Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English National Opera

English National Opera opens its new season with a revival of David Alden's masterly production. 

House debutants, soprano Nicole Chevalier and conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, excel in Isabella Bywater's Górecki staging to close English National Opera's season.

Blue could hardly have been better rendered than here. Indeed, I wish every opera I see could be staged with such grace and finesse. 

Annilese Miskimmon directs a the first ever production by ENO of Erich Korngold's tale of bereavement, grief and the poisonous impact of lost love on an obsessive mind. 

Philip Glass' operatic take on Ancient Egyptian history returns to the Coliseum in Phelim McDermott's hypnotic production, complete with jugglers...

Martyn Brabbins conducts an excellent ENO orchestra and consistently good ensemble cast as Richard Jones delivers a wealth of narrative detail to introduce Wagner's Ring.

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.

When done as well as this, a "concert staging" is not oxymoronic, but a precise term for a valuable mode of presentation.

English National Opera's It’s a Wonderful Life makes for a feel-good evening of theatre, but it requires a sweet tooth.

Christof Loy's production of Tosca at ENO replaces Catherine Malfitano’s and, despite being visually attractive, suffers certain muddled ideas. It boasts, however, a strong trio of singers who deliver a committed performance on the production's first night at the Coliseum. 

 Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale comes home to English National Opera after 20 years in a powerful new production by Annilese Miskimmon.

A well-sung revival of Jonathan Miller's Bohème at the coliseum fails to catch fire.

Breastplates are back in vogue, but comedy horses and cheap production values undermine the first chapter in English National Opera's new Ring cycle. 

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

Natalya Romaniw, a diva to her fingertips, proves an ideal Floria Tosca in ENO's open-air performance at the South Facing Festival in Crystal Palace Bowl.

A witty, insightful production at the Coliseum fizzes with comedy and pathos. 

Anthony Minghella's classic production of Madam Butterfly makes a welcome return with a sensational role debut by Natalya Romaniw as Cio-Cio-San.

Verdi and Schiller lose out to Barbora Horáková in a new staging for English National Opera. 

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. 

The co-existence of amateurs and professionals is weighted firmly towards the latter.

Mezzo-soprano Rachel Kelly and soprano Susanna Hurrell were the eponymous pair and, my, how they chewed the scenery.

Director Purni Morell sandpapers every trace of spikiness from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, leaving the production a victim of its own good intentions. 

The American Dream hits Ally Pally in a vivacious performance of Britten's eclectic operetta, headlined by an ENO chorus who knock it out of the park.

Daniel Kramer’s direction is a model of restraint compared to some of his earlier work for the company.

Simon McBurney's production of The Magic Flute continues to delight and this revival benefits from a strong cast, led by the superb Lucy Crowe as Pamina.

ENO's Merry Widow is big, brash, and more than a touch juvenile – but it's the most fun one can have at the opera.

Philip Glass' hypnotic opera returns in Phelim McDermott's outstanding production that respects the solemn, statuesque grandeur and epic ritual of the score. 

Jonathan Miller's production of La bohème is revived by ENO and features an important house debut. 

The music’s explosions of volume have an open-throated magnificence.

It’s the sprig of nightshade on a blood-red confection.

Porgy and Bess isn’t a perfect opera, but English National Opera's new production is a strong one. 

ENO's new production of Salome which opens the season features some commendable music-making, but is let down by a flawed concept and dull staging.

Not since Monty Python has there been more fun with a chorus of lumberjacks.

It's hard to find anything not to admire in a thrillingly strong production of Britten's haunting chamber opera. 

An intimate setting for the 18th-century work do from hell.

Fiona Shaw's production doesn't always get everything right, but Lucy Crowe's debut as the Countess is the defining success of the this revival.

Despite the entertainment value and striking imagery, Kramer's production is a surprisingly dull affair, with curiously little chemistry between the lead couple.

In Siberian conditions more akin to The Winter's Tale, a revival of Robert Carsen's season setting of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream offered a warm glow at the Coliseum.

Cal McCrystal goes long on the ham and keeps the gags flowing in a visually stunning production that will delight G&S lovers.

Glass' meditation on Gandhi's principles of non-violent resistance is powerfully treated in Phelim McDermott's virtuosic 2007 staging.

A decent cast was unable to redeem a fundamentally dull opera that lacks the psycholgical complexity and tension of both the original Graham novel and its famous Hitchcock adaptation.

The latest revival of Jonathan Miller's The Barber of Seville has everything you could want; strong direction, a strong orchestral performance, and a cast that's universally strong. No close shaves there!

McDermott envisages Aida as a sister production to his team's mesmeric Akhnaten. But would the hypnotic juggling and glacial choreography work for Giuseppe Verdi's Nile epic?

English National Opera join with the BBC Singers to make Royal Festival Hall debut.

Lawrence Brownlee gives a compelling performance that truly does the groundbreaking saxophonist justice. 

Christopher Alden's account of Handel's love pentangle is long on Man Ray imagery and modern language wordplay, but never hits the vocal highs and eventually palls.

An operatic take on The Winter's Tale – categorised as one of Shakespeare’s ‘problem plays’ – premieres at English National Opera. 

There’s nothing new or inventive about Leigh’s revived production, which in itself is not a crime, but neither is there an abundance of energy; it's all a bit nice. 

Jonathan Miller's production remains a work of brilliance, but poor conducting amongst other things keeps this revival from getting off the ground.