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Some last-minute changes in the programme undermine the success of a promising evening at Santa Cecilia.

Unlike many Flutes, David McVicar's 2003 production treats Mozart's score as a proper opera, albeit with romp instead of pomp. 

Kasper Holten's psychological take on the louche lothario remains controversial, but in its third revival, Erwin Schrott's powerful assumption of the title role is a delight.

Uwe Eric Laufenberg sets his new staging of Wagner's final opera among the persecuted Christians of the contemporary Middle East – but avoids preaching.

Tim Albery's 2010 production of Tannhäuser, receiving its first revival at Covent Garden, begins with a stylish opening 20 minutes, but thereafter things become rather bland. 

Adrianne Pieczonka and Anett Fritsch shone in an otherwise disappointing opening night, impaired by poor conducting and unimpressive staging.

As the year of Wagner’s bicentennial approaches its end, De Nederlandse Opera concludes its latest revival of Pierre Audi’s Ring cycle with his 1998 production of Götterdämmerung.

I often think you can tell the quality of an orchestra by looking at the back desks of its string sections, and the players on the fringes of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic play with as much vigour as those at the front; their joy in the music is both visible and audible. The result is a strong and complex string sound, well blended, but with a coolness you don’t get from most German orchestras.

Over a hundred years after its première, Richard Strauss's opera Salome retains its ability to shock. The opera was adapted from Oscar Wilde's retelling of the biblical tale, in which Herod's daughter demands and receives the head of the prophet Jokanaan (John the Baptist) on a silver charger.