En direct, Vidéo: Rechercher des critiques de musique classique, opéra et ballet | Jean-Paul Fouchécourt

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

Interesting ideas and a brilliant orchestral performance aren't enough to overcome a visually dull staging, predictable choreography and a lack of chemistry between the protagonists.

Music Director Ludovic Morlot, known for his intriguing programming, outdid himself with a summery breeze of a program that enchanted from beginning to end.

Prom 20 proved an exhilarating journey, featuring Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette as one of the key works of this year’s BBC Proms' Shakespeare 400 celebrations.

Would a younger soprano taking the role of Tatyana blur Kasper Holten's "dancing doubles" vision of Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera House?

An ultimately disappointing Fauré Requiem gave way to an outrageously funny performance of Poulenc's comic opera Les mamelles de Tirésias with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Ludovic Morlot.

If Count Almaviva (to say nothing of Don Giovanni) were alive today, he might perhaps enlist Richard Dawkins to defend his behaviour. We know from evolutionary biology that the male stands the best chance of passing on his genes if he has many partners, the female if she can keep the male around to help raise the children he’s had with her.

Josep Pons strode purposefully onto the Barbican stage to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Haydn’s “Clock” Symphony. The first movement opened by way of an Adagio laden with a suitable sense of portent, the layers of writing for the strings being clearly articulated to bring this out.

Classical music is often portayed as being very serious, which is part of what makes it seem inaccessible at times. But this is a mistake: there are plenty of pieces that are, in a word, fun.