Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English | Peter Kálmán

Sir David McVicar's Figaro has been delighting audiences at the Royal Opera House since 2006. Is this its final outing? 

Martin Kušej gives Mozart and Da Ponte's commedia per musica a sinister mafia setting, which is low on laughs but outstandingly performed, led by Lea Desandre's charismatic Cherubino.

With Iréne Theorin's Brünnhilde rejuvenated, the Ring receives a worthy finale at the Budapest Wagner Days.

Michael Grandage's vivid production of Mozart's comic masterpiece is fast becoming a classic and is revived here to a very high standard.

The Master and Margarita is a spectacular extravaganza indeed, streamed from Hungarian State Opera's Eiffel Art Studios.

An enchanting production, imaginative, amusing and suitable for children of all ages.

A Ring cycle of sustained excellence closes with telling contributions from Foster, Vinke and Pesendorfer in the three lead roles.

Müpa's Ring sees all-round musical excellence for a third night in row, which will be remembered more than the various distracting miscues in the staging.

Hartmut Schörghofer's updated concert staging receives strong singing from everyone and a thrilling orchestral performance.

Laurent Pelly’s elegant musical stave production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, from the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, charms and delights at the Edinburgh International Festival.

The final instalment of the Hong Kong Philharmonic's Ring cycle merits the orchestra joining the international big league. 

In one of Bartoli's rare appearances on stage in the UK, she gave an utterly compelling performance as opera's ultimate woman scorned.

A recent production of Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma starred Cecilia Bartoli, the great mezzo who lives close by, and whom the Zürcher like to claim as one of their own.

“Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It’s a bum’s life,” stated the late, great Marlon Brando. Felix Breisach took this idea to heart when staging his modernized Figaro in a mental institution.

Verdi’s Otello opens with a fierce storm raging over Cyprus. In Rossini’s version, composed 71 years earlier in 1816, the composer eschewed the Cypriot setting entirely and the storm doesn’t take place until Act III, although last night a mighty crack of thunder resounded over the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées as the audience filed into the opera house. 

It often takes time to adjust to Nikolaus Harnoncourt's tempi, but this concert performance of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro enabled the audience to discover new colours in a well known score. 

A year of theatre refurbishment leaves Scottish Opera with only three and half full productions this season, so the spotlight turned firmly onto this Don Giovanni from director Sir Thomas Allen, designer Simon Higlett and lighting designer Mark Jonathan.

When Jean-Christophe Spinosi stepped onto the podium to conduct Le Comte Ory that night, he didn’t wait for his applause to cease, but instantly cued a hearty forte from the Ensemble Matheus, and consequently a few incredulous looks from the audience.

Giulio Cesare, an opera populated with manipulative characters that only interact with each other when shared interests are at stake, is a receptive vessel for a scornful indictment of imperialism and the dubious alliances it forges.