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In Verbier's Salle des Combins, despite the change of programme, Ambrogio Maestri and Maria Bayankina deliver stand-out performances. 

Mismatching between programme and performers resulted in a disappointing evening of operatic all-time favourites.

The Mozart and bel canto program that Cecilia Bartoli and Rolando Villazón have concocted for their European tour this December is so packed with greatest hits that it feels like a festive gift. 

After Renée Fleming was forced to withdraw due to a family emergency, soprano Sylvia Schwartz stepped in to perform with the Oxford Philomusica on the way to the Vienna Staatsoper. At just two days’ notice, Korngold, Zandonai and Leoncavallo were traded for Puccini, Verdi and Lehár.

When in 2009 Baltimore Opera Company announced bankruptcy and closed its doors indefinitely, opera lovers were devastated. Being left without opera felt like losing a dear family member. However, sad as they were, Baltimoreans never gave up hope that one day their opera would rise from the ashes and come back in its full grandeur.