Performer: Charles Johnston

Dorset Opera Festival's bold decision to programme Massenet's obscure opera about a medieval Castilian hero proves to be a major success.

It's not easy to imagine a freezing Parisian attic when you're in the middle of the rolling Dorset countryside in a baking summer, but Dorset Opera's excellent production of Puccini's La bohème is atmospheric enough to do so.

Longborough Festival Opera’s new production of Wagner’s Tannhäuser is impressive vocally but particularly distinguished by Anthony Negus’s intelligent and vital conducting.