Performer: Maxim Paster

Forget Rimsky-Korsakov, forget the Polish act... Stephen Wadsworth's new production for The Met returns to Mussorgsky's original 1869 version of his Russian historical epic. 

In Emma Dante's staging we are viewing an allegory of death as painted in the medieval frescoes of Italian cemeteries.

The Russian director's role play production of Prokofiev's comedy falls flat at the Staatsoper.

In Khovanshchina, even more so than in Boris Godunov, the chorus is the chief protagonist and the La Scala chorus was truly astonishing.

Robert Hayward was unafraid to 'go ugly' when need be in Jurowski's symphonically executed concert performance. 

Under Mariss Jansons, the Vienna Philharmonic are on top form in Shostakovich's opera; together with a top class cast of singers, they create sonic and emotional intoxication.