Performer: Bibi Abel

Director Johannes Erath and conductor Alexander Soddy bring György Kurtág's first and only opera to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, starting the year with a dash of Beckett.

What do you get for the composer who made – and also kind of broke – everything? Arnold Schoenberg’s well-documented phobia of the number 13 aside, he could not have asked for a superior tribute in his 150th anniversary year.

Michele Mariotti and Johannes Erath lead us into the caverns of Il tabarro and Bluebeard’s Castle with two stories of violence against women 

This production fell just short of brilliance but showed how relevant and thought-provoking opera as an art form can be when tapping into today's headline debates.

Sebastian Weigle leads a somewhat light-footed but satisfying account with a fine orchestra and good ensemble of singers in an architecturally stunning production.