Così fan tutte review – Nicholas Hytner’s irresistible production takes a bow
Hytner’s sunny, unironic staging of Mozart’s problematic comedy – about to tour for a final time – is one of the most intelligent and insightful around
La clemenza di Tito; Prom 16 review – dark deeds in a Roman quagmire
Musical brilliance saves Mozart from a watery Glyndebourne grave
La Clemenza di Tito review – a magical, maddening return to Glyndebourne
Alice Coote and Anna Stéphany give exceptional performances in Claus Guth’s intense new production of Mozart’s curious Roman tragedy
Mitridate, re di Ponto; Billy Budd; Ariadne auf Naxos review – a starry week at the opera
A top cast dolls up for Mozart’s Mitridate. Plus a heart-stopping Billy Budd and a dazzling newcomer at Glyndebourne
Hamlet review – Brett Dean conjures spectres, swordfights and swapped soliloquies
With a reverent but mischievous take on the text and a superb cast led by tenor Allan Clayton, this world premiere production rises to the challenge set by Shakespeare’s great play
La traviata review – Kristina Mkhitaryan’s Violetta soars
The Russian soprano makes a remarkable festival debut in this fine revival of Tom Cairns’s 2014 production
Hipermestra review – Cavalli comes in from the cold
Graham Vick and William Christie make a welcome return with a musically flawless account of this baroque rarity
La Traviata review – subtle and serious
Tom Cairns’s stripped-back production of Verdi’s opera, first seen in 2014, eschews histrionic tragedy in favour of deep, contained sadness
Hipermestra review – superbly sung UK premiere of Cavalli’s uneven tragedy
Graham Vick and William Christie unite for a rare production of Francesco Cavalli that you’re unlikely to see better staged anywhere else
Fiona Maddocks: best classical music of 2016
Gražinytė-Tyla was the name of the year, Chineke! took off, Levit and Trifonov blazed a trail and ENO delivered opera of the highest standards
Madama Butterfly review – engages the mind at the expense of passion
Annilese Miskimmon’s production for Glyndebourne’s tour presents a hard-edged view of Puccini’s romantic tragedy. Musically, Matteo Lippi’s Pinkerton is marvellous, while John Wilson excels in the pit
A Midsummer Night’s Dream review – Peter Hall revival retains its magic
Thirty-five years since Hall’s original staging of Britten’s opera, it is still a thing of wonder, with its unsettling sexual tension and sharp psychological insights
A Midsummer Night’s Dream review – the return of a sweet enchantment
The latest revival of Peter Hall’s enduring production of Britten’s opera retains all the old magic
Béatrice et Bénédict review – too much outside-the-box thinking
Berlioz’s take on Much Ado About Nothing sounds beautiful here, but Laurent Pelly’s staging is busy and distracting, and gets taken over by a single metaphor
Il trovatore; Le nozze di Figaro; Dean, Kennaway, O’Brien – review
Verdi’s troublesome Trovatore gets a Bösch job, Figaro wigs out, and small pleasures abound in church…