Performer: Roman Burdenko

Dutch National Opera’s powerhouse cast and incandescent chorus deliver a musical triumph in Robert Carsen’s Cav/Pag revival, even as its voyeuristic staging leaves bitter ethical questions around gendered violence unresolved.

When does opera direction go too far? Marie-Ève Signeyrole provides the answers in her tasteless, explicit staging of Verdi's Macbeth in Berlin. 

The only great success of composer Italo Montemezzi finds new life at La Scala, in a production by La Fura dels Baus with a solid cast, led by conductor Pinchas Steinberg.

Five highly dissatisfied lead characters find only disastrous or ambiguous outcomes. Yet there are few greater operas than this.

Asmik Grigorian is captivating in an unobtrusive production of Puccini's three one-act operas. Under Franz Welser-Möst, the Vienna Philharmonic is on top form.

Valery Gergiev finally turns up to conduct an electrifying evening, crowned by Asmik Grigorian's full throttle performance as Liza.