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Michael Chioldi, Soraya Mafi and Bekhzod Davronov shine in Julien Chavez’ energetic production in Dublin’s Bord Gais Theatre. 

Polly Graham's take on Mozart's Così fan tutte is full of humour and political commentary, while the singing is a joy to hear. 

Chavaz's post-modern mythological approach to Rossini's neglected opera Guillaume Tell pays off with some glorious singing from the principals and the INO Chorus. 

Ivor Bolton and Kit Hesketh-Harvey deliver a brilliant political thriller and anti-Putin polemic – at least for its first half.

Grange Park Opera's revival of its 2015 production of Puccini's La bohème hits some high notes with a very contemporary feel and some excellent singing from its leading ladies.

A humorous and clever take on Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Good singing and acting in directors, Ahern and Lovett's interesting production. 

Frederic Wake-Walker sticks to a vapid pop-parody that demeans the intellectual message of Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos.

Joshua Bloom and Paula Murrihy excel in Irish National Opera's staging of Bartók's opera, although director Enda Walsh takes too many liberties with the libretto. 

Grange Park Opera’s enjoyable new production of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera looks a little homespun on stage, but has plenty of musical compensations.

Trophy room glass display cases and glassy-eyed stuffed animals are the setting for a distinctive take on Wagner's epic music drama. 

Excellent singing, dramatic sets and jolly music make this a rewarding revival of a long-forgotten opera, Herculanum by David. 

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

Bleak and uncompromising in vision and intention, Britten's The Rape of Lucretia gets a suitably dark, discomfiting outing at Guildhall. 

In Opera Holland Park's latest foray into obscure verismo, an excellent orchestral performance and high quality singing fails to translate into a compelling drama.

 Despite a stellar Mimì, a disappointing La bohème at Grange Park Opera.

Martin Lloyd-Evan's highly sensitive production features a show-stealing performance by Richard Burkhard but is marred by problems of orchestral balance.

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari is a bit of a strange fish: a recluse, a self-described mystic, and proud enough of his hybrid German-Italian identity that he appended his mother’s maiden name to his own at the age of nineteen.

To end the 2012/13 season, Scottish Opera has teamed up with the D’Oyly Carte Company to create a crisp new production of The Pirates of Penzance, which heads off to England and Wales after touring Scotland.

Howling, gusting wind. Damp, bitter cold. Dark, gathering twilight. Exactly the right atmosphere, you must agree, for Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, based on Sir Walter Scott's romantic historical novel of dark deeds in the grim castles of the Scottish clans, which opened Opera Holland Park's new season.

Enda Walsh und Donnacha Dennehy ziehen die Zuschauer des Opera Forward Festivals mit ihrer Oper in ihren Bann.