Performer: Aušrinė Stundytė

A superb cast of singers is let down by Christoph Marthaler's cold, stilted staging as Reimann's Lear returns to its birthplace.  

An Elektra conducted like Mendelssohnian fairy music, sung not shouted, just as Strauss required.

The Staatsoper revives a confused production by Hans Neuenfels, under the baton of Thomas Guggeis.

Although Bard's production is only intermittently successful, the chance to hear this Korngold rarity live should be savored.

Carè, Stundytė and Pursio all shine as singers and actors in an intense, exciting production at the Finnish National Opera.

Franz Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten (The Branded One) is an unsettling work given the storyline’s background of abduction and clandestine sexual abuse. Calixto Bieito, as expected, eschews ambiguity regarding what goes on behind the scenes, and casts even the titular cripple Alviano Salvago in a damning light.