Artiste: Qiu Lin Zhang

A new operatic adaptation of Dream of the Red Chamber by Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang offers musical and visual delights but stumbles on the text.

Annemarie Kremer is a strong-willed, dramatically voiced Butterfly in Laurence Dale’s sensitive production.

Rolando Villazón bricht nach einer schwachen Leistung seine Vorstellung ab und übergibt an Arturo Chacón-Cruz. Dass die Aufführung an der Münchener Staatsoper dennoch gelingt, liegt vor allem an der einfallsreichen Inszenierung.

At the Bayerische Staatsoper, director Andreas Kriegenberg's concept for Siegfried works well, but the cast members aren't all up to the opera's challenges.

For those who view Wagner’s Ring Cycle in symphonic terms, Siegfried is often described as the third movement Scherzo: an episode of comedy in between the existential musings of Die Walküre and the action-packed, apocalyptic Götterdämerung. Last night’s performance at the Opéra Bastille in Paris gave us plenty of high comedy and much more besides.