Artiste: Elizabeth Futral

San Francisco Opera's production of Sweeney Todd brings nothing new to the musical, but the cast includes wonderful surprises – most notably Stephanie Blythe's Mrs Lovett.

Although opera, as a genre, is easily celebrated for its capacity to move and transport an audience, it is rare to be emotionally disturbed by one. Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne, which received its world première by the San Francisco Opera this week, achieves such a feat. In doing so, it will certainly garner notoriety, both as well-deserved praise and well-deserved condemnation.

This past Saturday night at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, opera superstars Anna Netrebko and Joseph Calleja successfully transformed an otherwise ordinary, four-star La Bohème at the Lyric into an extraordinary, five-star experience.