Performer: Richard Jones

Breastplates are back in vogue, but comedy horses and cheap production values undermine the first chapter in English National Opera's new Ring cycle. 

A uniformly excellent ensemble enlivens the Royal Opera House's latest Bohème revival.

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. 

Christine Rice gives an astonishingly performance in an evening of four powerful chamber pieces.

This third revival of Richard Jones' production is thoroughly competent but struggles to rise above the routine.

The Bavarian State Opera avoids the routine in a powerfully cast revival of Richard Jones' building-site production of Lohengrin.