Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Michael Volle

Michael Volle makes his debut as Verdi's not-so-Fat Knight in Mario Martone's new production at the Staatsoper, with Daniel Barenboim conducting. 

Henrik Nánási balances the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House to perfection, setting the stage for a memorable title role performance from Byström and a powerful Jochanaan from Michael Volle.

A mural depicting Etna erupting is the only hint of Sicily in Stefan Herheim’s opulent staging, returning to Covent Garden for the first time since the Royal Opera’s Verdi bicentenary celebrations in 2013. 

The label “most opera directors” does *not* apply to Barrie Kosky, who makes his Bayreuth debut with a Meistersinger that pulls no punches.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin led an intriguing performance of Wagner's Flying Dutchman at the Met with a superb orchestra and an excellent ensemble of singers. 

Daniele Gatti is the winner of the night, managing to draw an astounding outcome from a far from ideal cast.

At the Concertgebouw, the three soloist headed by Christine Goerke’s Brünnhilde’s lift the performance of Act III of Die Walküre conducted by Valery Gergiev to the Valhalla of music.

Evelyn Herlitzius and Adrianne Pieczonka are unsinkable in the the French director's final production, conducted with impressive symphonic sweep by Daniel Barenboim. 

A disconcerting production of The Flying Dutchman where the staging misses the boat.

Lavish sets and costumes, plus high musical quality, make Tosca at the Vienna State Opera a fine example of grand opera. 

The set is a stark, grubby nonentity. A central concave structure spits out each scene's requisites, flashing up like apparitions from the vortex of Wozzeck's mind.

Staatsoper Berlin revives its new production of Tosca with an excellent cast including a last minute substitution of the tenor.

Bach is music for the soul, and when excellent musicians are performing it, it cannot fail to be beautiful. Thanks to the considerable strengths of the many involved, there is really no better way to spend a weekend in Lent than lamenting through a Bach Passion in the Konzerthaus. 

Both the music and the plot are heavily revised in Nunes' imagining of Rossini's final opera. But great performances and a coherent concept earned this unusual production a well-deserved standing ovation.

Alvis Hermanis' new Tosca for the Berliner Staatsoper mixes innovation with tradition in an interesting, but ultimately ineffective, way. 

Brahms’ only song cycle, Die schöne Magelone, gets star treatment from baritone Michael Volle, pianist Helmut Deutsch and narrator Thomas Quasthoff at the Doelen in Rotterdam.

Michael Volle stars as a complex Mandryka in the Met's birthday revival of Richard Strauss's Arabella.

Few operas are as specific in time and place as Puccini's Tosca: the date is 17th June, 1800, shortly after the battle of Marengo (in which Napoleon Bonaparte wrested control of Northern Italy from Austria), while each of the three acts is located in a specific landmark in Rome: the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, the Palazzo Farnese and the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Attendees of last night's Aida may have been concerned that they would be seeing a stand-in soprano, with the Ukranian Liudmyla Monastyrska making her Covent Garden debut. They needn't have worried. Monastyrska gave a world class performance with great vocal control and huge power.

Mit Ton Koopman haben die Münchner Philharmoniker einen ausgewiesenen Experten für Alte Musik ans Pult geholt, um gemeinsam das Weihnachtsoratorium zu interpretieren.

Mit diesem Ring-Auftakter gelingt Janowski ein im Großen und Ganzen überzeugendes Plädoyer für Wagner konzertant.

Cette reprise de La Flûte dans la mise en scène de Robert Carsen nous dévoile un casting vocal à la hauteur des exigences de la partition, et nous démontre une fois de plus la capacité du metteur en scène à traduire avec poésie et grâce les sentiments les plus perfides qui bien souvent s'expriment dans les rapports les plus intenses entre les êtres.

Die Festspiele starten mit Cosi fan tutte den diesjährigen Mozartmarathon und zeigen, dass man in Salzburg eben weiß, wie man Mozart spielt.

Wien an Ostern ist ohne das Bühnenweihfestspiel Richard Wagners nicht denkbar, und die langjährige Produktion kann auch in diesem Jahr begeistern.

Die Wiener Singakademie und die Wiener Symphoniker setzten den geistlichen Höhepunkt des diesjährigen OsterKlang Wien mit einer Aufführung von Bachs h-moll Messe im Wiener Konzerthaus.

Trotz starker musikalischer Leistungen geht Claus Guths Salome-Konzept an der Deutschen Oper nicht auf.