Artiste: Hiromi Omura

An impressive trio of international singers carry Opéra de Montréal's traditional new production of this Verdi tragedy.

Opéra de Montréal’s sumptuous production of Turandot at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier is a grand spectacle in every sense, but misses on some of the finer details.

Àlex Ollé's harbour production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly for Opera Australia is attractive and thought-provoking, with strong performances from Hiromi Omura and Georgy Vasiliev.

There is nowhere to hide in Madama Butterfly. It is a well-known opera, contains very little in terms of stage action and changing scenery, is intensely lyrical in its vocal writing, and its orchestral writing is exposed. None of these factors bothered Opera Australia in their latest production, which was superb from beginning to end in every respect.