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Opera Holland Park updates Puccini's setting to the 1960s in a production that does not completely work, but benefits from the strong performance of Elizabeth Llewellyn as its leading lady.

Director Oliver Mears turns Scottish Opera’s Eugene Onegin into a memory play, with fine singing from a strong cast starring Natalya Romaniv as a thrilling Tatyana.  

Jonathan Dove’s witty Flight at Scottish Opera is finely sung by a tight ensemble with standout performances from Jennifer France and James Laing.

Two thematically linked, but contrasting short operas are the final component of Opera North's Little Greats season at the Leeds Grand Theatre.

Charles Edwards and Annabel Arden direct Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortilèges in a contrasting pairing of two short operas in Opera North's 'Little Greats' season.

Scottish Opera may be admirably committed to Mascagni's under-appreciated opera, but the musical quality and vision are lacking.

The ultimate musical misnomer, Rossini's last major work is beautifully sung in the wonderful surroundings of the Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

Adrian Partington directs a well-managed but ultimately disjointed performance of Mahler’s most idealistically challenging symphony.

The combined forces of various LSO and Guildhall ensembles come together in an evening that was, in turns, poignant and thrilling to perform Peter Maxwell Davies's last work. 

English National Opera’s first staging of Bellini’s bel canto masterpiece is a musical and dramatic triumph.

Third time unlucky? After a scorching start to the summer, with superb productions of Il trittico and Flight, Opera Holland Park’s season came unstuck with a horror of a show in Daniel Slater’s Aida.

Keri-Lynn Wilson produces an outstanding UK conducting debut in Richard Jones' faithful production of Puccini's Girl of the Golden West for ENO.

Martin Lloyd-Evan's highly sensitive production features a show-stealing performance by Richard Burkhard but is marred by problems of orchestral balance.

The sole complete opera contribution to Wagner’s anniversary in Auckland this year came in the form of New Zealand Opera’s production of Der fliegende Holländer. This was the first staged performance of a Wagner opera in Auckland for over 20 years (though we’ve had a few in concert), and it is a pleasure to report that New Zealand Opera welcomed the master back with a fascinating performance.

As I left Holland Park after last night’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, I found myself wondering what they’d put in the orchestra’s cups of tea at the interval. Or, perhaps, what was it that conductor Stuart Stratford said to them.

The set for this Faust is a series of blank screens, which slide about quickly and frequently, tall canvases for constantly changing images provided by Berlin-based video artist Lillevan.

A work scheduled to last nearly two hours could be excused for starting with a long slow build up, but Havergal Brian’s massive Gothic Symphony (the longest symphony ever composed) bursts onto the scene with a brisk and bustling march-like flourish, contrasted briefly with a delicate violin solo that reminds us that this is very much an English composition.

Verdi's Simon Boccanegra explores how the characters of powerful men change (or don't) with age and fortune: the action happens over several decades, and the character of Simon gives wonderful scope for some serious character acting.

The story of Carmen is a tale of people at the bottom of the heap; factory workers, gypsies, bullfighters, ordinary soldiers, yet the romance of Spain and Bizet’s exuberant and unforgettable tunes have combined to give us a prettified, glamorous idea of Carmen, full of flamenco costumes, castanets, handsome toreadors and none of the rough edges.

The popularity of Bizet's 'Carmen' leaves many opera lovers knowing exactly what they want to hear and see before even entering the theatre.

La Forza del Destino isn't performed nearly as often as Verdi's most popular works: this year's production at Opera Holland Park is the first time it's been staged in the UK for several years.