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Rodula Gaitanou sets Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal's comedy in the Cinecittà film studios of the 1950s. 

It’s a risky business to describe comic nuance or timing, so please take my word that these qualities were as pitch-perfect as the vocal prowess on display.

John Savournin directs Opera Holland Park's end-of-term G&S romp.

Jennifer France stars in Stephen Barlow's staging of The Cunning Little Vixen, set in the perfect surroundings of Holland Park. 

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.

At a time when the “relevance” is bandied around all too frequently in relation to opera, Martinů's really does deserve that tag. 

Wolf-Ferrari's Il segreto di Susanna provides an airy bon-bouche to Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, brilliantly sung by Natalya Romaniw and David Butt Philip and conducted to fairy-tale perfection by Sian Edwards

Gaitanou’s direction of the singers is so exact that it becomes impossible to separate them from their characters.

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

Edward Dick directs a Tosca full of contemporary references with Opera North at Leeds Grand Theatre, Puccini's score conducted by Antony Hermus.

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.

Alessandro Talevi's production of Don Giovanni, conducted by Christoph Altstaedt, receives a welcome revival at the Grand Theatre, Leeds. 

Mozart's Don Giovanni is transported by director Oliver Platt to The Queen Mary in the 1930s. It looks handsome enough, but the concept is flawed.

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.

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

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

La bohème staged as Tudorbethan drama? Opera Holland Park's quirky tribute to Shakespeare400 is a lot of fun. 

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

Flight represents a brave new departure for Opera Holland Park, the first contemporary opera to take to its main stage, in a striking staging with top quality musical performances. 

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.

Scottish Opera's La Cenerentola is colourful, fun-filled and packed with tunes. Russian mezzo Victoria Yarovaya shines in the title role.

Having arrived earlier than I anticipated for this evening’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème by OperaUpClose, I took the opportunity to read through the libretto, helpfully provided in the form of a thin volume available for purchase. When I organise concerts, I often provide texts so that unclear diction is better understood, but this evening I didn’t look at the libretto once.