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Four superstars deliver dramatic moments in this revival of Sir David McVicar’s Goya-inspired staging of Verdi’s melodrama. 

Nadine Sierra's thrilling Violetta deserves better than Michael Mayer's superficial production revived at the Metropolitan Opera.

The combination of a strong, spirited cast and a first-rate orchestral performance led by Daniele Callegari rendered the opera a moving experience in spite of drab staging and latent, unexplored tensions.

While Bellini’s two-act opera Norma underscores the religious wars between the ancient Druids and Romans, it also highlights an emotive personal conflict that is veiled in deceit and cultural discrepancy.

Tenor-turned-director José Cura transplants the action from southern Italy to Buenos Aires. 

Every time Ponchielli’s La Gioconda is staged its popular fortune is renewed, but the diffidence of the musicography also remains unchanged.

Despite an excellent cast and some glorious singing, Stephen Langridge's oft-revived 2012 production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly never quite takes flight. 

Despite the sombre staging, it’s the vocal fire that blazes in this impressive Trovatore in Paris.

José Cura's new Bohème in Stockholm features Kierkegaard, Munch, Strindberg, and even Julbocken – but it's Daniele Callegari that proves the main draw.

This November, the Opéra de Montréal celebrates Verdi’s bicentennial with a laugh, presenting his comic opera Falstaff. The revival of David Gately’s production, originally produced by Glimmerglass Opera and the recently deceased New York City Opera, received no shortage of snickers during Saturday’s première performance with Opéra de Montréal.

Aida typifies all that is grand about opera. Its exotic setting, majestic music, and dramatic love triangle can make for an evening unique among performing arts events. It’s not a bad way to close an opera season either. San Diego Opera did so on Saturday, capping a uniformly satisfying season with Zandra Rhodes’ vibrant production that was refreshing and at times thrilling.

Nothing says “Happy Easter” like a bit of alcohol-fuelled murder on the church steps, right? With their new double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, the Norwegian National Opera certainly seems to think so!The two productions were done on practically the same sets, albeit with a few differences, which did create a rather wonderful sense of continuity from the fir