Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Tom Verney

A concert performance wasn't perhaps the best way to make a case for Jommelli's Il Vologeso, presented as part of Classical Opera's Mozart 250 series. 

Bruno Ravella's version of Handel's Agrippina moves the action from Classical Rome to the avaricious Eighties in a sharp, amusing night at Iford.  

Britten’s final opera given an impressively atmospheric staging, ideally conceived for the small venue

When compared to the operas of Handel, Vivaldi’s operas are still relative rarities either on stage or in concert. There have been a handful of performances in UK in the last five years...

Jonathan Dove's joyous old-fashioned fairytale, magically realised in a very stylish production including some wonderfully original puppetry, is a fabulous talent showcase from British Youth Opera - and fun for all the family. 

Five hours with five counter tenors: a virtuoso stand-off which impresses, even astounds, but ultimately exhausts even the most dedicated audience by its refusal to cut a single note of what becomes a very long, florid opera by Jommelli. 

Audiences have come to look forward to the annual co-production between Scottish Opera and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where student opera singers, orchestra players and backstage crew get a chance to partner up with their professionals across the other side of Glasgow’s Hope Street.

Britten’s only Shakespeare opera was a last-minute commission to celebrate the opening of the refurbished Jubilee Hall at the 1960 Aldeburgh Festival. Despite the narrow timescale, Britten and his collaborator and partner Peter Pears notoriously strove to adhere to the sixteen-century dramatic text as closely as possible. Only a handful of Shakespeare’s original lines were substantially modified.

When the king of the gods falls head over heels in love with you, seriously bad stuff happens. If you're a Handelian soprano like Semele, however, it happens very tunefully and in a thoroughly pleasant, elegant and cheerful manner for the whole evening.If you're confused as to the difference between opera and oratorio, Semele is the perfect aid to your confusion.

Robert Carsen inszeniert Händels Agrippina als köstliche Sex & Crime-Komödie mit Tempo, Witz und italienischer Eleganz.