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At MusikTheater an der Wien, Miroslav Srnka’s new opera provess a deeply compelling, meticulously crafted work. It may not uplift, but it sears itself into the memory.

For the first time in its 165-year subscription series, a female conductor leads a Vienna Philharmonic subscription concert. 

Under the baton of Domingo Hindoyan, the Tonkünstler brings Latin America and Dvořák's New World Symphony to the Musikverein. 

Damiano Michieletto directs a slick and frequently hilarious staging of Prokofiev's comic opera Betrothal in a Monastery. 

Maurice Ravel the orchestrator takes centre stage at the Musikverein in an evening of descriptive aural painting. 

In a week where Vienna welcomes two new productions of Bellini's Norma, MusikTheater an der Wien sets a high bar with Vasily Barkhatov's staging. 

Muti's Mozart with the Vienna Philharmonic is unfashionably well-upholstered, but their Dvořák New World Symphony is full of satisfying detail. 

Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen returns to Sven-Eric Bechtolf's lean but polished production with an outstanding cast, outstandingly conducted. 

Omer Meir Wellber’s Mozart-Ullmann mash-up sounds like a terrible idea, but absolutely hits the mark. 

A “baptism by fire”... but not for Klaus Mäkelä, making his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Musikverein in Mahler's Sixth Symphony. 

When is The Nutcracker not The Nutcracker? When's it's mashed together with Tchaikovsky's Iolanta to represent the blind princess’ inner world in a dark interpretation. 

A haunting, musically compelling impression of a woman whose life was shaped by creation, loss, and unfulfilled thirst for personal expression.

At 70 years old, American tenor Gregory Kunde makes a magnificent role debut as Captain Vere, with a strong ensemble of singers, chorus, and orchestra in Willy Decker's effective production.

The Budapest Festival Orchestra travel up the Danube, bringing Brahms back to Vienna with affectionate, passionate performances of the Violin Concerto and the Third Symphony. 

Lotte de Beer’s new retelling at the Volksoper reintroduces the element of shock into Bizet's popular opera. 

Peter Kellner and Slávka Zámečníková's charming duo anchors this revival of Barrie Kosky's high spirited production.

Karina Canellakis brings her Netherlands Radio Philharmonic to the Musikverein, joined by Emanuel Ax in Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto. 

What do you get for the composer who made – and also kind of broke – everything? Arnold Schoenberg’s well-documented phobia of the number 13 aside, he could not have asked for a superior tribute in his 150th anniversary year.

Even if Igor Levit is not quite in his wheelhouse with Brahms, the Vienna Philharmonic plays a home game in the second half with his D major symphony. 

Martin G Berger exhaustively reworks the story and the libretto of Salieri's Cublai, gran kan de' Tartari and throws the kitchen sink at this new production, but not everything lands well. 

Elīna Garanča's Kundry proves the star of Kirill Serebrennikov's prison staging of Parsifal, a powerful exploration of religion and violence. 

In the sacred golden temple that is the Musikverein, Martha Argerich plays Ravel's saucy Piano Concerto in G major, before the Philharmoniker and Zubin Mehta play Bruckner's Seventh Symphony. 

The Estonian Festival Orchestra revels in Dvořák and Tchaikovsky on the Vienna leg of its European tour with Paavo Järvi. 

Lydia Steier's new production of Candide is a kaleidoscopic celebration of Leonard Bernstein's varied musical idioms. 

A revival of Adrian Noble’s abstract and dark production of Verdi’s Otello fields a strong cast led by Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier and Rachel Willis-Sørensen. 

Vincent Huguet's 2019 production of Richard Strauss‘ masterpiece is given a stupendous revival at the Wiener Staatsoper with an excellent ensemble of soloists.

The first premiere of the new Staatsoper season is a qualified success, led by Eleanora Buratto's superb Suor Angelica and Ambrogio Maestri's masterly Gianni Schicchi in Puccini's triptych of one-act operas. 

A strong cast led by an energetic Pablo Heras-Casado struggles in the revival of Jürgen Flimm's ill-conceived 2012 production.

Sven-Erich Bechtolf's staging of Wagner's Ring returns with Franz Welser-Möst at the helm for the final time, having recently announced his retirement of the cycle from his repertoire. 

Marlene Monteiro Freitas directs her first opera, in which Lulu, if not buried alive, is certainly left completely unrecognizable. 

Erich Korngold and Arnold Schoenberg – Viennese emigrés in Hollywood – formed the unlikely pairing in the Ukrainian conductor's Konzerthaus programme. 

Nikita Boris-Glebsky, Narek Hakhnazaryan and Georgy Tchaidze are joined in Vienna by a trio of percussionists to unlock the secrets behind Shostakovich's enigmatic final symphony. 

Vasily Barkhatov directs a new production of Mieczysław Weinberg's rarely staged, massive and unwieldy opera at the MuseumsQuartier. 

Brad Mehldau’s song cycle is a disappointment, the texts selected under the rubric of “desire” proving a major concern.

Despite an incapacitated Ying Fang miming the role of Susanna, the brilliant cast makes Barrie Kosky's new production worth the night out in Vienna. 

Some conductors get better with age, ripening like fine wines, but age wearies others. Daniel Barenboim’s decline is difficult to bear.

Already a psychodrama as written, the Salome according to Cyril Teste takes us deeper into what makes the protagonist – or is she a tragic heroine? – into who she is.

“Lima darf nicht Österreich werden!” Offenbach's operetta is set in Lima, but really it’s Vienna in director Nikolaus Habjan uproarious production. 

The French pianist steps in to join the American diva in the Musikverein for a program of French and German art song. 

Stoyanova’s extraordinary performance as the Feldmarschallin made 394th revival of Otto Schenk’s 1968 production of Der Rosenkavalier an occasion to savor.

There is magic aplenty in director Stefan Herheim’s bold recontextualization of Gian Carlo Menotti's holiday opera. 

They may seem like an odd pairing, but Wang and Kavakos defy the naysayers yet again, warming into a fascinating recital in Vienna.

Founded in 1988 by Claudio Abbado, Wien Modern is perfect for the contemporary-music curious, such as this complete traversal of George Crumb's masterpiece, housed in an art nouveau theater on Steinhof. 

In the Brahms Saal, Marc-André Hamelin juxtaposes three Russian composers with Schubert’s long misunderstood final piano sonata.

Herheim’s maiden voyage in his new capacity as Intendant confirms his ability to deftly negotiate a less-than-straightforward work with care and ambition and add his own voice enthusiastically to the mix.

An energized cast delivers in a visually eye-popping production as Monteverdi's opera appears at the Haus am Ring for the very first time. 

Pretty Yende and John Osborn bring star quality to this revival of John Dew’s Vienna staging of Bellini's Civil War opera.

A more thoughtful and intentional artist is hard to come by today, and one who graces the Musikverein donning fabulous silver shoes on top of her pianistic gifts must be heaven-sent. 

The grand finale of the Oslo Philharmonic's Sibelius cycle at the Wiener Konzerthaus ends with a grand finale – the famous Swan Hymn of the Fifth Symphony.

Bleak landscapes in the Fourth Symphony as the Oslo Philharmonic’s Sibelius cycle continues at the Wiener Konzerthaus.