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Frederic Wake-Walker sticks to a vapid pop-parody that demeans the intellectual message of Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos.

Diego Fasolis leads a period performance of Mozart’s early masterpiece with a strong cast and a clever production.

Opera Atelier's return to the earliest part of the repertoire with Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria showcases their strengths in a relatively restrained production anchored by a strong ensemble cast.

The Temple of Opera has opened its doors to operetta. For the first time the Teatro alla Scala is staging Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus.

Director Davide Livermore updates the plot to the period of the Russian Revolution, October 1917, a far echo of that turning point in 1403 when the Ottoman sultan Bajazet was defeated by the Tartar Timburlaine.

At La Scala, Milan a disappointing tribute to Giorgio Strehler's historic staging of The Marriage of Figaro by young English director Frederic Wake-Walker. 

Mehta's refusal to treat these as episodic statements gave the playing its polish. The music unravelled in a spun-out yarn.

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

Les Arts Florissants' performance of Handel's oratorio Theodora presents true characters with an intense inner life.

Opera Atelier’s latest production mixes traditional-specific touches the company is known for, and more high-concept inclusions. The results are mixed — but the singing is spectacular.

New York is again lucky to host William Christie and Les Arts Florissants at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Their visits are always special, and it’s not just because the unique nature of their repertory – Baroque opera, usually French, which is neglected by most of New York’s major companies – nor the virtuosic ease with which they embody this otherwise-foreign idiom.

Opera Atelier has made its reputation as a producer of 17th- and 18th-century operas for more than a quarter of a century, based at the elegant Elgin Theatre in Toronto since 2000. This year it has made a leap into another era and another century with a gorgeous production of Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz.

One of the most sophisticated offerings in the 2012 Festival d’Aix-en-Provence is a new production of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s David et Jonathas.

Avant-dernière œuvre d’Haendel et seul de ses oratorios fondé sur un sujet chrétien, Theodora apparaît également comme le testament musical d’un musicien au crépuscule de sa vie. Cette nouvelle production retranscrit avec justesse son esprit tout en en modernisant la lettre.