Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Štefan Kocán

Armida offers a compelling story, resonant issues and the spectacle of dueling wizards – but unfortunately, not in this production.

Towering above all the other meritorious singers in this performance, was the phenomenal Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili 

Tatjana Gürbaca’s whole scale tampering with Wagner’s Siegfried had so many flashbacks and flashforwards there should have been a warning for photosensitive members of the audience.  

The evening was dominated by Anna Netrebko, who reprised the role of Tatiana with fresh insights and vocal charisma.  Robin Ticciati led the Met Orchestra to probe a new depth of the score.

Johan Reuter leads an all star cast in a revelatory performance of George Enescu's masterpiece, aided by spectacular La Fura dels Baus staging.

Does it really matter where an opera is set? These days, this question seems to trail Rigoletto. 

David McVicar's six-year old production of Il trovatore returns to the Met with a starry cast:a model of clarity and mood compared with the Met’s previous staging.

Despite some outstanding choral work, the State Opera's new production of Boito's popular take on the Faust legend falls short of its heavenly aspirations.

Even the best opera glasses would be no match for the intensity of this close-up introspection: a new production of Borodin's Prince Igor is playing at the Met.

I thought it ironic to hear people saying that the Met’s recent production of Two Boys was already outdated because of its ten-year-old subject: Internet chatrooms.

Read our review of Michael Mayer's production of Verdi's Rigoletto in its 2013 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Verdi’s Rigoletto is possessed of a truly tragic plot. A physically disabled jester keeps his innocent daughter locked up except for weekly church visits, a situation which she only lightly resists. Rigoletto believes a curse is to blame for his daughter being killed, although she only dies as a substitute for the man Rigoletto himself has arranged to be assassinated.

Read our review of Michael Grandage's production of Don Giovanni by Mozart, in its 2011 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of David McVicar's production of Verdi's Il Trovatore in its 2011 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of Gianni Quaranta's production of Verdi­'s Aida in its 2009 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Ouverture en demi-teinte de l'édition 2017 des Chorégies d'Orange avec un Rigoletto inégal. 

Verdis Macbeth als Beitrag zum Hieronymus Bosch-Gedenkjahr: Schauriges zu schöner Musik, Inszenierung mit vielen Fragezeichen.