Recent ABR Arts reviews

• Morag Fraser reviews Das Lied von der Erde and Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) ★★★★
• Tim Byrne reviews Merrily We Roll Along (Watch This) ★★1/2
• Zoltán Szabó reviews Yuja Wang plays Beethoven (Sydney Symphony Orchestra) ★★★★
• Dilan Gunawardana reviews Dark Mofo 2017 (MONA)
• Zoltán Szabó reviews Pelléas et Mélisande (Sydney Symphony Orchestra) ★★★★
• Alastair Jackson reviews Cunning Little Vixen (Victorian Opera) ★★★1/2
• John Allison reviews Otello (Royal Opera House) ★★★
• Ben Brooker reviews The Sound of Falling Stars (Adelaide Cabaret Festival) ★★★★

Peter Rose writes from Berlin

Thursday (29 June) brought torrential rain (three months’ worth in a day) and an unexpected Australian presence at Deutsche Oper's production of Don Carlo. Siobhan Stagg – a regular with the company – stepped in as the Celestial Voice and sang with great beauty in this tiny, moving role. Unusually, the Celestial Voice even appeared on stage, babe in arms. Stagg told ABR Arts she is much looking forward to appearing as Pamina at the Royal Opera House in September, her début at Covent Garden. There were several vocal highlights in Marco Arturo Marelli’s striking (if audibly creaky) 2011 production of Verdi's masterpiece: Jamie Barton's Eboli, Giacomo Prestia's Philip II. Etienne Dupuis – sounding like a young Sherrill Milnes – was a sensational Rodrigo. Dupuis – a French Canadian – has just married Australian soprano Nicole Car, who makes her début as Mimi at Covent Garden in September. This month Car and Dupuis will sing in Opera Australia’s concert version of Massenet’s Thaïs at the Sydney Town Hall. Dupuis’s presence caps what promises to a magnificent night of singing.