Performer: Marina Viotti

In Barrie Kosky’s hyperactive staging, Il viaggio a Reims becomes a birthday tribute to Cecilia Bartoli complete with rewritten text, extravagant costumes, sexual escapades and a giant cake. 

The Vienna Philharmonic's first concert at this year's Salzburg Festival pairs Oedipus Rex with the Symphonie fantastique, with Esa-Pekka Salonen stepping in for Lorenzo Viotti. 

Massenet’s take on Goethe’s blockbuster novella of unrequited love and suicide is handled with great subtlety by Christof Loy and Marc Leroy-Calatayud. Benjamin Bernheim and Marina Viotti lead a starry vocal cast.

Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, was never meant to challenge grand opera for profundity and Barrie Kosky pokes fun at Viennese high society in his riotous staging. 

The new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann explores the gothic, magical nature of the story, with a solid cast led by Chaslin’s somewhat heavy baton.