Performer: Laetitia Gerards

Programming Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music is quite a daring move in a country with no real tradition in musical. This production by Nederlands Reisopera shows that fortune favours the bold.

Kenneth Montgomery leads the Orchestra of the 18th Century and a fine team of young soloists in a swift, finely detailed interpretation of La clemenza di Tito.

Eva-Maria Westbroek as Sieglinde was the high point at an opera gala in support of young singers at the Concertgebouw.

James Gaffigan, aided by a fine cast of soloists led by the full-blooded Rigoletto of Dimitri Platanias, demonstrated that Verdi's powerfully dramatic music does not need staging to keep the audience captivated.