Verdi: Falstaff - Teatro Real

Tosca

July 2011 •Italian

The star singers in this revival of the 2006 production were Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel; the Royal Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House were under the baton of Antonio Pappano, the Music Director of the Royal Opera House. The pageantry of church ritual, the darkness of a brooding study with its hidden torture chamber and the false optimism of the light of a Roman dawn - all throw into relief the love of the beautiful diva Tosca, the idealism of her lover Cavaradossi and the deadly, destructive obsession of the malevolent Chief of Police, Scarpia. Drama, passion and fabulous music.

La Didone

October 2011 •Italian

Live performance by Les Arts Florissants at the Théâtre de Caen, recorded on 18 Octorber 2011. "One of the earliest operas deserving of the name, Didone is our first surviving musical version of the famous episode in Virgil's Aeneid where the Trojan Hero loves and then cruelly leaves the noble Dido." — from the DVD back cover

The Abduction from the Seraglio

January 2006 •English

Without question, this is an incredibly bizarre production. The revised storyline makes little sense, and there is a surprising amount of violence and sexual innuendo. However, the singers are superb, both vocally and in regard to their stage presence and acting, the orchestra plays beautifully, the chorus is wonderful, and the set is as clever as it is strange. It's definitely not for purists, or for someone new to this particular opera. But for someone who's seen Die Entfuhrung before, and is familiar enough with the original story to not miss it, watching Belmonte, Constanze, Blonde, Pedrillo, and Osmin embark on an entirely new adventure -- and push the boundaries of good taste -- is rather enjoyable.

Jessye Norman Sings Carmen

June 1990 •English

Jessye Norman Sings Carmen is a gripping vérité study of the famous dramatic soprano’s approach to mastering Bizet’s heroine in recording sessions with Seiji Ozawa and the Orchestre National de France. Musical segments include performances of three arias and the great duets between Carmen and Don José

Grétry: Richard Coeur de Lion

January 2019 •French

Marcos Morau : La Belle au bois dormant

November 2022 •French

Halka

December 1937 •Polish

Peter Grimes

January 1994 •English

Benjamin Britten's opera as performed by the English National Opera, with Philip Langridge in the title role.

The Merry Wives of Windsor

December 1982 •English

When Sir John Falstaff decides that he wants to have a little fun he writes two letters to a pair of Window wives: Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. When they put their heads together and compare missives, they plan a practical joke or two to teach the knight a lesson. But Mistress Ford's husband is a very jealous man and is pumping Falstaff for information of the affair. Meanwhile the Pages' daughter Anne is beseiged by suitors.

Kaija Saariaho: Innocence

July 2021 •English

The world premiere of composer Kaija Saariaho's opera, "Innocence", at the 2021 Aix-en-Provence Festival. Finland is the setting but the protagonists come from the four corners of Europe: a Finnish groom and his Romanian bride, a French mother-in-law and a Czech maid. Around them memories unravel in a contemporary tragedy of guilt and lost innocence.

The Five Moons of Lorca

December 2020 •Spanish

A short opera about the assassination of poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca at the hands of Nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

La Traviata

April 2002 •English

Violetta, a courtesan much wooed by Parisian society, organizes a grand party that is attended, amongst others, by the young Alfredo Germont. He confesses his feelings to Violetta, who is already suffering from consumption. She vacillates between genuine affection and a realistic assessment of her situation as a "fallen woman", which precludes any lasting relationship with a man. The Franco Zeffirelli production of LA TRAVIATA, recorded live at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, Februari 2002.

Verdi: Don Carlos

March 2022 •English

For the first time in company history, the Met presents the original five-act French version of Verdi’s epic opera of doomed love among royalty, set against the backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition. Patrick Furrer leads a world-beating cast of opera’s leading lights in this March 26 performance, including tenor Matthew Polenzani in the title role, soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Élisabeth de Valois, and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as Eboli. Bass Günther Groissböck and bass-baritone John Relyea are Philippe II and the Grand Inquisitor, and baritone Étienne Dupuis rounds out the all-star principal cast as Rodrigue. Verdi’s masterpiece receives a monumental new staging by David McVicar that marks his 11th Met production, placing him among the most prolific and popular directors in recent Met memory. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.

Il Mefistofele

January 1989 •English

Arrigo Boito's Il Mefestefele was first performed in 1868 and his most known work. In Ken Russell's modern interpretation presented by the Genoese Opera, it has Faust as an ageing hippy. He smokes marijuana and is tormented by his lost youth. Mephisto makes a bet with God that he can turn anyone to pagan life, even someone as innocent as Faust. From then on it is a battle of good against evil in a flamboyant, surreal display of primary colours, PVC costumes, nurses with swastikas, rocket trips, love and even characters dressed as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Ken Russell said because the devil is always with us is his reason for the contemporary setting.

Madama Butterfly

April 2004 •English

Japan, early twentieth century. U.S. Navy Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton inspects the house he has leased from a marriage broker. The broker, Goro, has procured him three servants and a geisha wife, Cio-Cio-San, known as Madama Butterfly. He is enchanted with the fragile Cio-Cio-San. Cio-Cio-San is heard in the distance joyously singing of her wedding. In a quiet moment, Cio-Cio-San shows her bridegroom her few earthly treasures and tells him of her intention to embrace his Christian faith. The Imperial Commissioner performs the wedding ceremony, and the guests toast the couple. The celebration is interrupted by Cio-Cio-San's uncle, a Buddhist priest, who bursts in, cursing the girl for having renounced her ancestors' religion. Alone with Cio-Cio-San in the moonlit garden, her husband dries her tears, and she joins him in singing of their love.

Il Trovatore

July 2021 •English

As Aragon descends into unrest, a count jealously fights for a noble lady's heart. But she has already given it to a passionate troubadour whose mother holds a terrible secret.

Libuše

December 1956 •Czech

Lohengrin

January 2006 •English

At the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the stage director Nikolaus Lehnhoff signs a remarkable production of Wagner's LOHENGRIN, the third of the German composer's main operas. This production stars an incredible cast, including Hans-Peter König, Klaus Florian Vogt, Solveig Kringelborn, Tom Fox and Waltraud Meier, accompanied by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Kent Nagano's baton.

Opera Fanatic: Stefan & the Divas

January 2000 •Italian

Stefan Zucker, the world's highest tenor, visits the opera divas of his childhood. The journey from apartment to apartment, from diva to diva, from Rome to Milan, turns into an opera road movie.

Gallup (Na'nízhoozhí)

March 2021 •English

Two mystical beings emerge from the scenery, embarking on a journey through Gallup— Na'nízhoozhí in the Navajo language— before melting back into the desert at nightfall.