Louis Riel(1969)

The Flood(en)

When Jarah loses her husband, her child, her land and her innocence she embarks on a brutal journey of of retribution and revenge that transforms into redemption and reconciliation.

The New World(en)

A drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.

Rabbit-Proof Fence(en)

In 1931, three Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a trek across the Outback.

Aida(de)

La Fanciulla del West(en)

A celebrated new production of Puccini’s La fanciulla del West from the Vienna State opera featuring Jonas Kaufmann and Nina Stemme. Staged by Marco Arturo Marelli, who sets it in a modern-day mining village, with the feel of a gritty modern drama, during the American gold rush of 1849. An unlikely setting for an Italian opera, but one that has a happy ending. It tells the tale of Minnie, the bartender in the saloon whom all the local men adore, and Dick Johnson alias Ramerrez, a notorious bandit. Dick and Minnie fall in love on first meeting, so much so that he vows to change his life as a bandit, sung by two contemporary great singers: Nina Stemme and Jonas Kaufmann. A new production from Marco Arturo Marelli brought one of Puccini’s rarely performed works to the Vienna State Opera stage in September 2013. Jonas Kaufmann in his role debut as the wanted and notorious bandit Ramerrez proves ideally cast, full of power, with his breathtakingly beautiful baritone timbre.

Parsifal(en)

A mythical performance from la Monnaie - Bruxelles. Parsifal is a strange and enigmatic work. At the end of his life, did Wagner wish to celebrate asceticism, which he himself had never practised? Did he fall upon his knees before the Cross, as claimed by Nietzsche? And what does the secret society of knights based on pure blood signify, desperately waiting for the saviour to regenerate it? What is the true nature of the opposition between the worlds of Klingsor and the Grail? What can Parsifal tell us today? In his artistic will and testament, Wagner condenses his moral idea of the world and returns to the roots of love and religion - to the very heart of art according to him. With the participation of conductor Hartmut Haenchen who is passionated by the score, Italian stage director Romeo Castellucci proposes an original reading of this brilliant work and explores the essence of Wagnerian ‘Kunstreligion’ in a different light.

Tannhauser(en)

Wagner's tale of the struggle between spiritual and profane love, and of redemption through love, is given a radical visual update in Sebastian Baumgarten's controversial yet thought-provoking Bayreuth production. Joep van Lieshout's giant installation 'The Technocrat'; dominates the stage, its industrial interior giving credence to the idea that Tannhäuser is one big experiment and playing host to some magnificent performances, among them Torsten Kerl's robust interpretation of the title role and Camilla Nylund's wonderfully empathetic Elisabeth. Recorded live at the Bayreuth Festspiele, August 2014.

Written On Skin(en)

When Written on Skin had its premiere at the 2012 Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, conducted by George Benjamin himself, it received a standing ovation. The opera's arrival at Covent Garden in 2013 was eagerly anticipated, and provided audiences with the opportunity to experience the work of two of Britain's greatest living artists. Benjamin previously collaborated with playwright Martin Crimp on Into the Little Hill, a magical retelling of the Pied Piper fairytale, and for this new work they joined forces with acclaimed stage director Katie Mitchell. For all three, the production marked their main-stage debut at the Royal Opera House. The tale, inspired by a medieval legend, tells of an ill-fated troubadour, drawn into a liaison with an innocent maiden. But they are observed by the jealous eye of her protector, who wreaks a shocking revenge on the young couple. Written on Skin draws on a 12th-century Occitan legend about the troubadour Guillaume de Cabestanh.

Eugene Onegin(en)

The Wiener Philharmoniker mounts, and Andrea Breth stages, this 2007 production of Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin, starring Peter Mattei, Joseph Kaiser, Anna Samuil and Renée Morloc. The Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor lends added musical accompaniment, under the baton of Daniel Barenboim.

