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Luca Salsi breathes life into Abbado's minimalist Simon Boccanegra at La Scala

By Laura Servidei, 11 February 2024

Generational shifts as La Scala presents a new production of Simon Boccanegra by Daniele Abbado (son of Claudio), conducted by Lorenzo Viotti (son of Marcello).

***11

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***11

Milan

11 Feb 2024

Luca Salsi breathes life into Abbado's minimalist Simon Boccanegra

By Laura Servidei

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New York City

The Met's Ballo falls flat in its latest revival

By Kevin W Ng, 31 October 2023

An attractive supporting cast isn't sufficient to bring this revival of David Alden's Ballo in maschera to life in New York.

**111

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**111

New York City

31 Oct 2023

The Met's Ballo falls flat in its latest revival

By Kevin W Ng

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Geneva

Golden Age Spain meets Soviet Russia in Geneva’s season opener

By Laura Servidei, 15 September 2023

A grand rendition of Verdi’s Don Carlos opens season at the Grand Théâtre de Genève under the inspired baton of Marc Minkowski, in his first encounter with the opera, directed by Lydia Steier.

***11

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***11

Geneva

15 Sep 2023

Golden Age Spain meets Soviet Russia in Geneva’s season opener

By Laura Servidei

Glyndebourne

A compelling, pared back Luisa Miller from Christof Loy at Glyndebourne

By Mark Pullinger, 01 August 2021

Christof Loy would seem to be the perfect director for Covid-era opera, his stripped back production of Verdi's rare middle period opera directed remotely from Austria.

****1

****1

Glyndebourne

01 Aug 2021

A compelling Luisa Miller from Christof Loy at Glyndebourne

By Mark Pullinger

London

Getting the band back together: Pappano leads The Royal Opera's return to action

By Mark Pullinger, 05 September 2020

After a few streamed events with chamber forces, the full orchestra and chorus returned to the House – albeit not in their usual positions – for an entertaining fundraising gala.

****1

****1

London

05 Sep 2020

Pappano leads The Royal Opera's return to action

By Mark Pullinger

London

Garifullina's Musetta the highlight of Covent Garden's Bohème

By David Karlin, 10 January 2020

This third revival of Richard Jones' production is thoroughly competent but struggles to rise above the routine.

***11

***11

London

10 Jan 2020

Garifullina's Musetta the highlight of Covent Garden's Bohème

By David Karlin

London

Ermonela Jaho makes a haunting return to Covent Garden’s Traviata

By Mark Pullinger, 14 January 2019

The Albanian soprano, who made a spectacular jump-in for her house debut in Richard Eyre's production in 2008, makes a splendid return.

****1

****1

London

14 Jan 2019

Ermonela Jaho makes a haunting return to Covent Garden’s Traviata

By Mark Pullinger

Berlin

Smoke without fire: Cherubini's Medée fails to ignite at the Staatsoper

By Hugo Shirley, 07 October 2018

Fine musical performances meet Andrea Breth's dreary new production in a dramatically unsatisfying evening at the Staatsoper.

***11

***11

Berlin

07 Oct 2018

Smoke without fire: Medée fails to ignite

By Hugo Shirley

Berlin

Carmen the butcher: a grotesque new production at Deutsche Oper Berlin

By Zenaida des Aubris, 20 January 2018

Stage director Ole Anders Tandberg casts Carmen as the leader of a gang of human organ dealers.

***11

***11

Berlin

20 Jan 2018

Carmen the butcher at Deutsche Oper Berlin

By Zenaida des Aubris

London

A devastating revival of Katie Mitchell's Lucia di Lammermoor

By Dominic Lowe, 30 October 2017

Issues that cropped up in the first run of Mitchell's production have been ironed out. In the hands of a strong cast, a chilling interpretation of Donizetti's masterpiece.

****1

****1

London

30 Oct 2017

Devastating Lucia revival at Covent Garden

By Dominic Lowe

New York City

Julie Taymor’s Magic Flute is still mesmerizing at The Met

By Edward Sava-Segal, 10 October 2017

The musical experience was dominated by the imagery making spectators feel, at least at times, overwhelmed.

****1

****1

New York City

10 Oct 2017

Flute still mesmerizing at The Met

By Edward Sava-Segal

Berlin

The Third Reich Show: Terry Gilliam's Damnation de Faust reaches the Staatsoper

By Hugo Shirley, 27 May 2017

There's no faulting the execution, but the former Python's take on Berlioz's dramatic legend is worryingly inconsistent in tone.

