Performer: Gan-ya Ben-Gur Akselrod

Christoph Altstaedt conducts the Ulster Orchestra in a charming programme of quintessentially Viennese music for New Year.

Requiring trained opera singers to focus primarily on acting and asking actors to sing in a renowned opera house puts everyone out of their comfort zone, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

“Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It’s a bum’s life,” stated the late, great Marlon Brando. Felix Breisach took this idea to heart when staging his modernized Figaro in a mental institution.