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Opéra Magazine's 'pick of the month' recordings for June, July and August 2025

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Once again, I simply forgot to post anything about June's 'pick of the month' in France's monthly Opéra Magazine . So here are their favourites for June, July and August. In June, they chose the Palazzetto Bru Zane’s release, in one of its usual, lavish CD books with the usual, thorough documentation, of Lalo’s Le Roi d’Ys . It features Nicolas Courjal, Kate Aldrich, Cyrille Dubois, Jérôme Boutillier, Christian Helmer, the Hungarian National Choir and Phil., all under Vashegyi, who ‘gives the most convincing reading that could be, the most varied in atmosphere, the most dramatically coherent. He is served by six soloists selected with the greatest care.’  With a little judicious clicking, you can find all the tracks in a playlist on YouTube . Their choice in their July-August double issue is Warner’s 79-CD box of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s complete Lieder and song recordings, celebrating his 100th birthday. There are no surprises: all of the recordings have appeared b...
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Offenbach - Les Brigands, at the Paris Opera's Palais Garnier

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ONP Garnier, Thursday June 26 2025 Conductor: Michele Spotti. Production: Barrie Kosky. Sets: Rufus Didwiszus. Costumes: Victoria Behr. Lighting: Ulrich Eh. Choreography: Otto Pichler. Falsacappa: Marcel Beekman. Fiorella: Marie Perbost. Fragoletto: Antoinette Dennefeld. Le Baron de Campo-Tasso: Yann Beuron. Le Chef des carabiniers: Laurent Naouri. Le Duc de Mantoue: Mathias Vidal. Le Comte de Gloria-Cassis: Philippe Talbot. La Princesse de Grenade: Eugénie Joneau. Carmagnola: Leonardo Cortellazzi. Domino: Éric Huchet. Barbavano: Franck Leguérinel. Pietro: Rodolphe Briand. Zerlina: Héloïse Poulet. Fiametta: Clara Guillon. Bianca: Maria Warenberg. La Marquise: Doris Lamprecht. La Duchesse: Helene Schneiderman. Le Précepteur: Luis-Felipe Sousa. Cicinella: Marine Chagnon. Adolphe de Valladolid: Seray Pinar. Antonio: Sandrine Sarroche. Sangrietta/Pipa: Manon Barthélémy. Tortilla: Francesca Lo Bue. Burratina: Cécile L’Heureux. Castagnetta/Pipetta: Corinne Martin. Pizzaiolo: Victorien Bonnet...
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Closing Time appears on youTube

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In November 2023, I posted about a fascinating, touching project  that grew out of the personal experiences of London-based writer and performer Karin de Novellis, who looked after her husband, a dementia-sufferer, until his death. During lockdown, Karin wrote a collection of poems, called Closing Time at the Kings Head , reflecting on everyday situations and some of the feelings she and her husband experienced while living with dementia. Australian composer Ross Fides transformed the poems into a staged song cycle for soprano, baritone, narrator and piano, which premiered in September 2023 at Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle, New South Wales. According to the programme notes, the staged performance aims to show 'how, in spite of the challenges, a care-partnership can embrace understanding, compassion and love, making the journey easier and better for all concerned. Fiddes’ music inhabits the words in such a way that the listener cannot help but be drawn into this moving and powe...
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Bizet - Carmen, at La Monnaie in Brussels

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La Monnaie, Brussels, Sunday June 15 2025 Conductor: Nathalie Stutzmann. Production, sets and dialogues: Dmitri Tcherniakov. Costumes: Elena Zaitseva. Lighting: Gleb Filshtinsky. Carmen: Stéphanie d’Oustrac. Don José: Attilio Glaser. Micaëla: Anne-Catherine Gillet. Escamillo: Edwin Crossley-Mercer. Zuniga: Christian Helmer. Moralès: Pierre Doyen. Frasquita: Louise Foor. Mercédès: Claire Péron. Le Dancaïre: Guillaume Andrieux. Le Remendado: Enguerrand De Hys. L’administrateur: Pierre Grammont. La Monnaie Orchestra, Chorus, Youth and Children’s Choirs. Photos: © Bernd Uhlig La Monnaie’s new Carmen was originally staged in Aix in 2017. Like thousands of others, I saw it on video afterwards, and though I was impressed by Michael Fabiano’s fervent commitment to Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production concept, otherwise didn’t enjoy it much. I was bored by the unchanging set, and, though I’d found it intriguing when it was a novelty in 2012 , a bit fed up, thirteen years and several productions...
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Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier (Le Chevalier à la Rose) at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris

