Performer: Orlin Anastassov

Christof Loy’s minimalist staging for Khovanshchina at Dutch National Opera has the advantage of clarifying a reputedly fragmented plot. 

The task sounded Herculean: turning Benvenuto Cellini, that reputedly difficult, flawed work by Berlioz, into an utterly entertaining show that renders justice to its youthfully energetic music. This is what Terry Gilliam manages to pull off... and it is nothing short of miraculous.

Cirque du Soleil producer Franco Dragone's new Aida for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples aimed to scrub off all the bombast from this triumphalistic work. The eccentricities of the production led to a poor-quality outcome, though there was some fine singing.