Five-star reviews for sensational Salzburg performances of ‘Iolanta’ and ‘Le rossignol’

The first of Ivor's two performances of Tchaikovsky's Iolanta and Stravinsky's Le rossignol at the Salzburg Festival have received rapturous five-star reviews.  The two operas in a double-bill concert performance are sung by a sensational cast of today's very finest singers, including soprano Anna Netrebko, and tenor Piotr Beczala, bass baritones John Relyea and Evgeny Nikitin (in Iolante) and sopranos Julia Novikova and Julia Lezhneva (in Le Rossignol).  A second perfomance, entriely sold-out, will follow this Saturday 20th August. "Ivor Bolton and the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg supported the singers with their equally colourful and richly detailed orchestral timbre, avoiding unnecessary opulence, and...

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Forthcoming Mozart Matinées with star countertenor Bejun Mehta

After the great success of their performances of Le Rossignol and Iolante with a starry cast including soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Piotr Beczala, Ivor and the Mozarteumorchester will appear in two Mozart Matinées later this month with Bejun Mehta, one of the finest countertenors of our day.  Mehta will sing arias from Mozart's Ascanio in Alba and Handel's Agrippina and Riccardo Primo.  The programme also includes Mozart's Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra KV 191 (soloist Philipp Tutzer) and Symphony in G minor KV 550.  Performances take place on 27th and 28th August: Read full article »

German Record Critics’ award for ‘Theodora’

The recent DVD and Bluray release of Handel's Theodora has been awarded the Quarterly Critics' Choice ("Bestenliste") of the German Record Critics' Award Association ("Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik").  The Quarterly Critics' Choice is awarded to new releases of outstanding importance, which merit special attention for quality of interpretation, creativity, and value to the repertoire. Theodora, in a new production by Christof Loy, was recorded live at the Salzburg Festival 2009, with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Ivor Bolton, and is now available online and in stores on the Unitel/C major...

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Press for Salzburg Festival Mozart Matinées

Ivor's first two performances in this year's Salzburg Festival have won high critical praise.  Of Ivor's performance with Julia Fischer and the Mozarteum Orchester on 6th August, Oliver Schneider writes: "Ivor Bolton and the Mozarteum Orchester opened the Matinée with Mozart's 'Paris' Symphony KV 297… The Mozarteum Orchester allowed the festive D major character of the outer movements to ring out with verve.  The trumpets shone brilliantly… As in the first Mozart Matinée, the programme included one of the Salzburg symphonies: the Symphony in C major KV 200… In the introductory Allegro spirituoso, Bolton allowed the dynamic and thematic contrasts...

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Ivor at the Salzburg Festival

As in previous years, Ivor features heavily at this year's Salzburg Festival, now in full swing. He conducts no fewer than four sold-out Mozart Matinées: two concerts on 6th and 7th August which share a programme of Mozart including the Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, K 216, performed by renowned violinist Julia Fischer, and a further two performances on 27th and 28th August with leading countertenor Bejun Mehta. Ivor also conducts two double-bill concert performances on 15th and 20th August of Stravinsky's Le Rossignol and Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, the latter featuring starry soloists Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala.  Both performances are fully...

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Brilliant reviews for Bayerische Staatsoper ‘Mitridate’

Ivor's performances of Mozart's early opera Mitridate at the Bayerische Staatsoper in July has won great critical acclaim.  Ivor conducted the Bavarian State Orchestra in a production by director David Bösch, starring Patricia Petibon, Barry Banks, Lawrence Zazzo and Anna Bonitatibus. "Thanks to Ivor Bolton's sizzling conducting of the playing of the Bavarian State Orchestra, four hours in the theatre passed quickly. I've rarely heard Bolton on such dynamic form, justifying his local reputation as a Handel and Mozart conductor of the highest quality." - Hugh Canning, The Times "Bolton's al fresco conducting style delivers a fresh, crisp and rhetorically pithy sound…"...

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Teatro Real ‘Jenůfa’ now available

Ivor's performance of Janacek's Jenůfa, recorded live at the Teatro Real in October 2009 with Amanda Roocroft in the title role, is now available for purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray.  For more information or to purchase, visit the Opus Arte...

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Forthcoming release of Janáček's 'Jenůfa' on DVD and Blu-ray

Recorded live at the Teatro Real in October 2009, Ivor Bolton conducts Stéphane Braunschweig's production of Jenůfa starring English soprano Amanda Roocroft in one of her signature roles as the opera's heroine, Slovac tenor Miroslav Dvorský as Laca, and the great dramatic soprano Deborah Polaski as Kostelnicka.  Due for release by Opus Arte on DVD and Blu-ray in August this year. "Not only did he [Ivor Bolton] conduct the score superbly, with extraordinary tension and sensitivity throughout, but he drew some truly wonderful playing from his orchestra, significantly better than anything I...

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"Moments of staggering originality": imminent release of Bruckner 6 live recording

Soon to be released is the next instalment on disc of Ivor Bolton's Bruckner cycle with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg. The release in July this year of Symphony No. 6 on Oehms Classics follows previous recordings of Symphonies 3, 5, 7, and 8, which earned high plaudits from the critics: "moments of staggering interpretative originality", (musicwebinternational.com); "Bolton lets emotional enthusiasm for Bruckner's expressive world roam free, and the orchestra follows him, clear and committed, and impresses with it clear phrasing, rich string timbre and cleanly-tuned winds" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 20.01.11, review of Bruckner 8). Symphony No. 6 was recorded live...

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21 July: Ivor's 18th production for the Bayerische Staatsoper

This July will witness Ivor Bolton's 18th production for the Bayerische Staatsoper with a new production of Mozart's Mitridate. Since his debut in 1994, Ivor has conducted a wide range of new productions for the Bayerische Staatsoper, most notably of Monteverdi, Handel and Mozart, and in 1998 he was awarded the prestigious Bayerische Theaterpreis for his outstanding work in Munich. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mitridate, rè di Ponto 21, 24, 26, 29 July 2011 Prinzregententheater, Munich Ivor Bolton- Conductor Barry Banks/Richard Croft - Mitridate Patricia Petibon/Anja Nina Bahrmann - Aspasia Anna Bonitatibus - Sifare Lawrence Zazzo - Farnace Lisette Oropesa - Ismene Alexey Kudrya - Marzio Eri Nakamura - Arbate David...

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