Performer: Monique Wagemakers

The brainchild of opera director Monique Wagemakers, choreographer Nanine Linning and visual artist Lonneke Gordijn, this Orfeo by Nederlandse Reisopera is a thing of infinite beauty.

Young singers, musicians and designers in this Matrimonio segreto co-produced by the three main opera companies in the Netherlands show that, on the stage and in the pit at least, the future of opera is bright.

Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor is a coloratura soprano vehicle and this season’s Dutch National Opera production felicitously starred Jessica Pratt, an internationally celebrated Lucia and a favourite of the Italian public.