***11

***11

Berlin

27 May 2017

Gilliam's Damnation de Faust reaches the Staatsoper

By Hugo Shirley

Chicago

Minimalist Onegin on the Lyric Opera stage

By Dan Wang, 26 February 2017

The finale was the dramatic and musical high of the night, when both Ana María Martínez and Mariusz Kwiecień let themselves cut loose, laying waste to the bare stage.

***11

***11

Chicago

26 Feb 2017

Minimalist Onegin on the Lyric Opera stage

By Dan Wang

Budapest

Oldie but goodie: La bohème at the Hungarian State Opera

By Orsolya Gyárfás, 23 December 2016

A warhorse on its own, Kálmán Nádasdy's 79-year-old production works surprisingly well, providing a nice evening's entertainment with a dedicated cast.

***11

***11

Budapest

23 Dec 2016

Oldie but goodie: La bohème at the Hungarian State Opera

By Orsolya Gyárfás

London

Flawed and floored: Katie Mitchell delivers a powerful Lucia at Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger, 07 April 2016

“Prepare to be shocked!” was the warning issued before this new Lucia di Lammermoor from Katie Mitchell at the Royal Opera House. Shocking? Yes, but in a good way.

***11

***11

London

07 Apr 2016

Flawed and floored: a powerful Lucia at the ROH

By Mark Pullinger

Turin

A Faust between sulphur and damnation at Teatro Regio in Turin

By Edoardo Pelligra, 09 June 2015

Stefano Poda’s deeply intellectual mis-en-scene immersed the bourgeois love affair between Marguerite and Faust in an abstract and transcendental tangle of philosophical, existential and liturgical motifs. However, an overflowing symbolism sounded sometimes academic, but the visual effects were suggestive if not properly enchanting.

***11

***11

Turin

09 Jun 2015

A Faust between sulphur and damnation

By Edoardo Pelligra

Berlin

Highway to Hell: La Damnation de Faust with the Berliner Philharmoniker

By Christie Franke, 10 April 2015

Joyce DiDonato, Charles Castronovo and Ludovic Tézier rock the Berlin Philharmonie with Berlioz's "légende dramatique".

****1

****1

Berlin

10 Apr 2015

Highway to Hell: La Damnation de Faust in Berlin

By Christie Franke

Berlin

Glitter and be gay: Rolando Villazón's directorial debut in Puccini's La rondine at the Deutsche Oper

By Christie Franke, 08 March 2015

Rolando Villazon's new production of Puccini's La rondine for the Deutsche Oper Berlin charms with 1920s glamour.

***11

***11

Berlin

08 Mar 2015

Glitter and be gay: Villazón's directorial debut

By Christie Franke

Munich

An intoxicating L'elisir d'amore in Munich

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 29 December 2014

If you let yourself be transported to director David Bösch’s strange world, you'll find an Elisir d'amore that is heartbreaking and uplifting by turns.

****1

****1

Munich

29 Dec 2014

An intoxicating L'elisir d'amore in Munich

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

London

Breezy virtuosity from the Royal Opera with Angela Gheorghiu in La Rondine

By Paul Kilbey, 05 July 2013

In La rondine’s climactic scene, when Magda explains to her young lover Ruggero why she believes she must leave him, Puccini sets their exchange to one of the most hackneyed of all musical formulas: the cycle of fifths.

***11

***11

London

05 Jul 2013

Breezy virtuosity from the Royal Opera with Angela Gheorghiu in La Rondine

By Paul Kilbey

London

Die Zauberflöte at Covent Garden

By David Karlin, 16 April 2013

How, I wonder, is it best for an opera company to treat a revival of a well-aired, well-liked, decent but not particularly radical production of a top ten opera? This was what the Royal Opera had to contend with in this season’s revival of David McVicar’s 2003 setting of Die Zauberflöte: many in the audience will have known every note of the opera, and several will have been thoroughly familiar wi

****1

****1

London

16 Apr 2013

Die Zauberflöte at Covent Garden

By David Karlin

New York City

Erwin Schrott stars in the Metropolitan Opera's Don Giovanni

By David Allen, 28 November 2012

Don Giovanni is perhaps the most difficult of the Mozart–Da Ponte opera trilogy to stage. Not only is there the problem of how exactly the Don is to be consumed in flames at the end of its three-hour span, or the issue of how to make the statue of the Commendatore come to life.

***11

***11

New York City

28 Nov 2012

Erwin Schrott stars in the Metropolitan Opera's Don Giovanni

By David Allen

London

Miller's no-frills Mozart is back: Così fan tutte at the Royal Opera House

By Francesca Vella, 27 January 2012

The last opera of the Mozart/Da Ponte cycle – the second of the composer’s operas to be performed in this Mozart-dominated season at the Royal Opera House – Così fan tutte pivots on two pairs of young lovers whose affection is put to the test by an old ‘philosopher’, Don Alfonso. Women, the old man argues, are all the same: never constant in their love, never loyal to their men.

