Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Wilhelm Schwinghammer

There is magic aplenty in director Stefan Herheim’s bold recontextualization of Gian Carlo Menotti's holiday opera. 

Will Siegfried get his girl? Will she turn out to be his sister? And has the ultimate prize already got into the wrong hands? More posers from Bayreuth's intriguing new Ring.

The Bayreuth Festival's new Ring gets off to a promising start with a tautly directed Rheingold, but will we find out what it all means?

Barenboim conducts Otto Nicolai's Falstaff opera with a warmth and affection that is sorely lacking on stage. 

Despite its enigmatic details, Bayreuth's Parsifal reaches a cathartic climax. 

Kosky’s production manages to maintain all hallmarks of a 16th-century fairy tale, while juxtaposing them with questions of deep human, political and artistic problems. Regietheater at its best.

Yesterday, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, where devotees of Richard Wagner converge annually from all over the world, opened its doors again for this year’s festival. Traditionally presented on the first evening, the new production for this season was Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg (to use the opera’s full name), presented to a capacity audience.

Janowski's concept rang consistently true and the musicians did him proud.

Malin Byström convinces as the Feldmarschallin with Adrian Angelico as a strong Octavian, under the baton of Alan Gilbert.

William Christie and Les Arts Florissants show true Baroque musicianship in Madrid, in an Ariodante with a solid cast.

Daniele Gatti is the winner of the night, managing to draw an astounding outcome from a far from ideal cast.

Mozart's very notes become servant to the cause in an ingenious staging of Le nozze di Figaro by one of today's most esteemed directors.

In spite of some questionable staging, Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its Ring cycle on a strong note with a stellar cast, notably featuring Eric Owens’ role debut as Wotan.

Director Michael Thalheimer staging Weber’s Der Freischütz entirely in the Wolf’s Glen, albeit relocated from a “fearsome forest gorge” to what looks like a badger’s sett. 

The first installment of Frank Castorf's controversial Ring is applauded on its 2015 revival at Bayreuth, but arguably the incessant visual action detracts from the appreciation of the music. 

Hans Neuenfels' setting of Lohengrin as scientific experiment with a chorus of rats affords thought-provoking pleasures, with star turns from Klaus Florian Vogt in the title role and Petra Lang as Ortrud.

In this second year of Bayreuth's bicentennial Der Ring, Oleg Bryjak shines as an outstanding Alberich. Frank Castorf's production is striking but as yet incomprehensible.

Klaus Florian Vogt's astounding portrayal of the swan knight continues to evolve and deepen in the once infamous "Rat" Lohengrin in Bayreuth in a evening of sheer brilliance and near perfection.

Après les deux premiers volets du Ring mis en scène par Romeo Castellucci, Pierre Audi prend le relais. La distribution est au rendez-vous, sous la baguette toujours formidable d'Alain Altinoglu.

Pierre Audis Inszenierung und das Sängerensemble angeführt von einem grandiosen Christian Gerhaher sorgen für einen denkwürdigen Opernabend.

Même si certains procédés du metteur en scène italien restent incompréhensibles voire agacent, force est de constater que ses débuts dans la Tétralogie bruxelloise sont une réussite.

La presentación de La flauta mágica de Vick en Les Arts prometía una intensidad subversiva que resultó tan solo una sucesión de clichés trasnochados.

Evocación, contemplación y acción: la íntima conexión que se diseñaba entre las obras en programa, la Sinfonía de los salmos de Stravinsky y la Novena sinfonía de Beethoven, tiene que ver con la relación de estos tres conceptos que obligaron al oyente a mutar constantemente su predisposición a la escucha y a la recepción de la música. 

Une interprétation grandiose du plus « brittanique » des opera seria de Händel, grâce à une distribution d'une grande qualité associée à une direction étincelante.

Mit Händels Ariodante liefert David McVicar seine bisher beste Staatsopernarbeit, die trotz groß aufsingender Ensemblemitglieder unter den Erwartungen blieb.

Mit Mahlers Achter reizten die Musikerinnen und Musiker der Staatsoper Hamburg alle Reserven aus. Der Akustik der Elbphilharmonie drohte am Schluss sogar der Kollaps, weil Eliahu Inbal insgesamt viel zu laut musizieren ließ.