Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Callum Thorpe

Come for the shave, stay for the comedy. Christopher Luscombe's new production of Rossini's beloved opera buffa avoids overcomplicating the plot, letting the work's humour and the abilities of the principals shine. 

Opera North's child-friendly production of The Cunning Little Vixen, conducted by Andrew Gourlay, is loaded with charm.

The director Edward Dick and his designer, Tom Scutt, alternate between realistic and expressionistic images in their creation of grim spectacle.

Tara Erraught stars as the eponymous heroine with Anna Devin as her nemesis Elizabeth I in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, but Tom Creed's modern update fails to convince at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. 

On Easter Monday, this year's London Handel Festival came to a close with Handel's youthful oratorio La Resurrezione in the suitably Baroque setting of London's St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Femi Elufowju's new staging of Verdi's classic is innovative, provocative and closely connected with the modern world.

A vast panopticon cages strong musical performances in Wake-Walker's Fidelio at Glyndebourne, with Dorothea Herbert and Adam Smith standing out vocally and emotionally as Leonore and Florestan.

The Bayerische Staatsoper's new production of Falstaff makes the mistake of turning a comedy into a slapstick, but the fine ensemble have the last say as they stand in silence and defiance to face the empty auditorium.

Gorgeous playing under Sir Mark Elder wasn’t enough to mask the lack of theatrical drive in the scrupulously cast Dutch premiere of Delius’ most successful opera.

Instead of telling a story of spiritual enlightenment and ultimate redemption through faith, Pierre Audi's reading is bereft of mystery and magic.

The profusion of images and ideas in Frank Castorf's Bavarian Staatsoper production of From the House of the Dead threatens to rob Janáček's opera of its humanity.

Anna Devin's Cleopatra moved with complete conviction for scheming minx to mature woman in love.

Barrie Kosky’s clever direction enlivens a Strauss rarity at the Bayerische Staatsoper but the minimalist stage setting sinks HMS Schweigsame Frau.

A performance of Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt performed by the Orchestra and Choir of the Age of the Enlightenment with William Christie conducting.

At the opera’s great climaxes Suffolk’s famous wood-and-brick building could barely contain it.

Reinhard Goebel's Messiah with Royal Northern Sinfonia had good moments but the overall performance didn't convince. 

Opera North's production of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd, directed by Orpha Phelan, is a tense psychological drama which puts the emphasis on issues of democracy and attitudes to dictatorship. 

Arcangelo and three excellent singers performed 17th-century music inspired by Shakespeare in a vivid and amusing performance. Lipstick and pashmina anyone?

A very naughty translation and some fine singing make for a delightfully comic evening of Cesti's recently rediscovered Orontea at Wigmore Hall. 

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

Former RSC Artistic Director Michael Boyd imparts a distinctly Shakespearean flavour to Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in this first collaboration between the Royal Opera and the Roundhouse.

Channelling Conchita Wurst in its starring role, the Early Opera Company's production of this rare Rameau opera is bursting with laughs and memorable performances from a strong young cast. 

Closing your eyes while listening, you could easily imagine yourself in a gilt-edged salon, with Her Highness Mademoiselle Marie de Lorraine, Duchess of Guise, peer of France, princess of Joinville, hereditary seneschal of Champagne herself sitting not far from you, enjoying and approving every lovely note.

Opera North's La Fanciulla del West, directed by Aletta Collins, contains a bold performance from Alwyn Mellor as Minnie, and a powerful Ramerrez in Rafael Rojas.

When Emperor Überall decrees an all-pervasive war that will result in the death of his whole population, Death takes umbrage at the fact that his job is being usurped and, in the mother of all demarcation disputes, goes on strike.

A trip to the opera at Garsington in its new, idyllic setting at Wormsley Estate, Buckinghamshire, is a fine treat even in the rain. And with a Don Giovanni production which, despite plenty of oddities, is light-hearted and often witty, an excellent evening of high-class entertainment is guaranteed.

In der zweiten Festspiel-Premiere fesselt eine turbulente Inszenierung von Mozarts vielschichtigem Meisterwerk.

Kirill Petrenko und eine grandiose Marlis Petersen legen den Grundstein für eine musikalisch verführende Salome.

Die Münchner Inszenierung des Andrea Chénier überzeugt mir großen Bildern, großartiger Musik und einer herausragenden Anja Harteros.

Le Théâtre des Champs-Elysées propose une version concert d'Arabella, de Richard Strauss. Une soirée portée par une distribution de rêve dans laquelle se distingue Anja Harteros.

Edita Gruberová und Juan Diego Flórez brillieren in Christof Loys Inszenierung von Donizettis Familiendrama.

In einer morbiden Inszenierung von Antú Romero Nunes ist Verdis Les Vêpres siciliennes in München erstmals im franzöischen Original zu sehen.

Marc Minkowski et ses musiciens décidément irréprochables connaissent en effet le verbe mozartien sur le bout des doigts, et en conjuguent avec le même plaisir manifeste l’intranquille sensualité, le délicat tumulte et le lyrisme résigné. 

Pas de changement de décor depuis Les Noces de Figaro l’an dernier : l’action de Don Giovanni se déroule ici encore entre un élégant théâtre portatif  de rideaux et de fausses coulisses, écrin idéal pour les lieux de représentation – Drottningholm puis Versailles.

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.

Le jeudi 4 juin, l'ensemble La Nuova Musica de David Bates interprétait l’un des plus grands oratorios de Haendel, Israël en Egypte (1739). Une restitution décapante, pleine d’énergie et d’ardeur !