★★★★★★ REVIEW THE MASTER SINGERS OF NUREMBERG: OPERA SUPERTANKER WITH SIX-STAR CARGO
THE MASTER SINGERS FROM NUREMBERG • COPENHAGEN ★★★★★★ REVIEW THE MASTER SINGERS OF NUREMBERG: OPERA SUPERTANKER WITH SIX-STAR CARGO One of the opera repertoire's supertankers has docked at Holmen with a six-star cargo of Wagner's sumptuous music and a cast of singers...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW VALKYRIE: CONVENTIONAL FANTASY IN STELLAR CAST AT LA SCALA
VALKYRIE • LA SCALA MILANO ★★★★★☆ REVIEW VALKYRIE: CONVENTIONAL FANTASY IN STELLAR CAST AT LA SCALA The second part of Scottish director Sir David McVicar's staging of Wagner's Ring at La Scala Opera in Milan opens in fire. Out of the flames and smoke staggers what...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW MANON LESCAULT: BARRIE KOSKY ON THE ROAD TO HELL IN ZURICH
MANON LESCAULT • ZÜRICH ★★★★★☆ REVIEW MANON LESCAULT: BARRIE KOSKY ON THE ROAD TO HELL IN ZURICH Zurich Opera is in the super league of European opera houses. Here, my favorite director Barrie Kosky is currently presenting a wild staging of Manon Lescault that...
★★★☆☆☆ REVIEW CASTOR ET POLLUX: WILD CLASH OF FLEX DANCE AND BAROQUE
CASTOR ET POLLUX • OPERA GARNIER PARIS ★★★☆☆☆ REVIEW CASTOR ET POLLUX: WILD CLASH OF FLEX DANCE AND BAROQUE Colorful American director Peter Sellars has staged French composer Rameau's somewhat forgotten Baroque opera Castor et Pollux in an unusual clash of...
★★★★★★ REVIEW GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG: A STUNNING FINALE IN BRUSSELS
TWILIGHT OF THE GODS - LA MONNAIE BRUXELLES ★★★★★★ REVIEW GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG: A STUNNING FINALE IN BRUSSELS Director Pierre Audi and conductor Alain Altinoglu bring the Brussels Ring to a resounding close with a stunningly beautiful production of Götterdämmerung, which...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW THE RHINEGOLD : CALIXTO BIEITO SCI-FI THRILLER SPARKS OUTRAGE IN PARIS
L’OR DU RHIN THE RHINGOLD • PARIS ★★★★★☆ REVIEW THE RHINEGOLD : CALIXTO BIEITO SCI-FI THRILLER SPARKS OUTRAGE IN PARIS The Rhine daughters in blue and yellow, James Bond-babe scuba dive outfits and the Gnome Albericht wrapped in a tangle of data cables herald a...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW BENJAMIN BUTTON THE MUSICAL: A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH IN THE WEST END
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON • LONDON ★★★★★☆ REVIEW BENJAMIN BUTTON THE MUSICAL: A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH IN THE WEST END Something as rare as a folk musical has made headlines and garnered many starred reviews in serious, critical English media such as The...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW TINA THE MUSICAL: TINA’S TRIUMPH
TINA THE MUSICAL - LONDON ★★★★★☆ REVIEW TINA THE MUSICAL: TINA'S TRIUMPH Lavishly choreographed ensemble numbers in simple, effective stage design, bursts of mega hits and excellent performances in the title role make TINA a real crowd pleaser and a great night out....
★★★★★☆ FAWLTY TOWERS REVIEW: HILARIOUS REUNION
FAWLTY TOWERS THE PLAY • LONDON ★★★★★☆ FAWLTY TOWERS REVIEW: HILARIOUS REUNION Fawlty Towers is considered one of the best sitcoms of all time, and that's saying a lot in the UK, where this particular brand of wacky but clever TV comedy has been celebrating triumphs...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA: DRESSED TO IMPRESS
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA • LONDON ★★★★☆☆ REVIEW THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA: DRESSED TO IMPRESS It had to come: Hollywood blockbuster The Devil Wears Prada has launched as a large-scale musical in London's West End with Vanessa Williams leading a stellar cast, plenty of...
