Performer: Tuomas Katajala

A strong cast led by Sarah Aristidou and compelling conducting from Nicholas Collon are the highlights of the opening night of this year's Musikfest Berlin.

In an opera rarely staged in Italy, David Hermann skilfully masters the metatheatrical challenges posed by the libretto to Ariadne auf Naxos. 

For any opera house, the production of a new Wagner Ring cycle is a huge undertaking and becomes a mission statement. For Finnish National Opera, its mission is to stage an all-Finnish Ring.

In an unusually convincing concert performance, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Finnish National Opera emphasised the lyrical aspects of Wagner's Das Rheingold.

The opening production of the 2017 Savonlinna Opera Festival had an optimistic message, strongly delivered by a cast led by the exceptional Konstanze of Hulkar Sabirova.

Mariame Clément’s Glyndebourne production of Don Pasquale, revived here for the 2015 Tour, delivers its lesson particularly harshly.