Performer: Joachim Goltz

Sláva Daubnerová's contemporary treatment of the Ring opener at the Prague National Theatre is socially ambitious but artistically disappointing.

Great performances cannot rescue the Norwegian director's superficial treatment of a classic ghost story.

Leigh Melrose appears in a strong new Œdipe directed by Evgeny Titov to open the 2021-22 season at the Komische Oper. 

Franz Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten (The Branded One) is an unsettling work given the storyline’s background of abduction and clandestine sexual abuse. Calixto Bieito, as expected, eschews ambiguity regarding what goes on behind the scenes, and casts even the titular cripple Alviano Salvago in a damning light.

The 1957 production of Parsifal, with its traditional staging and dreamy imageries, was a perfect backdrop to showcase Wagner's celebration of stage play with music on Good Friday.

The Spanish director offers a controversial angle but tones it down to focus on dark psychology rather than spectacle in his staging of Schrecker's hothouse opera.