****1

****1

London

27 Jan 2012

Miller's no-frills Mozart is back: Così fan tutte at the Royal Opera House

By Francesca Vella

Chicago

Once upon a time at the Lyric Opera of Chicago

By Kristina Powers, 10 December 2011

“Once Upon a Time…” No doubt, this has become one of the most familiar lines of childhood. Indeed, what childhood would be complete without fairy tales and fantastical stories of knights, princesses, dragons, and talking animals? Even into adulthood, fantasy and fairy tales continue to capture the imagination of many.

****1

****1

Chicago

10 Dec 2011

Once upon a time at the Lyric Opera of Chicago

By Kristina Powers

Edinburgh

RSNO and Stéphane Denève: John Adams and Beethoven 9

By Rohan Shotton, 05 May 2011

The final concert of the RSNO’s 2010-11 Usher Hall season was a journey from John Adams’ reflection on the tragedy of 11th September 2001 to Beethoven’s joyful statement of brotherhood in his Symphony No. 9. John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to mark the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

*****

*****

Edinburgh

05 May 2011

RSNO and Stéphane Denève: John Adams and Beethoven 9

By Rohan Shotton

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Salzburg

Machtrausch und multiple Morde: Macbeth bei den Salzburger Festspielen

By Isabella Steppan, 26 August 2025

Vladislav Sulimsky und Asmik Grigorian beeindrucken einmal mehr als mörderisches Paar; der stärkste Aspekt der gedanklich überfrachteten Inszenierung ist ihre detailreiche Personenführung.

****1

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****1

Salzburg

26 Aug 2025

Machtrausch und multiple Morde: Macbeth bei den Salzburger Festspielen

By Isabella Steppan

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Baden-Baden

Starke Wirkung aus sich selbst heraus: konzertanter Freischütz in Baden-Baden

By Christoph Wurzel, 03 May 2025

In rein konzertanter Form wirkte die musikdramatische Kraft von Webers Freischütz unmittelbar und intensiv. Antonello Manacorda hatte die Partitur präzise ausgeleuchtet, die Kammerakademie Potsdam spielte klangschön und das Gesangsensemble füllte seine Rollen eindrucksvoll aus.

****1

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****1

Baden-Baden

03 May 2025

Starke Wirkung aus sich selbst heraus: Freischütz in Baden-Baden

By Christoph Wurzel

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Paris

Le retour apprécié du Freischütz au TCE en version concertante

By Stéphane Lelièvre, 30 April 2025

En dépit d'une direction et de textes de liaison inégaux, le concert remporte un beau succès grâce à une fort belle distribution.

***11

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***11

Paris

30 Apr 2025

Le retour apprécié du Freischütz au TCE en version concertante

By Stéphane Lelièvre

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Paris

Don Carlos, ou le retour gagnant de l’infant d’Espagne à Bastille

By Stéphane Lelièvre, 29 March 2025

Deuxième reprise de cette production signée Krzysztof Warlikowski, qui se distingue par une distribution d’une belle homogénéité et la direction raffinée de Simone Young.

***11

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***11

Paris

29 Mar 2025

Don Carlos, ou le retour gagnant de l’infant d’Espagne à Bastille

By Stéphane Lelièvre

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Zurich

Primat der Musik: Verdis Un ballo in maschera am Opernhaus Zürich

By Thomas Schacher, 08 December 2024

Gianandrea Noseda, ein leidenschaftlicher Verdi-Kenner, bringt die unterschiedlichen musikalischen Sphären des Stücks brillant zum Klingen. Die Regisseurin Adele Thomas findet für den schicksalhaften Gang der Handlung ein schlüssiges Symbol.

****1

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****1

Zurich

08 Dec 2024

Primat der Musik: Verdis Un ballo in maschera am Opernhaus Zürich

By Thomas Schacher

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Vienna

Zwischen Kitsch und Enttäuschung: Madama Butterfly an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Isabella Steppan, 29 June 2023

Wenig Emotion, ein paar Enttäuschungen, aber auch exzellente Leistungen bot Puccinis Madama Butterfly in Wien.

**111

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**111

Vienna

29 Jun 2023

Zwischen Kitsch und Enttäuschung: Madama Butterfly an der Staatsoper

By Isabella Steppan

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Vienna

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.

