Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Richard Anderson

The Armenian-Australian soprano steps in for an indisposed Ermonela Jaho in Rosetta Cucchi's staging of Cilea's verismo masterpiece. 

Sydney may possess the most iconic opera house in the world, but Opera Australia ventured outdoors once more for a successful rock 'n' roll-themed Carmen on Cockatoo Island, with a stage positioned at water's edge.

Gorgeous sets and costumes aren't quite enough to make this La traviata revival sparkle.

187 years after its Parisian debut, Halévy's La Juive receives its Australian premiere. A sterling cast under Carlo Montanaro reveals some unexpected beauties (and occasional longueurs) in this classic of French grand opéra.

Splendid performances by Yonghoon Lee and Karah Son breathe life into Harry Kupfer’s 20-year-old production.

Three outstanding debuts and a warm and funny ensemble shine in David McVicar's naturalistic Marriage of Figaro. 

The revival of David McVicar's production of Gounod's Faust provides spectacle and entertainment in spades, with strong performances from Ivan Magrì (Faust) and Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Méphistophélès).

David McVicar's dark and gothic Don Giovanni is revived in Sydney, with stand-out performances from Luca Micheletti as an unapologetic and dashing Don, and Eleanor Lyons as a magnificent Donna Anna

Gale Edwards' popular revival, set in the 1930s Weimar Republic, brings visual delight and showcases Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang as Rodolfo.

A beautiful 17th-century setting does nothing to dim the freshness and relevance of Sir David McVicar's production for Opera Australia.

A brilliantly staged production of Reimann's Ghost Sonata by Opera Australia shows once again that modernist opera can be compelling if a provocative story is rendered by an outstanding cast.

A successful concert performance of Umberto Giordano's verismo hit in Sydney, with a trio of international stars. 

Opera Australia delivers a sensational new Elena Kats-Chernin opera about the immensely gifted and troubled Australian painter, Brett Whiteley.

Davide Livermore's new production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena offers moderate pleasures, with solid performances by Ermonela Jaho in the title role, and Carmen Topciu as Jane Seymour.

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.

Kentridge’s use of video technology creates another, highly complex, visual score next to Berg’s sonic one.

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.

Having offered a strong feminist reading of Wagner's Ring, could Kasper Holten do the same again for Die Meistersinger? Opera Australia's co-production had moments of excellence, but ultimately left the viewer with more questions than answers

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.

With her signature role’s coloratura fireworks and dramatic nuance, Jessica Pratt’s Sydney Opera House debut is one to remember.

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.

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

Historically informed rarities from Rameau and Vinci aim to recreate the world of 18th-century opera-going in Paris. But a misaligned production distracts from this specialised experience.

Splendid performances and a Nazi makeover turns Puccini's political tragedy into a visceral experience.

Not just a jolly romp through the inconstancies of the heart, Sir David McVicar takes Così fan tutte through a dark lesson for lovers while leaving the music ravishingly intact.

The ever-popular La bohème returns in Gale Edwards' adaptation which features a change to the final months of the 1930s Weimar Republic as featured in the musical Cabaret.

David McVicar's production of Faust enjoys one of the strongest overall performances of Opera Australia in recent times.

David McVicar's Don Giovanni for Opera Australia takes its cue from the brutally grim opening of the opera, yet remains true to Mozart’s own description of a “jocular” work (dramma giocoso). 

On Harry Kupfer's dramatic set, strong performances by Simon O'Neill (Otello), Lianna Haroutounian (Desdemona) and especially Claudio Sgura (Iago) make Opera Australia's Otello a memorable revival.

I left the Sydney Opera House last night feeling vaguely dissatisfied, and yet a bit puzzled at my dissatisfaction. La Traviata is chock-full of Verdi’s most glorious music, and well though I know the score, I wasn’t feeling in the least jaded to begin with.

Destiny, Fate, Providence: different ways of describing the sense of an external agency shaping our ends. Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, based on a Spanish play by Angel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, is a sprawling tale in which the characters’ lives are irrevocably shaped by a fatal accident.

Simultaneously one of the most loved and most mocked operas in the canon, Il trovatore has some of Verdi’s catchiest melodies set to one of his silliest plots. Against the backdrop of a 15th-century Spanish war, a cast of nobles, gypsies, nuns and soldiers enact a drama which hinges on that hoariest of dramatic clichés: children swapped at birth.

For many opera fans, especially here in Australia, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor is indelibly connected with the late, much lamented Joan Sutherland. She made her breakthrough as Lucia in a Covent Garden production of 1959, and continued to sing the part for over three decades, thankfully leaving several celebrated recordings.

Another Mozart opera and another intriguing modern production from Opera Australia. The whole opera was presented as entertainment for a wedding reception, with a bride and bridegroom sitting at two corners of the stage, their sole purpose for the production to observe the unfolding comedy on stage.