Review of the year - 2016 in opera and concert reviews

Disciples in Streetwise Opera and The Sixteen's The Passion Photo by Graeme Cooper

2016 is a year which has seen the first UK stagings of Enescu's Oedipe and Hartmann's Simplicius Simplicissimus, Renée Fleming returning to the role of the Marschallin in London for possibly the last time, Sonya Yoncheva sing her first Norma (the first of many we hope), along with a rare outing for Rossini's Semiramide (performed nearly uncut), as well as the first performance of a new opera from the impressive partnership of Stuart MacRae & Louise Walsh. 

Renée Fleming, Sophie Bevan - Act 3, Der Rosenkavalier
© ROH. Photograph by Catherine Ashmore

Here is a selection of the opera and concerts from the year, the ones which have stayed in the memory, including Penny Woolcock's remarkable reworking of Bach's St Matthew Passion with Streetwise Opera and the Sixteen.

People

• A touch of greatness: Renée Fleming returns to the Marschallin at Covent Garden - Der Rosenkavalier at the Royal Opera House
• Religious fervour: Sonya Yoncheva singers her first Norma in La Fura dels Baus dramatic interpretation at Covent Garden - Norma at the Royal Opera House
• Telling stories: Sir John Tomlinson in Schubert's Swansong (Schwanengesang sung in English) at the Wigmore Hall

Paul Nilon, Simeon John-Wake - Handel Tamerlano - Buxton Festival
photo Robert Workman

Opera

• Thrilling yet disturbing theatre: first UK staging of Karl Amadeus Hartmann's Simplicius Simplicissimus by Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells
• The minutes simply sped by: an almost complete performance of Rossini's mammoth Semiramide by Opera Rara at the BBC Proms
• Visual and aural feast: Handel's Tamerlano at the Buxton Festival
• Grandeur and intimacy: Verdi's Don Carlo at Grange Park Opera
• Vivid and intense: Mozart's Don Giovanni from Classical Opera with Jacques Imbrailo in the title role
• Brought thrillingly to life: Enescu's Oedipe at Covent Garden
• Simply remarkable: The Passion from Streetwise Opera and The Sixteen
• Teeming with life and joy: Rimsky-Korsakov's May Night from Royal Academy Opera
• Rare Donizetti brought convincingly to life on stage in Hackney: Pia de'Tolomei from English Touring Opera
• Stuart MacRae & Louise Walsh's The Devil Inside from Music Theatre Wales

Concerts

Kimiko Ishizaka Photo credit: Intuitive Fotografie - Philippe Ramakers

• A radical re-invention: Joyce DiDonato's War and Peace at the Barbican
• A day at the Oxford Lieder Festival: Bach revived, lunch with Schubert, tea with Mendelssohn and Gade and an evening with Juliane Banse
• Pure magic: sung poetry from Christian Gerhaher in Schumann at the Wigmore Hall
• A feast of pianism: Two-piano gala at the London Piano Festival at Kings Place
• Youth has it: Verdi's Requiem at the BBC Proms
• Master storytelling: Robin Tritschler and Graham Johnson in Schubert at the Wigmore Hall
• Last but not least: Rachel Podger and EUBO at the London Festival of Baroque Music
• Listening for the first time: Handel's Messiah with the Dunedin Consort at St John's Smith Square
• Rhinegold Live: Charles Owen and Katya Apekisheva in Stravinsky's Rite of Spring
• Blaze of Youth indeed: Chad Hoopes, Kristjan Järvi and the National Youth Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall
• Perfectly right for this performer at this time: Kimiko Ishizaka performs The Art of Fugue with her own completion in Cologne
• Schubert refractions: Maxim Rysanov and Ashley Wass at the Wigmore Hall