Patrice Chéreau, the French opera and theatre director, has died at the age of 68.

He was responsible for staging what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest opera events ever filmed, the Bayreuth centenary production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, conducted by Pierre Boulez. It is still as impressive and exciting today as it was when it was made in 1976.

In more recent years I also thoroughly enjoyed his production of Janacek’s ‘From the House of the Dead’ in Aix-en-Provence.

Riccardo Chailly

In Slovenia for the Ljubljana Festival. Two wonderful concerts by the excellent Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, led by Riccardo Chailly. Last night a moving performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony and tonight a stirring rendition of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The lengthy standing ovation at the end of both performances were extremely well deserved – two very memorable evenings.

In the French bastide town of Belvès, Dordogne, for a very enjoyable open-air performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ by Antic Disposition.

In Paris for the Rimsky-Korsakov opera-ballet ‘Le Coq d’Or’. A very colourful and enjoyable production at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, reconstructing the original 1914 Ballets Russes production with costume and set designs by Natalia Gontcharova. A really enjoyable evening.

At the wonderful Marc Chagall exhibition – ‘Entre guerre et paix’ at the Musée du Luxembourg. Beautiful and mysterious scenes from his life in Russia, France and the USA.

Marc Chagall ‘Au-dessus de Vitebsk’ (1915 – 1920)

Marc Chagall ‘Songe d’une Nuit d’Ete’ (1939)

Marc Chagall ‘The Dance’ (1950 – 52)

In Austria for the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. Three wonderful performances by the orchestra, choir and ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg under Valery Gergiev.

Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ was first performed at the Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris on 29 May 1913. To commemorate the 100th anniversary the first performance was recreated featuring the original Vaslav Nijinsky choreography and copies of the original costumes and stage sets by Nicholas Roerich.

‘Les Noces’, Stravinsky’s choral ballet, first performed in 1923, featured the choreography of Bronislava Nijinska, with stage sets by Natalia Gontcharova. ‘The Firebird’ featured the choreography of the 1910 premiere by Michel Fokin, with sets and costumes designed by Fokin, Golovin and Leon Bakst.

The standard of performance by both orchestra and dancers was exceptional.  Beautifully sunny Salzburg weather also helped to make it a wonderful weekend.

Salzburg

Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg

‘The Rite of Spring’

Sir Colin Davis, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, has sadly passed away at the age of 85. He was internationally renowned for his interpretations of Berlioz, Sibelius, Britten and Mozart. I particularly treasure the Berlioz recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra, especially his 1969 recording in Westminster Cathedral of the Requiem. Fittingly, the Requiem from the 2012 City of London Festival, recorded with the LSO in St Paul’s Cathedral, was his last Berlioz recording.

A restful Easter break in Selce and Krk on the Adriatic coast in Croatia, staying at the excellent Hotel Amabilis. Rain nearly every day meant that the rest was enforced – but the sauna and excellent food also helped.

Hotel Amabilis, Selce

Krk Island, Croatia

A beautiful spring weekend in Piran on the Istrian peninsula. Excellent fresh fish for lunch, sitting two metres from the lapping waves.

Piran, Slovenia

Sadly one of the world’s greatest musicians has died. Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar has passed away, aged 92. His recording career lasted from the 1940s to 2012, during which time he probably did more than anyone to popularize Indian music in the west. He introduced George Harrison of The Beatles to the sitar and famously appeared at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, as well the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

I was lucky enough enough to see Ravi Shankar in concert twice, most memorably at the Concert for Peace at the Royal Albert Hall, London in 1974.