Performer: Lilli Paasikivi

For any opera house, the production of a new Wagner Ring cycle is a huge undertaking and becomes a mission statement. For Finnish National Opera, its mission is to stage an all-Finnish Ring.

In an unusually convincing concert performance, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Finnish National Opera emphasised the lyrical aspects of Wagner's Das Rheingold.

Marco Arturo Marelli's 2012 production lacks mystery but puts a fine Golaud centre stage, while Esa-Pekka Salonen ensures superior musical values in the pit. 

Music by the unhappy couple precedes a bombastic rendition of Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass by the Oslo Philharmonic orchestra and choir under Jukka-Pekka Saraste.

The London Philharmonic’s Shakespeare400 series continues with a potted Tempest, preceded by a piano concerto notable for its pastoral heart

New York Philharmonic under its music director Alan Gilbert delivered an impressive performance of Verdi's famous Requiem, with an excellent ensemble of soloists and chorus.