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Marcos Morau’s Romeo + Juliet in Antwerp: lessons in volatility

By Deborah Weiss, 03 April 2025

An unconventional dance take on Prokofiev's ubiquitous ballet for Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp is not for the faint-hearted.

***11

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***11

Antwerp

04 Apr 2025

Marcos Morau’s Romeo + Juliet: lessons in volatility

By Deborah Weiss

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Antwerp

Grotesque and gripping: Opera Ballet Vlaanderen unveils a new Salome in Antwerp

By Mark Pullinger, 29 December 2024

Not a great day for the patriarchy: Ersan Mondtag's gripping new Salome emphasises grotesque caricatures and ends with a bloody, plot-twisting coup d’état.

****1

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****1

Antwerp

29 Dec 2024

Grotesque and gripping: Opera Ballet Vlaanderen unveils a new Salome

By Mark Pullinger

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Ghent

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen: how to win over an audience

By Deborah Weiss, 13 December 2024

Two very diverse works that complement each other and show off the depth of talent within Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.

****1

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****1

Ghent

15 Dec 2024

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen: how to win over an audience

By Deborah Weiss

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Ghent

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen: PUUR is a challenging but relevant work

By Graham Watts, 23 March 2024

A challenging work about birth, death and rebirth, superbly danced and thought provoking.

***11

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***11

Ghent

25 Mar 2024

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen: PUUR is a challenging but relevant work

By Graham Watts

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Ghent

Two classic stories, refreshed with humour in an engrossing double bill

By Vikki Jane Vile, 16 December 2023

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen are offering up the ultimate antidote to frothy Christmas traditions with an original double bill featuring two premieres.

****1

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****1

Ghent

18 Dec 2023

Two classic stories, refreshed with humour in an engrossing bill

By Vikki Jane Vile

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Ghent

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen: a double bill that challenges the senses

By Deborah Weiss, 24 October 2023

This is a contrasting double bill – but don’t go expecting to leave the theatre humming the tunes.

***11

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***11

Ghent

26 Oct 2023

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen: a double bill that challenges the senses

By Deborah Weiss

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Antwerp

Power to the people! Milo Rau's revolutionary Clemenza di Tito opens in Antwerp

By Eleanor Knight, 10 September 2023

Revolution is not for the fainthearted in Milo Rau’s decolonized production of Mozart's opera seria for Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.

****1

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****1

Antwerp

12 Sep 2023

Power to the people! A revolutionary Clemenza di Tito

By Eleanor Knight

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Antwerp

Royal Ballet Flanders: it's either bemusing or brilliant!

By Jonathan Gray, 03 June 2023

Three linked works of contemporary ballet provoke a very mixed response.

***11

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***11

Antwerp

05 Jun 2023

Royal Ballet Flanders: it's either bemusing or brilliant!

By Jonathan Gray

Ghent

Beginners’ pluck: cast of first-timers in a first-rate Werther at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen

By Kevin Wells, 07 May 2021

Enea Scala and Rihab Chaieb impress in a concert performance of Massenet's Werther in Ghent.

*****

*****

Ghent

10 May 2021

Beginners' pluck: cast of first-timers in a first-rate Werther

By Kevin Wells

Antwerp

Dido and Aeneas reworked as performance art at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen

By Cameron Kelsall, 24 April 2021

Though ambitious and occasionally arresting, this revised and expanded take on the Purcell classic suffers from subtraction by addition.

**111

**111

Antwerp

27 Apr 2021

Dido and Aeneas reworked as performance art

By Cameron Kelsall

Antwerp

Debussy rebuild fails the House of Usher

By Kurt Gottschalk, 27 February 2021

The question isn’t if Van Parys and Schoeters did right by Poe so much as if they did right by Debussy. Poe will prevail. Debussy’s opera remains unfinished.

*1111

*1111

Antwerp

01 Mar 2021

Debussy rebuild fails the House of Usher

By Kurt Gottschalk

Antwerp

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen's Memento Mori: a paradigm shift in filming dance

By Graham Watts, 06 February 2021

Dance of a truly gripping and magical quality as Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s compellingly beautiful work is translated for the screen.

*****

*****

Antwerp

07 Feb 2021

Memento Mori: a paradigm shift in filming dance

By Graham Watts

Ghent

RASA, Daniel Proietto’s deconstruction of La Bayadère, premieres at Ballet Vlaanderen

By Graham Watts, 07 February 2020

An operatic deconstruction of La Bayadère in Ghent that has ingenuity and flair but is also over-stretched.

***11

***11

Ghent

10 Feb 2020

Daniel Proietto's RASA premieres at Ballet Vlaanderen

By Graham Watts

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Antwerp

Mob mentality: a powerful La Juive at Opera Vlaanderen

By Mark Pullinger, 10 March 2019

Peter Konwitschny's production strips away much of the religious symbolism, presenting the difference between Jews and Christians as little more than the dyed colour of their hands.

