Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Dwayne Croft

About halfway through the second act of Verdi's La traviata at the opera's second Met performance of the season, soprano Sonya Yoncheva went from being a really good Violetta to being a great Violetta.

A winning ensemble of singers led by James Levine makes the revival of Rossini’s early opera a success.

Anthony Minghella's Madama Butterfly is still one of the best productions running at the Met at the moment, and Kristine Opolais was the dramatic star of the evening.

Franco Zeffirelli's admired 1987 Turandot honored Giacomo Puccini's chinoiserie fantasy about a cold-hearted princess thawed by love, but musically lacked conviction.

The two leads in the brand-new cast of the Met’s three year old production of Massenet’s Manon were unbeatable. 

Outstanding vocal performances and Oscar Wilde's own words don't save this new opera based on his incarceration at Reading Gaol. 

The Met's holiday special, Hänsel und Gretel, is a treat not only for young children but for adults with its sophisticated music, excellent singing ensemble and orchestra playing, as well as its witty production.

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.

It’s very difficult to write about Berlioz’s Les Troyens without mentioning its length. Tonight’s cinema screening of Fransesca Zambello’s lush production was billed at 341 minutes – that’s 5.6 hours. But beamed live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, those 5.6 hours entailed spectacular operatic entertainment.

Want to know what small-town America looks and feels like in the thick of summertime, circa 1940? The Glimmerglass Festival’s purest musical theater offering, The Music Man, is festive, frolicsome Americana, brimming with spectacular sets, clever staging, and a sensational ensemble showcasing Olympic-sized talent.

If you believe that true happiness can be found in music, I have a recipe for you to follow. Take a funny story of disguise, sham and mock marriage and set it to great music. Add a quartet of bel canto stars (a lyric tenor, a coloratura soprano, a baritone and a bass) and dress them in spectacular 17th century costumes. Add pantomime artists, masked dancers and a chorus.

Read our review of Giancarlo del Monaco's production of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West in its 2011 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of Robert Lepage's production of Das Rheingold by Wagner, in its 2010 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of Anthony Minghella's production of Puccini­'s Madama Buttefly in its 2009 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of James Levine's production of Puccini­'s Manon Lescaut in its 2008 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York