Artiste: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

If you’re in need of a pick-me-up, get thee to the Royal Opera House and see La Fille mal gardée, a gem of a ballet. There’s a long roster of impressive casts to choose from.

Sir David McVicar's classic staging of The Magic Flute, now over 20 years old, shines afresh in a stylish performance conducted by Marie Jacquot, making her Covent Garden debut.  

The Royal Ballet’s season opener, Christopher Wheeldon’s Like Water for Chocolate, is visually tremendous, very well danced but the many principal and soloist characters are difficult to keep up with.