Antonio Pappano on the Ring and his successor
When Pappano completes what may be his last performances of Wagner’s monumental cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen in November, he will have been the Royal Opera’s music director for more than 16 years

Audience member saves Royal Opera's La bohème
When Atalla Ayan developed vocal difficulties, Charles Castronovo stepped in to sing across from his wife Ekaterina Siurina, who starred in La bohème.

'Tell me what traditional means'
Richard Jones put Rhinemaidens in fat suits, breathed life into Turnage’s Anna Nicole – now he is directing Covent Garden’s first new production of La Bohème for four decades.

Can George Benjamin strike gold twice?
George Benjamin's opera Written on Skin was instantly declared a modern masterpiece – can he follow its success with Lessons in Love and Violence?

Katie Mitchell on ROH's brutal new opera
Her last production contained cannibalism and was staggeringly successful. Could Lessons in Love and Violence top it? We sit in on rehearsals as the revered director grapples with some bedside lamps.

Opera’s perfectionist tries to follow his masterpiece
George Benjamin, the painstaking composer of the acclaimed opera “Written on Skin,” prepares for the premiere of his “Lessons in Love and Violence.”

Turning a ghoulish children’s book Into a grand opera
Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline” has been transformed into an opera in London, with music by Mark-Anthony Turnage. It goes to some genuinely disturbing places.

From the House of the Dead shines a light into darkness
Janáček’s final opera is peopled with aggressive and unpleasant characters, but the beauty of its music speaks powerfully of the need for empathy and understanding, says the conductor of a new production.