***11

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***11

Vienna

04 May 2023

Klangschönheit mit wenig Emotion: Manon an der Wiener Staatsoper

By Isabella Steppan

Munich

Familienporträt in Schwarz-Weiß: Verdis I masnadieri an der Bayerischen Staatsoper

By Norman Schwarze, 08 March 2020

Johannes Erath inszeniert Giuseppe Verdis selten gespielte Oper als psychologisierendes Familienporträt mit düsterer Stimmung.

***11

***11

Munich

08 Mar 2020

Familienporträt in Schwarz-Weiß: I masnadieri in München

By Norman Schwarze

Salzburg

Simon Boccanegra in Salzburg: Familienzusammenführung im Betonbau

By Isabella Steppan, 15 August 2019

In einer enttäuschenden Inszenierung sind es Sänger, Dirigent und Orchester, die Verdis Oper der szenischen Langeweile zum Trotz zu einem Genuss machen.

****1

****1

Salzburg

15 Aug 2019

Simon Boccanegra: Familienzusammenführung im Betonbau

By Isabella Steppan

Toulouse

Carmen au Capitole de Toulouse : Et Carmencita mourut deux fois

By Arnaud Saura-Ziegelmeyer, 06 April 2018

La toute nouvelle production de Carmen proposée au Théâtre du Capitole relève d’un subtil mélange d‘innovation et de tradition.

****1

****1

Toulouse

06 Apr 2018

Carmen à la Capitole de Toulouse

By Arnaud Saura-Ziegelmeyer

Munich

Eine psychologische Lucia in München

By David Renke, 13 July 2017

Bei den Münchner Opernfestspielen begeistert Diana Damrau in einer musikalisch hochklassigen Interpretation von Lucia di Lammermoor und einer Inszenierung, die eher unspäktakulär bleibt.

***11

***11

Munich

13 Jul 2017

Eine psychologische Lucia in München

By David Renke

Munich

Belcanto-Fest: Roberto Devereux mit strahlender Edita Gruberová in München

By David Renke, 16 April 2017

Edita Gruberová stand nicht nur in der Rolle der Elisabetta I. auf der Bühne, sondern auch als Königin des Belcanto-Faches, das sie in ihrer beeindruckenden Karriere über Jahrzehnte regiert hat.

*****

*****

Munich

16 Apr 2017

Münchner Roberto Devereux ein Belcanto-Fest

By David Renke

Montpellier

Révolte tambour battant – La Jacquerie à Montpellier

By Sébastien Herbecq, 24 July 2015

Le Festival de Radio France Montpellier Languedoc Roussillon présente une pépite méconnue des compositeurs Édouard Lalo et Arthur Coquard : La Jacquerie. Une prise de risque payante.

***11

***11

Montpellier

24 Jul 2015

Révolte tambour battant – La Jacquerie à Montpellier

By Sébastien Herbecq

Versailles

Cinq-Mars de Charles Gounod à Versailles : « Sauvons le roi ! Sauvons la noblesse et la France ! »

By Anne-Laure Faubert, 29 January 2015

Dirigé par Ulf Schirmer, le Chœur de la Radio Bavaroise, l’Orchestre de la Radio de Munich et les solistes ont donné une très belle soirée. Il est regrettable cependant que les longueurs du texte aient pu parfois distraire le spectateur.

****1

****1

Versailles

29 Jan 2015

Les cris de Versailles

By Anne-Laure Faubert

Munich

Lebemann im Goldgewand - Mozarts Don Giovanni an der Bayerischen Staatsoper

By David Renke, 10 January 2015

Was haben eine betrogene Backpackerin, ein nackter Alter, ein prolliger Frauenheld und ein düsterer Containerbahnhof mit Mozarts Oper Don Giovanni gemeinsam? Nicht viel. Stefan Kimmigs Inszenierung an der Bayerischen Staatsoper ist sehr modern und hinterlässt den Zuschauer ratlos – im Gegensatz zum hervorragenden Ensemble.

***11

***11

Munich

10 Jan 2015

Lebemann im Goldgewand

By David Renke

Paris

Les Capulet et les Montaigu de Bellini à l'Opéra Bastille

By Julie Jozwiak, 30 April 2014

L’Opéra de Paris propose un deuxième opéra de Bellini cette saison : I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Sous la baguette de Bruno Campanella et dans une mise en scène de Robert Carsen, Ekaterina Siurina (Giuletta) et Karine Deshayes (Romeo) incarnent le couple légendaire. Une production agréable sans être exceptionnelle.

**111

**111

Paris

30 Apr 2014

Les Capulet et les Montaigu de Bellini

By Julie Jozwiak