Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | David Parkin

A thoroughly enjoyable and brilliantly performed version of Rossini's great comic opera at the Sydney Opera House. 

A fine ensemble cast brings Puccini's triptych of one-acters to the Sydney Opera House stage, with stand-out performances from Lauren Fagan, Viktor Antipenko, Simon Meadows and Angela Hogan.

The opening Opera Australia's much-delayed Ring cycle contains wonderful visuals, and a standout performance from Warwick Fyfe as Alberich, but also moments of bafflement and excess.

Damiano Michieletto's imaginative take on Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann is lavish fun, with star turns from Jessica Pratt, Iván Ayón Rivas and Marko Mimica.

Despite high quality singing, arresting video cannot replace real direction in Davide Livermore’s digital production.

Could this be the last triumphant outing for the late, great Elijah Moshinksy's moving production of Rigoletto?

Paradise is lost and greed is good in this stunning retelling of Puccini's ageless opera.

Andrei Kymach and Yuri Kissin deliver standout Australian debuts in a revival of Sir David McVicar's dark, unshrinking Don Giovanni.

A mid-performance jump-in by tenor Thomas Strong saves the show on the opening night of this revival of Graeme Murphy's production.

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.

Graeme Murphy's legendary staging of Puccini's final opera remains a vital combination of strong storytelling and visual panache.

John Bell's reworking brings Tosca to 1943 Nazi-ruled Rome, featuring gorgeous sets and Carmen Giannatassio's striking Opera Australia debut in the title role.

Gale Edwards' Opera Australia staging of Richard Strauss' bloody opera is revived with Lise Lindstrom in the title role. 

As clearly visible on all photos, the Sydney Opera House has two “sails”, interconnected major sections. One of them houses concerts, the other operas. Opera performances, however, are not exclusively taking place in the Opera Theatre.

The fascinating politics of this opera are diminished by the presentation of just four scenes. The music and three strong performances almost make up as Sydney gets its first taste of this work.

A revival of Francesca Zambello's production of Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges at the Sydney Opera House is a joy, thanks to the antics of Kanen Breen at the head of a strong cast.

A well-worked revival of Elijah Moshinsky's production of Rossini's Barber of Seville offers gales of laughter and vocal delights at the Sydney Opera House, with starring roles for Paolo Bordogna, Anna Dowsley and Warwick Fyfe

Camels, fireworks, and a gigantic head of Nefertiti: the Sydney Harbour production of Aida is not short on spectacle. Among the cast, Latonia Moore is outstanding in the title role, with good support from Miljana Nikolic as Amneris and Michael Honeyman as Amonasro.

First presented in Perth in 2002, West Australian Opera’s Il trovatore (a co-production with Opera Queensland and State Opera of South Australia) is dedicated to the memory of director Elke Neidhardt, and here the stage becomes hers.

Rigoletto contains some of Verdi’s greatest melodies, and Opera Australia’s new production brings out the mixture of passion and darkness the heart of this story.

I’ve never been to a sing-along Sound of Music, but apparently audience etiquette requires pantomime booing of the Nazis. More than a few attendees at the opening night of Opera Australia’s new production of Tosca responded in a similar fashion at the curtain call, and it had nothing to do with a generally excellent performance. For yes, there were Nazis.