The Merry Widow – come for the big tunes, stay for the birthday cement mixer
John Savournin has huge fun transplanting Lehár’s fictional Balkan Neverland to mafioso Manhattan in a hyperactive production
Album of the week
Berlioz and Ravel – his orchestra is responsive to Mäkelä’s every move
It may be missing that edge-of-your-seat excitement it had at last summer’s Proms, but Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique is full of colour and impact, and the energy keeps fizzing on Ravel’s La Valse
Review
Mazeppa – Tchaikovsky’s blood-thirsty opera is a wild and gruesome ride
World news
‘It’s about self-destruction’: director Serebrennikov on his bleak operatic vision of Russia
Feature
Keys to success: the 2025 Van Cliburn piano competition, the instrument’s Olympics
Aldeburgh festival
A Visit to Friends/The Gildas Quartet review – Colin Matthews’s luminous new opera opens Aldeburgh in fine style
