Pelléas et Mélisande review – fresh light on Debussy’s mysterious fairytale

An innovative, striking production that eschews the usual symbolist approach and gets to grips with the story’s rich complexities

Flux: New Music, New Dance CD review – the best new ballet from Rambert

Rambert Orchestra/Hoskins/Fidelio Trio/Onyx Brass/Thom/Zaccardelli/Quinta(NMC)

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

The Soldier’s Tale review – City of London Sinfonia make Stravinsky’s devilish piece too well mannered

Despite the efforts of Simon Russell Beale and Janet Suzman, this concert performance lacked theatricality and felt too comfortable

The 8th Door/Bluebeard’s Castle review – Scottish Opera’s compelling tour of Bartók’s horrors

Karen Cargill is a ravishingly vulnerable Judith to Robert Hayward’s subtle Bluebeard, but a newly devised prequel, The 8th Door, feels aimless and trite

The Transports review – extraordinary richness of Botany Bay convicts’ stories

Peter Bellamy’s 1977 ballad opera is expanded into a stunning, fully staged folk suite featuring the Young’uns, Nancy Kerr, Faustus and Rachael McShane

She Moved Through the Fair / Leveret reviews – a touching tribute and classy and convivial folk

The story of fearless balladeer Margaret Barry is told on stage in a gentle and poignant tribute, and Leveret bring the finest of traditional folk today

Peaches Christ Superstar review – a searing, defiantly queer take on the crucifixion

Peaches’ reinterpretation of Jesus Christ Superstar retains the rock-opera roots of the original while infusing it with new meaning and her trademark humour

Steve Reich’s 80th birthday celebration review – patchy tribute to music icon

A slew of pieces threw up some hits and misses, yet all served to remind us of the challenging and daring oeuvre that the experimental composer still masters

Lazarus: Original Cast Recording review – proof that Bowie did it best

An off-Broadway sequel to The Man Who Fell to Earth that opened last December and will shortly arrive in London, Lazarus is by any other name a David Bowie jukebox musical. This cast recording was made the day his death … Continue reading →

Antony and Cleopatra review – BBCSO bring Schmitt’s incidental music back to life

A fascinating stage collaboration with Shakespeare’s Globe revived the work of a tarnished French composer, whose dramatic score deserves comparison with Debussy and Ravel

Billy Joel review – evergreen, edgy and in sublime voice

Piano man plays all the hits, switching styles, from doo-wop of The Longest Time to experimental Zanzibar, with aplomb

Mandela Trilogy review – compelling storytelling in a curious musical pastiche

A successful retelling of Nelson Mandela’s life mixes opera with South African influences but could have benefited from more a cappella singing

Barry Humphries’ Weimar Cabaret review – sardonic, sexual, wonderfully done

In the company of Meow Meow and a raffish Australian Chamber Orchestra, Humphries reveals a lifelong love for music the Nazis banned as ‘degenerate’

The Last Mermaid review – Charlotte Church thrills in dystopian eco-fairytale

The singer has co-authored a fascinating update on Hans Christian Andersen, pitting her sea nymph against marine pollution and malign capitalism