Performer: Maurizio Benini

Salome Jicia delivers a vocally impressive and emotionally committed Norma, but Orpha Phelan’s post-apocalyptic staging fatally weakens Bellini’s sacred tragedy.

Stripped of its original superstar casting, Gounod’s grand opera provides entertainment but fails to cohere. 

A promising cast on paper is scuppered by a banal, monotonous production and uninspired conducting.

Laurent Pelly’s darkly stylish production of Manon is revived with a strong cast of singers. In the title role, Lisette Oropesa demonstrated elegant and incisive singing, while Michael Fabiano was her virile and powerful partner.

Lotte de Beer’s Il barbiere di Siviglia for Dutch National Opera seems a surprisingly traditional spectacle... although it does come with a twist.

Despite a great cast, the Metropolitan Opera's revival of Semiramide bores with tacky costumes and no direction.