We left at the interval...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Tuesday October 24 2017 Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda. Macbeth: Dalibor Jenis. Banquo: Marko Mimica. Lady Macbeth: Anna Pirozzi. Macduff: Piero Pretti. Lady-in-waiting: Alexandra Zabala. Orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Regio, Turin. A thrilling Macbeth in concert at the TCE last night, thanks first of all to conductor Gianandrea Noseda. This was probably the most energetic Verdi I ever heard, Verdi exactly how I, personally, like it: vigorous yet crisply detailed and, mostly, fast (“too fast” said a friend at the interval). The “rumty-tum” stuff (Duncan’s march, the start of the banquet…) was extremely zippy and bouncy, Noseda slashing his baton through the air like a riding crop, urging the work forward. You could see orchestra members enjoying it: swaying along, smiling and tapping their feet. But orchestra and chorus were nevertheless in full control (detailed, as I said) and expressive, capable of extraordinary dynamic range (amazing rust...

ONP Bastille, Thursday October 19 2017 Conductor: Philippe Jordan. Production: Krzysztof Warlikowski. Sets: Małgorzata Szczęśniak. Lighting: Felice Ross. Video: Denis Guéguin. Philippe II: Ildar Abdrazakov. Don Carlos: Jonas Kaufmann. Rodrigue: Ludovic Tézier. Le grand inquisiteur: Dmitry Belosselskiy. Élisabeth de Valois: Sonya Yoncheva. La princesse Eboli: Elīna Garanča. Thibault: Eve-Maud Hubeaux. Députés flamands: Tiago Matos, Michal Partyka, Mikhail Timoshenko, Tomasz Kumiega, Andrei Filonczyk, Daniel Giulianini. Une voix d'en haut: Silga Tīruma. Le comte de Lerme: Julien Dran. Un héraut royal: Hyun-Jong Roh. Le moine: Krzysztof Baczyk. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. For various reasons, the Paris Opera's new Don Carlos had the buzz of a special occasion - something you could feel in the air in the lobbies and not just because sponsor Rolex's guests were unusually dressy. For a start, marking the 150th anniversary of the work's premi...