Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English | Axel Kober

What's a director to do while we wait for technology to catch up with the complexities of the human condition?

Considering the very abrupt transition to dance-on-film that most companies are contending with today, Mahler, live chooses to examine the beginnings of this genre. 

Stefan Herheim's eagerly awaited production of Berg's Wozzeck distances us from the emotional heart of the tragedy by portraying the story as a hallucinatory death-room experience.

Animated characters are the real stars of an imaginative production of The Magic Flute. 

A well-sung revival of a witty and supremely theatrical production of Strauss’ operatic exposé.

Visually inconsistant but some mesmerising perfromances in Kirsten Harms' production. 

A fascinating, psychologically penetrating reading of Verdi’s penultimate opera, performed to the highest standards, promises much for the new season at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. 

Dmitry Bertman's simple, stylish production of Rimsky-Korsakov's final opera finds a more recent satirical target. 

A disconcerting production of The Flying Dutchman where the staging misses the boat.

A German-Taiwanese co-production of Puccini's final opera plays out the drama as a modern-day nightmare.

An updated but otherwise traditional Flying Dutchman directed by Jan Philipp Gloger offers plenty of enjoyment at Bayreuth, although it might not linger in the memory as long as the more controversial fare at the Festival

A strong cast headed by Peter Seiffert perform in this visually appealing Tannhäuser at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, where Markus Brück excels as Wolfram and Petra Maria Schnitzer takes on the role of the temptress Venus and the saintly Elisabeth.

Art installation of a biogas factory is the setting for a mostly undistinguished musical performance.

Parsifal at the Deutsche Oper Berlin is both sublime and terrifying. Vincke's Parsifal was bold and heroic while Herlitzius sang with a silver, sinuous soprano. Stolzl's production gave us the fanaticism of religion rather than hope.