Performer: Gun-Brit Barkmin

The Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai impresses in “bleeding chunks” from Wagner operas at the Festival de Pâques d'Aix-en-Provence.

Wagner is a rare bird in Perth; the second *Tristan und Isolde* in 12 years worth the wait, no less for being a concert performance, and for bringing Skelton's masterful interpretation to an Australian audience

The in-house orchestra played out of its skin under Fabio Luisi.

The final instalment of the Hong Kong Philharmonic's Ring cycle merits the orchestra joining the international big league. 

German theatre director Uwe Eric Laufenberg freely incorporates some of Stanley Kubrik’s horror story concepts into his Elektra, but in ignoring both Sophocles and Strauss, is a long way from shining.  

Gun-Brit Barkmin’s Salome was neither sexy, salacious, psycho-erotic nor particularly well sung.