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The Baden-Baden Easter Festival presents an extraordinary performance of Elektra, with Nina Stemme in the title role and the Berliner Philharmoniker, led by Kirill Petrenko, in a stark and modern production. 

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. 

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.

Two sopranos bring intensity and tenderness to Strauss’ powerful opera in a revival of the timeless production by Patrice Chéreau.

Orchestra and singers reached great heights in this highly lyrical and dramatically flowing Frau ohne Schatten conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

As the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall closes for extensive refurbishment, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performs early, massive Mahler under Simone Young. 

Barenboim conducts Otto Nicolai's Falstaff opera with a warmth and affection that is sorely lacking on stage. 

Designer/director Antony McDonald treads a perfectly weighted path between light and dark of the fairytale; conductor Sebastian Weigle cooks up a Wagnerian storm; Michaela Schuster steals the show. A treat.

Guth's incisive staging of Strauss and Hofmannsthal's grandest opera proves a moving and detailed experience at its transfer to the reopened Staatsoper. 

Petrenko's Puccini is bracingly alert, filled with colour and has a romantic sweep that is utterly transporting.

"She commands the stage, she commands the notes, she commands the tension": Christine Goerke's portrayal of Elektra haunts The Met. 

Henrik Nánási balances the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House to perfection, setting the stage for a memorable title role performance from Byström and a powerful Jochanaan from Michael Volle.

A musical performance of stunning quality underpins this revival of Krzysztof Warlikowski's lavish, ambiguous Strauss staging.

Zubin Mehta's conducting is a disappointment, but Guth's remarkable production makes powerful sense of Strauss and Hofmannsthal's rich fairy tale. 

After seven years at the helm, Andris Nelsons gave his last performance with the CBSO at Symphony Hall. His future in Boston is secured, but what of the CBSO?

The second opera of the Ring Cycle in Vienna brought the best out of the orchestra and singers with a sweeping and breath taking reading of the score by Sir Simon Rattle.

Vienna Staatsoper revived Wagner's Ring Cycle with a splendid orchestral performance of Das Rheingold led by Sir Simon Rattle.

Amber Wagner sings Elisabeth with a deepened command and an access to a horizon of sound that make it seem as though her throat had found six more inches of release. It’s a phenomenal performance.

With its minimalist but grandiose sets, the imposing sound of the Choir of the Dutch National Opera and the excellent conducting of Marc Albrecht, there is much to be enjoyed in this revival of Pierre Audi’s Lohengrin in Amsterdam.

Semyon Bychkov gave a reading of such clarity and quality that everything seemed obvious. In his hands, the orchestra was a precision instrument, and for Strauss fans, whether or not you like Claus Guth's staging, this production is a must-see.

As the year of Wagner’s bicentennial approaches its end, De Nederlandse Opera concludes its latest revival of Pierre Audi’s Ring cycle with his 1998 production of Götterdämmerung.

In the Royal Opera revival of Richard Strauss’s Elektra, the overwhelming theme is blood, both metaphorical and literal.

Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal began their collaboration on Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow) with utopian ambitions. Unfortunately they weren’t the same ones. For Hofmannsthal, this would finally be the opera where his poetry would be illuminated by rather than buried under the music.

My last opera of the year was also my first Wagner: a new Covent Garden production of Tannhäuser, directed by Tim Albery and conducted by Semyon Bychkov.First things first: Bychkov was magnificent.

Giacomo Puccini comprehensively eclipsed the other Italian composers of his era. Three of them remain in the repertoire as one hit wonders: Mascagni, Leoncavallo and Francesco Cilea, whose four act Adriana Lecouvreur opened at Covent Garden last night.