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The cavernous Mayflower pit eats singers for breakfast and only Natalya Romaniw’s full-blooded Tatyana escaped its jaws unmarked

Kenneth Montgomery leads the Orchestra of the 18th Century and a fine team of young soloists in a swift, finely detailed interpretation of La clemenza di Tito.

An outstanding cast under Ottavio Dantone at the Theater an der Wien was headed by Lawrence Zazzo and Emőke Baráth.

Without glitz, extravagance or the need to be expressly shocking, Robert Carsen's new production of Wozzeck at the Theater an der Wien is exceptional.

The Met succeeded in casting two strong singers for the difficult lead roles of Puccini's final opera. 

Don Pasquale is updated to 1950s Hollywood, delivering clever staging and slapstick humor while sacrificing none of Donizetti's musical artistry.

After Jonathan Meese's Parsifal staging was rejected by Bayreuth, he channelled his frustrations into an "arch-Parsifal" which shoots the titular hero into space, with a musical re-imagining of Wagner’s score by Austrian composer Bernhard Lang.

Introspected and atmospheric, this late romantic opera appeals to the psychotherapists within us.

In the city of Freud there is nothing like a bit of family drama to put one in the mood for a great season of opera!

Based on Irish mythology, Opera Theatre Company deiver a compelling concert performance of an exceedingly rare Irish opera Eithne 

What distinguishes Noseda's Tristan most of all is especial balance in the orchestra and a transparency of sound that reveals the inner-workings of the music.

François de Carpentries' Oslo production of The Barber of Seville was both unfunny and underwhelming. 

In Nicholas Hytner's chocolate box production, lovingly revived by Bruno Ravella for Glyndebourne's tour, Alfonso is the most charismatic character on the stage.

The Mediterranean setting of Auber's work is recreated by director Giorgio Barberio Corsetti with its intriguing teatro-immagine, where video projections and virtual reality are predominant.

Cappella Mediterranea blows life into Eliogabalo’s dark carnival as imagined by Thomas Jolly.

A mural depicting Etna erupting is the only hint of Sicily in Stefan Herheim’s opulent staging, returning to Covent Garden for the first time since the Royal Opera’s Verdi bicentenary celebrations in 2013. 

Rattle conducts Janáček's glorious score with unerring skill and barely concealed adoration, but is let down by his regular collaborator's muddy vision. 

Nézet-Séguin's West Side Story in concert mixes passion and politics in Philadelphia.

Two thematically linked, but contrasting short operas are the final component of Opera North's Little Greats season at the Leeds Grand Theatre.

Hartmann's staging takes a bizarre twist in the end since so far the staging had followed the naïve story very faithfully without any weird implications.

The musical experience was dominated by the imagery making spectators feel, at least at times, overwhelmed.

David Pountney's House of the Dead makes for high entertainment at Welsh National Opera.

In L’Invisible, which had its première last weekend at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Aribert Reimann has condensed three plays by Maeterlinck into bite-size chunks that vanish before they can be savoured.

A typically thought-provoking production of The Trojans from Calixto Bieito combines with a thrilling musical performance to compensate for a heavily fileted version of Berlioz's magnum opus.

A revival of Arden's 2016 production of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia is lifted by a strong ensemble cast for Glyndebourne's tour.

Completed in 1985 and premièred in Mannheim in 2013, Mieczysław Weinberg's The Idiot is a true rarity. Seeing it revived for the first time, it's thrilling to see the opera given the vocal and musical treatment it desrves, lending a helping hand to its return from oblivion.

With Verdi's Otello, Music Director Robert Spano continues a recent Atlanta Symphony Orchestra tradition of presenting grand operatic works in a concert hall version

The casting was something special. Each of the principals was fun to watch, magnificent to listen to, believable in every gesture, look and touch. 

The Lyric Opera’s new production of Rigoletto evokes visually the contours and high-contrast relief of a surrealist painting. 

Conway's decision to render Handel's epic in its entirety was let down by a static staging and unnecessary repeats that masked the hidden gem-like arias.

A strong ensemble cast and a playful production make for a highly enjoyable evening in the company of Mozart's Così fan tutte.

A dark minimalist inspiration for Vincent Boussard’s co-production of the Boston version of Un ballo in maschera, returning to the Gran Teatre del Liceu after 16 years.

A production which did not make a strong impression in Naples, despite a first rate cast. 

A revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1981 production was graced by an impressive case, including the Met debut of soprano Angel Blue. 

A searing examination of love in a time war is to be found in a new production and new edition of Rameau's greatest work.

Clever casting combined with good singing, classy chorus work and quality ensemble music has produced an enjoyably entertaining Don Pasquale from State Opera of South Australia.

The National Theatre opens its new season with a Verdi favorite short on substance but lovely to hear.

The latest revival of Jonathan Miller's The Barber of Seville has everything you could want; strong direction, a strong orchestral performance, and a cast that's universally strong. No close shaves there!

High intensity girl power for a complex task: Simone Young shines in the pit, Karoline Gruber’s staging convinces with expertise and attention to detail.

Jürgen Flimm's take on Schumann's Faust Scenes offers no solutions to self-imposed problems at the Staatsoper unter den Linden's glitzy reopening.

Not a particularly revealing Falstaff, but a pleasing performance though. Maybe one would have expected something of greater impact from a festival like this one, but that goal had already accomplished by Graham Vick with his Stiffelio the night before...

Questionable identities, clandestine messages, love and money are the stuffs of Gioacchino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, revived again in Zurich.

At its local Antwerp première, David Bösch’s new production of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane makes it the only house ever to have mounted twice.

Without recourse to virtual reality or hallucinogens, Vick has created a suggestive, vividly surreal world where one's reference points are lost to the wind.

McDermott envisages Aida as a sister production to his team's mesmeric Akhnaten. But would the hypnotic juggling and glacial choreography work for Giuseppe Verdi's Nile epic?

Opera North's Little Greats festival continues with two deeply contrasting short operas - a grimly tragic and austere version of Macagni's Cavalleria rusticana and a frothy and hilarious production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury.

Bartlett Sher's production of The Tales of Hoffmann, revived at The Met, takes a Kafka-esque, surreal view of the opera.

Sondra Radvanovsky scores a rousing success in the taxing title role of Bellini's masterpiece in New York.

Iván Fischer's minimalist staging of Don Giovanni makes a triumphant return to Mupa, Budapest.

Barrie Kosky’s atypically conservative production of the Russian classic was marked by musical direction and vocal performances of the highest order.