Das Gehege, described as a ‘night scene’ for soprano and orchestra, was written initially for the stage, and while its most obvious precursor is Schönberg’s Erwartung, its intoxicating mixture of sensuality and violence has arguably more in common with the final scene of Strauss’ Salome

Don Giovanni himself, with his top hat and black cloak, cut an undeniably sinister figure and, for a brief moment at the beginning, one wondered if the Victorian trappings of the sets were going to be used to take the story in a Jack the Ripper direction

The new production at Santa Fe Opera, directed by Bruno Ravella, managed to capture much of the opera’s fine emotional balance, but was perhaps even more notable for the quality of its musical performances, especially the Marschallin of Rachel Willis-Sørensen and the taut musical direction of Karina Canellakis

What made the evening baffling is that the staging -directed by Franziska Kronfoth and Julia Lwowski- was clearly the product of considerable technical skill

Tobias Kratzer’s new production at the Deutsche Oper Berlin did little to dispel the unpleasantness behind Intermezzo’s ostensible comedy

Mr Jurowski’s ability to highlight the Alpensinfonie’s instrumental depictions without overstating them allowed one to appreciate just how successfully Strauss had been able to integrate his pictorial evocations into a clear, cohesive structure.

Between Christof Loy’s unsettling staging and a captivating performance of the title role from Sara Jakubiak, the evening provided an ideal introduction to Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini, a work of challenging intensity