Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Alexander Tsymbalyuk

When in doubt, stage the action in a theatre. Australian director Justin Way gets in the way of Bellini's Norma at the Teatro di San Carlo. 

The Ninth forms a satisfying sequel to the conductor's mastery of the Seventh, marked by rhythmic spring and sonic splendour. 

The Teatro di San Carlo opens its season with Vasily Barkhatov directing a Gen X mish-mash take on Puccini's final opera. 

Tchaikovsky's final opera and ballet were always intended to be paired; at the Royal Albert Hall Petrenko and the RPO present them together in a rewarding double-bill, marred by microphones.

Opening the new opera season, Kent Nagano powerfully directs Mussorgsky's great psychodrama about a famous tsar, marred only by Frank Castorf's visually confusing and symbolically overweighted production. 

Peter Mattei's smooth-as-silk baritone leads a handsome cast in the Metropolitan Opera's bleak new production of Mozart's great dramma giocoso. 

A delayed season opening at the Teatro di San Carlo, but a night of epic grand opera as Claus Guth and Juraj Valčuha deliver a weighty Don Carlo.

Making her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, the wife of Met GM Peter Gelb crushes any talk of nepotism at the downbeat. 

Barrie Kosky's well-travelled staging reaches Naples with fine performances from orchestra, chorus and singers mixed with some questionable musical and directorial decisions.

That Boris was sung by a Ukrainian in times like this might or might not have been a coincidence. But that Alexander Tsymbalyuk was an excellent choice for the role is indisputable. 

A cast comprised of the world’s leading Wagnerians, under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, deserve better than Otto Schenk’s outdated and cartoonish production. 

Carsen's scaled-down Ring makes a timely comeback with a melancholy message of decay.

This year’s NTR ZaterdagMatinee concert series in Amsterdam kicked off with a Boris Godunov that left nothing to be desired.

Amidst mixed vocal performances, competent orchestral playing and spectacular staging, Guanqun Yu took the limelight as a devout and sincere Liù.

Andris Nelsons' Mozart–Shostakovich pairing allowed the Boston Symphony winds to take the spotlight in the first half, leaving the strings and limited percussion to their task in the second. 

The Lyric Opera’s new production of Rigoletto evokes visually the contours and high-contrast relief of a surrealist painting. 

In April, Peter Mattei and Anna Netrebko were starring together in Eugene Onegin at the Metropolitan Opera. Less than a month later and they are reunited in Paris in Willy Decker's staging.

The Stockholm Concert Hall hosts the Göteborg Symphonic Orchestra and Opera Chorus for a concert performance of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov.

An outstanding Azucena and solid vocal and orchestral performances more than make up for David Bösch's unappealing staging.

In Paris, Russian enfant terrible reunites Iolanta with The Nutcracker... with wildly mixed results. 

Riccardo Chailly kicks off his interim role as Principal Director at La Scala with Turandot, featuring Luciano Berio's ending, a score he knows like the back of his hand. 

Nucci's studied performance of the title role in Simon Boccanegra ensured Verdi's drama shone profoundly. 

A mid-19th-century Italian opera with the sound of the human voice front-and-center, and seemingly dependent on the trappings of the theater.

It’s no surprise that Turandot is one of the most performed and best loved operas of all time, coming in at number 15 in the Operabase league table. Its beautiful music and lavish orchestration, along with its very exciting and exotic story are what operatic dreams are made of.

Très attendue, cette nouvelle production – première incursion de l'acteur britannique dans l'opéra – brille surtout par sa beauté et son respect du texte de Tchaïkovski, moins par sa direction d'acteur et sa distribution inégale.

Die Oper Frankfurt präsentiert Boris Godunow in der Schostakowitsch-Fassung – szenisch und musikalisch aufwendig wird die Inszenierung zu einer überwältigenden Ensemble-Leistung.

Deuxième reprise de cette production signée Krzysztof Warlikowski, qui se distingue par une distribution d’une belle homogénéité et la direction raffinée de Simone Young.

Présentée à Garnier en 2018, la mise en scène fascinante d'Ivo van Hove est parfaitement adaptée à la nef de Bastille. Nicole Car se distingue dans une distribution remarquable.

Anna Netrebko gibt an der Bayerischen Staatsoper ein vielschichtiges Debüt als Turandot. Der Abend bleibt dennoch durchwachsen.

Âmes sensibles s'abstenir ! La nouvelle production de Lady Macbeth de Mtsensk à l'Opéra de Paris, dans la mise en scène de Krzysztof Warlikowski, nous montre l’homme dans toute sa crasse et sa noirceur.

Bolton, la Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, el Coro Intermezzo y el reparto solista evidencian durante muchos de los coros y arias el esplendor que la innovación del lenguaje melódico y armónico alcanza en esta pieza, probablemente la ópera de Mozart más injustamente relegada a una posición secundaria dentro de su propio canon.

Mit Richard Wagners Rheingold hat die Bayerische Staatsoper einen soliden Auftakt für den wohl letzten Ring-Zyklus in München unter der Leitung von Kirill Petrenko abgeliefert.

Die Berliner Philharmoniker und ein strahlendes Sängerensemble lassen Tosca auch ohne Szene wirken.

Kirill Petrenko und Harry Kupfer haben mit Schostakowitschs Lady Macbeth von Mzensk neue Maßstäbe an der Bayerischen Staatsoper gesetzt.

Dieter Dorns 1997er Inszenierung bietet gute Unterhaltung, kann aber mit dem Starensemble um Diana Damrau nicht mithalten.

Très attaché à la représentation picturale, Pierre Audi signe ici une mise en scène relativement classique, efficace, laissant libre champs à l’attention portée aux voix plutôt qu’aux divers éléments qui composent les décors, très figuratifs.

Diablement moral donc, et aussi glacial que redoutablement efficace, ce Don Giovanni compte parmi les relectures les plus saisissantes de ce drame que l’on qualifiera difficilement de joyeux.