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Claus Guth's production foregrounds the regimented, repressive world that drives the plot of Janáček’s tragic masterpiece.

Los Angeles Opera's Tales of Hoffmann survives multiple cast changes to look and sound fabulous, but it drags dramatically.

San Francisco Opera's production of Sweeney Todd brings nothing new to the musical, but the cast includes wonderful surprises – most notably Stephanie Blythe's Mrs Lovett.

Although opera, as a genre, is easily celebrated for its capacity to move and transport an audience, it is rare to be emotionally disturbed by one. Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne, which received its world première by the San Francisco Opera this week, achieves such a feat. In doing so, it will certainly garner notoriety, both as well-deserved praise and well-deserved condemnation.

In recent seasons, the New York City Opera has largely limited itself to chamber operas. Its newest production marks a renewed ambition: Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto, a proto grand opera that ends with nothing less than the parting of the Red Sea.

“A revival of a revival of a revival” might describe Handel’s practice of reviving his own works. This highly acclaimed revival production of Handel's Xerxes received it best performance to date with a star-studded cast.Xerxes tells the tale of two brothers, Xerxes and Arsamenes, both competing for the same bride – Romilda.