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A cast comprised of the world’s leading Wagnerians, under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, deserve better than Otto Schenk’s outdated and cartoonish production. 

The Martha Argerich Festival minus Martha Argerich on this occasion, but ending with a Russian pièce de résistance.  

A superb musical foundation under Antonio Pappano forms the basis for a satisfying new Fanciulla del West at the Staatoper in Berlin. 

Orchestra and singers reached great heights in this highly lyrical and dramatically flowing Frau ohne Schatten conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Daniel Barenboim conducts an underwhelming cast in the Staatsoper's new Samson et Dalila, and Argentinian director Damián Szifron's operatic debut is stale and cliché-ridden. 

Barenboim conducts Otto Nicolai's Falstaff opera with a warmth and affection that is sorely lacking on stage. 

Daniel Barenboim conducts much of Siegfried as an intimate chamber opera, resulting in an unexpected musical joy, with an excellent cast of singers headed by Michael Volle’s Wanderer.

The Staatsoper Berlin celebrate the arrival of Michael Volle, a splendid Wotan, aided by a strong ensemble of singers and Daniel Barenboim's leadership.

Daniel Barenboim led a performance of deliberate tempo with a great ensemble of singers.  Guy Cassiers‘ production, while visually stunning at times, does little to enhance the performance.

Kosky’s production manages to maintain all hallmarks of a 16th-century fairy tale, while juxtaposing them with questions of deep human, political and artistic problems. Regietheater at its best.

Andreas Homoki’s new Zurich production capitalises on some quirky staging, but features superb voices in its principal roles and shows the best of the house’s joint choirs.

Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Choir and an ideal team of soloists in a memorable performance of Britten's War Requiem.

Michael Volle and Klaus Florian Vogt demonstrate that they are indeed master singers in Munich, despite adversity, in a revival of David Bösch's contemporary production.

Guth's incisive staging of Strauss and Hofmannsthal's grandest opera proves a moving and detailed experience at its transfer to the reopened Staatsoper. 

And the new, Spring casting for David McVicar's new production of Tosca has an ace in the hole – Anna Netrebko – and she certainly did not disappoint. 

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

Henrik Nánási balances the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House to perfection, setting the stage for a memorable title role performance from Byström and a powerful Jochanaan from Michael Volle.

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. 

The label “most opera directors” does *not* apply to Barrie Kosky, who makes his Bayreuth debut with a Meistersinger that pulls no punches.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin led an intriguing performance of Wagner's Flying Dutchman at the Met with a superb orchestra and an excellent ensemble of singers. 

Daniele Gatti is the winner of the night, managing to draw an astounding outcome from a far from ideal cast.

At the Concertgebouw, the three soloist headed by Christine Goerke’s Brünnhilde’s lift the performance of Act III of Die Walküre conducted by Valery Gergiev to the Valhalla of music.

Evelyn Herlitzius and Adrianne Pieczonka are unsinkable in the the French director's final production, conducted with impressive symphonic sweep by Daniel Barenboim. 

A disconcerting production of The Flying Dutchman where the staging misses the boat.

Lavish sets and costumes, plus high musical quality, make Tosca at the Vienna State Opera a fine example of grand opera. 

The set is a stark, grubby nonentity. A central concave structure spits out each scene's requisites, flashing up like apparitions from the vortex of Wozzeck's mind.

Staatsoper Berlin revives its new production of Tosca with an excellent cast including a last minute substitution of the tenor.

Bach is music for the soul, and when excellent musicians are performing it, it cannot fail to be beautiful. Thanks to the considerable strengths of the many involved, there is really no better way to spend a weekend in Lent than lamenting through a Bach Passion in the Konzerthaus. 

Both the music and the plot are heavily revised in Nunes' imagining of Rossini's final opera. But great performances and a coherent concept earned this unusual production a well-deserved standing ovation.

James Levine led a solid and at times excellent performance of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Otto Schenk's traditional production that somehow lacked sparkle and excitement.

The fortunate audience of Barcelona's Liceu has much to enjoy a wonderfully performance of Arabella conceived as an intimate drama of human psychology.

Alvis Hermanis' new Tosca for the Berliner Staatsoper mixes innovation with tradition in an interesting, but ultimately ineffective, way. 

Brahms’ only song cycle, Die schöne Magelone, gets star treatment from baritone Michael Volle, pianist Helmut Deutsch and narrator Thomas Quasthoff at the Doelen in Rotterdam.

Michael Volle stars as a complex Mandryka in the Met's birthday revival of Richard Strauss's Arabella.

Few operas are as specific in time and place as Puccini's Tosca: the date is 17th June, 1800, shortly after the battle of Marengo (in which Napoleon Bonaparte wrested control of Northern Italy from Austria), while each of the three acts is located in a specific landmark in Rome: the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, the Palazzo Farnese and the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Attendees of last night's Aida may have been concerned that they would be seeing a stand-in soprano, with the Ukranian Liudmyla Monastyrska making her Covent Garden debut. They needn't have worried. Monastyrska gave a world class performance with great vocal control and huge power.

Der konzertante Parsifal ist 2021 die einzige Vorstellung unter Leitung Christian Thielemanns. Er schaffte es, den Abend zu etwas ganz besonderen zu machen.

Ungewöhnliche Bilder und außergewöhnliche Rollengestaltung durch Michael Volle finden auch in diesem Jahr frenetische Zustimmung.

Retrouvant ses musiciens de Rotterdam, Yannick Nézet-Séguin triomphe de la redoutable Femme sans ombre de Strauss, aidé par un plateau de toute première classe.

Das hr-Sinfonieorchester unter Andrés Orozco-Estrada liefert eine Elektra voller Durchschlagskraft und Intensität.

Le Théâtre des Champs-Elysées propose une version concert d'Arabella, de Richard Strauss. Une soirée portée par une distribution de rêve dans laquelle se distingue Anja Harteros.

Das Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin bringt beim Musikfest Berlin die Philharmonie mit Zimmermann und Wagner zum Leuchten.

Mit Ton Koopman haben die Münchner Philharmoniker einen ausgewiesenen Experten für Alte Musik ans Pult geholt, um gemeinsam das Weihnachtsoratorium zu interpretieren.

Mit diesem Ring-Auftakter gelingt Janowski ein im Großen und Ganzen überzeugendes Plädoyer für Wagner konzertant.

Cette reprise de La Flûte dans la mise en scène de Robert Carsen nous dévoile un casting vocal à la hauteur des exigences de la partition, et nous démontre une fois de plus la capacité du metteur en scène à traduire avec poésie et grâce les sentiments les plus perfides qui bien souvent s'expriment dans les rapports les plus intenses entre les êtres.

Die Festspiele starten mit Cosi fan tutte den diesjährigen Mozartmarathon und zeigen, dass man in Salzburg eben weiß, wie man Mozart spielt.

Wien an Ostern ist ohne das Bühnenweihfestspiel Richard Wagners nicht denkbar, und die langjährige Produktion kann auch in diesem Jahr begeistern.

Die Wiener Singakademie und die Wiener Symphoniker setzten den geistlichen Höhepunkt des diesjährigen OsterKlang Wien mit einer Aufführung von Bachs h-moll Messe im Wiener Konzerthaus.

Trotz starker musikalischer Leistungen geht Claus Guths Salome-Konzept an der Deutschen Oper nicht auf.