Performer: Ursula Hesse von den Steinen

The chance to watch their finely gauged interpretation unfold on the Royal Festival Hall platform was a privilege.

Shostakovich's early masterpiece is fêted at the Komische Oper Berlin

Handel's Opera Lotario is the centrepiece for this year's Göttingen Handel festival, receiving warm acclaim on its opening night.

Clarity and mounting horror in the orchestra pit, the full truth and ugliness of the human condition onstage. Dutch National Opera’s new production of Wozzeck is stomach-churning for all the right reasons.

Detlev Glanert's first religious composition, a staggering Requiem for solo voices, two choirs and orchestra, pits the demonic against the angelic, and is worthy of the genius it celebrates.

Barrie Kosky's 2011 production confines the action of the opera to a stark white room. A fine ensemble of singers made for a successful evening.