Palace Opera & Ballet’s new season is an absolute ripper with 11 operas and seven ballets coming the way of Australian audiences.

Top of the bill has to be Barrie Kosky’s new production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold. It’s the first part in his Ring Cycle for the Royal Opera House, and rumour has it that the Australian director’s fabled imagination has been working overtime.

Barrie Kosky’s Das Rheingold. Image @ Royal Opera House Covent Garden

The Royal Opera House features in three other screenings, including a new Carmen from ever-inventive Italian director Damiano Michieletto. Their two revivals look pretty enticing as well, with the magnetic Asmik Grigorian headlining Madama Butterfly and Jonas Kaufmann returning for Andrea Chénier.

Italy also offers its fair share of new productions, starting with Simon Stone’s take on Boito’s Mefistofele for Opera di Roma. The Australia director’s radical-minded productions are everywhere...