Performer: Stefan Berkieta

Krisztian Lada's thoughtful production goes to the dark heart of ETA Hoffmann's stories, mixing Offenbach's deceptively cheerful music with staging that is always impactful and sometimes gross.

Music, singing and movement blend together in a powerfully moving double bill of French Tragedy, Les Malheurs d’Orphée and Le Vin herbé  at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.   

The early Handel opera Agrippina is given a rare and playful outing at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with clear Italian singing, joyous Baroque playing and lively stage production.

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s opera singers and chamber orchestra are on top form with a moving and thoughtful production of Britten’s Owen Wingrave.

If you’ve never been to a grand-scale choral work at the Royal Albert Hall, I’d urge you to do so at the earliest opportunity. This wasn’t my first visit to the Proms, and I’ve experienced oratorios, requiems and passions galore in other places, but to hear hundreds of accomplished singers filling this vast circular space was new territory for me. The hall seemed made for the occasion.