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Bachtrack Newsletter | 1 December 2023
Welcome to our weekly newsletter, where we celebrate the life of soprano Maria Callas, born 100 years ago. We also look ahead to more anniversaries: Bruckner's 200th and Deutsche Grammophon's 125th. Streaming-wise, don't miss the La Scala prima, a new production of Verdi's Don Carlo.
We hope you enjoy our recommendations.
Mark Pullinger, Elisabeth Schwarz, Jo Johnson, David and Alison Karlin
SPONSORED
Bruckner in Amsterdam
2024 marks the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner. To celebrate, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra plays all nine (numbered) symphonies with nine renowned conductors. Iván Fischer kicks off with the Third in December.
SPONSORED
DG's 125th anniversary
It's the Yellow Label's 125th anniversary! Deutsche Grammophon, founded in 1898, celebrates with a special gala concert from Berlin showcasing a galaxy of the label's stars, plus other new streams featuring Víkingur Ólafsson and Seong-Jin Cho.
Maria Callas
Playlist
Maria Callas was the most iconic soprano of the 20th century. We mark her centenary by looking at ten of her most important roles.
Tosca, Act 2
Callas is Tosca in this 1964 broadcast from Covent Garden, playing opposite Tito Gobbi's Scarpia in Franco Zeffirelli's (then) new production
Must-see events this week
For those of you based in the UK and Ireland, we’ve hand-picked six live events happening near you in the next week: concerts, operas and ballet which we recommend you get to if you can.
SPONSORED
Kirill Gerstein & London Symphony Orchestra
Barbican Hall, London
3 Dec
In Ravel’s dark, swaggering magic trick of a Piano Concerto, one hand playing comes to sound like two. Susanna Mälkki adds Debussy and Scriabin
More information
The Turn of the Screw
Ustinov Studio, Bath
1-23 Dec
Britten's dramatic chamber opera is reimagined by director Isabelle Kettle, performed with two pianos, flute and celesta
More information
Pierrot Lunaire
Purcell Room, London
2 Dec
Violinst Patricia Kopatchinskaja swaps her instrument for speech-singing in Schoenberg's song cycle that defies classification
More information
A voyage of one thousand and one nights
Sheffield Cathedral
2 Dec
The Brigantes Orchestra and conductor Quentin Clare set sail for the East with Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin
More information
Northern Ballet: The Nutcracker
Leeds Grand Theatre
Until 10 Dec
Dazzling dancing snowflakes, the famous Sugar Plum Fairy and the notorious Mouse King in the ultimate festive entertainment
More information
From Mirga With Love
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
6 Dec
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla takes the audience on a very personal tour of Eastern Europe, from Georgia to the Baltic, joined by CBSO musicians and her sister
More information
Concert streams
Frankfurt am Main
Plenty of rare rep from Marie Jacquot, including Honegger and Korngold cello concertos
Hamburg
Julian Prégardien joins the NDR Vokalensemble for Parts 1 to 4 of Bach's Christmas Oratorio
London
An all-Bach programme from Solomon's Knot, including the mighty Magnificat in E flat major
New York
Osmo Vänskä wields his clarinet, rather than a baton, in a Curtis on Tour chamber recital
Opera streams
Le Grand Macabre
Orchestre National de France
To celebrate Ligeti's unique legacy, François-Xavier Roth conducts his black farce, dubbed an “anti-anti-opera”
Don Carlo
Teatro alla Scala
Francesco Meli and Anna Netrebko lead La Scala's season opener, conducted by Riccardo Chailly
La Ciociara
Wexford Festival Opera
Rosetta Cucchi makes a compelling case for Marco Tutino's 2015 opera, starring mezzo Na'ama Goldman
María de Buenos Aires
Grand Théâtre de Genève
Daniele Finzi Pasca directs Astor Piazzolla's “tango-opera” starring Raquel Camarinha as María
Latest reviews
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Photography credits:
Víkingur Ólafsson © Markus Jans;
Maria Callas © Public domain, Maria Callas © ARTE;
Kirill Gerstein © Marco Borggreve, Turn of the Screw c/o Theatre Royal Bath, Pierrot Lunaire © Marco Borggreve, The Nutcracker © Guy Farrow, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla © Beki Smith;
Klaus Mäkelä © Mathias Benguigui | Pasco and co, Marie Jacquot © Christian Jungwirth, Julian Prégardien © Peter Rigaud, Mirjam Mesak © Wilfried Hösl, Solomon's Knot © Dan Joy, Osmo Vänskä ©Lisa-Marie Mazzucco;
François-Xavier Roth © Holger Talinski, Anna Netrebko and Francesco Meli (Don Carlo) © Brescia & Amisano | Teatro alla Scala, María de Buenos Aires © Carole Parodi, La Ciociara © Clive Barda | ArenaPAL, María de Buenos Aires © Carole Parodi
Melissa Hamilton and William Bracewell (The Dante Project) © ROH | Andrej Uspenski, Griffin Massey and Mattia Olivieri (Florencia en al Amazonas) © Ken Howard | Met Opera, Jurgita Dronina and Guillaume Côté (Onegin) © Karolina Kuras, Bruce Liu Chris P Lim | Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Denys Pivnickij and Alžběta Poláčková (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) © Zdeněk Sokol, Sally Pryce © Monika S Jakubowska
