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Performer: Hege Høisæter

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Göteborg Opera's gleaming new Siegfried, pandemic style

Forced to shift to online for the third episode of its Ring cycle, Göteborg Opera delivers absorbing new production by Stephen Langridge.
****1
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Not perfect, only human: Elysium in Oslo

Rolf Wallin and Mark Ravenhill’s new opera Elysium tackles fundamental questions about humanity itself, and largely succeeds. Despite slightly uneven music and libretto, the performers shine in this sci-fi opera.
***11
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I like a boy in uniform: a frustrating Carmen in Oslo

Calixto Bieito's production of Carmen attempts to humanise the title character, but in doing so leaves the rest as caricatures.
**111
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Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová in Oslo

Willy Decker's gloriously sung production of Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová in Oslo made for a uniquely powerful performance.
*****
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Drunken ramblings: Calixto Bieito’s Hoffmann revived

Calixto Bieito's production of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann is astoundingly sung, but suffers from excessive cuts and occasionally odd direction.
***11
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The end of the world. Or something: Ligeti's Le grand macabre at the Norwegian National Opera

The world ended yesterday. Possibly. It probably didn’t, but the facts are still kind of fuzzy.György Ligeti’s only opera, Le grand macabre is a strange piece. The story is straightforward enough: Nekrotzar, a Death-like figure, travels around the world of Breughelland warning its citizens of impending doom – a giant comet will destroy Earth at midnight.
*****
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