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An amiable revival of John Dexter's Die Entführung at The Metropolitan Opera makes Mozart’s Singspiel accessible and genial.

The Bayerische Staatsoper's Ring cycle has been full of ups and downs. It ended on an up, thanks to Petrenko's brilliant conducting, a strong cast, and a fun staging.

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.

Parsifal at the Deutsche Oper Berlin is both sublime and terrifying. Vincke's Parsifal was bold and heroic while Herlitzius sang with a silver, sinuous soprano. Stolzl's production gave us the fanaticism of religion rather than hope.

Verdi’s Don Carlo – the four-act Italian version – at the Deutsche Oper combines strong singing and acting with lush music in an evening that, despite its beauty, is not without its faults.

The word Götterdämmerung contextually translated becomes “twilight of the gods”, and Thursday night’s story at the Met was indeed full of endings: the conclusion of the saga of the ring and the end of several lives, human and god alike.

In last night’s performance of Die Walküre at the Met, Martina Serafin as Sieglinde and Simon O’Neill as Siegmund drew us completely into the process of two people falling into illicit love.

Quite simply, it’s the largest scale event in all of opera. With 18 hours of music in a 3,800 seat house, Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Met is a giant, lavish undertaking – all starting with that famous E flat chord: starting from the quietest of pianissimo double bass notes and building for nearly four minutes before it explodes into the melody of the Rhinemaidens.

Read our review of Robert Lepage's production of Wagner's Götterdämmerung in its 2012 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of  Robert Lepage's production of Wagner­'s Siegfried in its 2011 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of Robert Lepage's production of Wagner's Die Walküre in its 2011 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of Robert Lepage's production of Das Rheingold by Wagner, in its 2010 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Christian Thielemann und die Staatskapelle Dresden geben bei den Osterfestspielen einen gebührenden Abschied.

Ein herausragender Kirill Petrenko und eine exzellente Besetzung machen auch den letzten Abend von Wagners Rings an der Bayerischen Staatsoper zum hörenswerten Erlebnis. 

Une impression mitigée pour cette reprise d'une mise en scène de 2007 ; les seconds rôles et l'orchestre sont de très grande qualité, mais les rôles titres sont un peu décevants.