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Excellent performances cannot turn a conventional production of Massenet’s Werther into a dramatic experience for the 21st century. 

The Barber is back in Toronto with an excellent cast, young and old, and it’s as lively, colourful and energetic as ever. 

Christopher Alden’s Victorian-era Rigoletto still divides opinions, despite top-notch performances all around in this Toronto revival. 

The restrained beauty of Robert Carsen’s production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice is matched by musical elegance in its revival current revival at the Four Seasons Centre. 

Amy Lane’s production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at the COC is eye-catching and enjoyable but doesn’t offer the same level of insight as her Faust last season. 

Robert Carsen’s 1997 production of Eugene Onegin has aged remarkably well but the latest Canadian Opera Company revival of it doesn’t quite recapture its magic. 

William Kentridge's production of Berg’s Wozzeck has it all: wonderfully imaginative and disturbing designs, terrific acting and singing plus fabulous orchestral playing. 

Bilodeau and Bouchard’s La Reine-garçon is contemporary opera at its best, telling a great story with outstanding music and stunning visuals.

The Toronto revival of Michael Grandage’s straightforward but elegant production shields Puccini’s genius from contemporary critiques. 

Amy Lane's scattered borrowings from Tim Burton to Stanley Kubrick fail to cohere in the Canadian Opera Company's new Faust.

The Canadian Opera Company’s season opening production is musically excellent, but the dated, dull production adds little. 

In the title role of Canadian Opera Company's Medea, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky offers the vocal and dramatic goods required by this flawed masterpiece. 

Canadian Opera Company's Don Pasquale offers a stylish Italian 1960s Fellini-inspired concept that delivers  comedy but omits the pathos. 

Kasper Holten’s much travelled and spectacular Don Giovanni gets a fresh and lively remount at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre from a young cast headed up by Gordon Bintner. 

After more than a quarter of a century, Janáček’s late masterpiece returns to the Canadian Opera Company, but falls short in charm, magic, and humour.

Canadian Opera Company’s revival of John Caird’s art-infused production is perfectly realised in singing, acting, and the orchestra’s vibrant yet velvety colours.

A massive rotating cube, CCTV, an immigrants’ detention centre: Fidelio returns to the Toronto stage with a visually arresting production full of contemporary resonances. 

Fourth time around Paul Curran’s production of Tosca at the Canadian Opera Company is workmanlike and well sung, but lacks the necessary dramatic edge to be truly memorable.

Sir David McVicar's grim and creepy take on Verdi's Macbeth, backed up by brilliant conducting from Speranza Scappucci and a fine performance of the title role by Quinn Kelsey, is the best thing seen at the COC since lockdown.

The COC revival of its 2016 production of Le nozze di Figaro is still rooted in Claus Guth’s gloomy Scandinavia but it’s lightened up to become much sexier and funnier.

The COC’s revival of The Magic Flute is mostly played for laughs and makes an enjoyable, if undemanding, evening.

Young Egyptian-New Zealand soprano Amina Edris makes a great impression in a revival of Arin Arbus’ strong 2015 production.

Leaving unresolved loose ends aside and viewed from a child’s perspective, Joel Ivany’s new Hänsel und Gretel at the Canadian Opera Company it’s a fun night at the opera.

The COC's revival production of Puccini's La bohème is an enjoyable trip to the opera but it won't blow your socks off.

Despite an abundance of incongruous symbols, this Toronto performance was remarkable for its outstanding singing.

Robert Carsen's Eugene Onegin was binned by the Met but works wonderfully in its revival by the Canadian Opera Company COC with high class singing and acting from a young, engaging cast.

Christopher Alden’s production of Verdi’s Rigoletto returned to Toronto tighter, more focussed and with fewer dramatic incongruities. Add to this that every aspect of the music making was top notch and it made for a fine evening at the theatre.

The Canadian Opera Company's popular production of Puccini's beloved opera returns, its beauty intact and more beguiling than ever, with a powerful lead performance by soprano Patricia Racette.