Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Sean Panikkar

Shostakovich's opera is laid bare in Berlin, to devastating effect, with a distinguished cast led by Ambur Braid. 

Katie Mitchell wheels out her tired old tropes in The Makropulos Case, redeemed by its musical performances. 

An evocative reading of Tippett's early masterpiece sits proudly alongside a blistering performance of Beethoven's lasting gift to the world. 

Tobias Kratzer's prelude to this new Ring cycle exceeds all expectations and scores a musical-theatrical success.

When the director walks four weeks ahead of opening night, Dutch National Opera and Ballet hastily create a searing double bill of classical tragedy. 

The first instalment of Covent Garden's new Ring is excellent all round from orchestra and voices, with Barrie Kosky providing plenty of ideas to tease us as to how the cycle will continue. 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin combines the composer's unfinished Ninth Symphony, Te Deum and the motet Christus factus est to create an ultimate realization of religious faith and artistic expression.

Bieito’s vivid production of Bizet's most famous work is a classic; his attack on toxic masculinity is visceral, made more potent by an excellent leading pair of singers.

Is it possible to have a minor success on every level? Kevin Puts' The Hours underwhelms in its world premiere production at the Metropolitan Opera. 

Marking the beginning of a new artistic direction, the Komische Oper's new production of Nono's Intolleranza 1960 proves a success, with director Marco Štorman's deep rethinking of the theatre stage.

Phelim McDermott's popular staging of Satyagraha, which verges on the lush and the voluptuous, is revived to open English National Opera's season.

Conductor Matthias Pintscher and soloists Michelle DeYoung and Sean Panikker offered a moving but uneven interpretation of Das Lied von der Erde.

Bieito’s Carmen is now a mainstay of ENO's repertoire, but with an excellent central cast led by Sean Panikkar and Justina Gringytė, the production feels entirely fresh. 

Sophisticated interpretation of The Bassarids by Hans Werner Henze at the Komische Oper Berlin

Andrew Sinclair and Zandra Rhodes' hugely colourful and affecting “Pearl Fishers” for Kansas City Lyric Opera

After appearances in London and New York, Phelim McDermott's bold and imaginative production of Philip Glass’ Satyagraha arrives in Los Angeles.

Fabio Luisi conducts a solidly cast Guillaume Tell with panache, Rossini's final opera returning to the Metropolitan Opera after a long absence. 

Emotionally-engaged performance of Weill's Apartheid Opera. 

David Robertson carried the Met Orchestra through one of the most brilliantly-conducted performances I’ve witnessed, though the music itself was not always impressive. 

Francesca Zambello's huge, ambitious production returns once again to the Royal Albert Hall, with lavish costumes, excellent choreography and riotous crowd scenes which will charm children in particular. 

The seldom-seen opera musical Lost in the Stars found prominence Friday night, enrapturing a full house at Glimmerglass Festival in New York, moving some of the actors themselves to tears, and stirring the audience to its feet for curtain call.

When I saw a three-tiered theater set-up on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage, consisting of boxes decorated with blue velvet, gold and exquisite paintings, I have to admit that even having seen various different stagings of Verdi’s Nabucco before, I was intrigued.

Opera Boston, whose mantra is “Only innovative repertory. Only original productions” has created a new production of Berlioz' Béatrice et Bénédict for Boston. Seductively charming, the production's depth and complexity become apparent with time and acquaintance – just like any worthwhile relationship.This little-seen opera is sung in French, with spoken dialogue.

Read our review of James Levine's production of Puccini­'s Manon Lescaut in its 2008 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York

Tobias Kratzers Rheingold bildet den krönenden Abschluss der Münchener Opernfestspiele – eine Inszenierung, die jetzt schon als Meilenstein gelten kann.

Szenisch enttäuscht der Abend auf ganzer Linie, da Peter Sellars Regie lieb- und ideenlos daherkommt; musikalisch bleiben allerdings keine Wünsche offen! 

Ein Werk, das sowohl traditionell als auch innovativ, elegant und leidenschaftlich ist: Brett Deans Hamlet, dessen gewaltige Aufgaben an Szene und Musik an der Staatsoper in München überzeugend gelöst wurden. 

Christian Gerhaher überzeugt als Antiheld in Simon Stones temporeicher Neuinszenierung.

La OCNE dirigida brillantemente por Nagano y con Sean Panikkar encabezando un sólido reparto vuelven a traer a Madrid The Bassarids la obra maestra de Henze veinte años después.