En direct, Vidéo: Rechercher des critiques de musique classique, opéra et ballet | The Royal Opera

It’s the title character rather who gets the best tunes in Ariodante and Irish mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy ate them up. 

The Royal Opera House responds to current global turmoil with a double bill by four women composers. Baritone Peter Brathwaite delivers a tour de force in The Knife of Dawn and A New Dark Age is a powerful emotional journey.

Christine Rice gives an astonishingly performance in an evening of four powerful chamber pieces.

After a few streamed events with chamber forces, the full orchestra and chorus returned to the House – albeit not in their usual positions – for an entertaining fundraising gala.

In its 25th anniversary season, Richard Eyre's production continues to attract the world's great sopranos to the role of Violetta, the latest being Aleksandra Kurzak. 

The evening’s most unbuttoned applause was reserved for two native anglophone artists, countertenor Patrick Terry and bass-baritone Michael Mofidian.

An outstanding role debut from Davidsen, a star-studded vocal cast and a revelatory orchestral performance make a Beethoven anniversary performance to savour.

Barry goes for out-weirding Carroll at a fast and furious pace. There's plenty of fun and it's beautifully staged – but is that enough?

This third revival of Richard Jones' production is thoroughly competent but struggles to rise above the routine.

Violetta Valéry was Armenian soprano Hrachuhí Bassénz, who made a strong impression on the audience, certainly by the end.

The American must be one of the few tenors to tackle both Rossini and Verdi's Moor with success. 

Benjamin Britten's final opera hasn't been staged by The Royal Opera in over 25 years, but his setting of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice receives a great new production by Sir David McVicar. 

Fine performances by Julia Bullock and Cédric Tiberghien can't make up for the confusion of a fragmented, allusive narrative.

Sir Bryn Terfel relishes every nuance of the text, but Damiano Michieletto's reading of Donizetti's comedy is no laughing matter. 

Almost 30 years since its last run, Gerald Barry’s The Intelligence Park makes a boisterous return to the stage. 

An over-directed, but vivid staging demonstrating political rise and fall in Ancient Rome transported to the present day.

Edward Gardner brings out the Wagner influence in Massenet's opulent score, Juan Diego Flórez give a persuasive performance in the title role.

Kasper Holten's psychological take on the louche lothario remains controversial, but in its third revival, Erwin Schrott's powerful assumption of the title role is a delight.

The young singers spin any raw material into opera gold, sending the audience home as uplifted as if they’d just glugged a bellyful of Pimm’s.

Top drawer singing and comic acting bring out the comedy in Laurent Pelly's light-hearted production

An exquisitely matched pair of sopranos as Susanna and the Countess make up for some quirky casting elsewhere. 

Barrie Kosky's divisive production returns to The Royal Opera but has lost its zing. 

A title role performance full of depth from Terfel and a barnstorming comic interlude from Tomlinson provide some great moments, but much of this Boris fails to rise above the ordinary.

Best of all is the self-effacing pianism of Lada Valešová, a constant yet discreet onstage presence.

Red-blooded performances from the three principals at Covent Garden, even if there are vocal misfires along the way. 

The French-Sicilian tenor shines in Sir David's McVicar's pristine take on Umberto Giordano's slice of verismo. 

A post-mortem fantasy that’s as compelling as it is confusing.

After nearly two decades away from the Covent Garden stage, it was time Britten's Billy Budd came home, in a new production from Madrid by Deborah Warner. 

Short of the three lead stars of its opening, The Royal Opera's La forza del destino remains a thrilling evening, powered by Christof Loy's interesting staging and virile singing from Christopher Maltman.

A devilishly fun performance of Gounod's take on Goethe, saved when Mandy Fredrich flew in at short notice to take over the role of Marguerite. 

Visual eye candy, excellent singing and superb Handelian playing by Laurence Cummings and the London Handel Orchestra are marred by poor diction and limited acting expressivity.

The hottest opera ticket in London this season sees Jonas Kaufmann and Anna Netrebko reunited on the Royal Opera House's stage for the first time since 2008. It was worth the wait. 

Everyone is in the know in Jan Philipp Gloger's “School for Lovers”, receiving its first revival at Covent Garden. 

The Linbury re-opens its doors to opera with a new work whose libretto is superbly crafted by Francesca Simon, featuring a tour de force performance by Marta Fontanals-Simmons as the Norse goddess Hel.

Amanda Majeski is magnificent in the title role; Ed Gardner shows total master of Janáček's music. But that's not enough to rescue a poorly thought out Richard Jones production.

On her house debut, in Covent Garden's second cast of the year, Angel Blue is completely convincing as Verdi's doomed courtesan; Benjamin Bernheim is an unconventional but compelling Alfredo; Simone Piazzola a persuasive Germont père.

The Albanian soprano, who made a spectacular jump-in for her house debut in Richard Eyre's production in 2008, makes a splendid return. 

Herheim places the composer at the centre of his opera in a staging that's clever and erudite but somewhat cold; musical performances are mixed.

Designer/director Antony McDonald treads a perfectly weighted path between light and dark of the fairytale; conductor Sebastian Weigle cooks up a Wagnerian storm; Michaela Schuster steals the show. A treat.

Barrie Kosky's troubled production returns to Covent Garden

An impressively cast revival for Verdi's one-time neglected masterpiece at Covent Garden.

A standout performance from Stephen Milling complements all-round excellence of cast to provide a satisfying end to the Covent Garden Ring.

Wagner's storytelling shines brightly with the aid of a cast well out of the ordinary. Vinke, Stemme, Siegel and Lundgren make part 3 of The Ring an unforgettable evening of opera.

We start with a triumphant Royal Opera debut from Stuart Skelton, we close with Nina Stemme at her finest; a thrilling orchestral performance links the two. A memorable Walküre.

Antonio Pappano and the Royal Opera Orchestra get the Ring cycle off to a blazing start; unusually, it's Lise Davidsen and the female cast who take the vocal honours.

Dismembered after the 1840 bankruptcy of its promoter, Opera Rara's decade-long reconstruction has resulted in a beautifully constructed opera that's enjoyable throughout.

Sir Bryn Terfel’s Falstaff is still a cherishable rogue as he takes on the title role in Robert Carsen’s joyous staging at the Royal Opera. 

A terrific cast takes on the latest revival of Kasper Holten’s video-infused staging of Mozart’s opera buffa.

A committed cast make this  a beautifully performed ensemble piece in which the tragedy of young love cut short by untimely disease is compellingly put across.