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Individual performances impress, but conducting and production both prove too meandering in this year’s Wagner Days Tannhäuser.

A mad March hare, a murdered child, a hypochondriac prince, and a roomful of dead wives make for a stellar concert by the Houston Symphony Orchestra. 

The Grand Théâtre de Genève is certainly not risk-averse and Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó controversially translates the action to a penthouse bar in New York.

Dmitri Tcherniakov’s staging of Rusalka in Naples has a starkly modern visual style which occasionally dilutes the story’s emotional impact.

András Almási-Toth production of the original version of Mussorgsky's historical epic underwhelms in Budapest. 

Balázs Kovalik’s interpretation of Elektra is revived in Budapest, impressing until the B-movie cliché finale. 

A strong cast and a masterclass in Wagnerian conducting from Jakub Hrůša complement David Alden’s disturbing staging.

Szilveszter Ókovács' new production matches the opulent venue in all its eye-candy, with dazzling costumes, dark sets large crowds, and rapid scenic changes made possible by a newly installed mechanical stage. 

A performance of highs and lows with a stellar step-in from Lidia Fridman as Lucrezia Borgia and a confused production by Ferenc Anger plays at the Palace of Arts.

The Hungarian State Opera presents a new modern production of Don Carlo by a director who depicts the historical cruelty as very much present in our world today.

London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir paint a terrifying picture of hell and damnation at the Royal Festival Hall.

From stylised 16th-century dress to a 1970s sitcom ballet, Konwitschny's Staatsoper staging is full of brilliantly inventive touches, splendidly realised in this excellently sung revival. 

Performing arts duo Ricci/Forte throw what feels like the entire directorial arsenal at this production.

Perhaps feeling that the drama and emotion of the Ring Cycle wasn't enough for one year, Antonio Pappano assembled a strong quartet and deployed the ROH's forces in a powerful, moving performance of Verdi's Messa da Requiem.

An astonishing performance by Asmik Grigorian is central to the Italian director's disturbing reading of a disturbing opera. 

Stephen Gould is less than convincing in the lead role of Tannhäuser, but excellent ensemble work under Ádám Fischer's inspired direction offers compensations.

Oliver von Dohnányi leads a great orchestral performance to drive Meyerbeer's grand historical epic, lit up by sparkling coloratura from Klára Kolonits.

With Gergely Kesselyák on double duty as conductor and director, this revival proves musically outstanding but theatrically less than satisfying.

The LSO’s pedigree in Berlioz is second to none so La Damnation de Faust acted as the perfect showcase in its “This is Rattle” festival. 

A warhorse on its own, Kálmán Nádasdy's 79-year-old production works surprisingly well, providing a nice evening's entertainment with a dedicated cast.

The Marx Brothers famously sent up Verdi's middle period masterpiece in A Night at the Opera and if Bösch doesn't exactly send up Trovatore's corrosive cocktail of infanticide, jealousy and vengeance, he undermines it with his staging.

Hungarian critic Sandor Hevesy once declared that Bluebeard’s Castle was “far too dark”. Yet, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Miraculous Mandarin are probably the summation of his orchestral journey. And what better experience then making it to Budapest, to hear it in its birthplace?

Christof Loy’s minimalist staging for Khovanshchina at Dutch National Opera has the advantage of clarifying a reputedly fragmented plot. 

The devil may not get all the best tunes in Gounod’s Faust, but Gábor Bretz certainly stole the show in this new production at Hungarian State Opera. 

Two Eastern European masterpieces were given gripping readings by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Edward Gardner.

Les occasions d’entendre les Gurrelieder d’Arnold Schönberg ne sont pas si fréquentes.

Capitalising on their success with Verdi’s opera Rigoletto during the Aix-en-Provence Festival in the summer, the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Gianandrea Noseda chose to open the 2013/14 season last night with the same work.

Il Trovatore has doggedly survived in opera’s hit charts despite dispensing generous quantities of hair-raising as well as eyebrow-raising content. Verdi’s music is intoxicating, of course, but there is something to this work that makes it accessible beyond reasoning.

If director Luc Bondy has a muse, it’s the Georgian baritone George Gagnidze, blessed with a bulging eyes and a big, craggy voice. After growling and sneering his way through Scarpia in Bondy’s much-maligned Metropolitan Opera production of “Tosca,” Gagnidze is back to do the same to the title role of “Rigoletto” in Bondy’s new production at the Wiener Festwochen.