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When the director walks four weeks ahead of opening night, Dutch National Opera and Ballet hastily create a searing double bill of classical tragedy. 

 This was opera which found expression using modern technology in a way that did not offend, intimidate or distract the audience, but rather enhanced the experience.

With its monumental sets designed by Anish Kapoor, Pierre Audi’s abstract Parsifal at Dutch National Opera is spectacular, led by the excellent Christopher Ventris, with Günther Groissböck shining in his role debut as Gurnemanz. 

The Dutch Concert Choir impressed surprisingly in the annual May 4th WWII memorial concert at the Concergebouw, offering an impressive rendition of Hans Kox's rarely performed Anne Frank Cantata and Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. 

Although technical problems threatened to undermine this production, Anja Harteros' Elsa and Klaus Florian Vogt's Lohengrin transcended all.

With its minimalist but grandiose sets, the imposing sound of the Choir of the Dutch National Opera and the excellent conducting of Marc Albrecht, there is much to be enjoyed in this revival of Pierre Audi’s Lohengrin in Amsterdam.

The Deutsche Oper's vintage production of Lucia di Lammermoor is fabulously eerie and strongly performed. 

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.

Wiederaufnahme am Himmelfahrtstag: Der Berliner Lohengrin lohnt vor allem, aber nicht nur wegen des einzigartigen Klaus Florian Vogt.