Performer: Helena Rasker

Inspired by Annie Ernaux’s The Years, Philip Venables’ new opera widens the canvas to take in the whole of Europe’s postwar generation. 

Barrie Kosky brings his trio of Puccini productions to a close with another triptych: Il trittico in a triumphant staging. 

Sir George Benjamin conducts Ligeti and his own Into the Little Hill at the Concertgebouw. 

Alexander Raskatov and Damiano Michieletto turn George Orwell’s fable into an opera of exceptional contemporary relevance.

A new production of Vivaldi's Byzantine opera Il Giustino charms Berlin, thanks to René Jacobs' exemplary conducting and a top-level cast led by Christophe Dumaux.

Romeo Castellucci's intense production of Bartók's opera reaps its rewards in the performance under Teodor Currentzis, but Carl Orff's opera-oratorio De temporum fine comoedia feels little more than a drab filler.