Artiste: Ann Toomey

A visually delightful revival of Barbe & Doucet's action-packed Zauberflöte at Glyndebourne, with strong vocal performances throughout. 

A fully-staged performance of Wagner's Das Rheingold transforms Walt Disney Concert Hall to an opera house where the orchestra is the star. 

A two-week Ralph Vaughan Williams retrospective closed with his gentle, folksy spin on Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor.

Setting the opera in the backyard of a suburban house feels refreshingly honest: the ridiculous and simplistic tale of the evil witch, the prince and the maiden is rightfully returned to the arena of children's games, and adults look on indulgently, with a wink.