Performer: Ilseyar Khayrullova

Vienna State Opera's traditional production of Carmen managed to create an evening of both sumptious music and exciting drama on stage.

The applause and screams at the premiere were raucously frenetic – and while the hysteria seemed a bit exaggerated, an energetically positive reception was completely justified.

It took Vienna State Opera almost 90 years to present Leos Janacek's Věc Makropulos, but in Peter Stein's production, it was worth the wait.