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Ivor Bolton and David McVicar have teamed up to create an unapologetically Brittenian Gloriana, with Anna Caterina Antonacci at the top of a great cast

Ceresa’s flamboyant production from the Festival della Valle d’Itria is revived in Venice with a strong cast under the baton of Diego Fasolis.

The Royal Opera Orchestra produce a revelatory reading of Shostakovich’s eclectic score; a fine performance from Eva-Maria Westbroek and excellent acting from the whole cast light up the drama and farce.

Gaetano Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda is perhaps most famous for a single and highly emotional scene in which two monarchs engage in a venomous confrontation. One is doomed to die. 

Anna Devin's Cleopatra moved with complete conviction for scheming minx to mature woman in love.

Odyssey Opera comes full circle closing its season “Trial By Fire“ with another opera rooted in Schiller’s Die Jungfrau von Orléans, Giovanna d’Arco. Verdi’s seventh opera is an uneven, retrograde effort which fails to mine further the rich vein he had struck in Ernani.

The National Theater takes a bold step forward with a smart realization of a literary grotesquerie.

Alessandro Talevi's gorgeous staging recreates Tosca as it might have been seen at its 1900 première. 

After staged performances in Baden Baden, the Berlin Phil's Parsifal is presented in concert at the Philharmonie, with a couple of key cast changes. 

Pippo Delbono, an advocate of experimental theatre, tests the audience's patience at Opera di Roma, masking some enjoyable musical performances.

Director Davide Livermore sets the story at the time of the Dolce Vita, including the motorbike from the film Roman Holiday and the roadster from The Easy Life.

A flamboyant production and a wonderful cast of singers seals a big success for this gem of the early Baroque.

The role of Luisa, some of the daintier coloratura aside, fits Sonya Yoncheva like a glove. 

Amidst mixed vocal performances, competent orchestral playing and spectacular staging, Guanqun Yu took the limelight as a devout and sincere Liù.

The 1957 production of Parsifal, with its traditional staging and dreamy imageries, was a perfect backdrop to showcase Wagner's celebration of stage play with music on Good Friday.

Kirill Petrenko’s second night at Carnegie Hall packed a punch as the orchestra of the Bayerische Staatsoper delved deep into Strauss’ score, supporting an impressive cast of singers.

Mark-Anthony Turnage's take on Neil Gaiman's classic young adult novella is well sung and well staged, without quite reaching peak intensity.

Fiona Shaw's production doesn't always get everything right, but Lucy Crowe's debut as the Countess is the defining success of the this revival.

Tchaikovsky's opera packs a powerful emotional punch in the Komische Oper's concentrated and dreamlike production.

Nicola Raab puts Byron at the heart of Il corsaro in her new production for the Palau de les Arts, but doesn’t always know what to do with him.

Kirill Petrenko paid attention to details that many times get lost.

The Royal Opera's revival of Phyllida Lloyd's production is marked by two outstanding Verdian singers and a superb rendering of the score from Pappano and the ROH Orchestra.

Christian Carsten’s hilarious production of Die Gärtnerin aus Liebe reveals Mozart’s non-judgmental social satire and irrepressible sense of fun.

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

Michael Volle makes his debut as Verdi's not-so-Fat Knight in Mario Martone's new production at the Staatsoper, with Daniel Barenboim conducting. 

Even without stage machinery or sets, The English Concert’s performance of Handel’s Rinaldo was enchanting. 

Antony McDonald’s take on Ariadne auf Naxos, a co-production from Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park, sparkles with wit. 

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

Stefan Herheim packs puns and gags into a three-hour long show, but less could have been more. 

Though occasionally entertaining, this production was ultimately unsatisfying as a stage presentation of Bernstein’s work. 

Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour returns with La bohème, in a fine production by Andy Morton, with star turns from Iulia Maria Dan and Ho-Yoon Chung in the lead roles.

Fellow Travelers is shot through with darkness, making for a chilling performance by Lyric Opera of Chicago. 

In a successfully streamlined staging, Stefano Landi’s obscure, overpopulated opera got the royal treatment by a superior cast and orchestra.

What is the link between Bernstein’s criticism of American consumerism and MacMillan's biblical tale?

Phelim McDermott’s new Met production is set in Brooklyn’s Coney Island in the late 1950s and is brilliantly vivid looking, but Mozart's music plays second fiddle. 

Massanet’s Don Quichotte is mounted by Opera Australia, in a production which creaks but is held together by fine singing from Ferruccio Furlanetto and Warwick Fyfe.

William Christie and Les Arts Florissants show true Baroque musicianship in Madrid, in an Ariodante with a solid cast.

Muted portrayals dilute the danger of the work, but excellent singing saves the performance. 

Chicago's new Faust is a quest for youth but also a reflection on insipiration, fabrication and manipulation. 

A (nearly) complete performance of the original French version of Don Carlos forms the centrepiece of Daniele Rustioni's Verdi Festival in Lyon. 

In Lyon, Daniele Rustioni drives through a pulsating reading of Macbeth, Ivo van Hove's imaginative setting not always fully backed by the vocal performances.

Despite the entertainment value and striking imagery, Kramer's production is a surprisingly dull affair, with curiously little chemistry between the lead couple.

This production fell just short of brilliance but showed how relevant and thought-provoking opera as an art form can be when tapping into today's headline debates.

David Pountney’s 2014 staging was revived in Naples with good singing and empathetic conducting.

Stellar voices and orcheatra and some inspired staging choices elevate an otherwise heavy-handed production of Pelléas et Mélisande from the WNO at the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Ingo Metzmacher leads a musically formidable performance of Hans Werner Henze’s shipwreck oratorio. Romeo Castellucci’s staging engages the senses but remains emotionally distant.

In the Teatro Regio's production everything is according to the script, but the magic of the stage is absent. 

Dove's infectious score nods to Copland, Bernstein and Britten and its tongue-twisting ensembles and high-wire vocal writing were wonderfully performed. 

Bergen National Opera’s new production allows the story to speak to itself, while strong performances from Eric Halfvarson and Elisabeth Teige gave the performance its edge.

After her triumph at the Royal Opera House in London as Salome, Byström comes home to Sweden to great acclaim in Giordano’s opera.