****1

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****1

Antwerp

11 Mar 2019

Mob mentality: a powerful La Juive at Opera Vlaanderen

By Mark Pullinger

Madrid

Cherkaoui and Pite in Royal Ballet of Flanders’ attractive triple bill in Madrid

By Cristina de Lucas, 19 May 2018

The Royal Ballet of Flanders presents in Madrid's Teatros del Canal an attractive triple bill with works by its Artistic Director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Firebird and Faun) and the Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite (Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue)

***11

***11

Madrid

21 May 2018

Cherkaoui and Pite

By Cristina de Lucas

Antwerp

Miracle in a wasteland: Das Wunder der Heliane returns to Flanders

By John Johnston, 01 October 2017

At its local Antwerp première, David Bösch’s new production of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane makes it the only house ever to have mounted twice.

*****

*****

Antwerp

02 Oct 2017

Miracle in a wasteland: Das Wunder der Heliane

By John Johnston

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Ghent

Rewriting Rimsky: Daniel Kramer directs a dismal Sadko in Ghent

By Mark Pullinger, 20 June 2017

Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera is rarely performed outside Russia. Sadly, I doubt that Daniel Kramer’s staging for Opera Vlaanderen will win it many new friends.

**111

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**111

Ghent

21 Jun 2017

Rewriting Rimsky: a dismal Sadko in Ghent

By Mark Pullinger

Antwerp

Agrippina meets Dynasty: Joan Collins' spirit hovers over Antwerp

By Laura Servidei, 25 March 2017

Opera Vlaanderen revives a production of Handel's Agrippina based on American soap operas of the 1980s.

****1

****1

Antwerp

27 Mar 2017

Agrippina meets Dynasty in Antwerp

By Laura Servidei

Antwerp

Confusing darkness: Inside the mind of the Moor with Thalheimer's Otello in Antwerp

By David Pinedo, 14 February 2016

The unclear ideas and the excessive blackness in Thalheimer’s concept failed to convince, but Stoyanov and Joel’s presentation of Verdi’s score made up for those problems.

**111

**111

Antwerp

16 Feb 2016

Inside the mind of the Moor with Thalheimer's Otello in Antwerp

By David Pinedo

Antwerp

Understated elegance: Robert Carsen's sublime La bohème in Antwerp

By David Pinedo, 27 December 2015

Robert Carsen's understated elegance on stage counterbalances Puccini’s highly charged melodrama.

****1

****1

Antwerp

29 Dec 2015

Understated elegance: Robert Carsen's sublime Bohème

By David Pinedo

Ghent

Madness and civilisation: Andreas Schager triumphs in Bieito's Tannhäuser

By David Pinedo, 27 September 2015

The lack of shock value in Calixto Bieito’s interpretation of Wagner's Tannhäuser premiering at the Vlaamse Opera in Ghent could almost be seen as a disappointment. All the more surprising then was the romantic intimacy created in this superlatively sung production.

****1

****1

Ghent

04 Nov 2015

Andreas Schager triumphs in Bieito's Tannhäuser

By David Pinedo

London

Dance Dialogues with Thomas Adès

By Cristina de Lucas, 31 October 2014

Wayne McGregor, Karole Armitage, Alexander Whitley and Crystal Pite offer four stimulating choreographic readings of Thomas Adès’s music, in 'Thomas Adès : See the Music, Hear the Dance' at Sadler’s Wells

****1

****1

London

02 Nov 2014

Dance Dialogues with Thomas Adès

By Cristina de Lucas

London

Artifact at Sadler's Wells

By Kit Brown, 19 April 2012

Even at the ripe old age of 28 Artifact looks as original as ever. William Forsythe’s reverent alteration of the ballet technique shows great understanding of both its history and its potential; whilst his sense for theatre gives the work a poignant and characterful edge beyond mere movement.

*****

*****

London

22 Apr 2012

Artifact at Sadler's Wells

By Kit Brown

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Paris

L'Opera Ballet Vlaanderen à La Villette, et la musique prend corps

By Julie Jozwiak, 24 April 2025

Cinq pièces de trois chorégraphes majeurs de notre temps (Trisha Brown, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Jan Martens) étaient rassemblées dans le passionnant programme du ballet belge.

****1

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****1

Paris

28 Apr 2025

L'Opera Ballet Vlaanderen à La Villette, et la musique prend corps

By Julie Jozwiak

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Antwerp

Vingt-cinq ans après, la Jenůfa de Robert Carsen est de retour à Anvers

By Stéphane Lelièvre, 08 June 2024

Un quart de siècle après sa création à l’Opéra de Flandre, la mise en scène du chef-d'œuvre de Janáček par l'artiste canadien n'a rien perdu de sa poésie.

