Venue: Hamburgische Staatsoper

Olga Neuwirth and Elfriede Jelinek take on Donald Trump in their latest operatic collaboration. 

At Staatsoper Hamburg, Unsuk Chin’s new opera The Dark Side of the Moon immerses audiences in an hypnotic, introspective journey, where dreams, science and psyche collide in a rigorously crafted, thought-provoking spectacle.

The rather imposing proposition of taking over the reigns from John Neumeier has fallen to Demis Volpi, who has brought fresh and explosive pieces into the repertoire at Hamburg.

Opening the new opera season, Kent Nagano powerfully directs Mussorgsky's great psychodrama about a famous tsar, marred only by Frank Castorf's visually confusing and symbolically overweighted production. 

In the 48th Nijinsky Gala of his 50-year tenure, John Neumeier curated a well-balanced and thrilling evening of dance with a most impressive roster of dancers.

John Neumeier's Sylvia is a ballet that, like Greek theatre, speaks for all time and is a joy to watch.

What does opera in the 21st century look and sound like? Streets removed from anything Mozart, Verdi or Wagner would have recognised. But Salvatore Sciarrino is his own man.

“Jealous lover kills local slut” might be the tabloid headline, but Bizet's Carmen is much more than that, especially in this visually stunning new production in Hamburg, directed by Herbert Fritsch.