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Everything about this production is fresh and wonderful.

At the start of his farewell to Deutsche Oper Berlin, Sir Donald Runnicles shines with his orchestra, supplying the passion and tension withheld in Michael Thalheimer’s production.

Andreas Schager is the main reason to catch the latest revival of Otto Schenk's ultra-traditional Tannhäuser.

Jay Scheib spices up the visual experience with digital content in his production of Parsifal. Sounds good. But is it?

The plot thickens as "episode two" of Bayreuth's new Ring muddies the waters of Siegfried’s paternity and Wotan comes to regret his actions.

Katharina Thalbach offers a traditional staging at the Semperoper, with fine vocal performances led by Krassimira Stoyanova, Francesco Meli and Oksana Volkova. 

A cast comprised of the world’s leading Wagnerians, under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, deserve better than Otto Schenk’s outdated and cartoonish production. 

After a six month gap, the Nationaltheater welcomes a limited audience to an opera-in-concert of extraordinary beauty of singing.

 Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov relives his own arrest in 2017 in his new production of Wagner's Bühnenweihfestspiel at the Wiener Staatsoper.

An outstanding role debut from Davidsen, a star-studded vocal cast and a revelatory orchestral performance make a Beethoven anniversary performance to savour.

Christian Spuck revisits Verdi’s sublime Messa da Requiem with a host of gifted dancers and singers at the Zurich Opernhaus.

Yuval Sharon's production returns to Bayreuth in a musically compelling performance. 

Andreas Homoki’s new Zurich production capitalises on some quirky staging, but features superb voices in its principal roles and shows the best of the house’s joint choirs.

Michael Volle and Klaus Florian Vogt demonstrate that they are indeed master singers in Munich, despite adversity, in a revival of David Bösch's contemporary production.

David Alden’s new production for The Royal Opera, referencing fascist Germany, is drab, but there are musical compensations. 

Jonas Kaufmann and Camilla Nylund tackle the roles of Tristan und Isolde for the first time in Andris Nelsons' all-Wagner concert. 

The third installment of Semperoper Dresden’s Ring des Nibelungen cycle ups the ante with an outstanding ensemble performance.

Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra are let down by sub-optimal singers in Willy Deckers chair-laden production of  Die Walküre. 

Wagner demands vocal resilience from the large cast of singers in Das Rheingold, but Willy Decker wants strong thigh muscles as well.

Christian Thielemann, the Staatskapelle Dresden and a star-studded cast compress Wagner's Ring cycle into a tale of Siegmund, Sieglinde, Hunding and Brünnhilde.

Christian Spuck’s new ballet Messa da Requiem in Zurich, is a breathtakingly powerful achievement. But its profound impact is spurred by more than dance alone.

Deutsche Oper Berlin's concert performance of Act 1 of Die Walküre was an occasion to savor with Anja Harteros making her role debut as Sieglinde. 

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

Despite a miscast Isolde, Wagner's operatic monument to love makes its mark in the production by the composer's great-grandaughter.

Singing, orchestral playing and scenic portrayal all combine to make a highly memorable second instalment of Wagner's Ring.

Anna Netreboko chose to perform her first Elsa in Dresden with Christian Thielemann conducting.  It was a remarkable performance never to be forgotten.

A conceptually diffuse production of Tristan from Katharina Wagner is partially redeemed by stirring orchestral playing under the direction of Christian Thielemann and some fine singing at the opening of the Wagner Festival at Bayreuth.

It’s probably best not to think too hard about the philosophical messages behind Parsifal, but Nelsons and the CBSO provide an emphatic reminder of how transcendent Wagner's music can be.

With its latest incarnation of Die Zauberflöte, the Royal Opera ticks all the boxes in a strongly cast revival. 

The Bavarian State Opera's new production is harmonious and its musical performances are greeted with a wave of excitement.

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.

Torsten Fischer's Nazified production of Strauss' Daphne in the Semperoper Dresden may leave you confused, but it receives a solid performance. 

Peter Stein stages Schubert's problem opera Fierrabras in a world of cardboard knights. This last opera of the Salzburg Festival is well sung, but you have to ask: is the last always the best?

Verdi’s opera Macbeth is often considered less successful than his later operas, and considerably less so than his other two Shakespeare operas, Falstaff and Otello.

The new Zauberflöte at this summer’s Salzburg Festival is a visually brilliant production with sets tailored to the atmospheric venue of the Felsenreitschule (for people not familiar with Salzburg, this is where the singing contest was held in the film The Sound of Music).

The Dresden Semperoper premiered a new production of Fidelio scarcely a month before the fall of East Germany. Much has changed in the intervening decade and a bit, but the Semperoper is still playing the same Fidelio. It doesn't take much knowledge of recent German history to understand why it was a sensation at the time.

Auch im dritten Jahr der Bayreuther Parsifal-Produktion kreist die Diskussion um die zum Einsatz kommende «Augmented Reality». Sie verstellt aber den Blick auf die musikalischen Qualitäten der aktuellen Aufführungen.

Leider bleibt die Aufführungsserie von Otto Schenks Reige-Klassiker musikalisch unter den Erwartungen.

Die Regisseurin Barbora Horáková hat reichlich Ideen und stellt das Leben an sich in den Mittelpunkt ihrer Neuinszenierung. Leider kann Die Zauberflöte musikalisch da nicht mithalten.

Dans ce deuxième épisode de la Tétralogie, le plateau s'épanouit tandis que la mise en scène, toujours efficace, montre peu à peu ses limites.

La production est de retour à Bayreuth, avec les avantages et les inconvénients de son dispositif de réalité augmentée, et surtout une interprétation musicale de très haut vol.

Das reine Bebildern ist nicht Sache des Regisseurs Dmitri Tcherniakov. Bei seiner radikalen Lesart der Oper fahren das Gehörte und das Gesehene auf zwei Schienen. Musikalisch ist die Wiederaufnahme ein Hochgenuss.

„Hier wird’s Ereignis – das Unbeschreibliche, hier ist‘s getan“ – mit diesen Worten endet Goethes Faust II, Mahlers Symphonie und damit auch die Amtszeit von Christian Thielemann als Chefdirigent der Sächsischen Staatskapelle.

Ein überragender Christian Thielemann sorgt am Pult für einen musikalisch außergewöhnlichen Lohengrin. Auf der Bühne wird eine Paralellwelt gezeichnet, die Traditionalisten nur bedingt gefallen wird.

Pierre Audis Inszenierung und das Sängerensemble angeführt von einem grandiosen Christian Gerhaher sorgen für einen denkwürdigen Opernabend.

Christian Thielemann leitet mit seiner letzten Wagner-Oper seinen Abschied als Chefdirigent der Staatskapelle Dresden ein.

Für drei Konzerte nach München zurückgekehrt, leitete Kirill Petrenko Mahlers Achte mit dem Bayerischen Staatsorchester, fantastischen Chören und einem exquisiten Solistenemsemble in einer Aufführung von himmlischer Schönheit.

Die Wiederaufnahme von Tristan und Isolde an den diesjährigen Bayreuther Festspielen bekommt mit dem Einspringer Clay Hilley als Protagonist eine neue Dynamik.

Mit einer festspielwürdigen Besetzung führt Christian Thielemann die Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden zur der Wiederaufnahme der Meistersinger von Nürnberg an.