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

Sam Brown's sparse production leaves nothing to focus on but the individual protagonists on stage. 

Handel's Alcina at the Karlsruhe 2019 Handel Festival scores on all fronts, with two Australians taking the main roles. 

Ligeti's “anti-anti opera” opens in Zurich in a new production by Tatjana Gürbaca. 

Perhaps Pinchgut Opera's finest production to date, a brave presentation of a classic Baroque opera, little heard in Australia apart from Handel, benefits from the star presence of Vivca Genaux in splendid form.

Marlis Petersen's Alcina bloomed for a knockout “Ah! mio cor!” just in time for intermission.

Calixto Bieito sets Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea in a hedonist, decadent society whose citizens are defined by their egotism, ambition and sexual exploits.

Accomplished performances from the cast and La Cetra Baroque Orchestra can’t fully compensate the shortcomings of Caldara’s Harmony of the Planets.

Brett Dean treats Shakespeare's behemoth as a timeless story told in language that has become timeless; no effort is spared in elucidating and amplifying that story.

Director and choreographer Jo Strømgren's production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice brings together ballet and opera, but succeeds only with limited results.

Director Ole Anders Tandberg's production of Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse expertly balances the line between irreverent humour and human tragedy.

Two sparkling performances by the Oslo Philharmonic and Harry Bicket of dance suites from Rameau's Platée and Les Boréades framed at times brilliant singing from countertenor David Hansen.

Jüri Reinvere's new operatic adaptation of Ibsen's immortal drama is a decidedly uneven experience, but not without potential.

Giasone was the most performed opera of the 17th century, but this was no dry, reverent exhumation. This was something much better from Pinchgut Opera: a joyous, animated resurrection.

The world ended yesterday. Possibly. It probably didn’t, but the facts are still kind of fuzzy.György Ligeti’s only opera, Le grand macabre is a strange piece. The story is straightforward enough: Nekrotzar, a Death-like figure, travels around the world of Breughelland warning its citizens of impending doom – a giant comet will destroy Earth at midnight.

La belle performance instrumentale de l'ensemble ne suffit pas à faire oublier les limites de la mise en espace et de la direction d'acteur, qui font parfois tourner l'œuvre de Monteverdi à la caricature.

Calixto Bieito deutet das Werk im Geist der heutigen Gender-Debatte. Und Dmitry Sinkovsky legt eine packende musikalische Interpretation der vor 20 Jahren ausgegrabenen Barockoper hin.