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Stuart Stratford conducts the world premiere of Fujikura’s opera about Hokusai’s image at Scottish Opera, with Satoshi Miyagi directing with his Japanese creative team.

Guth’s Semele turns myth into a contemporary domestic drama, where desire becomes obsession and illusion consumes reality. Handel’s music remains the true engine, driven by a thrilling, physically intense ensemble.

Presented without staging, Seattle Opera’s concert Daphne places Strauss’ extreme vocal demands and saturated orchestral writing in sharp relief, offering a high-risk encounter with a rarely heard late opera.

A highly unbalanced premiere, its opportunity to become one of the Liceu's historic productions prevented by the contrast between dramaturgy and music.

Marco Armiliato conducts a finely balanced rendition of Bellini's final masterpiece with a stellar cast headed by Lisette Oropesa and Lawrence Brownlee.

Giacomo Sagripanti conducts a luxuriant reading with a cast anchored by Juan Diego Flórez and Nicole Car, in Zeffirelli’s familiar, generous, unabashedly emotional production. 

The Dunedin Messiah, a speciality with Baroque instruments, is given with soloists Nardus Williams, Lotte Betts-Dean, Joshua Ellicott and Dingle Yandell in Perth, directed by John Butt.

Shostakovich's brutal tale of sex, murder and madness storms La Scala's opening night, with Riccardo Chailly leading his final season premiere as Music Director.