Tchaikovsky: The Queen of Spades - Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona(ru)

Obsessive in gambling and in love, the soldier Hermann is the protagonist of Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame, based on a story by Pushkin. He is smitten with the aristocratic Lisa and fixated on learning the winning secret of ‘the three cards’ from her grandmother, the Countess, played by iconic contralto Ewa Podles. This opulent production from Barcelona’s Liceu captures St Petersburg in the era of Catherine the Great, while the house’s Music Director Michael Boder conducts a large and impressive cast. Recorded at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, 30th June & 1st July 2010.

Les Troyens(fr)

Alexandre Tarta's production of Berlioz's opera, recorded live at the Salzburg Festival in 2000. Sylvain Cambreling conducts, with performances by Jon Villars, Russell Braun and Tigran Martirossian.

L'Upupa & Der Triumph der Sohnesliebe(en)

This production of Hans Werner Henze's opera Upupa & Der Triumph der Sohnesliebe features Laura Aiken, John Mark Ainsley, and Alfred Muff in lead roles. Markus Stenz conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker. Live at the Salzburg Festival 2003.

Glass: Kepler(en)

Live performance of Philip Glass's opera Kepler (2009) by the Landestheater Linz Upper Austrian State Theater in 2011, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.

Lohengrin(en)

This performance of the Richard Wagner opera Logengrin was filmed in high definition for the Bayreuth Festival in 2011, and features vocalists like Georg Zeppenfeld, Klaus Florian Vogt, and Anette Dasch in the leading roles.

Die Frau ohne Schatten(de)

This performance of the Richard Strauss opera Frau ohne Schatten, recorded live and in high definition, features vocalists like Stephen Gould, Anne Schwanewilms, Michaela Schuster, and Wolfgang Koch in the leading roles.

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde(en)

Wagner's erotic opera in a production by the German Opera of Berlin under the direction of Gotz Friedrich, with music conducted by Jiri Kout. Recorded at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Tristan und Isolde(en)

The Bayreuth Festival Opera House mounted this production of Richard Wagner's 1865 opera Tristan und Isolde as part of the Bayreuther Festspiele. Staged by Heiner Müller, it stars Siegfried Jerusalem, Waltraud Meier, Poul Elming and Uta Priew, and features musical accompaniment by The Orchestra and Chorus of the Bayreuther Festspiele.

La Clemenza di Tito(en)

The 1791 La Clemenza di Tito (or 'The Clemency of Titus') marked Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's final opera seria. With a libretto by Metastasio (edited slightly by Caterino Mazzolà), the work dramatizes the palace intrigues surrounding emperor Titus's attempts to coronate a new bride and the envious Vitellia's attempts to have Titus assassinated (with the help of Titus's friend Sextus) following the deposition of Vitellia's emperor father. Stage director Martin Kušej mounted Tito in August 2003, at the Felsenreitschule in Salzburg; a film of that live performance now appears in this home video release. The cast includes Michael Schade as Titus, Vesselina Kasarova as Sextus and Dorothea Roschmann as Vitellia. The Wiener Staatsopernchor, under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, provides musical accompaniment; Jens Kilian designed the sets.

Iphigénie en Tauride(en)

The eighteenth century German composer Christoph Willibald Gluck strove for the ideal of pairing poetry - in its purest form - with operatic score, an end he came closest to achieving with his 1779 opera Iphigeneia in Tauris (Iphigénie en Tauride). The story recounts the nearly fatal brother-sister relationship, its ultimate reconciliation, and the eventual Scythian-Greek truce as achieved by the intervening hand of the goddess Diana. The home video release Iphigenie en Tauride contains a film of a live performance of the work, as mounted by the Opernhaus Zurich in 2001. Claus Guth directs for the stage, with a cast that includes Juliette Galstian as Iphigenia, Rodney Gilfry as Orestes and Martina Janková as Diana. The Zurich Opera's Orchestra La Scintilla and the Chorus of the Opernhaus Zurich provide musical accompaniment.

Parsifal live at the Salzburg Easter Festival(en)

Christian Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden in this performance of Wagner's opera recorded live in 2013. The performance was held for the Salzburg Easter Festival and featured vocalists including Johan Botha, Michaela Schuster, Stephen Milling and Wolfgang Koch.