Beethoven: Fidelio (Opernhaus Zürich)

Melanie Diener (Leonore); Roberto Saccà (Florestan); Sandra Trattnigg (Marzelline); Alfred Muff (Rocco); Lucio Gallo (Don Pizarro);

Belarbi: La Bête et la Belle (Beauty and the Beast) (Ballet du Capitole)

Julie Loria (The Beauty ); Takafumi Watanabe (The Beast ); Kazbek Akhmedyarov (Toroador);

"…all the markings of one of the classic ballets: It had romance, spectacle and drama, and it was beautiful …filled with spectacular dancing by large ensembles set beautifully. Imaginative and colorful sets and costumes by Valérie Berman and effective lighting by Marc Parent completed the visual spectacle…" (Times Argus)

Bellini: I Puritani (De Nederlandse Opera)

Mariola Cantarero (Elvira); John Osborn (Lord Arturo Talbo); Scott Hendricks (Sir Riccardo Forth); Riccardo Zanellato (Sir Giorgio);

"It is rare indeed to find a performance of a Bellini opera these days, and with its vertiginous lead roles Puritani is rarer than most. But it is such a treat!...Scott Hendricks’ baritone is honeyed and mellifluous. His aria and cabaletta in the opening scene are really beautiful, and he rises to the challenge of his duet with Arturo with thrilling skill." (Seen and Heard International)

Bellini: Norma (De Nederlandse Opera)

Hasmik Papian (Norma); Hugh Smith (Pollione); Irini Tsirakidis (Adalgisa); Giorgio Giuseppini (Oroveso); Anna Steiger (Clotilde); Carlo Bosi (Flavio);

"Norma. Diva. Callas. Three keywords that are the core of Joosten’s staging. A diva in a Callas costume who, as Norma, loses her way in the labyrinths of the opera world and who can no longer distinguish between the drama on stage and reality. Joosten’s stage interpretation offers interesting contemplations on opera business and on the role and character of a star soprano in a typical Callas situation...The story starts as an opera in an opera, but gradually the boundaries between theatre and reality become more and more ambivalent… great class!" (Trouw)

Bellini: Norma (Royal Opera House)

Sonya Yoncheva (Norma); Sonia Ganassi (Adalgisa); Joseph Calleja (Pollione); Brindley Sherratt (Oroveso); David Junghoon Kim (Flavio); Vlada Borovko (Clotilde);

"A master of bel canto, Antonio Pappano conducts with superlative style and sensitivity." (Evening Standard ★★★★)

Benjamin: Lessons in Love and Violence (The Royal Opera)

Stéphane Degout (King); Barbara Hannigan (Isabel); Gyula Orendt (Gaveston/Stranger); Peter Hoare (Mortimer); Samuel Boden (Boy/Young King); Jennifer France (Witness 1/Singer 1/Woman 1); Krisztina Szabó (Witness 2/Singer 2/Woman 2); Andri Björn Róbertsson (Witness 3/Madman);

"His [George Benjamin's] music, like Crimp’s words, is at once brilliantly clear and full of half-suggested meanings. Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande lurks in the background, a benign influence casting rays of light into this world of moral darkness. Although Benjamin does not write conventional arias, it seems there is barely a line that this cast does not shape with beauty and expressiveness. Hannigan is outstanding, as ever, as Isabel. Stéphane Degout and Gyula Orendt are well matched as the King and Gaveston/Stranger, the latter swathed in a mystic accompaniment of gentle percussion. Peter Hoare brings a fearsome authority to Mortimer and Samuel Boden is inspired casting as the Boy, growing up to be King. Lessons in Love and Violence is not an opera that is going to inspire affection. What it does have is the most gripping concentration, enough to make an audience hold its breath for long stretches at a time. In Katie Mitchell’s razor-sharp production, the opera is set in a high-end, modern development, where the walls are hung with paintings in the style of Francis Bacon. Is she telling us that the horrors we witness are, in fact, a prediction for our own time? It is a depressing thought." (The Financial Times ★★★★)