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Ireland’s first Wagner opera in over a decade dazzles with a captivating production by Rachael Hewer for Irish National Opera. 

A concert of striking contrasts in Dublin, from Debussy’s ethereal textures to Rachmaninov’s lush romanticism. 

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.

A terrific opening to the 68th festival with Aigul Akhmetshina's sultry Dulcinée the standout in a great cast. 

A thoroughly satisfying, entertaining production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte from Irish National Opera. Anna Devin delivers a delightful Pamina and Nick Pritchard a convincing Tamino. 

Sinister aspects are stressed in Mozart's The Magic Flute at Leeds Grand Theatre directed by James Brining and conducted by Robert Howarth.

Ailish Tynan's powerful soprano soared above the massive forces of the choir in the thundering "Libera Me" – a wall of sound that blew the audience away.

Neither Simon Rattle nor Magdalena Kožena could resist a tendency to add sentiment.

An affirmation of the importance of cultural values in the face of the abyss, or Richard Strauss fiddling while Europe burnt? Tim Albery's production leaves it to us to decide.

A strong cast take us to the brink of damnation in Welsh National Opera’s revival of Don Giovanni.

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.

A restless score, a stylish modern setting and gripping central performances from David Butt Philip (trading Laertes at the festival for the title role here) and Jennifer France (Ophelia) do much to commend this new work

Based on Irish mythology, Opera Theatre Company deiver a compelling concert performance of an exceedingly rare Irish opera Eithne 

Opera North's concert version of Puccini's Turandot in Leeds Town Hall, conducted by Sir Richard Armstrong, is magnificent

After a sparkling Act I, energy fades slightly on a sweltering night in London, but Opera Holland Park's Die Fledermaus has a lot going for it.

Stellar singing and excellent acting makes this a brilliantly satisfying and amusing 1970s take on Rossini's classic The Barber of Seville. 

Opera North's Così fan tutte directed by Tim Albery at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, is a welcome revival of an intelligent, nuanced production.

Opera North's The Barber of Seville directed by Giles Havergal at the Grand Theatre Leeds is supremely theatrical and a classic in all senses of the word.

“The very incarnation of vice” was how one critic described Célestine Galli-Marié’s Carmen at the opera’s 1875 Opéra Comique première. That description could equally be applied to Stéphanie d’Oustrac in Glyndebourne’s revival of David McVicar’s terrific production.

Tragedy giving way to comedy – a recipe which still works, as demonstrated in Opera North's fine double bill of Gianni Schicchi and La vida breve.

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.

Offenbach’s wrongfully neglected masterpiece has returned to us at last, thanks to the concerted efforts of Opera Rara, the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment and Sir Mark Elder; and, above all, because of the tireless, lifelong devotion of one man: Jean-Christophe Keck.

Scottish Opera and Northern Ireland Opera's new version of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld has been touring Scotalnd and Northern Ireland: it's now arrived in London for a short run at the Young Vic in London, in its 150-seater Maria hall alongside the main theatre.

L'adaptation opératique du film d'Ingmar Bergman ne se distingue certes pas par l'originalité de sa musique mais n'en demeure pas moins une réussite, dotée d'une grande profondeur psychologique.

Deuxième moitié du diptyque lyrique italien proposé par l'opéra bruxellois, l'opéra de Donizetti est interprété par une distribution inégale, dans laquelle s'illustrent notamment Vittorio Prato et Raffaella Lupinacci.