Performer: Helen Julie Johnson

English Touring Opera's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute launches in Hackney, balanced more towards fun than profundity, with some stunning coups de théâtre.

Chamber opera - or, more often, pub opera - seems to be flourishing in London at the moment, with half a dozen companies actively putting on reduced productions. The latest of these to take place at my local theatre is Opera London's version of Il Trovatore, somewhat reduced down to two hours and performed with just a piano.