Performer: Susanna Hurrell

Top notch singing, judicious pruning and production which prioritises human drama over camp spectacle make for an illuminating take on Handel's most frequently staged opera.

A Rossini comedy should sparkle, but this new production, starting its tour from Hackney, is decidedly lacking bubbles.

James Conway's production for English Touring Opera returns in a trimmed-down, single-evening guise. 

Ravi Shankar's valiant fusion of East and West is no greater than the sum of its parts.

Mezzo-soprano Rachel Kelly and soprano Susanna Hurrell were the eponymous pair and, my, how they chewed the scenery.

Venables conceived a wealth of acoustic and visual components that constantly overlap and interact.