Performer: Malcolm Rippeth

Opera North dips a toe into the murky pond of ‘director’s theatre’, but sadly, theirs is a concept from the shallow end that barely wets its ankles. 

Having all but faded from memory, the Swiss composer’s hybrid work takes the audience by surprise. Yet the musical direction and the cast do it justice – in stark contrast to the flat staging.

Bruno Ravella's splendid 2021 production of Strauss' opera of Viennese manners returns with a fine cast. 

Julia Burbach and her designer, Herbert Murauer, are defeated by the wide canyons of the Coliseum stage in their modern-dress Cinderella. 

A superb orchestral performance from Paul Agnew and The English Concert lights up a breezy and fun staging of Rameau's ballet bouffon.

Diane Paulus' staging is remarkably true to the original while making it feel like the work was written yesterday.