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Karita Mattila and Jane Archibald machen die Ariadne auf Naxos der Royal Opera ein Muss.

Elin Pritchard’s Amelia lights up an evening which is superb musically, easy on the eye and eventually overcomes the shortcomings of Antonio Somma's libretto.

Deftly conducted by Charlotte Corderoy, Cecilia Stinton's new production of Rossini's immortal comedy brims with fun.

The Norwegian soprano scores a major success at Covent Garden in her role debut as Elisabetta, whetting appetites for more Verdi to come. 

Sir Mark Elder conducts The Hallé in a stirring semi-staged production of Madama Butterfly.

A change of tenor mid-performance adds further drama to a night at the opera in Covent Garden...

Red-blooded performances from the three principals at Covent Garden, even if there are vocal misfires along the way. 

Musically, WNO gets it right. Straightforward brilliance is the order of the day, and plenty of it.

Opera North's Salome, conducted by Sir Richard Armstrong at Leeds Town Hall, caught the seductive frenzy of the opera.

The ninth revival of Jonathan Kent’s production features a great Act 1 and enjoyable Covent Garden role debuts for the three top singers, but misses the mark on the set pieces.

A mural depicting Etna erupting is the only hint of Sicily in Stefan Herheim’s opulent staging, returning to Covent Garden for the first time since the Royal Opera’s Verdi bicentenary celebrations in 2013. 

A fresh, yet traditional Magic Flute at Longborough uses puppetry to bring an atmosphere of fairytale onto the stage, with fine singing from a strong cast. 

Grange Park Opera scored a direct hit with a fine production of Janáček's masterpiece, led by a superb performances from Natalya Romaniw and Susan Bullock as Jenůfa and the Kostelnička.

Woefully stiff acting lets down an otherwise excellent production; Joseph Calleja impresses in his role début as Cavaradossi.

Concluding its "Belief and Beyond Belief" series, the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yazushi Ono also completes its 2016-2017 concert season. 

A musically excellent and unpretentious performance of Puccini's masterpiece from Cardiff.

Strong vocal and orchestral performances and a tour-de-force staging of Act II light up Grange Park's production of Verdi's political thriller of the dark days of the Spanish inquisition.

Using Stephen Medcalf’s 2008 staging, this opening night of love and loneliness was a feast for the eyes, a musical triumph and a dramatic tour-de-force that tugged at the heart strings.

A spirited performance of Verdi's beloved work highlighted the virtues of opera in concert.

School’s out for summer and with it the opportunity for the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists to showcase their talents in the end of term main stage performance. 

Rarely performed, Verdi's fifth opera Ernani is full of fiery passions, with a relentless flow of melodic invention, as heard in this concert performance by Chelsea Opera Group. 

Any revival of La traviata stands or falls by its principals and their ability to inhabit the roles rather than merely sing them prettily. A good revival director helps. 

Chelsea Opera Group presents the strongest case imaginable for Massenet’s Le Roi de Lahore, with Michael Spyres, no less, as the King. 

If you want to have your operatic head seriously messed with, imagine the following: Così fan tutte staged on the Act I/IV set of John Copley’s soon-to-be-mothballed La bohème, which closed with a double performance on Saturday afternoon and evening. Throw in Don Alfonso sporting frock coat, wig and cane, looking for all the world like Baron Scarpia, and the mash-up of references had my head spinning.

From Studio to Stage was the name of this year’s summer performance by young artists on the Jette Parker programme at the Royal Opera House. The programme includes not only singers but also conductors/répétiteurs, a pianist, a lighting designer and stage director Pedro Ribeiro, who surely wins the prize for best headshot.

Last night’s Covent Garden revival of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra was a study in time slips. On stage, there is the 25 year slip between the end of the prologue, when Simon is named Doge of Genoa, and the dramatic events of Act I. There is the 24 year gap between the disastrous première of the original opera and the triumph of the heavily revised 1881 version.

Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin is one of the most beautiful scores in the operatic repertoire, and I don’t blame people who come to it looking forward to immersing themselves in the warm bath of the familiar story and music.