Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Miriam Murphy

A humorous and clever take on Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Good singing and acting in directors, Ahern and Lovett's interesting production. 

The biggest stigma associated with opera in Ireland is not that it is an elitist art form, but that it is not “Irish”, and that it doesn’t belong to Irish culture, more of a recent import, like pasta, or avocado.

Oliver Sears' production of Macbeth comes to Cardiff in a production which offers a great deal musically but doesn't quite coalesce dramatically. 

Can classic opera reflect the political status of the society in which it is performed? Calixto Bieito's production of Turandot for Northern Ireland Opera raises some uncomfortable questions.

Hansel and Gretel is often treated as a children's opera, suitable for family viewing at Christmas, but as Richard Jones' production demonstrates, it is a good deal darker than that.