Parsifal - Salzburger Osterfestspiele

James Levine leads a stirring performance of Wagner’s epic comedy, seen in Otto Schenk’s classic production. Baritone Michael Volle stars as Hans Sachs, the cobbler-poet at the heart of this story of love, art, and youth vs. age. Leading Wagnerian tenor Johan Botha is Walther von Stolzing, the young knight whose new ideas upset the traditional ways of the mastersingers, and Annette Dasch sings Eva, the girl he loves, whose hand has been promised to the winner of a singing contest. Johannes Martin Kränzle as the pedantic town clerk Beckmesser, Hans-Peter König as Pogner, Eva’s father, and Paul Appleby as David, Sachs’s apprentice complete the stellar cast.

Wagner’s sixth opera, “Lohengrin,” tells the medieval legend of the Knight of the Swan: the knight Lohengrin is sent to protect Duchess Elsa of Brabant, who has been unjustly accused of murder. Johannes Erath directs the production, and Joana Mallwitz conducts the orchestra. Piotr Beczała plays the title role. Rachel Willis-Sørensen plays Elsa of Brabant.

Aida (2009) Metropolitan Opera. Verdi / Italian. Live from the Met 2009.

Requiring 38 soloists, chorus, and large orchestra, Hans Pfitzner's "Palestrina" is a challenging opera to stage. In Munich, the city in which it was premiered in 1917, director Christian Stückle, conductor Simone Young, and the Bavarian State Opera met those challenges with stunning success.

Wagner’s mystic masterpiece Parsifal at the Staatsoper Berlin, staged by Dmitri Tcherniakov and conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Wagner’s last opera, Parsifal is a medieval epic story marked by Christian, Buddhist and esoteric references. It is about redemption and renewal, but this new production by Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov adds a jarring note : revenge. This “Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage” is similar to a Medieval epic, a blend of metaphysical dreams and esoteric battles with constant spiritual references. This new production is directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov, conducted by Daniel Barenboim and sung by an international cast of excellent singers: Andreas Schager, Anja Kampe, Wolfgang Koch, René Pape, Tomas Tómasson and Matthias Hölle.

This is the Ring cycle of the Dutch National Opera, directed by Pierre Audi. In the depths of the Rhine, the three Rhinemaidens guard the Rhinegold, a treasure of immeasurable value. The Nibelung dwarf Alberich is dazzled by the sight of it. The girls explain that whoever wins the gold and forges it into a ring will gain power over the world, but must first renounce love. Frustrated by his unsuccessful attempts to catch one of the girls, Alberich curses love and steals the gold. Wotan, lord of the gods, is reproached by his wife Fricka: he has promised to give Freia, goddess of youth, to the giants Fasolt and Fafner in return for their building a fortress for the gods. When the giants demand their reward, Loge, the god of fire, suggests an alternative payment: the ring Alberich has forged from the Rhinegold, and his other treasures. The giants agree, and Wotan and Loge leave for the Nibelungs’ underground home.

Met Music Director James Levine leads this Live in HD presentation of Wagner’s early Romantic opera, starring Johan Botha in the title role of the minnesinger torn between earthly passion and true love. Eva-Maria Westbroek is Elisabeth, whose unswerving devotion redeems Tannhäuser’s soul, and Peter Mattei sings Wolfram, his faithful friend. Michelle DeYoung as the love goddess Venus and Günther Groissböck as Landgraf Hermann complete the cast. Otto Schenk’s classic production was the first of his acclaimed Wagner stagings at the Met.

Wagner’s Meistersinger is a festive opera in its own right, but at the unforgettable performances of the work at the Vienna State Opera in January 2008 the festive spirit literally leapt out into the audience as well. Vienna’s dailies exploded with praise: “a feast of singers” (Der Standard), “grandiose” (Die Presse) and “close on six hours of pure enjoyment” (Der Kurier). The plaudits applied to all the singers from Hans Sachs to the nightwatchman as well as to the chorus and orchestra.

Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungen is regarded as one of the most important milestones in the history of music. In the first part, the Rheingold, it begins with the chain of fateful entanglements that ultimately attracts the downfall of the race of the gods.

Rediscover one of the world’s most famous operas with Dmitri Tcherniakov’s modern staging at the Staatsoper Berlin. Performed repeatedly at the opera, the story of Tristan and Isolde is known far and wide—a love potion, a challenge to the king, a tragic destiny—its themes have become staples of the musical repertoire.

David McVicar’s powerful Royal Opera House 2008 production of Strauss's opera – based on a play by Oscar Wilde – takes the controversial and disturbing film 120 Days of Sodom as its visual reference. The action is set in a debauched palace, which has suggestions of Nazi Germany. Strauss’s ravishing and voluptuous score adds to the sexual alchemy that is conjured by an international cast led by Nadja Michael in the title role.

Anew production of Tannhäuser, which was premiered on 26 July 2019 and presented the Bayreuth debut of conductor Valery Gergiev, as well as the house debut of young soprano star Lise Davidsen. Tobias Kratzer’s staging presented Tannhäuser as a wildly contemporary parable of art and freedom which was praised as “novel” and “wrenching” (New York Times) and received exceptional press acclaim. hey were joined by mezzo soprano Elena Zhidkova’s Venus (“scene stealing”, according to Opera Today), baritone Markus Eiche’s Wolfram and Stephen Milling’s Landgraf.

