Performer: Anna Smirnova

A strong cast and a masterclass in Wagnerian conducting from Jakub Hrůša complement David Alden’s disturbing staging.

Andreas Homoki’s new Zurich production capitalises on some quirky staging, but features superb voices in its principal roles and shows the best of the house’s joint choirs.

January of 2017 sees the return of Verdi's Nabucco at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. This Keith Warner production of a Verdi favorite was successfully premiered by the Deutsche Oper in 2013, in the 200th anniversary year of Verdi's birth.

Better conducting and supertitles would also help breathe life into this drab revival of Bayerische Staatsoper's Don Carlo.

Nothing will make the plot of Il trovatore less ridiculous. But a director who embraces that ridiculousness, plus stellar playing and singing, make for a great show.

Cirque du Soleil producer Franco Dragone's new Aida for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples aimed to scrub off all the bombast from this triumphalistic work. The eccentricities of the production led to a poor-quality outcome, though there was some fine singing.