Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Will Tuckett

Cole Porter's exuberant wordsmithery and his smash-and-grab appropriation of a dozen musical styles can hardly fail to entertain; Opera North give us four top class leads.

Tuckett's richly-integrated Elizabeth contains some superb performances but is often overwhelmed in this transition to a much larger space 

Welsh National Opera's co-production of Kiss me, Kate is another good argument for opera companies to stage Broadway musicals.

The away leg of Rossini's “Italian girl - Turkish guy” fixture makes for a thoroughly enjoyable evening at Garsington, without ever quite bursting into flame.

Beguiled, bereaved and betrayed - William Tuckett's Elizabeth imagines the ill-fated romances of the Virgin Queen. Tuckett draws on the monarch's own writings and those of her contemporaries to fashion a full-length work, blending spoken word, dance and music to convey the tumultuous affairs of Elizabeth I. 

Opera North's Kiss Me Kate directed by Jo Davies at Leeds Grand Theatre is sheer joy.

Considering its French title, Sir Frederick Ashton’s ballet La Fille mal gardée is quintessentially English. Laura Morera and Vadim Muntagirov brought the bright spring sunshine from outside to flood the auditorium in delightfully sunny performances.

Acclaimed choreographer Will Tuckett's version of children's classic The Wind in the Willows is a slice of theatrical magic. Marianka Swain reviews at the Duchess Theatre, London. 

Metamorphosis: Titian 2012 invited artists from different disciplines, mainly the visual arts, dance and music, to respond to Titian's three magnifient paintings of the Diana and Actaeon myth. The results are displayed in an exhibition at the National Gallery (alongside Titian's originals), and in an triple bill of new ballets at the Royal Opera House.

Laugh-out-loud comedy is a rare find in dance, which usually elicits no more than a polite, awkward titter. However it is such comedy that is one of the chief merits of this ballet. La Fille Mal Gardée is as anxious to show off bad dancing as it is to show off the good, pleasing the audience with all manner of buffoonery.The ballet’s opening gives me a childish thrill.