Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny(1979)

Mozart: La clemenza di Tito(it)

How do we live together in an age of conflict? How do you heal a divided and angry people? In their 2017 production of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Peter Sellars and Teodor Currentzis examine these questions through the story of a warrior-emperor who brings peace to his divided land and pardons his own would-be assassins. Written under a time crunch (legend has it that it was written in only 18 days, although it is likely an exaggeration) during the last year of Mozart’s life, the opera is based on a libretto written more than half a century earlier by Pietro Metastasio. It was commissioned for the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia, and received its first public performance at the Estates Theatre in Prague on September 6, 1791.

Veselé paničky windsorské(sk)

The Blu-ray Experience II: Opera, Ballet & theatre(de)

For the First Time(en)

In this musical, a tempermental opera singer falls in love with a hearing-impaired young woman.

Handel: Xerxes (Serse)(en)

Xerxes is one of Handel’s latest and most frequently performed operas, famous for its marvelous opening aria ‘Ombra mai fu’. At the centre of the confusing tragicomedy, very loosely based upon the life of Xerxes I of Persia, is a powerful and lovesick royal eccentric, King Xerxes. Rising opera star Gaëlle Arquez in the title role of Xerxes ‘scintillates with her nimble, luminous mezzo-soprano’, singing ‘irresistibly beautiful, impassioned, furious – but never mean’ (Frankfurter Rundschau). Frankfurt’s excellent Opera and Museum Orchester contributes ‘all sorts of refinements’ to this ‘musical smash hit’ (Deutschlandfunk) and ‘In Frankfurt Tilman Köhler ensures a three-hour short abundant and furious banquett … a great evening of opera’ (Deutschlandfunk).

Beethoven - Fidelio (Zurich 2004)(en)

Nikolaus Harnoncourt is the conductor in this 2004 production of Beethoven's only opera staged at the Zurich Opera House. Finnish soprano Camilla Nyland takes the title role, with performances by Jonas Kaufmann, Laszlo Polgar and Alfred Muff.

Les Boréades(fr)

Director Robert Carsen and his creative team flood the stage with summer blossoms, drifts of autumn leaves, winter snows and thunderous spring storms. The cast of 140 are attired in elegant costumes inspired by late 1940s Dior. This mythical tale of a young queen, Alphise, determined to abdicate rather than contemplate an enforced marriage to a descendant of Boreas, is nothing less than highly-charged.

Les Paladins(fr)

"Inspired by a fable by La Fontaine, [composer Jean-Philippe] Rameau produced perhaps his most brilliant music for his penultimate great work, blending reality and the surreal on several levels." — from the DVD back cover

Ballerina(en)

In 1879 Paris, a young orphan dreams of becoming a ballerina and flees her rural Brittany for Paris, where she passes for someone else and accedes to the position of pupil at the Grand Opera house.

Lumee's Dream(en)

Lumee, one of the two main characters (of the opera p r i s m), sings this aria while smoking outside a nightclub in the second act, providing a window into her selfish fantasies. Not a recorded section of the opera, but a companion piece meant to depict the character's imagined realities.

Gallup (Na'nízhoozhí)(en)

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.

Marcos Morau : La Belle au bois dormant(fr)

La Didone(it)

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 Five Moons of Lorca(es)

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.

When the Fern Blooms(uk)

Part folklore, part opera-ballet, this féerie presents local pagan traditions on the day of the summer solstice and historical events from Cossack times to the more recent 2014 Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity.

Attila(it)

Vienna State Opera Presents Rossini’s Il Barbiere de Sivillia(de)

A colorful and comedic staging of the classic opera buffa by the Vienna State Opera.

Macbeth(it)

Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Macbeth" staged by Dario Argento, directed by Marco Scalfi.

Rusalka v parku(cs)

Pavarotti The Duets(en)

LUCIANO PAVAROTTI was the rare artist who could easily bridge the divide between classical and popular music. Together with an impressive roster of the best-known names in rock, pop and jazz, Pavarotti entertained millions of people around the world with his "Pavarotti & Friends" concerts. This release is the first time that these tracks have been brought together in one album! Rarely has such a glittering array of singing legends from such varied genres been brought together at one time--on both DVD and CD! Featuring Bryan Adams, Andrea Bocelli, Bon Jovi, Bono/The Edge/Brian Eno, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Celine Dion, The Eurythmics, Elton John, Lionel Richie, Frank Sinatra, Sting and Zucchero.