****1

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****1

Antwerp

10 Jun 2024

Vingt-cinq ans après, la Jenůfa de Carsen est de retour à Anvers

By Stéphane Lelièvre

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Paris

Le Futur proche ou l’ennui immédiat de Jan Martens à La Villette

By Laurine Mortha, 26 April 2023

Avec Futur proche, le chorégraphe belge Jan Martens propose une œuvre conceptuelle dont le postulat écologique semble un prétexte bien lointain, voire indéchiffrable.

**111

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**111

Paris

29 Apr 2023

Le Futur proche ou l’ennui immédiat de Jan Martens à La Villette

By Laurine Mortha

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Ghent

La beauté convulsive du Tristan et Isolde de Philippe Grandrieux à Gand

By Romain Daroles, 22 March 2023

Belle réussite au niveau scénique de la nouvelle production cinéaste de Philippe Grandieux à Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.

****1

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****1

Ghent

24 Mar 2023

La beauté convulsive du Tristan de Philippe Grandrieux à Gand

By Romain Daroles

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Antwerp

Der Silbersee à Anvers : du jamais vu !

By Patrice Lieberman, 03 October 2021

À l'Opéra de Flandre, l'ouvrage rare de Kurt Weill bénéficie de la mise en scène extraordinairement inventive d'Ersan Mondtag et d'une excellente distribution.

****1

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****1

Antwerp

06 Oct 2021

Der Silbersee à Anvers : du jamais vu !

By Patrice Lieberman

Paris

Trois Ballets célèbrent le centenaire Cunningham à Chaillot

By Laurine Mortha, 22 October 2019

Le Festival d’Automne célèbre le centenaire de la naissance du chorégraphe américain Merce Cunningham. À Chaillot, le programme « Trois Ballets » réunit l’Opéra de Paris, le Royal Ballet et le Ballet Royal de Flandre.

***11

***11

Paris

25 Oct 2019

Trois Ballets célèbrent le centenaire Cunningham à Chaillot

By Laurine Mortha

Antwerp

Soif de pouvoir et folie meurtrière : Macbeth à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman, 27 June 2019

La mise en scène de Michael Thalheimer va à l’essentiel dans Macbeth, dernière production du mandat d'Aviel Cahn à la tête de l’Opéra de Flandre.

****1

****1

Antwerp

01 Jul 2019

Soif de pouvoir et folie meurtrière : Macbeth à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman

Antwerp

Quand l’amour de l’art rend fou : Cardillac à l'Opéra de Flandre

By Patrice Lieberman, 03 February 2019

Nouvelle production à l'Opéra de Flandre : le trop rare Cardillac de Hindemith, dans l'excellente mise en scène de Guy Joosten. Menée par le superbe Simon Neal, la distribution homogène contribue à la réussite de l'ouvrage.

****1

****1

Antwerp

08 Feb 2019

Quand l’amour de l’art rend fou : Cardillac à l'Opéra de Flandre

By Patrice Lieberman

Antwerp

À la recherche du temps perdu : Les Pêcheurs de perles à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman, 16 December 2018

Pour sa première mise en scène à l'Opéra de Flandre, le FC Bergman joue sur la nostalgie de Pêcheurs de perles placés en maison de retraite. Une approche audacieuse qui ne manque pas d'émouvoir.

****1

****1

Antwerp

18 Dec 2018

À la recherche du temps perdu : Les Pêcheurs de perles à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman

Antwerp

Un Lohengrin de belle tenue à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman, 10 October 2018

L'Opéra de Flandre propose une nouvelle production du Lohengrin de Richard Wagner. Mise en scène sombre, très réussie, de David Alden.

****1

****1

Antwerp

12 Oct 2018

Un Lohengrin de belle tenue à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman

Antwerp

Un opéra-ballet ? Pelléas et Mélisande à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman, 02 February 2018

On ne pourra pas dire que l’équipe des metteurs en scène/chorégraphes Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui et Damien Jalet, associée à Marina Abramovic qui signait et le décor et le concept, aient fait dans le conventionnel, offrant une approche à la fois futuriste et rétro de Pelléas et Mélisande.

***11

***11

Antwerp

04 Feb 2018

Un opéra-ballet ? Pelléas et Mélisande à Anvers

By Patrice Lieberman

Antwerp

Kein großes Opernkino bei Christoph Waltz' Falstaff in Flandern

By Jens Klier, 29 December 2017

Christoph Waltz setzt auf blanken Ernst statt Komik – doch ein gutes Solistenensemble, ein solides Orchester und ein Schachzug verhindern eine Falstaff-Enttäuschung.

***11

***11

Antwerp

30 Dec 2017

Kein großes Opernkino bei Falstaff in Flandern

By Jens Klier