Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Angela Hogan

Yaron Lifschitz mesmerises from the opening tableaux’s row of candles in his Purcell staging for Opera Australia, featuring Circa, a Brisbane-based circus company. 

Emotions on stage are matched by those rising from the pit as Sarah Giles' popular production returns to Sydney. 

This abridged version of Massenet's Cendrillon was clearly chosen for a wide Sydney audience, succeeding as a popular offering in the Australian summer holiday season. 

A fine ensemble cast brings Puccini's triptych of one-acters to the Sydney Opera House stage, with stand-out performances from Lauren Fagan, Viktor Antipenko, Simon Meadows and Angela Hogan.

Sarah Giles' new production replaces Elijah Moshinsky's venerable staging, and the talented cast delivers a successful performance. 

An icy Götterdämmerung brings Opera Australia's Ring Cycle to a successful conclusion, with standout performances from Lise Lindstrom as Brünnhilde and Andrea Silvestrelli as Hagen.

The second part of Opera Australia's Ring Cycle sees digital effects employed with greater restraint, delivering a production that is by turns moving and thrilling. 

The Armenian-Australian soprano steps in for an indisposed Ermonela Jaho in Rosetta Cucchi's staging of Cilea's verismo masterpiece. 

Three outstanding debuts and a warm and funny ensemble shine in David McVicar's naturalistic Marriage of Figaro. 

Opera Australia delivers a sensational new Elena Kats-Chernin opera about the immensely gifted and troubled Australian painter, Brett Whiteley.