Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Elena Pankratova

Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra are let down by sub-optimal singers in Willy Deckers chair-laden production of  Die Walküre. 

German theatre director Uwe Eric Laufenberg freely incorporates some of Stanley Kubrik’s horror story concepts into his Elektra, but in ignoring both Sophocles and Strauss, is a long way from shining.  

A musical performance of stunning quality underpins this revival of Krzysztof Warlikowski's lavish, ambiguous Strauss staging.

A reading full of emotion from conductor Juraj Valčuha sets up one of the best San Carlo Orchestra’s performances of this season.

Uwe Eric Laufenberg sets his new staging of Wagner's final opera among the persecuted Christians of the contemporary Middle East – but avoids preaching.

A fairly conventional version of Beethoven's Fidelio at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva plays it safe and ultimately succeeds. 

Roberto De Simone's staging evokes a fabulous out-of-time China, and perfectly accompanies the majesty of Puccini’s last and unfinished opera. De Simone chooses to stop the opera at the point of Puccini's death, without Franco Alfano's finale.

The music makes this an enchanting Die Frau ohne Schatten, even if Warlikowski’s fantastical production remains an unsolved puzzle.

A revival of the new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Munich Opera Festival brings back four of the principals in a brilliantly sung performance of Richard Strauss' masterpiece.

Semyon Bychkov gave a reading of such clarity and quality that everything seemed obvious. In his hands, the orchestra was a precision instrument, and for Strauss fans, whether or not you like Claus Guth's staging, this production is a must-see.

Vergnüglich walzerte die Bayerische Staatsoper auch in diesem Jahr mit Johann Strauß' Operettenklassiker ins neue Jahr.

Castelluci y Petrenko unen fuerzas en esta nueva producción de Tannhäuser. Una dirección al servicio de la escena en todo momento y una orquesta magistralmente subordinada al drama concpetual junto al mejor elenco vocal que pueda encontrarse en la actualidad, resuelven un Tannhauser mayúsculo

Trotz Topbesetzung kann die gewagten Inszenierung von Romeo Castellucci zur Premiere das Publikum nicht überzeugen.

Dans le cadre de son Festival Mémoires, l’Opéra National de Lyon propose une recréation de la production d’Elektra que Ruth Berghaus avait présenté à Dresde en 1986. Un plongée vertigineuse dans le vide ! 

Precedida por una gran atención mediática, el templo wagneriano estrena producción de su obra más propia. Un propuesta en la que destacan las voces y que resulta superficial a pesar de sus ambiciones.

Carlus Padrissas Turandot wirkt auf das Publikum irgendwo zwischen einem psychodelischen Trip und Reizüberflutung und setzt gleichzeitig neue Maßstäbe für innovative Regieopern.