Performer: Sascha Zauner

Digital projections make Opera Ballet Vlaanderen’s Parsifal seem alienating and strange, but the singing is terrific and the orchestra sounds sensational.

Aribert Reimann's Lear takes no prisoners in a disturbing portrayal of a world gone awry, but Barbora Horáková's scattergun direction adds to the confusion. 

Not a great day for the patriarchy: Ersan Mondtag's gripping new Salome emphasises grotesque caricatures and ends with a bloody, plot-twisting coup d’état. 

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

A new production of Vivaldi's Byzantine opera Il Giustino charms Berlin, thanks to René Jacobs' exemplary conducting and a top-level cast led by Christophe Dumaux.