Performer: Gábor Bretz

Director Dmitri Tcherniakov and a talented cast do everything to make Tchaikovsky’s opera work in Amsterdam, but problematic elements persist. 

Individual performances impress, but conducting and production both prove too meandering in this year’s Wagner Days Tannhäuser.

A mad March hare, a murdered child, a hypochondriac prince, and a roomful of dead wives make for a stellar concert by the Houston Symphony Orchestra. 

The Grand Théâtre de Genève is certainly not risk-averse and Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó controversially translates the action to a penthouse bar in New York.

Dmitri Tcherniakov’s staging of Rusalka in Naples has a starkly modern visual style which occasionally dilutes the story’s emotional impact.

András Almási-Toth production of the original version of Mussorgsky's historical epic underwhelms in Budapest. 

The vast 2023–24 season at Budapest boast 41 different operas and 19 ballets – with new productions of Boris Godunov, Rusalka, ballets by Bartók, and a world premiere from Peter Eötvös.