Performer: David Brophy

Rain cannot wash away the charm of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Lismore Castle, a visually clever, if uneven, outdoor staging with moments of real enchantment.

Buckley's half-hour-long piece had the organ pouring forth volumes of notes in a molten flow of sound.

Ailish Tynan's powerful soprano soared above the massive forces of the choir in the thundering "Libera Me" – a wall of sound that blew the audience away.

Can classic opera reflect the political status of the society in which it is performed? Calixto Bieito's production of Turandot for Northern Ireland Opera raises some uncomfortable questions.

Mahagonny surfaces for just the second time in Ireland, in a collaborative production resonating harshly with the country's recent economic history.