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LA GIOCONDA
Teatro Valli, Reggio Emilia, 8 April 2018
P: “May I get a ticket for Emilia-Romagna?” CASHIER: “Emilia-Romagna? Which city?” P: “The city of Emilia-Romagna.” CASHIER: “Signore, Emilia-Romagna is not a city! It’s a region!!” P: “Wow! Really?” Briefly, I refocused. CASHIER: “Milano? Bologna? Reggio Emilia? P: “Ah!
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Grigory Sokolov in Helsinki
Hailed as one of the best living pianists in the world, Grigory Sokolov offered a magically sublime and absorbing concert experience to the 1,700 audience in Helsinki Music Centre (Musiikkitalo) on 14 June 2018, with a programme of Haydn and
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The Met gives Tosca the McVicar treatment
When the mighty Met does something well, it truly excels. The new production by Sir David McVicar was near perfection. Replacing the unmissed Luc Bondy production, McVicar delivered what seemed like a fresher version of a Zeffirelli view of the
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Back to the roots
Naples puts on Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto 200 years after its house debut
Quite possibly the Teatro San Carlo of Naples, Italy’s leading opera house in the early 19th century, has found its groove again. In spite of a middle-of-the-road production of Gioachino Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto (Moses in Egypt), the legendary San
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Cav and Pag in Calvin’s home city
Geneva is an unusual place. Set on a stunning lake at the Swiss-French border and surrounded by hulking dark mountains, its city center is dominated by banks and jewellers. Hotels and restaurants are notoriously overpriced, as is pretty much everything
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L’Elisir d’amore at Vancouver Opera
Vancouver Opera is the distinguished and well-liked company founded in 1958 by a group of visionary community leaders. They believed in the value of the performing arts in the life of a great city in Canada. Each year, it has
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Hong Kong Philharmonic’s Götterdämmerung: Dawn of a Wagnerian Orchestra
The sense of achievement at this Götterdämmerung was palpable. The Hong Kong Philharmonic has now completed, over four years, a full Wagner Ring Cycle. It is fair to say that what started as a very competent sounding orchestra in 2015
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Contrasting Old and New: Vanessa Wagner on La Dolce Volta
In her recent recording for La Dolce Volta, pianist Vanessa Wagner played a piano recital of the music of one 18th century and one early 19th century masters: W.A. Mozart (1756-1791) and Muzio Clementi (1752-1832). She played the recital on
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