En direct, Vidéo: Rechercher des critiques de musique classique, opéra et ballet | Kanen Breen

Having offered a strong feminist reading of Wagner's Ring, could Kasper Holten do the same again for Die Meistersinger? Opera Australia's co-production had moments of excellence, but ultimately left the viewer with more questions than answers

Voltaire and Bernstein's wilful political incorrectness make Candide a challenge to behold, but the Sydney Philharmonia meets them in a concert performance in the opera house.

Though occasionally entertaining, this production was ultimately unsatisfying as a stage presentation of Bernstein’s work. 

Kosky’s The Nose hits Sydney, sweeping the audience along with hallucinogenic energy. Led by the outstanding Martin Winkler and John Tomlinson, singers and musicians deliver a wild evening's entertainment.

Pinchgut Opera's L'incoronazione di Poppea is a glorious feast of singing, acting and playing but the production is brutal, taking Monteverdi's vision of corruption in high places to excessive lengths.

The stunning Glyndebourne production of Saul by Barrie Kosky also makes a big impact in the Adelaide Festival.

A revival of Francesca Zambello's production of Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges at the Sydney Opera House is a joy, thanks to the antics of Kanen Breen at the head of a strong cast.

Director John Bell's chosen associations for his Carmen with Strindberg's Dance of Death and Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf underlined an emphasis upon the fated couple's joint knowledge that nothing they can do will turn the tsunami that's leading to their deaths.

Would Britain enjoy 'The Rabbits'? For that's how the new Australian family opera allegorises the colonial Poms who came to this Terra Nullius  Downunder, denying the existence of the native Aborigines - appearing as Marsupials in this opera. 

Julie Taymor's production maintains the magic of The Magic Flute at Sydney Opera House. 

Opera Australia’s Falstaff in Melbourne brings freshness to this almost 20-year-old production. Contributing to its success is an outstanding Falstaff...

The Perfect American, a fictional account of the final months of Walt Disney’s life, is a visually rhythmic flow of scenic magic on a blended Glass base – gently but harrowingly absorbing.

Kasper Holten's innovative production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin comes to Sydney, with Nicole Car outstanding as Tatyana.

Destiny, Fate, Providence: different ways of describing the sense of an external agency shaping our ends. Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, based on a Spanish play by Angel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, is a sprawling tale in which the characters’ lives are irrevocably shaped by a fatal accident.

Tragedy seems to age better than comedy. The works of Aeschylus have been more influential than those of Aristophanes, and Shakespeare’s darker plays are far more popular than his pure comedies. This same propensity for gloomy subjects can also be seen in the opera world.

From the opening bars of the Overture of Opera Australia’s production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro it was clear that this was going to be a production with a difference. As the orchestra began, the curtain raised to reveal a room, painted in brilliant white, with clothes rails at either end containing maids’ costumes.

Operettas are not supposed to have plausible plots, yet the seemingly implausible plot of Franz Léhar’s Merry Widow cuts to the quick in the current environment of possible sovereign bankruptcy. A “merry” widow would be rather callous in any case. The saccharine-soaked melodies, however, are enough to keep me still. Long an admirer of the Gold and Silver waltz, I am biased.

Much anticipated, ten years in the making, interrupted by some fairly momentous bumpy bits at Opera Australia such as the removal of Music Director Simone Young who comissionned the work in the first place, Bliss has finally arrived. And the good news is that audiences in Sydney received it warmly: the season of just five performances sold out.