Performer: Angus Wood

Wagner is a rare bird in Perth; the second *Tristan und Isolde* in 12 years worth the wait, no less for being a concert performance, and for bringing Skelton's masterful interpretation to an Australian audience

New Zealand Opera continues to strongly advocate Czech works, resulting in a gripping Káťa Kabanová.

Before they even started, the twin opening of Johannes Harneit and Gero Troike’s operas Abends am Fluss (“Evening on the river”) and Hochwasser (“Flood”) were hailed as operatic highlights, indeed as important cultural political events - and the performance of the Heidelberg Opera Ensemble was spectacular, with both these operas placed in the tradition of Theatre of the Absurd and performed convincingly with their politically explosive strength of message.

I have always been skeptical of concert performances of operas. Operas are written to be acted, and the staging is needed to complement the music. This is what I thought before I saw this performance of Ashkenazy conducting the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Sydney Children’s Choir in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades.

Lorenzo Fioronis Heidelberger Inszenierung von Debussys Pelléas et Mélisande beeindruckt durch eine psychologisch ausgeklügelte Lesart.