Philippe Herreweghe, principal conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, has devoted himself for over ten years to fresh and invigorating readings of the (pre-) Romantic repertoire. Together with the Collegium Vocale, founded in 1970 by Herreweghe…

The Nobel Prize Concert 2008 offers fantastic performers: Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Monteverdi Choir, together with Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and the Scandinavian singers Miah Persson, soprano, Ann Hallenberg, alto, Helge Rönning, tenor, and…

Prokofiev flows in the veins of the Mariinsky Theatre’s musicians, and has moreover done so for a long time; and the fact that, under Gergiev’s baton, the orchestra and the opera company performed all of Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonies, all of his…

St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre has staged the opera Dead Souls to the music by Rodion Shchedrin, who turns 80 in 2012. One of the indisputable operatic masterpieces of the 20th century will appear in the brand new, bright, expressive staged…

Requiring huge forces, Die Frau ohne Schatten boasts perhaps Strauss's most sumptuous score, poignantly illuminating the magic, mystery and earthy warmth of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's characters. Led by Valery Gergiev, this epic production from St…

Based on Friedrich Werner’s "Attila, King of the Huns" this powerful and atmospheric opera puts the spotlight on celebrated Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role. Set in the mid-5th century Attila focuses on the collapse of the Roman Empire…

A founding text of German operatic Romanticism and an absolute masterpiece of musical theatre, Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber has not been performed at La Scala since 1998, when it was conducted by Donald Runnicles, but it is worthwhile…

Antonín Dvořák’s next to last opera draws its substance from the underwater wonderland of little mermaids, Undines and Melusines: Rusalka, a water nymph, wishes to become human in order to be loved by the young prince. Despite being warned against it…

Welcome to Mahagonny, where sin is “in” and love is always on sale. This Old West boomtown rises from the desert to become a razzle-dazzle mecca for lust, liberty, and the pursuit of pleasure. Cash is king, poverty is punishable by death, and…

Deliberate confusion in 18th-century Seville which is entangled with three marriages blessed by the monks of the monastery. After performances at the famous 'Stars of the White Nights'Festival held in St. Petersburg and the 1991 - 92 festival…