Performer: Andrea Battistoni

Cav & Pag remain a potent pairing in stagings by two directors which unites the operas via liturgical settings in the Teatro Regio di Torino’s Verismo Festival. 

We all know Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème, but what of the version by Ruggero Leoncavallo? Francesco Micheli tries to make a case at the Teatro Regio di Torino. 

Daniele Menghini’s production treats Mascagni’s giapponismo opera with sensitivity and dramatic conviction in the Teatro Regio di Torino’s Verismo Festival. 

Dutch National Opera’s powerhouse cast and incandescent chorus deliver a musical triumph in Robert Carsen’s Cav/Pag revival, even as its voyeuristic staging leaves bitter ethical questions around gendered violence unresolved.

Tosca is back for another run, more dimly lit than ever, but illuminated by French baritone Ludovic Tézier as a Scarpia oozing with sinister charm and ironic humour. 

Adela Zaharia is cast as a Violetta for whom the party never stops in this revival of Tatjana Gürbaca's busy staging at Dutch National Opera. 

With concerts featuring Myung-whun Chung at the piano, Pinchas Zukerman leading from the podium, and inventive programming from Chief Conductor Andrea Battistoni, the Tokyo Philharmonic’s 2025 season straddles many divides.

In Tokyo, a fleet of youthful soloists complement a range of big repertoire works – Rite of Spring, Turangalîla-Symphonie, Macbeth, Boléro – full of sex and violence and all things sensual.