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Dieter Dorn’s staging robbed Wagner’s final masterwork of magic and mystery while Simon Rattle set new speed records.

A gripping performance of one of opera’s masterpieces in Berlin. 

An opening night of Così fan tutte in Munich in which Gaëlle Arquez and Marina Rebeka as the two sisters take the honours. 

In this minimalist period production of Figaro, the singing and acting are the centre of attention. A very talented cast carries the show, delivering beautiful singing and engaging comedy.

Although written many years before Rossini's The Barber of Seville, the story of The Marriage of Figaro is in fact the sequel to that of the later opera. This farcical masterpiece of the opera buffa style was the first of three operas Mozart worked on with the Italian librettist Lorenzo da Ponte and was a risky undertaking.

For its 40th anniversary, the Hong Kong Arts Festival chose Mozart’s Così fan tutte as its main opera offering. Whatever you may call it – opera buffa, comedy of manners, or “dramma giocoso” – Mozart’s lovely music makes Così fan tutte wonderful entertainment. That’s what the Bavarian State Opera delivered on Sunday afternoon to commemorate this important milestone of the Festival.

Read our review of Dieter Dorn's production of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde in its 2008 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.