Performer: Aleš Briscein

The director drains the life out of an impassioned opera with a staging devoid of authenticity and ideas.

Robert Carsen's new production of Janáček’s The Excursions of Mr Brouček for the Staatsoper Unter den Linden scores a well-deserved success thanks to a stellar – or rather, lunar – conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

Directors Martin Kukučka and Lukáš Trpišovský, who work together as SKUTR, take on Dvořák’s Rusalka with a surfeit of ideas. 

Superb singing and brilliant work in the pit can't quite rescue Jiří Nekvasil's overambitious production.

Aided by spirited singers and enthusiastic musicians, director Ondřej Havelka brings an imaginative, ironic touch to a lesser-known Smetana opera.

Installation art sounds a dissonant note with the sublime harmony of Saint François d’Assise in Adel Abdessemed's creation at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.