Performer: Clemens Bieber

Set in a 1930s music school, Sergio Morabito, Jossi Wieler and Anna Viebrick's new production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Deutsche Oper Berlin has some inspirational ideas but they often get in the way of the music.

Christof Loy unearths hidden treasure with an opera by Franz Schreker long since buried after taking Europe by storm in the 1920s.

Staging the story of the Italian political figure Rienzi as that of a dictator in 20th-century Germany was an inspired idea. This revival was a rare occasion to experience Wagner's early opera. 

Deutsche Oper Berlin's Salome was a mixed blessing: a magnificent Catherine Naglestad as the heroine, with good ensemble of singers and orchestra, but a thoughtful but far-fetched psychological interpretation.

The production was interesting but at times distracting, but the musical performances triumphed. 

Elektra, as performed during the Deutsche Oper Berlin Strauss-Wochen: Such gorgeous music, we will all want to dance ourselves to death.