★★★★★☆ HADESTOWN REVIEW: BEST SHOW IN TOWN
HADESTOWN • LONDON ★★★★★☆ HADESTOWN REVIEW: BEST SHOW IN TOWN Wow, what a surprise! Hadestown is sweepingly beautiful, up-to-date musical art of superior quality that should be at the top of your musical list the next time you visit London. A classic story in modern...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW THE WOMAN WITHOUT A SHADOW: ATTRACTED AND REPELLED BY HARD-TO-READ OPERA
WOMAN WITHOUT A SHADOW • STAATSOPER UNTER DEN LINDEN ★★★★☆☆ REVIEW THE WOMAN WITHOUT A SHADOW: ATTRACTED AND REPELLED BY HARD-TO-READ OPERA The Woman Without a Shadow is a transgressive, musical heavyweight of four and a half hours with a fairytale plot that is so...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW SWEENY TODD: REVENGE IS BLOOD SAUSAGE IN BERLIN
SWEENY TODD • KOMISCHE OPER ★★★★☆☆ REVIEW SWEENY TODD: REVENGE IS BLOOD SAUSAGE IN BERLIN Revenge is blutwurst, proclaim the neon signs outside the Schillertheater in West Berlin, where the doors open for master director Barrie Kosky's brand new production of the...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW ROMEO AND JULIE: WHAM AND PUNK IN UNEVEN BERLIN UPDATE
ROMEO OG JULIE • STAATSOPER UNTER DEN LINDEN ★★★★☆☆ REVIEW ROMEO AND JULIE: WHAM AND PUNK IN UNEVEN BERLIN UPDATE Really good singers in an inventive, but also somewhat postulated, updated staging make French director Mariame Clément's version of Gounod's Romeo and...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW SANCTA: SENSATIONAL OPERA PERFORMANCE IN STUTTGART
SANCTA • STUTTGART ★★★★★☆ REVIEW SANCTA: SENSATIONAL OPERA PERFORMANCE IN STUTTGART A protest service of half a hundred aggrieved Christian demonstrators met me outside the entrance to Stuttgart Opera, where Florentina Holzinger's sensational opera performance Sancta...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW MANON MANON MANON: A STROKE OF GENIUS IN TORINO
MANON MANON MANON • TEATRO REGIO TORINO ★★★★☆☆ REVIEW MANON MANON MANON: A STROKE OF GENIUS IN TORINO The Turin Opera has made a stroke of genius by performing Massenet, Puccini and Daniel Auber's three different operatic versions of the tragic tale of Manon Lescault,...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW DAS RHIENGOLD: LACK OF EUPHORIA AT LA SCALA
DAS RHEINGOLD • LA SCALA MILANO ★★★★☆☆ REVIEW DAS RHEINGOLD: LACK OF EUPHORIA AT LA SCALA There was a lack of euphoria at the premiere of Das Rheingold in the packed La Scala theatre in Milan. The sought-after, well-travelled Scottish director David McVicar's...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW TOSCA AND CARMEN ARENA DI VERONA: MAGICAL MOMENTS
TOSCA & CARMEN • ARENA DI VERONA ★★★★★☆ REVIEW TOSCA AND CARMEN ARENA DI VERONA: MAGICAL MOMENTS Summer is over and you can just bask in the memories. GOT TO SEE THIS went for summer rendezvous with TOSCA and CARMEN in the stunning Arena di Verona, an iconic venue...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW FAUST: DEVILISHLY INNOVATIVE IN PARIS
FAUST • OPERA BASTILLE PARIS ★★★★☆☆ REVIEW FAUST: DEVILISHLY INNOVATIVE IN PARIS Faust, by the great French opera composer Gounod, offers a beautiful experience of melodic, dramatic orchestration, but has a serious problem with its dramaturgy, which is ineffective to...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW LES BRIGANDS: NEW BARRIE KOSKY GOES ALL IN IN PARIS
LES BRIGANDS • OPERA GARNIER PARIS ★★★★★☆ REVIEW LES BRIGANDS: NEW BARRIE KOSKY GOES ALL IN IN PARIS Barrie Kosky has gone all in on all his signature takes in his brand- new staging of Offenbach's thieves and robbers opera bouffe at the iconic Garnier in Paris. A...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW SIEGFRIED AT LA MONNAIE: SCANDAL CANCELLED IN BRUSSELS
SIEGFRIED • BRUXELLES ★★★★☆☆ REVIEW SIEGFRIED AT LA MONNAIE: SCANDAL CANCELLED IN BRUSSELS It was quite a blow when Italian star director Romeo Castellucci and La Monnaie Opera in Brussels cancelled their collaboration after the first two artistically innovative and...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW WALLMANN’S JUBILEE: A BLAST OF DINNERSHOW EXTRAVAGANZA
WALLMANN'S - THE CIRCUS BUILDING ★★★★★☆ REVIEW WALLMANN'S JUBILEE: A BLAST OF DINNERSHOW EXTRAVAGANZA Wallmann's in the Circus Building celebrates its 20th anniversary with an impressive dinner show extravaganza in a generous, stylish and unmistakably Swedish-designed...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW RIGOLETTO AMSTERDAM: INSANE OPERA THRILLER IN THE SANATORIUM
RIGOLETTO • AMSTERDAM ★★★★★☆ REVIEW RIGOLETTO AMSTERDAM: INSANE OPERA THRILLER IN THE SANATORIUM There's a pit in your stomach when Rigoletto opens at the Amsterdam National Opera in a stark white, cramped cell with tiles on the walls and bars on the windows. Top...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW DER FREISCHÜTZ: OPERA MAGIC IN BREGENZ
DER FREISCHÜTZ • BREGENZ ★★★★★☆ REVIEW DER FREISCHÜTZ: OPERA MAGIC IN BREGENZ The Bregenz Festival strikes again with the fairytale opera classic Der Freischütz in Philipp Stölzl's impressive mega production on the shores of Lake Constance. Bregenz entertains its...
