Performer: Aaron Sheehan

Once again, the BEMF brings a Baroque opera back to life. Reinhard Keiser’s 1705 Octavia is exceptionally well sung, adroitly staged, designed and danced, with impeccable musicianship.

Opera Atelier's return to the earliest part of the repertoire with Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria showcases their strengths in a relatively restrained production anchored by a strong ensemble cast.

“Leave your hoop skirts and swords at home,” the audience was advised, in order to avoid overcrowding when Handel’s Messiah premiered in Dublin in 1742.