien

By Zwölftöner

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Solo la Orquesta del Teatro Real salva un tedioso Orlando

By Juan José Freijo, 31 October 2023

Ni el excelente trabajo de la orquesta logra rescatar el peso de unos cantantes a medio gas y de una escena con fondo escaso y forma agotada.

**111

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**111

Madrid

01 Nov 2023

El esperado Orlando del Teatro Real queda en una propuesta mediocre

By Juan José Freijo

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Médée: tragedia y espectáculo en el Teatro Real

By Leonardo Mattana Ereño, 23 September 2023

Un segundo reparto vocal digno, aunque no siempre cómodo, ofreció Médée en el Teatro Real en una producción arrriesgada en lo escénico con una orquesta y dirección muy esmerados y de muy buen sonido y empaste.

***11

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***11

Madrid

24 Sep 2023

Médée: tragedia y espectáculo en el Teatro Real

By Leonardo Mattana Ereño

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El indulto de Medea: comienza la temporada del Teatro Real

By David Santana Cañas, 19 September 2023

El Teatro Real estrena la producción de Médée de Paco Azorín con el francés y los recitativos de Alan Curtis como novedad.

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Madrid

22 Sep 2023

Estreno de temporada con Medea en el Teatro Real

By David Santana Cañas

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Achille in Sciro retorna victorioso a Madrid tras 280 años

By David Santana Cañas, 17 February 2023

El Teatro Real revive el Achille in Sciro con una excelente producción a cargo de la directora de escena Mariame Clément y el director musical Ivor Bolton.

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Madrid

20 Feb 2023

Achille in Sciro retorna victorioso a Madrid tras 280 años

By David Santana Cañas

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Pulsiones, deseos y enredos: Le nozze di Figaro en el Teatro Real

By Juan José Freijo, 28 April 2022

La legendaria y perspicaz producción de Claus Guth para Salzburgo visita Madrid lastrada por un reparto insuficiente.

***11

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***11

Madrid

30 Apr 2022

Pulsiones, deseos y enredos: Le nozze di Figaro en el Teatro Real

By Juan José Freijo

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Las segundas Bodas de Figaro: una producción consolidada para un reparto joven

By Leonardo Mattana Ereño, 24 April 2022

La escena de Claus Guth acompaña la psicología de los personajes y da salida a las tensiones, bien sustentadas, a su vez, por una dirección musical vivaz de sonoridad articulada a cargo de Ivor Bolton.

***11

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Madrid

25 Apr 2022

Bodas de Figaro: una producción consolidada para un reparto joven

By Leonardo Mattana Ereño

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El Handel más gamberro llega al Teatro Real

By David Santana Cañas, 13 November 2021

Christopher Alden trae al Teatro Real de Madrid una Parténope al estilo art decó dinámica de la que supo exprimir toda su comicidad.

***11

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Madrid

16 Nov 2021

El Handel más gamberro llega al Teatro Real

By David Santana Cañas

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El bosque oscuro de Don Giovanni: Eros y thanatos en el Teatro Real

By Leonardo Mattana Ereño, 20 December 2020

Ivor Bolton en la batuta y Claus Guth en la escena mostraron el universo lacerante de un Don Giovanni agotado.

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Madrid

23 Dec 2020

El bosque oscuro de Don Giovanni: Eros y thanatos en el Teatro Real

By Leonardo Mattana Ereño

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Perdidos en la espesura: Don Giovanni en el Teatro Real

By Juan José Freijo, 18 December 2020

Claus Guth nos traslada a un entorno sombrío y lúgubre para narrar las horas finales de un Don Giovanni herido de muerte.

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Madrid

21 Dec 2020

Perdidos en la espesura: Don Giovanni en el Teatro Real

By Juan José Freijo

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Rusalka y el teatro como metáfora de un mundo de sombras

By Leonardo Mattana Ereño, 15 November 2020

El Teatro Real estrena una nueva producción de Rusalka, ópera de Dvořák que enfrenta el mundo mágico y el mundo real, dirigida por Ivor Bolton y Christof Loy.

