Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Amy J Payne

Despite some excellent music-making, John Savournin's production is hindered by a laboured New York relocation. 

Judith Weir's cryptic folk opera lacks the narrative propulsion necessary to enthral an audience, and without resolution there is no catharsis.

Olivia Fuchs' production of Rimsky-Korsakov's charming fable for ETO begins its tour in Hackney and is worth travelling to see. Catch this thoughtful production in a town near you.

Some good singing performances can't overcome a dated feeling of Gilbert's humour: the evening improves as the storm clouds gather.

Jude Christian's indulgent reinvention of Puccini's opera does not serve English Touring Opera well as it embarks on its spring tour. 

Harmonious images and geometric designs frame an effective staging and well sung performance of Monteverdi's last opera.

Rimsky-Korsakov's anti-tsarist satirical fairytale makes for an entertaining rarity in ETO's spring tour.

As the UK continues to emerge from lockdown, Leeds Playhouse and Opera North stage Sondheim. 

Opera North brings Kurt Weill's “Broadway opera” Street Scene to the Leeds Grand Theatre in a thrilling production directed by Matthew Eberhardt and conducted by James Holmes.

Sinister aspects are stressed in Mozart's The Magic Flute at Leeds Grand Theatre directed by James Brining and conducted by Robert Howarth.

La Cenerentola is the final component of Opera North's fairytale season, with every voice and every character getting a chance to revel in Rossini's intricate ornamentation.

Two parts of Puccini's triptych are directed by Michael Barker-Craven - Il tabarro and Suor Angelica - in brilliantly successful productions at Leeds Grand Theatre.

John Savournin takes Mozart's Magic Flute on an exotic adventure into the Peruvian rainforest: and retrieves more than a sprinkling of Inca gold. 

Ruddigore is a glorious comic romp through a very English country village, full of wonderfully awkward Edwardian love and delicious puns. Whatever your Valentine experience this year, you can't help but be swept up in it.

English Touring Opera's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute launches in Hackney, balanced more towards fun than profundity, with some stunning coups de théâtre.

Contemporary opera is a genre that strikes fear into the hearts of many: visions of singers throwing themselves around the stage, incomprehensible atonal music, avant-garde costumes and weird and wonderful story-lines abound in the classical concertgoer’s expectations.