Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Claire Barnett-Jones

Who needs a stage, sets or costumes, when opera can move us like this? Agneta Eichenholz leads a terrific cast in a concert performance of Janáček's searing opera.

*****

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*****

London

12 Jan 2024

Dying of shame: Rattle and the LSO excel in a superb Jenůfa

By Roy Westbrook

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Edinburgh

White roses haunt Scottish Opera’s enthralling Daphne

By David Smythe, 10 December 2023

A strong cast led by Hye-Youn Lee, Shengzhi Ren and Brad Cooper head a magnificent semi-staged Daphne, conducted by Stuart Stratford.

****1

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****1

Edinburgh

11 Dec 2023

White roses haunt Scottish Opera’s enthralling Daphne

By David Smythe

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Birmingham

WNO’s abstract Magic Flute proves more contemporary than cohesive

By Robert Gainer, 03 May 2023

WNO delivers a well-performed production of Mozart’s Magic Flute with some fresh ideas, but other which dilute it.

***11

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***11

Birmingham

04 May 2023

WNO’s abstract Magic Flute proves more contemporary than cohesive

By Robert Gainer

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London

Rattle and the LSO chill the soul in Kátya Kabanová

By Mark Valencia, 11 January 2023

Amanda Majeski reprises her peerless Kátya, but Katarina Dalayman's flint-like characterisation as Kabanicha strikes the most sparks.

****1

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****1

London

13 Jan 2023

Rattle and the LSO chill the soul in Kátya Kabanová

By Mark Valencia

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London

The second Elizabethan age receives a noble tribute from the first in ENO's Gloriana

By Roy Westbrook, 08 December 2022

When done as well as this, a "concert staging" is not oxymoronic, but a precise term for a valuable mode of presentation.

****1

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****1

London

09 Dec 2022

Second Elizabethan age receives a noble tribute in ENO's Gloriana

By Roy Westbrook

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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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London

Richard Jones’ second London Ring falters at the first fence

By Mark Pullinger, 19 November 2021

Breastplates are back in vogue, but comedy horses and cheap production values undermine the first chapter in English National Opera's new Ring cycle.

**111

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**111

London

20 Nov 2021

Richard Jones’ second London Ring falters at the first fence

By Mark Pullinger

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London

Midsummer fire: Tippett sets the new LPO season alight

By Matthew Rye, 25 September 2021

An incandescent concert performance of Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage launches a new era for the London Philharmonic under principal conductor Edward Gardner.

****1

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****1

London

26 Sep 2021

Midsummer fire: Tippett sets the new LPO season alight

By Matthew Rye

Edinburgh

Edinburgh International Festival closes in style with a terrific Ariadne auf Naxos

By David Smythe, 25 August 2021

Memorable role debuts from Dorothea Röschmann, David Butt Philip and Catriona Morison make Ariadne auf Naxos with the RSNO and Lothar Koenigs a night to savour.

****1

****1

Edinburgh

26 Aug 2021

EIF closes in style with a terrific Ariadne auf Naxos

By David Smythe

Alresford

Precipice at The Grange Festival: a mirror of our times in mixed art forms

By David Karlin, 22 August 2020

Michael Chance takes the audience around The Grange in a thoughtful show combining opera excerpts, dance, acrobats, vocal and instrumental music.

****1

****1

Alresford

23 Aug 2020

Precipice at The Grange Festival: a mirror of our times

By David Karlin

Amsterdam

Sublime singing in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s Scenes from Goethe's Faust

By Jenny Camilleri, 06 December 2019

Soloists and choir, headed by a spellbinding Christian Gerhaher, brought real lustre to Schumann’s treatment of Goethe’s magnum opus.

****1

****1

Amsterdam

08 Dec 2019

Sublime singing in Scenes from Goethe's Faust

By Jenny Camilleri

London

Slim-line Rheingold opens at Grimeborn Festival

By Mark Valencia, 31 July 2019

Jonathan Dove's lean reduction of Wagner’s score for just 18 players is performed at the Grimeborn Festival in Julia Burbach's staging.

****1

****1

London

01 Aug 2019

Slim-line Rheingold opens at Grimeborn Festival

By Mark Valencia

Glyndebourne

Mané Galoyan steals the show in a Traviata for our age

By Nick Boston, 12 October 2018

An emotionally intense Violetta from Mané Galoyan in Tom Cairns' darkly challenging La traviata launches Glyndebourne Tour's 50th season

***11

***11

Glyndebourne

13 Oct 2018

Mané Galoyan steals the show in a Traviata for our age

By Nick Boston

London

Prom 75: Partygoers, pomp and Paddington Bear

By Rohan Shotton, 10 September 2016

The 2016 Proms come to a riotous close at the Royal Albert Hall.

***11

***11

London

13 Sep 2016

Partygoers, pomp and Paddington Bear

By Rohan Shotton

London

Flinty graves: a chilling L'incoronazione di Poppea from the Royal Academy of Music

By Dominic Lowe, 20 May 2016

In Shoreditch, the Royal Academy of Music showed off some superb singing in a chilling exploration of tyranny and unrestrained power.

****1

****1

London

21 May 2016

Flinty graves: a chilling Poppea

By Dominic Lowe

London

A rite of spring: Rimsky-Korsakov's May Night

By Matthew Rye, 08 March 2016

A welcome revival of a Russian rarity from the student forces of the Royal Academy of Music.

****1

****1

London

09 Mar 2016

A rite of spring: Rimsky-Korsakov's May Night

By Matthew Rye

London

A marriage of youth and experience: Mozart's Figaro in Hackney

By Matthew Rye, 30 October 2015

A polished production of The Marriage of Figaro from some of the potential opera stars of the future.

****1

****1

London

01 Nov 2015

A marriage of youth and experience

By Matthew Rye

London

Blue lips and beards: The Rake's Progress at the Royal Academy of Music

By Richard Milne, 16 March 2015

Does the devil get the best tunes? Nick Shadow steals the show in the Royal Academy's production of The Rake's Progress.

***11

***11

London

19 Mar 2015

Blue lips and beards: The Rake's Progress

By Richard Milne

London

Star of the future: Haobin Wang entertains as Gianni Schicchi at Royal Academy

By David Karlin, 17 November 2014

Royal Academy Opera's thoroughly competent Suor Angelica precedes a fabulously entertaining Gianni Schicchi, with a top drawer performance from Haobin Wang in the title role.

****1

****1

London

18 Nov 2014

Star of the future: Haobin Wang entertains as Gianni Schicchi

By David Karlin

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Amsterdam

The Shell Trial: Premiere einer umweltfreundlich produzierten Oper in Amsterdam

By Michael Klier, 16 March 2024

Ein modernes Opernsujet, welches zeitnah die politische Wirklichkeit einfängt. Doch leider scheitert die Inszenierung vor allem an praktischen Problemen der Ausführung.

***11

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***11

Amsterdam

18 Mar 2024

The Shell Trial: Premiere einer umweltfreundlich produzierten Oper

By Michael Klier

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Toulouse

Avec Rusalka, le Capitole plonge dans l'inédit pour son ouverture de saison

By Arnaud Saura-Ziegelmeyer, 11 October 2022

Dans une nouvelle production qui a également valeur d'entrée au répertoire, l'œuvre de Dvořák bénéficie d'une mise en scène soignée et engagée, et d'interprètes tout aussi remarquables.

*****

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*****

Toulouse

16 Oct 2022

Avec Rusalka, le Capitole plonge dans l'inédit

By Arnaud Saura-Ziegelmeyer