Evangelist – Kieran Carrel Jesus – Padraic Rowan Bass – Joel Allison Tenor, False Witness – Kangyoon Shine Lee Petrus, High Priest, Pontifex II – Youngkwang Oh Pilatus, Judas, Pontifex I – Artur Garbas Soprano, First Maid – Siobhan Stagg Alto, False Witness, Second Maid – Annika Schlicht Girl – Zoé Höchse Friend – Selina Nüsse Director – Benedikt von Peter Revival directors – Eva-Maria Abelein, Matteo Marziano Graziano Set designs – Natascha von Steiger Costumes – Lene Schwind Video – Bert Zander Lighting – Roland Edrich Dramaturgy – Dorothea Hartmann Children’s and Youth Choirs of the Deut ..read more

St Thomas’s Church, Leipzig Bach: St John Passion, BWV 245 (first version, 1724) Elisabeth Breuer (soprano) Jakub Jósef Orliński (countertenor) Daniel Johannsen (tenor) Benjamin Appl (bass: Christus) Tomáš Král (bass: arias) Thomanerchor Leipzig Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Andreas Reize (conductor)   At Good Friday Vespers, 1724, in St Nicholas’s Church, Leipzig, the city’s new Thomaskantor, Johann Sebastian Bach, led the first performance of his St John Passion. Three hundred years later, on Good Friday, Bach’s masterwork will return to the same church, performed by the latest ..read more

Evelyn Herlitzius (Die Amme), Miina-Liisa Värelä (Baraks Frau), Komparserie; all images © Semperoper Dresden/Ludwig Olah Emperor – Eric Cutler Empress – Camilla Nylund Nurse – Evelyn Herlitzius Spirit-Messenger – Andreas Bauer Kanabas Barak – Oleksandr Pushniak Dyer’s Wife – Mina-Liisa Värelä Apparition of Youth – Martin Mitterrutzner Voice of the Falcon – Lea-ann Dunbar Voice from Above – Christa Mayer Guardian of the Threshold of the Temple – Nikola Hillebrand The One-Eyed – Rafael Fingerlos The One-Armed – Tilmann Rönnebeck The Hunchback – Tansel Akzeyebek Children’s V ..read more

Images: Monika Rittershaus Brünnhilde (Anja Kampe) Wotan/Wanderer – Tomas Konieczny Donner, Gunther – Roman Trekel Froh – Siyabonga Maqungo Loge – Rolando Villazón Fricka – Claudia Mahnke Freia – Anett Fritsch Erda, Rossweisse – Anna Kissjudit Alberich – Johannes Martin Kränzle Mime – Stephan Rügamer Fasolt – Matthew Rose Fafner – Peter Rose Woglinde – Evelin Novak Wellgunde – Natalia Skrycka Flosshilde, Siegrune – Ekaterina Chayka-Rubinstein Siegmund – Robert Watson Sieglinde – Vida Miknevičutė Hunding – René Pape Brünnhilde – Anja Kampe Gerhilde – Clara Nadeshdin Helmwige – Chris ..read more

PIQUE DAME von Pjotr I. Tschaikowskij, Premiere am 9. März 2024 in der Deutschen Oper Berlin, copyright: Marcus Lieberenz Countess (Doris Soffel) and Hermann (Martin Muehle) Hermann – Martin Muehle Tomsky – Lucio Gallo Prince Yeletsky – Thomas Lehman Chekalinsky – Chance Jonas-O’Toole Surin – Kyle Miller Chaplitsky – Andrew Dickinson Narumov – Artur Garbas Master of Ceremonies – Jörg Schörner The Countess – Doris Soffel Lisa – Maria Motolygina Pauline – Karia Tucker Governess – Nicole Piccolomini Masha – Arianna Manganello Children’s commander – Sofia Kaspruk Little Hermann – Alek ..read more

Konzerthaus Mendelssohn: Symphony no.4 in A major, op.90, ‘Italian’ Mendelssohn: Hymne, op.96 Stravinsky: Symphonies of Wind Instruments Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms Denis Uzun (mezzo-soprano) Berlin Radio Chorus (chorus director: Philipp Ahmann) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Martyn Brabbins (conductor) Mendelssohn and Stravinsky might not seem the most obvious bedfellows, but this Berlin Radio Symphony (RSB) concert, originally planned with Andrew Davis but conducted by Martyn Brabbins, offered pause for thought as well as enjoyment. Both composers had fraught relationships either wit ..read more

Kammermusiksaal Mendelssohn: Psalm 115, ‘Nicht unserm Namen, Herr’, MWV A 9 Fanny Hensel: Hiob Mendelssohn: Ave Maria, op.23 no.2, MWV B 19 Mendelssohn: Hör mein Bitten, MWV B 49 Bach: Cantata, ‘Die Elenden sollen essen’, BWV 75: Sinfonia to the second part Mendelssohn: Psalm 114, ‘Da Israel aus Ägypten zog,’ op.51 Anna Prohaska (soprano) Benjamin Bruns (tenor) Ludwig Mittelhammer (bass) RIAS Chamber Choir Kammerakademie Potsdam Justin Doyle (conductor) A delightful and enlightening concert from the RIAS Chamber Choir, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Justin Doyle, and an excellent trio of vocal so ..read more

Philharmonie Schoenberg: Piano Concerto, op.42 Mahler: Symphony no.1 Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Petr Popelka (conductor) Images: Peter Meisel The world’s near-silence for Schoenberg’s anniversary year continues to deafen. Perhaps everywhere is waiting for September, when his birthday falls, and all will be revealed in a flurry of ‘new season’ announcements. And perhaps eternal Friede will descend upon the Erde this Christmas. In the meantime, Berlin, mostly at the Philharmonie, where there is an exhibition from the Arnold Schönberg Center in t ..read more

Amfortas – Jordan Shanahan Titurel – Andrew Harris Gurnemanz – Günther Groissböck Parsifal – Klaus Florian Vogt Kundry – Irene Roberts Klingsor – Joachim Göltz Knights of the Grail – Patrick Cook, Youngkwang Oh Esquires – Sua Jo, Arianna Manganello, Kieran Carrel, Chance Jonas-O’Toole Flowermaidens – Flurina Stucki, Sua Jo, Arianna Manganello, Hye-Young Moon, Mechot Marrero, Marie-Luise Dreßen Voice from Above – Marie-Luise Dreßen Director – Philipp Stölzl Co-director – Mara Kurotschka Set designs – Conrad Moritz Reinhardt, Philipp Stölzl Costumes – Kathi Maurer Lighting – Ulrich Niepel Revi ..read more

Pierre Boulez Saal Jonathan Harvey: String Quartet no.1 (1977) Cathy Milliken: In Speak for string quartet (2023, world premiere) Toshio Hosokawa: Oreksis for piano quintet (2023, world premiere) Birtwistle: String Quartet: The Tree of Strings (2007) Irvine Arditti, Ashot Sarkissjan (violins) Ralf Ehlers (viola) Lucas Fels (cello)  Tomoki Kitamura (piano) On 7 March 1974, the Arditti Quartet gave its first concert at the Royal Academy of Music, music to honour Krzysztof Penderecki on bestowal of an honorary degree. Fifty years later to the day and several changes of personnel later ..read more