Performer: Adrian Clarke

A title role performance full of depth from Terfel and a barnstorming comic interlude from Tomlinson provide some great moments, but much of this Boris fails to rise above the ordinary.

The French-Sicilian tenor shines in Sir David's McVicar's pristine take on Umberto Giordano's slice of verismo. 

Opera North's triumphant UK première production of Silent Night by Kevin Puts is directed at Leeds Town Hall by Tim Albery and conducted by Nicholas Kok.

This summer’s production of Bizet’s Carmen on the Seebühne stage in Bregenz offers a great spectacle. 

Opera North's production of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd, directed by Orpha Phelan, is a tense psychological drama which puts the emphasis on issues of democracy and attitudes to dictatorship. 

Richard Jones new production of Mussorgsky's episodic epic has plenty of strengths, but is marred by unappealing designs and rushed tempi.