Turkish-Italian director Ferzan Ozpetek stages this new production of Madama Butterfly at Teatro San Carlo in Naples with a fine, penetrating approach.
Byrne is stunning in the title role while a strong cast of singers, orchestra, classic sets and dramatic acting make this a thoroughly enjoyable performance.
Jan Latham-Koenig conducting the Flanders Symphony Orchestra reveals the drama and Romantic heart in Mendelssohn's Third Symphony, while Filippo Gorini chooses a classical approach to Beethoven.
A daring double bill from Opera North and Phoenix Dance Theatre pairs Jeanguy Saintus' new choreography for The Rite of Spring with a revival of Christopher Alden's production of Gianni Schicchi.
Commedia dell'arte and zany surrealism: RCS opera school pulls off a highly amusing double bill of Gianni Schicchi and Les Mamelles de Tirésias with style.
Amber Wagner delivers a thrilling performance in Opera Australia's revival of Graeme Murphy's Turandot – a spectacular feast for both the ears and eyes.
Mark Elder and the LPO's performance of Puccini's Le Willis proved interesting and frustrating in equal measure, rescued by a star performance from Ermonela Jaho.
Grigorian returns to Stockholm in a wonderful performance of Madama Butterfly, with young, upcoming tenor Migran Agadzhanyan as Pinkerton in a 2014 production by Kirsten Harms.
A fine cast led by Maija Kovalevska conveys the timeless beauty and emotion of Puccini’s Parisian melodrama, but the 1930s Berlin setting remains an imperfectly realised transformation.
The audience for The Met's first performance of La fanciulla del West this season arrived loaded for bear. Not only were they disappointed that Jonas Kaufmann was not singing (he's slated for shows starting 17th October), but their disappointment was heightened by the fact that tenor Yusif Eyvazov was singing.
Conductor Alpesh Chauhan and pianist Pavel Kolesnikov returned to Birmingham with an Italian themed programme. Could they build on the success of their previous performances with the CBSO?
A debuting conductor, two new singers, and a fine ensemble of singers bring unexpected joy to the Met's traditional La bohème with fresh and youthful energy.
It was hard not to be drawn in by the romance and tragedy as presented by such a sincere, credible and vocally talented young cast and a conductor with such strong identification with the idiom.
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.
Under Andris Nelsons' baton, the musical canvas was remarkably supple with proper light shed on Puccini’s melodic inventiveness and wondrous orchestration.
A committed cast make this a beautifully performed ensemble piece in which the tragedy of young love cut short by untimely disease is compellingly put across.
Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu stages Puccini’s first great success as an operatic composer, Manon Lescaut with the stage direction of Davide Livermore.
After dipping its toe in the cherry blossom for Glyndebourne's Tour in 2016, Annilese Miskimmon's staging of Puccini's gut-wrencher hits the main festival.
Remarkable singers and magnificent sets successfully transpose Puccini’s Tosca to Nazi-occupied Rome, bringing home the horror of tyranny and how possible it is to occur.
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.
The ninth revival of Jonathan Kent’s production features a great Act 1 and enjoyable Covent Garden role debuts for the three top singers, but misses the mark on the set pieces.
