On Saturday, 29th March, The BBC will broadcast the opera live from 17:50 on Radio 3. Audiences around the world can listen on bbc.co.uk and hear why the critics have outdone themselves in reaching for the superlatives:
“Richard Strauss’s big year won’t get any better than this…the evening belongs primarily to Semyon Bychkov and the orchestra. The Russian conductor makes fewer than the usual theatre cuts, and unfolds the music so expansively and organically that these barely register. His players revel intoxicatingly in the lush string writing and the glinting tapestry of winds and tuned percussion that so beguile the ear. The fortissimo climaxes are awesome. In sum, it is hard to imagine any other UK operatic outfit trumping Covent Garden’s bold and magnificent offering later in this Strauss year. The box office deserves to be stormed for the remaining four performances.” – Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times