Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English | Ante Jerkunica

Fine musical performances blend with staggering video artistry in Aleu's spectacular science-fiction setting.

Using the misogyny and violence of Rigoletto to hold up a mirror to contemporary corruption, Lindy Hume's production overcomes its inconsistencies with a vivid blend of theatrical and musical values. 

Dmitri Tcherniakov's staging turns Rimsky-Korsakov's opera into storytelling for an autistic boy, but does he deliver a fairy tale ending? 

Osborn absolutely lives the part; he negotiated formidable heights, intricate passage work and the sheer volume of notes with style and clarity as well as colour and nuance. 

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

Semyon Bychkov turned in a magisterial account of Mussorgsky's rugged score, aided and abetted by some strong vocal performances.

“Love, love, love… that is the soul of genius,” said Mozart. In no other work does he demonstrate this affirmation more compellingly than in his forever-beloved opera, Die Zauberflöte. 

Meyerbeer's little performed work is given an enthusiastic rendering, with star singing from a big cast led by Flórez, Ciofi and Jerkunica. David Alden's quality Personenregie makes up for some unconvincing setting choices.

Kasper Holten's new production fails to convince about the alleged virtues of Wagner's outcast comic opera.

Full of melodic treasures hidden for ages, Anton Rubinstein's The Demon answers the most demanding expectations.

The lack of shock value in Calixto Bieito’s interpretation of Wagner's Tannhäuser premiering at the Vlaamse Opera in Ghent could almost be seen as a disappointment. All the more surprising then was the romantic intimacy created in this superlatively sung production.

James Gaffigan, aided by a fine cast of soloists led by the full-blooded Rigoletto of Dimitri Platanias, demonstrated that Verdi's powerfully dramatic music does not need staging to keep the audience captivated.

A respectable performance by Deutsche Oper Berlin, raised to another level by Nina Stemme in the title role

Pop culture baggage and a notorious story aside, La Gioconda at the Deutsche Oper amuses and intrigues.

Attila, Verdi’s ode to Italy (one of them), made its world première in Venice to huge bursts of patriotic feeling. “You can have the universe, but leave Italy for me!” exclaimed the Roman general Ezio, and the audience erupted. Small wonder: the opera appeared at the height of the Risorgimento, when Italy was in the process of unifying into one state.

Georges Bizet’s first major opera, composed and performed in Paris when he was a mere 25, has the dubious distinction of being both a success and a flop, depending on who is asked. Audiences at the première loved it, but critics panned it.