Performer: Nicole Chevalier

Unimpeachable voices and fine playing light up The Royal Opera's latest revival of Kasper Holten's dark staging.

A pared back production is required in these Covid times: as little physical contact as possible, no chorus on stage, and tempi brisk and alert to keep the audience in the house for as short a time as possible. 

Sam Brown's sparse production leaves nothing to focus on but the individual protagonists on stage. 

Peter Konwitschny's production strips away much of the religious symbolism, presenting the difference between Jews and Christians as little more than the dyed colour of their hands. 

Serious farce, warm-hearted sarcasm, operatic Broadway: Barrie Kosky and Komische Oper turn Bernstein's problem child into a show that thrills from start to finish.

Handel’s Semele is presented as a flashback at the Komische Oper in Berlin.