★★★★★★ DON CARLO REVIEW: SUPERIOR CAST IN FURIOUSLY BEAUTIFUL STAGE DESIGN
DON CARLO • COPENHAGEN ★★★★★★ DON CARLO REVIEW: SUPERIOR CAST IN FURIOUSLY BEAUTIFUL STAGE DESIGN Italian director Davide Livermore has teamed up with video designers from Milan-based architecture and design studio Giò Forma to create a visual masterpiece that...
★★★☆☆☆ REVIEW TRISTAN AND ISOLDE IN BAYREUTH: FRUSTRATING LACK OF THEATRICAL DRAMA
TRISTAN AND ISOLDE • BAYREUTH ★★★☆☆☆ Photo: Enrico Narwath REVIEW TRISTAN AND ISOLDE IN BAYREUTH: FRUSTRATING LACK OF THEATRICAL DRAMA Which is longer? The Nile or the second act of Tristan and Isolde? As impressed as I am with the soloists, composition and orchestral...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW THE FLYING DUTCHMAN IN BAYREUTH: BURNING HATRED AND ICY REVENGE
THE FLYING DUTCHMAN - BAYREUTH ★★★★☆☆ Photo: Enrico Nawrath REVIEW THE FLYING DUTCHMAN IN BAYREUTH: BURNING HATRED AND ICY REVENGE Not much is business as usual in Russian director and set designer Dmitri Tcherniakov's staging of The Flying Dutchman at the 2024 Wagner...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW THE TROUBADOUR: VERDI’S GHOST OPERA QUIVERS WITH EROTICIS IN MUNICH
THE TROUBADOUR - MUNICH OPERA FESTIVAL ★★★★★☆ REVIEW THE TROUBADOUR: VERDI'S GHOST OPERA QUIVERS WITH EROTICIS IN MUNICH French director Oliver Py has created a mega production of The Troubadour that lives up to all Francophile clichés with a grandiose, refined stage...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW LE GRAND MACABRE: INSANE CHAOS IN DEEPLY BIZARRE OPERATIC PURGATORY
LE GRAND MACABRE - MUNICH OPERA FESTIVAL ★★★★★☆ Photo: Wilfried Hösl REVIEW LE GRAND MACABRE: INSANE CHAOS IN DEEPLY BIZARRE OPERATIC PURGATORY Top Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski takes the plunge with a spectacular and technically ambitious production of Le...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW MADAME BUTTERFLY: STRIPPED TO THE SKIN IN MADRID
MADAME BUTTERFLY • TEATRO REAL MADRID ★★★★★☆ Photo: Javier del Real REVIEW MADAME BUTTERFLY: STRIPPED TO THE SKIN IN MADRID Pinkerton the asshole is stripped to the skin and mercilessly exposed in star Italian director Damiano Michieletto's fabulous production of...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW SALOME: SEXIST BEHAVIOUR IN MUSICAL INFERNO AT VIENNA STATE OPERA
SALOME • WIEN STAATSOPER ★★★★★☆ REVIEW SALOME: SEXIST BEHAVIOUR IN MUSICAL INFERNO AT VIENNA STATE OPERA Sought-after Finnish soprano Camilla Nylund delivers a furiously good Salome at the Vienna State Opera, where the highly visual French director Cyril Teste has...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW TURANDOT: ASMIK GRIGORIAN STEALS THE SHOW IN VIENNA
TURANDOT • VIENNA STATE OPERA ★★★★★☆ REVIEW TURANDOT: ASMIK GRIGORIAN STEALS THE SHOW IN VIENNA A girlish, traumatized Princess Turandot sits motionless in a free-standing brass bed, wrapped in silk sheets while another pig-bound suitor is brought in to guess the...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW TRISTAN AND ISOLDE: GREAT ART IN SLOWMOTION
TRISTAN AND ISOLDE • OPERA ★★★★★☆ REVIEW TRISTAN AND ISOLDE: GREAT ART IN SLOWMOTION Tristan and Isolde is an instrumentalization of cultural education. Experiencing Wagner's monumental work at the Royal Danish Opera is a kind of seal of approval of ballast within the...
★★★★☆☆ DON GIOVANNI REVIEW: A BLAST OF MOZART IN VENICE
DON GIOVANNI • VENEDIG LA FENICE ★★★★☆☆ Photo: Michele Crosera DON GIOVANNI REVIEW: A BLAST OF MOZART IN VENICE Venice has always had an air of promiscuity, with its debauched carnivals and a tantalising undertone of sexual licentiousness. The Fenice Opera gets it on...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW OVERTURE & ANGELS ATLAS: CONCERT BALLET IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN
OVERTURE & ANGELS ATLAS • STAATSBALLETT BERLIN ★★★★★☆ REVIEW OVERTURE & ANGELS ATLAS: CONCERT BALLET IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN Spanish star choreographer Marcos Morau hits in Berlin with another spectacular ballet performance that opens up the modern dance scene...
