Ashton: Rhapsody / The Two Pigeons (The Royal Ballet)

Natalia Osipova (Rhapsody); Steven McRae (Rhapsody); Lauren Cuthbertson (The Young Girl (The Two Pigeons)); Vadim Muntagirov (The Young Man (The Two Pigeons)); Fumi Kaneko (The Two Pigeons (The Two Pigeons)); Ryoichi Hirano (The Two Pigeons (The Two Pigeons));

"Watching the Frederick Ashton double bill now installed at Covent Garden, we see yet again how varied, how beguiling are Ashton’s dance ideas, how elegantly they wear their music, and how flattering they are to their interpreters. Steven McRae dances, blazing through steps, turning with an incandescent bravura, cutting tremendous shapes in the air, wrapping the score round himself, with Paganini (and Baryshnikov) evoked just as awestruck legend has told us. And thus Natalia Osipova, holding Ashton up to the light of her artistry that we may admire the facets and bright-cutting of her dances and his inventions, and moving with the delight in a role that marks her great gift." (Financial Times ★★★★★)

Ballet du Capitole: Trois ballets de Kader Belarbi

Davit Galstyan (Le Corsaire (Le Corsaire)); Maria Gutierrez (La Belle Esclave (Le Corsaire)); Julie Loria (The Beauty (La Bête et la Belle)); Takafumi Watanabe (The Beast (La Bête et la Belle)); Artjom Maksakov (Roi Ferrante (La Reine Morte)); Maria Gutierrez (Dona Ines De Castro (La Reine Morte));

"… all the markings of one of the classic ballets: It had romance, spectacle and drama, and it was beautiful." (The Times - La Bête et La Belle)

Ballet for Children

"Music Web International - (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (What a treat this is - such an imaginative treatment of a favourite story )

Baranowski: 1984 (Northern Ballet)

Tobias Batley (Winston Smith); Martha Leebolt (Julia); Javier Torres (O'Brien); Hironao Takahashi (Mr Charrington); Giuliano Contadini (Parsons); Kevin Poeung (Ampleforth); Ashley Dixon (Martin); Victoria Sibson (Lead Prole);

"This is gripping storytelling" (The Stage ★★★★)

Barber: Vanessa (Glyndebourne)

Emma Bell (Vanessa); Virginie Verrez (Erika); Edgaras Montvidas (Anatol); Rosalind Plowright (The Old Baroness); Donnie Ray Albert (The Old Doctor); Romanas Kudriašovas (Footman); William Thomas (Nicholas, the Major-Domo);

" ... this is intelligent music theatre that proves consistently gripping. Musically, it’s hugely impressive, too. Bell gives one of her finest performances to date, beautifully acted, her voice soaring with elation and anguish, even as Vanessa becomes increasingly deluded as to Anatol’s true nature. Montvidas is all seductive elegance, but his charm can turn to cynicism in a flash when his guard is down, and we fully understand why Verrez’s proud, sensual Erika finds him both so attractive and so suspicious. Plowright strikingly suggests a woman whose view of the present is haunted by the sadness of her own memories, while Albert convinces as a man who can mend men’s bodies, but singularly fails to understand their souls. Jakub Hrůša, conducting with tremendous passion, really opens the emotional floodgates, sweeping us away in the big set pieces, while the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s playing is at once sumptuous and superbly detailed." (The Guardian ★★★★)

Baroque Opera Classics (Various)

Sally Matthews (Deidamia (Deidamia)); Veronica Cangemi (Nerea (Deidamia); Iole (Ercole Amante)); Luca Pisaroni (Ercole (Ercole Amante)); Anders J. Dahlin (Zoroastre (Zoroastre)); Marina Comparato (Adriano (Adriano in Siria)); Lucia Cirillo (Emirena (Adriano in Siria)); Anna Bonitatibus (Didone (La Didone)); Kresimir Spicer (Enea (La Didone)); Lenka Máčiková (Marquise Clarice (Dove)); Aleš Briscein (Count Orazio (Dove));

"Alden's approach is lightly ironic, matching well with a piece that treats its material with a knowing air...Ivor Bolton and Concerto Koln provide the expert musical underpinning. Sally Matthews shines as a vocally and physically poised Deidamia, Olga Pasichnyk emphasises the lusty young man hiding beneath Achille's skirts, and Silvia Tro Santafe's Ulisse presents him with a credible rival." (BBC Music Magazine - Deidamia ★★★★)