Performer: Joachim Barth

Harding's grasp of the work's architecture that provides overall coherence. That, combined with the pithy, pulsing core he forges at its heart, makes this performance as engaging as it is polished.

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.