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Manfred Schweigkofler's production places the drama in a surreal, timeless atmosphere at the Teatro San Carlo. 

Can a perfect performance of the stupendous Gurrelieder be anything other than five stars?

In the tiring role of Menelaus Andreas Schager was a mighty Heldentenor, combining impressive sound power with a dazzling colour and without ever showing a moment of fatigue.

At the Enescu Festival n Bucharest Vladimir Jurowski celebrates the centennial of Die Frau one Schatten’s premiere.

Peter Seiffert can still impress as Tristan, but Graham Vick's staging is uncertain and unconvincing. 

Chung's mastery of orchestral colour and texture came into its own, the brooding introduction to Act 2 making for a harrowingly apocalyptic representation of tyranny.

The most talked about new production in the New National Theatre Tokyo’s 20th anniversary season undercuts Beethoven’s idealism.

A strong cast, a lyrically simmering orchestra and lucid staging make this a Tristan und Isolde to treasure.

Skelton's Florestan provides the power in a refined, elegant performance that brings out the beauty in Beethoven's score.

A musical performance of stunning quality underpins this revival of Krzysztof Warlikowski's lavish, ambiguous Strauss staging.

Powerful performances in Götz Friedrich's Deutsche Oper production. 

Visually inconsistant but some mesmerising perfromances in Kirsten Harms' production. 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s impressive conducting, Tomasz Konieczny’s tortured Telramund and the Chor der Wiener Staatsoper save this performance of  Lohengrin from becoming an ignominious swan song.

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.

An updated but otherwise traditional Flying Dutchman directed by Jan Philipp Gloger offers plenty of enjoyment at Bayreuth, although it might not linger in the memory as long as the more controversial fare at the Festival

Nina Stemme makes a memorable role debut as Elektra in Vienna in a new production set in a coal-filled basement of a 1910 Viennese town house.

The music makes this an enchanting Die Frau ohne Schatten, even if Warlikowski’s fantastical production remains an unsolved puzzle.

Though Jordan and the Wiener Symphoniker have been happy bedfellows many times before, this concert marked the beginning of a new stage in their relationship. 

Christian Thielemann and his orchestra were the stars of an excellent performance of Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer. 

A thoughtful pairing of Schoenberg's Friede auf Erden and Beethoven's Ninth fails to catch fire.

Mahler’s Symphony no. 8 had not been heard in Milan for 27 years. Tonight, Riccardo Chailly returned to perform the “Symphony of a Thousand” with his former band, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” These wise words have fortunately not fallen on deaf ears at the Opéra de Paris, who have brought back their production of Leoš Janáček’s The Makropulos Affair, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski and designed by Małgorzata Szczęśniak, first presented in Paris back in 2007.

Richard Strauss’ outstanding catalogue of operas is part of the staple diet of opera houses around the world. From the musically and dramatically intense scores of Salome and Elektra to the romantically lush, emotional sweepings of Der Rosenkavalier, there is something in his canon for all manner of opera enthusiasts.

Tradition has it in Vienna that while the Wiener Philharmoniker ring in the New Year to the strains of the Blue Danube and other Strauss family hits, the Wiener Symphoniker give festive performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Konzerthaus.

„Hier wird’s Ereignis – das Unbeschreibliche, hier ist‘s getan“ – mit diesen Worten endet Goethes Faust II, Mahlers Symphonie und damit auch die Amtszeit von Christian Thielemann als Chefdirigent der Sächsischen Staatskapelle.

Franz Welser-Möst nimmt Abschied von Richard Wagners Ring des Nibelungen und triumphiert an der Wiener Staatsoper mit seinem letzten Zyklus.

Àlex Ollé ofrece un buen espectáculo visual para una producción que falla en construir el imprescindible nivel de tensión musical.  

Esperábamos una culminación de esta Tetralogía que continuara con su trayectoria ascendente de calidad musical, algo que desgraciadamente se ha quedado lejos de la realidad.

Si la mise en scène de Willy Decker accuse son âge dans une production inégale, l'œuvre de Wagner bénéficie de l'incarnation parfaite de Ricarda Merbeth et de la direction inspirée d'Hannu Lintu.

Avec son orchestre sur scène, son plateau ensanglanté et son excellente distribution, l'Elektra haute en couleurs de Michel Fau vient clôturer la saison amputée du Théâtre du Capitole.

Zu einem Triumph wurde die Rückkehr des einstigen Generalmusikdirektors Franz Welser-Möst; ebenfalls zurück kehrte die 30 Jahre alte Inszenierung von Harry Kupfer.

La primera jornada de la tetralogía El anillo del nibelungo se presenta en el Real bajo la dirección de Heras-Casado y Robert Carsen en una producción que cuenta con un reparto de lujo.

La Orquestra de Cadaqués ofrece su último concierto en el Auditorio Nacional acompañada por Martin Fröst y el Coro Estatal de Letonia.

À l'Opéra de Marseille, l'œuvre de Puccini bénéficie de l'élégante mise en scène de Charles Roubaud. Avec un solide tandem Ricarda Merbeth – Antonello Palombi dans les rôles principaux.

Ricarda Merbeth gibt eine markerschütternde Elektra in Patrice Chéreaus psychologischer Inszenierung.

Una orquesta con función de acompañante delegó a los cantantes la inmensa tarea de intentar explicar la muerte, o al menos de nombrarla.

Zur Eröffnung des diesjährigen Festivals gab der neue Leiter des Lucerne Festival Orchestra Riccardo Chailly seinen bejubelten Einstand mit einer grandiosen Aufführung von Mahlers Achter Symphonie.

Une nouvelle production ambitieuse et saissante du Lear de Reimann à l'Opéra de Paris, qui voit sombrer dans la folie un roi d'Angleterre interprété magistralement par Bo Skovhus.

El Holandés errante sirve a la OCNE para desplegar todo su poderío sonoro en una noche en la que la Senta de Ricarda Merbeth robó el protagonismo a un desigual Terfel.

Trotz ihres Alters überwältigt Herbert Wernickes Inszenierung bis heute mit gewaltiger Bildsprache, doch gerade reduziertes Bühnenbild bedarf umso feinerer Personenregie.