★★★★☆☆ 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...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW ROBERTO DEVEREUX: DATED BELCANTO IN AMSTERDAM
ROBERTO DEVEREUX • AMSTERDAM OPERA ★★★★☆☆ Photo: Ben Van Duin REVIEW ROBERTO DEVEREUX: DATED BELCANTO IN AMSTERDAM Belcanto opera is an elite sport. The arias are often super-equillibristic with lightning-fast, acrobatic runs up and down the scale. The Donizetti...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW KU’DAMM 59: BERLIN ROCKS!
KU’DAMM 59 • BERLIN ★★★★★☆ REVIEW KU’DAMM 59: BERLIN ROCKS! The rock'n'roll musical Ku'damm 56 about new beginnings in post-war Berlin danced its way into the hearts of audiences and has sold close to half a million tickets since its premiere in 2021 with performances...
★★★★★★ REVIEW IL TRITTICO: BARRIE KOSKY HATTRICK IN AMSTERDAM
IL TRITTICO • AMSTERDAM OPERA ★★★★★★ REVIEW IL TRITTICO: BARRIE KOSKY HATTRICK IN AMSTERDAM You killed the bitch? I said in amazement to a big grinning, highly sympathetic Barrie Kosky at the world premiere of the star director's version of the Puccini classic Il...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW DON JUAN’S INFERNO: STRIKING OPERA SPOOF DIVIDES THE WATERS
DON JUAN’S INFERNO • COPENHAGEN OPERA ★★★★★☆ REVIEW DON JUAN'S INFERNO: STRIKING OPERA SPOOF DIVIDES THE WATERS You don't have to be an opera aficionado to enjoy Simon Steen-Andersen's terrific opera spoof Don Juan's Inferno - but it helps. The show itself is a...
★★★★★★ REVIEW UNDER THE DEEP: FABULOUS TOTAL EXPERIENCE
UNDER THE DEEP - COPENHAGEN OPERA ★★★★★★ REVIEW UNDER THE DEEP: FABULOUS TOTAL EXPERIENCE Under the Deep is a fabulous total experience of modern dance, fascinating mass choreographies, breathtaking music, magnificent costumes and overwhelming scenography in exquisite...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW LA CENERENTOLA HAMBURG: CINDERELLA ASTONISHES IN SPACE
LA CENERENTOLA • HAMBORG ★★★★★☆ REVIEW LA CENERENTOLA HAMBURG: CINDERELLA ASTONISHES IN SPACE Rossini's Cinderella has gone into orbit as regietheatre of unprecedented proportions at Hamburg's Staatsoper, where the striking Canadian creative team Barbe & Doucet...
★★★☆☆☆ REVIEW TOSCA HAMBURG: LESS IS NOT ALWAYS MORE.
TOSCA • HAMBORG ★★★☆☆☆ REVIEW TOSCA HAMBURG: LESS IS NOT ALWAYS MORE. Tosca remains the world's best opera. Even if the Canadian star director Robert Carson (57) has turned down the crank in his version of Puccini's masterpiece at the Staatsoper in Hamburg. A...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW IL TROVATORE: BONFIRE, FIRE AND BUUH’S IN HAMBURG
TRUBADUREN • HAMBORG ★★★★☆☆ REVIEW IL TROVATORE: BONFIRE, FIRE AND BUUH'S IN HAMBURG Chinese soprano Guanqun Yu impresses with beautiful, lyrical coloratura in the central role of Leonora in Verdi's haunting The Troubadour, which, despite strong soloists, colorful...
★★★★★★ REVIEW VERDI’S REKVIEM WITH ZÜRICH BALLET: HIGH-INTENSITY DANCE OF DEATH IN A COMPLETELY OVERWHELMING BALLET CONCERT
MESSA DA REKVIEM • ZÜRICH ★★★★★★ REVIEW VERDI'S REKVIEM WITH ZURICH BALLET: HIGH-INTENSITY DANCE OF DEATH IN A COMPLETELY OVERWHELMING BALLET CONCERT An overwhelming hybrid of dance, concert and chorus/orchestral work defines a stunningly effective scenic concept that...
★★★★☆☆ REVIEW DIE LUSTIGE WITWE THE MERRY WIDOW: UNBRIDLED BARRIE KOSKY GLAMOUR IN ZURICH
THE MERRY WIDOW • ZURICH OPERA ★★★★☆☆ Photo: Monica Rittershaus REVIEW DIE LUSTIGE WITWE THE MERRY WIDOW: UNBRIDLED BARRIE KOSKY GLAMOUR IN ZURICH The Merry Widow goes to Hollywood in star director Barrie Kosky's unabashedly glamorous production at Zurich Opera House,...
★★★★★☆ REVIEW AMERIKA: FIRST CLASS KAFKA OPERA AVANTGARDE IN ZURICH
AMERIKA • ZÜRICH OPERA ★★★★★☆ REVIEW AMERIKA: FIRST CLASS KAFKA OPERA AVANTGARDE IN ZURICH Roman Haubenstock-Ramati's dramatization of Frans Kafka's claustrophobic novel Amerika is an extremely rare piece of musical theatre that can now be experienced at Zurich Opera,...
