Performer: Valda Wilson

Several notable house debuts, including the renowned director and choreographer Sabuto Teshigawara, enlivened the New National Theatre's first-ever production of Gluck's opera.

Handel's oratorio Theodora performed by Pinchgut Opera in Sydney was played and sung beautifully in a rather drab production. Kudos to the soloists especially countertenor Christopher Lowery and conductor Erin Helyard.

Mozart and Mendelssohn are surely two of the most popular composers for both the seasoned elitist and the irregular classical listener; tonight’s offering of time-tested favourites wrapped in the summer breeze of familiarity, coupled with the rare and exciting prospect of hearing Mendelssohn’s complete incidental music for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was likely to be a draw – and it w