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Director Dmitri Tcherniakov and a talented cast do everything to make Tchaikovsky’s opera work in Amsterdam, but problematic elements persist. 

Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, was never meant to challenge grand opera for profundity and Barrie Kosky pokes fun at Viennese high society in his riotous staging. 

Barrie Kosky brings his trio of Puccini productions to a close with another triptych: Il trittico in a triumphant staging. 

When the director walks four weeks ahead of opening night, Dutch National Opera and Ballet hastily create a searing double bill of classical tragedy. 

“If you enjoy it... we are doing something horribly wrong”... ominous words to launch the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra's season finale at the Concertgebouw. 

Jan Philipp Gloger's production returns to Amsterdam with a superb cast led by Maria Bengtsson and Angela Brower. 

Mezzo J'Nai Bridges stuns in the title role of Bizet's opera, returning to Amsterdam in Robert Carsen's celebrated staging. 

Barrie Kosky's psychological thriller approach to Tosca at Dutch National Opera benefits greatly from the strong performances of its three principals.

DNO's new production is an inspiring opera spectacular.

Dutch National Opera revives Pierre Audi's acclaimed Die Walküre for the very last time.

Exceptional singing, an auspicious conducting debut and a staging that is both sophisticated and emotionally involving make this production an unequivocal winner.

Orchestra and chorus reach great Wagnerian heights in this new production by Christof Loy, a study of an artist in revolt against hypocritical sexual mores.

Leading five choirs, fine soloists and a glowing Netherlands Philharmonic, conductor Marc Albrecht emphasised the human struggle in a highly dramatic performance of Mahler’s mammoth eighth symphony.

Katie Mitchell's second production of Jenůfa is a straightforward, effective reading of the libretto well supported by excellent singing actors.

An exemplary cast, an opulent orchestra and unforgettable images in Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder.

Ingo Metzmacher leads a musically formidable performance of Hans Werner Henze’s shipwreck oratorio. Romeo Castellucci’s staging engages the senses but remains emotionally distant.

A strong cast, a lyrically simmering orchestra and lucid staging make this a Tristan und Isolde to treasure.

An unlikely coupling of one-act operas by Zemlinsky and Puccini bears fruit in a staging that reveals their thematic parallels while leaving their obvious differences on show.

An able cast sings in Christof Loy’s non-interventionist and insightful production of Verdi’s panoramic tragedy, conducted with vivid detail by Michele Mariotti.

Damiano Michieletto’s intriguing production of Rigoletto is set in a mental hospital, and sidelines emotion in favour of analysis. The singing, on the other hand, is heartfelt and exciting.

Clarity and mounting horror in the orchestra pit, the full truth and ugliness of the human condition onstage. Dutch National Opera’s new production of Wozzeck is stomach-churning for all the right reasons.

With its monumental sets designed by Anish Kapoor, Pierre Audi’s abstract Parsifal at Dutch National Opera is spectacular, led by the excellent Christopher Ventris, with Günther Groissböck shining in his role debut as Gurnemanz. 

An aesthetically handsome but cold and distant staging mars the long-awaited return of  Eva-Maria Westbroek as Puccini’s heroine at Dutch National Opera.

The concept of bringing opera and ballet together in an abstract production is interesting, but Sasha Waltz creates a cold universe that fails to convey strong emotions.

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

At Dutch National Opera, director Lotte de Beer’s reminds us who the Hänsels and Gretels of the 21st century are, juggling between harsh reality and heartening fairy tale in a spectacle that both delights and unsettles.

To celebrate its 50th birthday Dutch National Opera put on a festive tribute to the people that have made it the innovative and much-admired house it is today.

At the Dutch National Opera, director Àlex Ollé from La Fura dels Baus stages a dark and monochromatic Trovatore, in which the four stars shine.

Dutch National Opera have given themselves and their patrons a smashing 50th birthday present – a production of Der Rosenkavalier that is a winner on all fronts.

The Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest gave a fine performance of little known works by Schoenberg and Korngold at the Concertgebouw, alongside Mahler’s First Symphony.

Outside of the opera pit, Marc Albrecht and his Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra demonstrated their magic at the Concertgebouw.

The Dutch Concert Choir impressed surprisingly in the annual May 4th WWII memorial concert at the Concergebouw, offering an impressive rendition of Hans Kox's rarely performed Anne Frank Cantata and Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. 

The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra gives a patrician performance of Verdi’s Macbeth and Scott Hendricks is riveting in Andrea Breth’s claustrophobic exploration of oppression and derangement.

Marc Albrecht’s tribute to Richard Strauss featured soprano Emily Magee in a poignantly elusive Four Last Songs and culminated in a stupendously played Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Dutch National Opera opens its season with a musically and visually staggering world premiere: the first ever operatic staging of Arnold Schoenberg’s heaven-storming Gurre-Lieder.

A strong cast stars in Christof Loy's unsettling rethinking of Richard Strauss’ Arabella at the Dutch National Opera.

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.

The new Netherlands Opera performance of Richard Wagner’s only comic opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was an absolute success. Spanning a daunting four-and-a-half hours, the evening kept us wanting more rather than searching for the clock.

The Netherlands Opera’s production of William Tell, directed by Pierre Audi, has proved a daunting endeavor, captivating the audience through its colorful treatment of Rossini’s final opera. From the cast of characters on stage and the musicians of the orchestra to the sound, lighting, stage and costume departments, the roughly four-and-a-half-hour event couldn’t have been more stimulating.

Friedrich Nietzsche’s life was not that of an isolated contemplative but rather full of personal frustration, eventually ending in syphilitic madness. While his work has been often linked with music--most notably in his relationship with Wagner and Richard Strauss’s tone poem based on Also sprach Zarathustra--making his life into an opera may seem a dubious proposition.

Tonight’s concert at the Concertgebouw started with the Romance from Shostakovich’s film score The Gadfly, as a tribute to the conductor Yakov Kreizberg, who sadly passed away last March. A popular piece with violinists, the Romance is a beautifully melodic work, perhaps one of Shostakovich’s most popular ones.

Ivo van Hoves nicht jugendfreie Inszenierung treibt Brechts moralischen Zeigefinger humoristisch (und erfolgreich) auf die Spitze.

Barrie Kosky holt an der Dutch National Opera Puccinis unvollendete Oper ins Hier und Jetzt.

Regisseurin Nanouk Leopold schafft eine mutige und provozierende Inszenierung für die Niederländische Oper.

Eric Owens singt Porgy mit Leib und Seele und ist mit seiner charismatischen Ausstrahlung der unbestrittene Held dieser Oper.

Àlex Ollé inszeniert ein alle Sinne überwaltigendes Fest für die Augen.

Der Regisseur und Choreograph Bill T Jones realisiert mit We Shall Not Be Moved eine körperbetonte Produktion, die der Operngattung frische Blut einflößt.