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Frozen lava rock extends from the proscenium to the backcloth, an apt image to depict the harm Don Giovanni inflicts upon the other characters in Mozart's darkest opera.

Don Giovanni returns to the Palais Garnier. The production by Ivo van Hove lacks energy but is wonderfully served by a cast of great young talents.

A disappointing new production by David Marton at Opéra de Lyon. 

Claus Guth's production of Handel's last oratorio lands in Paris, where William Christie leads Les Arts Florissants and a stellar cast. 

Jean-François Sivadier's pulsating new production propels The Don through his lusty adventures at a whirlwind pace. 

Nothing is better than when Berlioz ramps up the decibels. With a huge orchestra and choir and a deluxe starry cast assembled in Strasbourg, this was a special performance. 

Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict is light and fluffy, making it perfect summer festival fare. Sadly, like a soggy soufflé, Pelly's one-trick staging soon falls flat.

Kent Nagano and the OSM came up trumps in concert version of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande.

In Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Figaro and his bride-to-(maybe)-be Susannah share their ups and downs, but in San Francisco Opera's revival production directed by Robin Guarino, it was evident they would be a veritable match made in heaven.

The OSM chorus and a well-matched quartet of Canadian soloists dominate the OSM’s Messiah conducted by Andrew Megill. 

Director Christopher Alden's charming Partenope slinks its Surrealist way into San Francisco.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the chorus and several soloists star in a dramatic version of Bach's St Matthew Passion in which l'Orchestre Métropolitain was less distinguished. 

Handel's Solomon is given a revelatory performance by an all-star cast of principles, La Chapelle de Québec and the Violons du Roy under the direction of Bernard Labadie.

Twentysomething Philippe Sly wields an impressive voice. Like the mythical John Henry’s hammer, it rings like silver in the upper register, the middle shines like gold, and his bass is firm as iron. From the second line of Henri Duparc’s “Chanson Triste” Sly interested with his way of rolling out phrases, englobing lines in cavernous spaces.

The Montreal International Musical Competition, this year devoted to voice, ended on a high note with the Winners’ Gala Concert on June 8. First, Second and Third Prize winners sang two arias each, but, in a gratifying show of solidarity with the remaining finalists, the program afforded concertgoers the opportunity to hear the five runners-up as well.

Ein opulenter Augenschmaus mit einem großartigen jungen Mozart-Ensemble.

Travaillant sur l'harmonie, l'équilibre et la question de l'attraction dans ce Cosí, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker propose une vision toute singulière de cette oeuvre dont la misogynie certaine ne saurait être gommée ou normalisée.

Véritable précis de monadologie aux accents newtoniens, dont l’acuité et la précision le disputent à la chaleur et au charnel dans un tourbillon de couleurs, le Cosí de Keersmaeker mêle savamment mouvement et harmonie dans un geste aussi chorégraphique que musical. Pour un résultat saisissant !

En février 2015, c’est un opéra de Philippe Boesmans qui est créé à l'Opéra Comique après l’avoir été en 2014 à La Monnaie de Bruxelles : Au monde. Du très grand art, fondé sur le théâtre d’une étrangeté captivante de Joël Pommerat.