by Jens Winther | Feb 13, 2025 | Opera, Opera
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,...
by Jens Winther | Oct 30, 2024 | Opera, Opera
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...
by Jens Winther | Aug 29, 2024 | Opera
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...
by Jens Winther | Aug 28, 2024 | Opera
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...
by Jens Winther | May 25, 2024 | Opera
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...
by Jens Winther | May 14, 2024 | Opera, Opera
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...