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Director Milos Rau, composer Hèctor Parra and librettist Fiston Mwanza Mujila put the operatic spotlight on the fight for justice after a mining disaster in the DRC, with mixed results.

Foccroulle’s limited score imitates environmental catastrophe while Jocelyn’s libretto tries – unevenly – to understand why we might ignore it.

Leigh Melrose appears in a strong new Œdipe directed by Evgeny Titov to open the 2021-22 season at the Komische Oper. 

A veritable Baroque bonanza featuring a top-tier cast and orchestra in an emotionally incisive and handsomely crafted production.

Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros, the “Royal couple” of the Bayerische Staatsoper, enchant and melt hearts as the doomed lovers in Verdi’s late masterpiece.

A revival of Stefan Herheim's production of Handel's Xerxes in Düsseldorf makes for a rip-roaring evening of theatrical comedy.

Cecilia Bartoli once again takes Zurich by storm under the guiding hand of Maestro William Christie for a wonderful evening of Handelian fun.

Marlis Petersen's Alcina bloomed for a knockout “Ah! mio cor!” just in time for intermission.

Handel’s Semele is presented as a flashback at the Komische Oper in Berlin. 

Lydia Steier’s colourful production of Alcina in Basel was as much a lesson in conflict resolution as it was in the power of love.

Under the baton of René Jacobs, B’rock Orchestra gave an inspired performance  that ought to contribute in giving Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria the place it deserves in the standard repertoire.

The revival of Calixto Bieito's Carmen in Oslo proves a bumpy ride, with uneven singing and orchestral playing, saved by Katarina Bradić's captivating portrayal of the title heroine.

Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict is light and fluffy, making it perfect summer festival fare. Sadly, like a soggy soufflé, Pelly's one-trick staging soon falls flat.

Calixto Bieito's production of Carmen attempts to humanise the title character, but in doing so leaves the rest as caricatures.

The 67th Aix Festival got off to a hot, heady start with Katie Mitchell's witty and ingenious staging of Handel's 1735 sorcery opera Alcina. 

What makes this production of The Rape of Lucretia stand out is the singers’ acting. It’s immediate, it’s integrated into the singing, and it’s better than anything I’ve seen in any opera production before. 

Who needs scenery anyway? A blistering Elektra from Semyon Bychkov, starring Christine Goerke, lights up the BBC Proms by sheer force of performance. 

The Deutsche Oper's vintage production of Lucia di Lammermoor is fabulously eerie and strongly performed. 

The inability of human beings to communicate or even empathise, and the monstrous consequences that gap in misunderstanding leads to, is the foundational idea of Die Eroberung von Mexico, and Wolfgang Rihm’s dense and frequently brilliant music.