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Madrid

16 Nov 2020

Rusalka y el teatro como metáfora de un mundo de sombras

By Leonardo Mattana Ereño

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Ni luna llena, ni nueva: Rusalka en el Real

By Ramón del Buey Cañas, 14 November 2020

Una nueva producción de la mano Christof Loy lleva a Rusalka al Teatro Real con un magnífico elenco encabezado por la soprano Asmik Grigorian.

***11

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***11

Madrid

18 Nov 2020

Ni luna llena, ni nueva: Rusalka en el Real

By Ramón del Buey Cañas

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Recuperar la inocencia: La flauta mágica en el Real

By David Santana Cañas, 25 January 2020

La producción de La flauta mágica de Kosky y Andrade regresa tras 4 años al Real con renovado éxito.

*****

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*****

Madrid

27 Jan 2020

Recuperar la inocencia: La flauta mágica en el Real

By David Santana Cañas

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La flauta mágica en el Real: angelus kitsch

By Ramón del Buey Cañas, 21 January 2020

La producción de la Komische Oper de Berlín de La flauta mágica se presenta de nuevo en el Teatro Real. Un montaje de inspiración cinematográfica que no acaba de reflejar los ideales del Singspiel de Mozart.

***11

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***11

Madrid

25 Jan 2020

La flauta mágica en el Real: angelus kitsch

By Ramón del Buey Cañas

Essen

La dolce vita: Dresdner Festspielorchester mit Mendelssohn und Schumann in Essen

By Jens Klier, 23 November 2019

Auf dieser historischen Reise erfreut Martin Helmchen mit lyrischem und triumphalem Wasserballett, das Dresdner Festspielorchester unter Ivor Bolton mit genüsslichem dolce vita.

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Essen

25 Nov 2019

La dolce vita: Dresdner Festspielorchester in Essen

By Jens Klier

Essen

Großmacht des Barock: Start der Essener Bolton-Residenz mit Concerto Köln

By Jens Klier, 01 November 2019

Ivor Bolton bescherte dem Publikum in seiner Lesart der musikalischen Zwitterwesen Cäcilienode und Alexanderfest mit den Ensembles und Solisten einen Einstand nach Maß.

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Essen

02 Nov 2019

Großmacht des Barock: Start der Essener Ivor Bolton-Residenz

By Jens Klier

Vom Punk zum Kaiser: Barrie Koskys Agrippina bei den Münchner Opernfestspielen

By Christoph Wurzel, 23 July 2019

Beklemmend, aber auch komisch zeigt Kosky, wie wirkungsvoll Betrug doch ist; Ähnlichkeiten mit lebenden Personen sind dabei nicht beabsichtigt, aber unvermeidlich.

*****

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Munich

26 Jul 2019

Vom Punk zum Kaiser: Barrie Koskys Agrippina in München

By Christoph Wurzel

Resignificando lo grotesco: La Calisto en el Teatro Real

By David Santana Cañas, 17 March 2019

Depravación, lujuria y extravagancia se imponen en el Teatro Real de la mano de David Alden para mostrarnos la hermosa música de Cavalli.

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Madrid

18 Mar 2019

Resignificando lo grotesco: La Calisto en el Teatro Real

By David Santana Cañas

Idomeneo, por Bolton y Carsen: humano, demasiado humano

By Ramón del Buey Cañas, 21 February 2019

Bolton, la Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, el Coro Intermezzo y el reparto solista evidencian durante muchos de los coros y arias el esplendor que la innovación del lenguaje melódico y armónico alcanza en esta pieza, probablemente la ópera de Mozart más injustamente relegada a una posición secundaria dentro de su propio canon.

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Madrid

24 Feb 2019

Idomeneo, por Bolton y Carsen: humano, demasiado humano

By Ramón del Buey Cañas