Artiste: Sari Nordqvist

For any opera house, the production of a new Wagner Ring cycle is a huge undertaking and becomes a mission statement. For Finnish National Opera, its mission is to stage an all-Finnish Ring.

In an unusually convincing concert performance, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Finnish National Opera emphasised the lyrical aspects of Wagner's Das Rheingold.

Starring celebrated heldentenor Klaus Florian Vogt, Kasper Holten's highly-praised production of Korngold's Die tote Stadt for Finnish National Opera is brilliantly revived.