Instrument: Boy soprano

Petrenko's Puccini is bracingly alert, filled with colour and has a romantic sweep that is utterly transporting.

Calixto Bieito's Tosca, despite an intriguingly modern setting, fails to make sparks fly.

After over a century, Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande finally received its Norwegian première in a fascinating production by Barbora Horáková Joly.

Washington National Opera continues its cycle of social justice operas.

In the finale to Der Dreigroschenoper the sinister incantation of "Denn wovon lebt der Mensch?" ("For what does man live?") ran delightfully close to the bone in these plush surroundings

Baroque purists might prefer a more surefire line-up of brilliantly executed arias, but the theatrical framework of Adrian Noble's Alcina production offers a great deal.

Steiner’s reading of the mildly disturbing but generally obsequiously presented story is decidedly edgy, especially considering the opera is staged inside the city church.