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Harry Kupfer's vivid and enlightening production came alive by soprano Anja Kampe's courageous performance and by conductor Oksana Lyniv's briliant direction.

Munich revived a thoughtful modern production of Janáček's Jenůfa, with fine orchestral direction and strong singing doing full justice to the rich score.

Martin Kušej's production of La forza del destino is hard hitting and intelligent: an imperfect orchestral performance is more than compensated for by an outstanding cast of singers.

Warlokowski's staging of Eugene Onegin for the Bayerische Staatsoper works from a bold premise: Onegin is gay. Strong musical and dramatic performances keep the concept coherent and interesting, but it ultimately doesn't convince.

A perfect cast and great conducting make the Bayerische Staatsoper's Die Walküre thrilling and memorable.

In this minimalist period production of Figaro, the singing and acting are the centre of attention. A very talented cast carries the show, delivering beautiful singing and engaging comedy.

The Bayerische Staatsoper presents an ugly, brutal staging of Zimmermann's Die Soldaten – which is exactly as it should be. Barbara Hannigan's Marie steals the show, but the entire cast manage seemingly impossible musical and dramatic feats.

A fine cast and a traditional staging of a beloved classic results in a memorable night at the opera.

Munich revives La traviata showcasing Diana Damrau, who is growing into one of the best Violettas to grace the opera stage today.

La Traviata is such a warhorse that we often forget how many issues it raises for presenting a staging that can convince us of what is in the first analysis a quite ludicrous story, despite Verdi's veristic intentions.

The plight of the introvert, stigmatised by society despite the many benefits of their contemplative natures and inner strength, is an important part of the contemporary Zeitgeist, but it is in fact nothing new.

Although written many years before Rossini's The Barber of Seville, the story of The Marriage of Figaro is in fact the sequel to that of the later opera. This farcical masterpiece of the opera buffa style was the first of three operas Mozart worked on with the Italian librettist Lorenzo da Ponte and was a risky undertaking.