Instrument: Sopranist

Day two of Frankfurt Ring featured impressive stage work and some superior musical performances, but it was not enough to create a perfect evening of opera.

Once upon a time an intrepid youth showing off his precocious skills as a cyclist boasted, “Look, Ma, no hands!” The 16 year-old Mozart could well have been exclaiming the same as he composed Lucio Silla in 1772.

It's not for nothing that Janáček's opera is properly titled Její pastorkyňa (Her Stepdaughter). Karita Mattila's Kostelnička was at the centre of a powerful concert performance of Jenůfa.

In a ravishing and affectingly sung production, Floris Visser re-imagines the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as the efforts of a grieving psyche trying to heal its devastating wounds.

Five hours with five counter tenors: a virtuoso stand-off which impresses, even astounds, but ultimately exhausts even the most dedicated audience by its refusal to cut a single note of what becomes a very long, florid opera by Jommelli. 

This gem from Martinů received a bright, spirited performance at the Estates Theatre in Prague – putting an early gleam on what should be an interesting year celebrating Czech music.

Had you been travelling, in the mid 18th century, around the crowned courts of middle Europe, there would have been little debate as to who was the most celebrated opera composer and ensemble: Johann Adolph Hasse and his company at the Saxon court of Dresden.