Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Alex Esposito

The real sensation of the evening was Alex Esposito – this time, Gounod's Faust should have been titled Méphistophélès...

Claus Peter Flor directs La Fenice forces with a fine quartet of soloists in the Requiem by Mozart that somewhat unjustifiably carries the composer's name, prefaced by a companion-piece motet.

Maestro Myung-Whun Chung leads an almost all-Italian cast in an impressive performance of Verdi’s most ambiguous masterpiece.

One of Teatro San Carlo’s most cherished productions of recent years, with an excellent cast of singers and a director who steered at his ease into the libretto’s erratic changes of mood and atmosphere.

Deutsche Oper Berlin staged an ambitious production by Laurence Pelly with mixed results. The performance included new discoveries and young singers brought fresh energy to the evening.

La Fenice presents Rossini’s monumental farewell to Italy and to 18th-century tradition in Ligorio’s elegant new production with a superb cast.

With unbridled imagination, Michieletto fills this usually-problematic space with a wealth of racy detail.

The director presents the story clearly enough, but apart from that, there is not much going for this production.

David Pountney’s 2014 staging was revived in Naples with good singing and empathetic conducting.

Michieletto's production for the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome is fresh, intelligent and destined to go down as one of his best. 

This was meant to be Pretty Yende's night, but it was Armenian tenor Liparit Avetisyan who stole hearts as country bumpkin Nemorino. 

La gazza ladra celebrates its 200th anniversary with a new production at La Scala, an earthbound effort from director Gabriele Salvatores, but it was Riccardo Chailly who drew the wrath of sections of the Milanese audience. 

The Rossini masterpiece is brought to life by an inspired conductor and four first-class singers in a new, modern production by David Alden.

The singing is the main attraction in Dutch National Opera’s Le nozze di Figaro, but this new production is also entertaining and looks good enough to eat.

Kasper Holten's virtuosic staging is revived by the Royal Opera with a cast of three exceptionally strong women, and accomplished performances by Christopher Maltman and Alex Esposito as the Don and his servant.

“Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It’s a bum’s life,” stated the late, great Marlon Brando. Felix Breisach took this idea to heart when staging his modernized Figaro in a mental institution.

There's much to recommend this Turco, including stunning vocal fireworks by Olga Peretyatko and moments of comedic gold in the staging. But this production also reinforces some ugly racial and gender stereotypes.

David McVicar's production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro returns for its sixth revival at the Royal Opera House, the refinement of the production matched, almost at all times, by the performances. 

Calixto Bieito's The Tales of Hoffmann at the Norwegian National Opera contains some very effective and at times striking moments, but the production turned out something of a disappointment overall.

Shortly after Rossini's success with The Barber of Seville came La Cenerentola, a reworking of the Cinderella fairy tale, but with a little less magic, and a lot more worldly comedy. It was an instant success and further established the 25-year-old Rossini as one of the greatest Italian opera composers of his day.

It's the most spectacular entrance in opera: the giant stone statue bursts in to join Don Giovanni at the dinner table; a pair of sweeping downward octave swoops in D minor fills the audience (and the hapless Leporello) with terror at the rake's imminent descent into hell.OK, that was a spoiler, but then we all know the story: a production of Don Giovanni is all about how you tell it.

Konzertant angekündigt und dreiviertelszenisch umgesetzt begeistert Mozarts Oper das Publikum.

Die russische Sopranistin weiß das Münchner Publikum vom ersten bis zum letzten Ton in der Wiederaufnahme von David Aldens Inszenierung zu fesseln.

In einer nüchternen Inszenierung hat Christof Loy versucht, in Mozarts Le nozze di Figaro vor allem musikalisch neue Akzente zu setzen.

Dieter Dorns 1997er Inszenierung bietet gute Unterhaltung, kann aber mit dem Starensemble um Diana Damrau nicht mithalten.

La production reprenait mise en scène, décors et costumes de la création toulousaine 2008-2009 amenée à l’époque par Michel Plasson et Nicolas Joel, et qui avait connu un succès certain, des Chorégies d’Orange à la ville rose. La part d’inconnue résidait surtout dans le plateau et l’individualité des voix.

Die Bayerische Staatsoper zeigt erneut die umstrittene Don Giovanni-Inszenierung von Stephan Kimmig aus dem Jahr 2009. 

Was haben eine betrogene Backpackerin, ein nackter Alter, ein prolliger Frauenheld und ein düsterer Containerbahnhof mit Mozarts Oper Don Giovanni gemeinsam? Nicht viel. Stefan Kimmigs Inszenierung an der Bayerischen Staatsoper ist sehr modern und hinterlässt den Zuschauer ratlos – im Gegensatz zum hervorragenden Ensemble.