Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Michael Colvin

Excellent performances cannot turn a conventional production of Massenet’s Werther into a dramatic experience for the 21st century. 

Robert Carsen’s 1997 production of Eugene Onegin has aged remarkably well but the latest Canadian Opera Company revival of it doesn’t quite recapture its magic. 

William Kentridge's production of Berg’s Wozzeck has it all: wonderfully imaginative and disturbing designs, terrific acting and singing plus fabulous orchestral playing. 

La Scala presents a new production of Benjamin Britten’s masterpiece, with an excellent cast led by tenor Brandon Jovanovich.

Ambur Braid excels in the title role in the Canadian Opera Company’s starrily cast revival of Atom Egoyan's production.

The COC revival of its 2016 production of Le nozze di Figaro is still rooted in Claus Guth’s gloomy Scandinavia but it’s lightened up to become much sexier and funnier.

The COC’s revival of The Magic Flute is mostly played for laughs and makes an enjoyable, if undemanding, evening.

Unlike many Flutes, David McVicar's 2003 production treats Mozart's score as a proper opera, albeit with romp instead of pomp. 

A superb cast of singers is let down by Christoph Marthaler's cold, stilted staging as Reimann's Lear returns to its birthplace.  

Leaving unresolved loose ends aside and viewed from a child’s perspective, Joel Ivany’s new Hänsel und Gretel at the Canadian Opera Company it’s a fun night at the opera.

Salzburg's new staging of Enescu's operatic epic Oedipe is a visual and musical triumph.

It’s the sprig of nightshade on a blood-red confection.

ENO's new production of Salome which opens the season features some commendable music-making, but is let down by a flawed concept and dull staging.

Sir Bryn Terfel’s Falstaff is still a cherishable rogue as he takes on the title role in Robert Carsen’s joyous staging at the Royal Opera. 

William Kentridge's Lulu for ENO is easier to admire than it is to love. But if you want to be challenged dramatically, this is the opera to do it.

After showing in 13 theatres around the world, Robert Carsen’s Dialogues des carmélites returns again to Amsterdam, where it was premiered in 1997. Almost 20 years on, its finale remains a shattering theatrical experience.

Sadly, Damiano Michieletto and Antonio Pappano's production is more likely to be remembered for its failings – the awful rape scene, its dullness, plus a list of annoying details too long to mention – than for its musical excellence. It’s worth seeing to get a feel of both.

In the revival of David Alden's Peter Grimes at English National Opera, the singing is excellent, the orchestral performance is out of the top drawer and the staging hardly puts a foot wrong.

Peter Grimes may deserve the place it has gained in the operatic canon, but it’s not a work without problems.

Boston Lyric Opera opened a new production of Madama Butterfly on Thursday night, with gorgeous results. From the beautifully articulated set to the connection of the singers, the production was clean and inspired. While the music and the libretto go unchanged, different productions bring out different aspects of the well-loved opera. In one, Butterfly’s lost honor may be central to the retelling.

With most of the original cast of English National Opera's critically acclaimed production returning to the Royal Albert Hall to perform Britten's Peter Grimes for the BBC Proms, this was a performance of which much of the audience had high expectations. For the most part, these were met and, on occasion, exceeded.

Anthony Minghella's famous production of Puccini's Madam Butterfly debuted with ENO in 2005, and has been revived several times since at the Coliseum, as well as travelling to the Met in New York and the Lithuanian National Opera. ENO's latest revival confirms the classic status of this version, with a musical account which goes some way to matching the sumptuous and – yes – cinematic visuals.

Diálogos de carmelitas entra a formar parte de los hitos programados por el Palau de Les Arts, de la mano de Robert Carsen y Riccardo Minasi.

Este Lear de Calixto Bieito constituye la mejor propuesta hasta el momento de la temporada de Teatro Real.

Christoph Marthaler siedelt Verdis letzte Oper an einem Filmset an und produziert dabei wohl keinen Kassenschlager; immerhin rettet die musikalische Seite den Abend vor dem Flop.

Sous la direction convaincante de Gustavo Dudamel, l'interprétation de Saioa Hernández est remarquable dans le rôle-titre, mais une direction d'acteur erratique et la petite forme de Joseph Calleja tempèrent le succès espéré.

Le chef-d'œuvre mozartien est desservi par une lecture scénique qui tombe parfois dans le contresens, mais la distribution et la direction de Gustavo Dudamel en font une belle réussite musicale.

Dans cette reprise d'une production créée en 2016, Bo Skovhus est magistral dans le rôle-titre. L'œuvre s'avère une nouvelle fois un des moments forts de la programmation de l’Opéra de Paris.