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The restrained pacing of Larcher's opera suited the intimate setting of the Werkstattbühne.

The delightful farce in one act in a new, imaginative production inspired by Lewis Carroll.

A stellar cast and a new, old-fashioned production bring back Ricciardo e Zoraide to Pesaro after 22 years.

A wonderful cast conducted by William Christie in a new production of L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Salzburg Festival. 

The effervescent John Wilson and his orchestra make Bernstein's musical sparks fly.

Seattle Opera's memorable Porgy and Bess excels with an exceptional cast who performed with utmost sympathy for their roles.

Turco inspired many a great opera director in the past; understandably, as it offers plenty of splendid comic situations. Simon Phillips' hilarious 2014 production is revived by Opera Australia.

Mariss Jansons and the Vienna Philharmonic do the real storytelling as Hans Neuenfels' staging underwhelms.

An astonishing performance by Asmik Grigorian is central to the Italian director's disturbing reading of a disturbing opera. 

Cecilia Bartoli is joined by frequent collaborators Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier in a fun-filled Rossini farce full of Italian sunshine. Big grins all round. 

Sir Mark Elder and The Hallé orchestra are the powerhouse in a memorable performance of Siegfried. Simon O’ Neill, Iain Paterson and Christine Goerke head up a universally strong cast.

Maestro Crutchfield carefully underlined the transitional character of the music, neither Classical nor Romantic.

Brilliant staging, superb acting, a magnetic performance from Virginie Verrez and an excellent orchestral performance make a strong case for Samuel Barber's all-but-forgotten chiller.

Laurent Pelly’s elegant musical stave production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, from the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, charms and delights at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Aa fitting tribute to the 20th anniversary of State Opera of South Australia’s ongoing romance with the music of Richard Wagner.

Saburo Teshigawara sets Rameau’s opéra-ballet Pigmalion as a compelling dance performance

An opera which has not only a historical and philological interest for scholars and experts, but is of great musical value.

Giorgio Sangati's staging idea pits Christians vs Saracens as pop stars against dark metal.

Thaddeus Strassberger proposed a mise-en-scène where the story is reenacted in Tamara’s confused mind while she is confined in a monastery.

Scottish Opera brings opera to the people on a huge scale in a promenade production of Pagliacci.  

Dorset Opera Festival's bold decision to programme Massenet's obscure opera about a medieval Castilian hero proves to be a major success.

It's not easy to imagine a freezing Parisian attic when you're in the middle of the rolling Dorset countryside in a baking summer, but Dorset Opera's excellent production of Puccini's La bohème is atmospheric enough to do so.

Axel Ranisch's production makes heavy use of film to tell a comic story of a medieval knight in love.

Svoboda’s mirrors continue to provoke interesting considerations. Titled above the stage, they project a birds-eye-view of the action to the audience, making voyeurs of us all.

With unbridled imagination, Michieletto fills this usually-problematic space with a wealth of racy detail.

The Cincinnati Opera presented Another Brick in the Wall, an opera by Julien Bilodeau based on the seminal Pink Floyd album The Wall. While an ambitious undertaking, the results were ultimately mixed.

A production that veers close to the Disneyesque but still provides plenty to enjoy. 

The Magic Flute's roots in popular theatre come through most strongly throughout Vick's production, which sparkles with a wealth of witty detail. But treatment of the work's socio-political undercurrents doesn't work nearly as well.

Bampton’s “mission to rescue unjustly neglected classical period opera” is vindicated once again with a fresh, fun account of the near-lost original source for Rossini's La Cenerentola: Isouard's Cendrillon. 

Barrie Kosky's punchy, visually exhilarating take on Saul, with Iestyn Davies as a sublime David, makes for a powerful evening of drama at Glyndebourne.

Davide Livermore's digital set for Opera Australia's new production of Aida ushers in a new type of staging to the Sydney Opera House, and backs up a stellar performance from Amber Wagner in the title role.

Dismembered after the 1840 bankruptcy of its promoter, Opera Rara's decade-long reconstruction has resulted in a beautifully constructed opera that's enjoyable throughout.

A spirited and seamless production of Strauss’s Ariadne is aided by some excellent singing and playing at London’s premier summer opera festival.

The annual transfer of a production from Glyndebourne to the Proms this year saw Herheim's baffling production of Debussy's masterpiece. 

Muti unlocks the immense dramatic potential of Verdi's revolutionary score, providing a wealth of colour and detail capable of conjuring mysterious Shakespearean worlds with no need for staging.

Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic unleash the darkness of Verdi’s late masterpiece Otello upon the picnickers at the Hollywood Bowl. 

Under Andris Nelsons' baton, the musical canvas was remarkably supple with proper light shed on Puccini’s melodic inventiveness and wondrous orchestration.

An embarrassingly trite libretto proves unsalvageable, even with a committed cast of singers.

Petrenko's Puccini is bracingly alert, filled with colour and has a romantic sweep that is utterly transporting.

A trusty and convincing version of the masterpiece, with a cast of well-matched singers.

Jürgen Flimm bowed out of his role as Intendant of the Berlin State Opera with the German premiere of Salvatore Sciarrino's Ti vedo, ti sento, mi perdo.

Ariadne auf Naxos shines in an ultra-contemporary world of high net worth tantrums at Longborough Festival Opera, complete with glam rock fairies, giant string, and glorious music. 

After a number of eccentric stagings, Mario Pontiggia's traditional production is a hit in Naples. 

There’s no doubt that Mélisande endeavours to escape past troubles when she first appears in Barrie Kosky’s production of Debussy’s opera, yet Nadja Mchantaf is no reticent, wispy maiden. Every vocal and physical gesture – always precise and penetrating – displays an atypically forthright quest for vitality, something that Arkel’s chauvinistic world does not readily offer.

Auguin conducted as if he really believes in this evergreen work, which was wonderful to hear in the composer’s rather overlooked anniversary year.

Franz Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten (The Branded One) is an unsettling work given the storyline’s background of abduction and clandestine sexual abuse. Calixto Bieito, as expected, eschews ambiguity regarding what goes on behind the scenes, and casts even the titular cripple Alviano Salvago in a damning light.

Sir Bryn Terfel’s Falstaff is still a cherishable rogue as he takes on the title role in Robert Carsen’s joyous staging at the Royal Opera. 

This was more stadium rock than stuffy opera house, lighting as ‘metaphor made real’ as the lovers were – literally – star-struck, blinded by love.

There is a reason that Butterfly has the highest blub factor in the repertory, for it is not only for Cio-Cio-San that we weep, but for ourselves. 

Stephen Medcalf directs a coherent staging of Mozart’s opera seria in which Idomeneo’s inner demons are to be battled.