Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Massenet

The Royal Ballet season opens with a MacMillan favourite, his ballet adaptation of a novel more familiar for its operatic treatment. 

Laurent Pelly’s darkly stylish production of Manon is revived with a strong cast of singers. In the title role, Lisette Oropesa demonstrated elegant and incisive singing, while Michael Fabiano was her virile and powerful partner.

Edward Gardner brings out the Wagner influence in Massenet's opulent score, Juan Diego Flórez give a persuasive performance in the title role.

Cinderella undergoes psychoanalysis on the Sussex Downs as Fiona Shaw's production is revived for the Glyndebourne Festival. 

Juan Diego Flórez was impressive in his first portrayal of a lovesick soldier/priest in Manon, with Nino Machaidze's accomplished heroine. Andrei Serban's modern and thoughtful production was still fresh and arresting.

What a day to hear an all-French programme, and with this fragile moment at its heart criticism feels futile, disrespectful even.

The real triumph of Michael Fabiano's role debut as Werther lay in controlling the bold intensity of his voice in favour of a sweet and lower-key level of passion – a match for Massenet's frequent choice of the cello.

Jurgita Dronina impresses as the heroine in this matinee performance of Sir Kenneth MacMillan's ballet at the Coliseum. 

A performance that overflows with rich detailing in every role

Here was singing and playing to live long in the memory.

In her anxiety to be ‘new’, Shaw slaps a sackload of semi-comprehensible ideas onto a sort-of present day update.

A century on from its birth, one of Switzerland’s leading orchestras finally makes its Proms debut in a scintillating programme of French and Russian music.

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

Willy Decker's enduring production gets smart treatment in a handsome revival.

In a highly effective stage presentation, the Minnesota Opera tells Jules Massenet’s story of two personalities whose spiritual journeys are like two ships passing in the night.

Organised by Berlin State Ballet audience’s darling, the principal dancer Polina Semionova, the gala Polina & Friends and its stellar cast literally left the house roaring from enthusiasm.

Laurent Pelly’s staging provided some of the most memorable moments in this performance of Cendrillon. 

Maxim Vengerov and Polina Osetinskaya’s marathon of Brahms sonatas showed off the composer at his most lyrical and dramatic. 

Hakhnazaryan’s programme was rich with meaty music.

Yet another revival of MacMillan's signature ballet.  Enlivened by tremendous performances, not least in the title role, and still a classic. But, how long will that pertain?   

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.

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.

Debussy's newly unearthed Première Suite d’orchestre, hitherto unheard in the UK, was presented in the context of music that may have inspired him.

Ailyn Pérez draws every eye and ear to her in an easy-on-the-eye production that doesn't solve some of the work's inherent contradictions.

Aspiring Perth (WA) company Opera Box provides an enjoyable night at the opera, cementing their willingness to perform major mainstream works, challenging the dominance of the established companies and their less imaginative choices.

Just what the doctor ordered: a programme of Franco-Iberian musical delights to advance the cause of a Mediterranean lifestyle, with Charles Dutoit and the RPO in commanding form.

Outstanding performances from Nicole Car and Etienne Dupuis turn Opera Australia's unstaged production of Thaïs into a triumph at Sydney Town Hall.

A memorable Manon in Budapest 

Ivan Magrì's exemplary technique and strong delivery in his London recital debut left his audience hoping for a return visit to the Rosenblatt series in the imminent future.

Juan Diego Flórez stars as Goethe’s archetypal Romantic poet in Massenet's Werther in Zurich. 

Cellist Gautier Capuçon and pianist Frank Braley are artists I have previously admired in many chamber ensemble concerts, but their recital at Kings Place was the first time I heard them as a duo.

Younger generations have still a lot to learn from the 76-year old singer

From the moment he stepped on stage as our ill-fated title character, Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo seemed as if he may burst at the seams. 

Beczała's "Pourquoi me réveiller" stops the show in Willy Decker's thoughtful Werther at the Liceu, expertly conducted by Alain Altinoglu.

Confusion, lack of subtlety and volume issues beset the first Rosenblatt Recital of the year.

Juan Diego Flórez plays the role for the first time on stage and it's a vocal triumph 

The Los Angeles Philharmonic's last week of its classical music season at the Hollywood Bowl began with romantic French music under an almost full moon played the sexy Seattle way.

A Manon as sexy and unsteady as its heroine.

Vittorio Grigolo and Joyce DiDonato live up to their starry reputations in the Royal Opera's latest revival of Massenet's tale of unrequited love and suicide.

Despite an indisposition, Mariella Devia remains a formidable bel canto performer at her much-anticipated Wigmore Hall recital.

Javier Camarena gave a thrilling performance in the penultimate Rosenblatt Recital.

This new production of Massenet’s Werther in Tokyo suffered multiple personnel changes even before it opened... 

A complex portrait of obsessive and destructive passion.

Attention to delivery, effective interpretation and intelligent programming is what make the duo such a consistently beloved force in concert.

How relevant is Manon nowadays? At La Scala, it resonates today as timely as ever and sorrow lingers on. 

A superbly-sung title role from Ed Ballard is the best part of this otherwise patchy, well-sung but ultimately unmoving Werther from English Touring Opera. 

Odyssey Opera's concert performance of Le Cid is sadly compromised by the size of the hall. 

Cardiff Castle hosted an entertaining bout of medieval jousting yesterday afternoon, but in the evening all eyes and ears turned to the vocal jousting in St David’s Hall.

In a somewhat long-overdue debut at the Concertgebouw, bel canto royalty Juan Diego Flórez and rising star Pretty Yende wowed the Amsterdam public with a generous programme of bel canto music.

With outstanding performances from Roberto Alagna and Paul Gay, Pierre Corneille's elegant poetry shines through the return of Massenet's Le Cid to the Opéra de Paris, more than a century after it was last seen there.