Performer: Keith Jameson

A welcome revival at the Met of Robert Carsen's witty production of Verdi's final opera. 

A wonderfully realized production at San Francisco Opera of Jake Heggie's operatic version of a holiday classic. 

With the many glories of the score and the easy butts of class and marital comedy, it is hard not to be pleased by a Figaro performance, although tonight’s did not sparkle as much as it might have. 

Roberto Abbado's precise conducting made the score tingle with life. The magical glissandi were full of mystery, the hotbed of musical detail cleanly communicated and the amorous outbursts treated with Italianate ardour.

Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka, moving between the worlds and rooted in myth, is a shivering opera to experience with its opulent music and its fantastical plot. 

This production proves that even Mozart’s best-laid plans can be undone.