The male circle of the Grail Knights is in crisis. Time and again, knights desert to the counter-realm of the sorcerer Klingsor, who had previously been rejected by the circle of knights. With the help of seductive women, above all Kundry, he succeeds in bringing down the knights. He is even able to tempt the Grail King Amfortas into a misstep. He steals his sacred spear and inflicts an incurable wound. As a result, Amfortas' ritual duty of unveiling the Grail has become an ordeal. Only a pure fool is destined to undo the Grail King's fall from grace and reverse its devastating consequences.

In Verdi’s retelling of Shakespeare’s towering tragedy, Renée Fleming gives a captivating performance as the innocent Desdemona, a role long considered one of her calling cards. Johan Botha as the title hero delivers an imposing portrayal of a proud warrior brought down by jealousy, and Falk Struckmann is thrilling as the villainous Iago. James Morris sings Lodovico. Elijah Moshinsky’s production is conducted by Semyon Bychkov.

The Queen of the Night enlists a handsome prince named Tamino to rescue her beautiful kidnapped daughter, Princess Pamina. Aided by the lovelorn bird hunter Papageno and a magical flute that holds the power to change the hearts of men, young Tamino embarks on a quest for true love, leading to the evil Sarastro's temple where Pamina is held captive.

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.

Weber was at the forefront of the rise of German Romantic opera and sought to dethrone Rossini from his position as the leading operatic composer in Europe. In his breakthrough and most popular opera Der Freischütz (The Marksman) composed in 1821, he succeeded in his aim of establishing a truly German form. Turning to the folklore and folk songs of his native land he took a story of a marksman who makes a pact with the Devil, vesting it with powerful intensity not least in the famous Wolfs Glen scene and an astonishing control of orchestral color and atmosphere.

Elizabeth of Valois is promised in marriage to Don Carlos of Spain, as part of a peace treaty between the two kingdoms. They meet and fall in love – but no sooner have they declared their love than news comes that the terms of the treaty have changed: Elizabeth is to marry Carlos’s father Philip instead. Politics and religion are dangerously entwined in Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlo. Performed on November 30th, 2016, at the Opéra national du Rhin, Strasbourg.

Recording of the 2006 production of Carl Nielsen's Maskarade with The Royal Danish Orchestra and Choir

An Opera in Seven Tableaux composed by Paul Hindemith and performed at the Theater an der Wien in 2012

Wagner's Lohengrin is the mythical tale of the mysterious Knight of the Grail, who appears to defend the princess Elsa - wrongly accused of the murder of her brother. Highlights of Wagner's most lyrical score include the famous Wedding March, which accompanies the marriage of Lohengrin and Elsa. Superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann ("currently the hottest tenor in opera" - The New York Times) makes his role debut in this performance from 2009 and filmed in Munich. He is joined by German soprano Anja Harteros - a former winner of the prestigious Cardiff Singer Of The World competition.

Daphne is based on the Greek myth of the nymph and her transformation into a laurel tree to escape the god Apollo.

In the spring of 2024, the Berliner Philharmoniker, under the direction of their chief conductor Kirill Petrenko, presented a staged production of Richard Strauss’s thrilling and dark opera Elektra – the highlight of the Baden-Baden Easter Festival. The title role was sung by the acclaimed soprano Nina Stemme. Philipp Stölzl, who has caused a sensation with his spectacular productions on the lake stage at the Bregenz Festival, was the director and set designer.

Valery Gergiev leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in this production of Puccini's opera, recorded live at the Salzburger Festspiele in 2002. David Pountney's production features performances by Gabriele Schnaut, Paata Burchuladze, Johan Botha and Cristina Gallardo-Domas. This production uses Luciano Berio's 2001 completion of this unfinished opera.

A performance of Strauss' opera performed/streamed in Vienna on the 23rd October 2014

Since its premiere in 1893, Engelbert Humperdinck's fairytale opera »Hansel and Gretel« has awakened a passion for music theatre in generations of children. Even his great contemporaries – such as Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler or Johannes Brahms – were delighted by this work. It is the successful combination of seemingly folkloric simplicity and the complex musical language of Wagner’s direct successor, of simple melody and artful orchestration, and of socio-critical realism and atmospheric magic that makes the music to the Brothers Grimm’s famous story so captivating. And so the Vienna State Opera's production speaks to both children and adults alike, leading through wondrous projections of a magic lantern into the middle of the fairytale storyline.

High school student Fabian König is kicked out of school and starts a gang that specializes in theft. He falls in love with the orphan girl Ulla, but she rejects him when she finds out how he spends his time. When the pimp Horst tries to rape Ulla, she is rescued by Fabian. Shortly afterwards, Horst's body is found and Fabian is convicted of the murder due to the false testimony of a witness. In prison, he comes to trust the prison doctor Dr. Knittel, who believes him and is able to unmask the real culprit.

In this live recording for 2009, Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila - a story of doomed love set against the backdrop of cultural conflict between Hebrews and Philistines - is reinterpreted to relate with the conflicts in today's Middle East. "In our approach to this opera we tried to move away fromthe quasi-biblical interpretation, and to place the story in a contemporary context to explain its political meaning in today's world," say the two directors, Israeli Omri Nitzan and Palestinian Amir Nizar Zuabi. In this production by Vlaamse Opera, the dramatic story of Saint-Saëns' greatest opera is unfolded in all its tragic beauty.