Performer: Dionysios Avgerinos

Newly General Music Director Christian Thielemann and Jan Philipp Gloger bring Richard Strauss' Die schweigsame Frau to the Staatsoper Berlin for the first time, but la commedia is hardly stupenda. 

The French director updates the action to the present day, underscoring the validity of the plot – feuding families and class differences are still relevant. 

Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall bubbles with a concert staging of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi with Sir Byn Terfel leading a cast of fine young singers from the European Opera Centre.