Performer: Sergey Artamonov

Michele Mariotti triumphs in Rossini’s masterpiece with a good cast led by Salome Jicia and a new production, only partially successful.

La Fura dels Baus's production balances the familiar with modern detail in a clever staging that packs a real punch. The Arena enjoyed its centennial edition last year, and one wonders whether this might be the production that they celebrate the next time around.

There’s a touch of Borodin bus syndrome around at the moment; you wait years for a production of Prince Igor, then two come along in succession. The first was from the Metropolitan Opera, directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov, swiftly followed by the Novaya Opera which brings its production from Moscow to London as part of the UK—Russia Year of Culture.