Performer: Charles Daniels

Sublime orchestral playing and stellar soloists don't quite make up for a lacklustre performance by the Academy's choir in Monteverdi's moving work

Eschewing conventions throughout, Daisy Evans' production of The Fairy Queen walks boldly out of the woods into an exciting future for opera staging.

A deeply stirring interpretation of Bach's St John Passion from Pacific Musicworks in Seattle. 

All too often opera in concert is presented in its most basic format, without the theatricality and staging so characteristic to its execution. However, when a presentation comes along from the likes of The King’s Consort, you can be sure that justice will be served, even without the smoke and mirrors we’ve all grown to love.

Il ritorno von Claudio Monteverdi und Joan Didions magisches Denken über Warten und Spannen der Zeit: eine bemerkenswerte Symbiose gelingt dem Regisseur Christopher Rüping im Festival „Ja, Mai“ der Bayerischen Staatsoper