Instrument: Period Instrumental Ensemble

The early music ensemble peppered its diverse program with the rollicking play A Christmas Messe. While not all arrangements worked well, expertise and emotion made for a pleasurably unique performance.

A star cast and red-hot conducting make for a memorable night at the Barbican.

English Touring Opera’s new Radamisto took time to settle down on opening night.

Laurent Pelly’s elegant musical stave production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, from the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, charms and delights at the Edinburgh International Festival.

The imaginative baroque architecture of the Buontalenti Grotto in Palazzo Pitti Boboli Gardens is an inert background to the action in this reprise of one of the first operas.

A concert performance of Arianna in Creta at the Halle Handel Festival riveted the audience with the towering talent of Ann Hallenberg and uniformly fine singing, acting and playing.

A staged performance of Handel’s pasticcio opera Oreste shows a strong narrative structure and provides a vehicle for promising young singers.