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Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Monday June 2 2025 Conductor: Henrik Nánási. Production: Krzysztof Warlikowski. Sets and costumes: Małgorzata Szczęśniak. Choreography: Claude Bardouil. Lighting: Felice Ross. Video: Kamil Polak. Feldmarschallin von Werdenberg: Véronique Gens. Octavian: Niamh O'Sullivan. Sophie: Regula Mühlemann. Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau: Peter Rose. Faninal: Jean-Sébastien Bou. Annina: Eléonore Pancrazi. Valzacchi: Krešimir Špicer. Sänger: Francesco Demuro. Leitmetzerin: Laurène Paternò. Polizeikommissar, Notar: Florent Karrer. Haushofmeister: François Piolino. Wirt: Yoann Le Lan. Orchestre National de France. Unikanti Choir, Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine children’s choir. Photos: Vincent Pontet I suppose it had to happen one day… If I’ve done my sums right, this Rosenkavalier at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées was my sixteenth Krzysztof Warlikowski production, not counting the times I’ve gone back to see some of them more than once. Since I was first hooked by his...
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Bizet - L'Arlésienne and Le Docteur Miracle, at the Châtelet in Paris

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Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, Tuesday May 27 2025 Conductor: Sora Elisabeth Lee. Production, sets and costumes: Pierre Lebon. Lighting: Bertrand Killy. Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. L’Arlésienne Balthazar: Eddie Chignara. L’Innocent: Pierre Lebon. Mitifio/Frédéri (dancer): Aurélien Bednarek. Rose/Vivette (dancer): Iris Florentiny. Soprano: Dima Bawab. Mezzo-soprano: Héloïse Mas. Tenor: Marc Mauillon. Baritone: Thomas Dolié. Le Docteur Miracle Laurette: Dima Bawab. Véronique: Héloïse Mas. Silvio: Marc Mauillon. Le podestat de Padoue: Thomas Dolié. L’assistant du Docteur Miracle (spoken role): Pierre Lebon. Photos: © Thomas Amouroux This production was scheduled as part of the ‘Festival Palazzetto Bru Zane Paris’, to mark the 150th anniversary of Bizet’s death. It brings together one late and one early work: the complete incidental music to Alphonse Daudet’s play L'Arlésienne (1872), and Le Docteur Miracle , an opéra bouffe composed for Offenbach’s Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens (185...
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Puccini - Il Trittico (Gianni Schicchi, Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica) at the Paris Opera Bastille

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ONP Bastille, Tuesday May 13 2025  Conductor: Carlo Rizzi. Production: Christof Loy. Sets: Étienne Pluss. Costumes: Barbara Drosihn. Lighting: Fabrice Kebour. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: Guergana Damianova/ONP Gianni Schicchi Gianni Schicchi: Misha Kiria. Lauretta: Asmik Grigorian. Zita: Enkelejda Shkoza. Rinuccio: Alexey Neklyudov. Gherardo: Dean Power. Nella: Lavinia Bini. Betto: Manel Esteve Madrid. Simone: Scott Wilde. Marco: Iurii Samoilov. La Ciesca: Theresa Kronthaler. Maestro Spinelloccio: Matteo Peirone. Pinellino: Vartan Gabrielian. Guccio: Luis-Felipe Sousa. Amantio di Nicolao: Alejandro Baliñas Vieites. Il Tabarro Michele : Roman Burdenko. Giorgetta: Asmik Grigorian. Luigi: Joshua Guerrero. Il Tinca: Andrea Giovannini. Il Talpa: Scott Wilde. La Frugola: Enkelejda Shkoza. Un venditore di canzonette: Dean Power. Un amante: Ilanah Lobel-Torres. Suor Angelica Suor Angelica: Asmik Grigorian. La Zia Principessa: Karita Mattila. La Badessa: Han...
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