Richard Strauss: Capriccio - Semperoper Dresden

Production from Antwerp. The knight Titurel has built a fortress for two sacred objects he has miraculously obtained: thechalice from the Last Supper in which Christ's blood was later collected, and the spear thatwounded Christ on the cross. The chalice is believed to be the Holy Grail that gives life and has apurifying effect on the human race. The Grail has become the focus for a community of knightswho, strengthened by the holy chalice, are willing to fight for the faith. All the knights have takena vow of chastity. However, the Grail King Amfortas, their leader and Titurel’s son, fails to resistseduction by Kundry, a woman with a double life: she is both a Grail messenger and temptressin the service of Klingsor.

German composer Richard Wagner wrote Parsifal, which is a three-act opera that tells the story of the title character's quest to save the Knights of the Holy Grail by returning the Holy Spear, healing King Amfortas, and carrying out the sacred ceremony of uncovering the Holy Grail.

Aufführung vom 09.02.2020 in derf Staatsoper Berlin. André Heller is staging "Der Rosenkavalier" (his first opera production) at the Berlin State Opera. The story of a young nobleman caught between two women in Maria Theresa's Vienna is full of bold twists and fantastic entanglements. And as if made for an imaginative realization with all the means of modern theater. André Heller can rely on a first-class ensemble... André Heller is a chansonnier, actor, circus founder, vaudeville maker and stager of spectacles in which a variety of genres are combined with exuberant fantasy. In Berlin, Heller follows in the footsteps of Max Reinhardt, who ruled the Berlin stages at the beginning of the 20th century and revolutionized the theater with a multitude of innovations. Reinhardt also staged the world premiere of "Der Rosenkavalier" in 1911. It will be interesting to see how today's multimedia genius deals with the legacy of the great theater genius of yesteryear.

The new Bayreuth production of the Ring Cycle that premiered in 2013 offered spectacular sets, courtesy of Aleksandar Denić. As is regularly the case in Frank Castorf's productions, live video recordings add an extra dimension and in this performance Die Walküre is set at the beginning in the 19th century and then moves ahead to the Stalin era. The geographic setting is Baku, Azerbaijan, so in addition to Wild West capitalism, Castorf also takes aim at Soviet communism. The leading roles are also strongly cast in this third revival of Castorf's production, with Christopher Ventris, Heidi Melton, Catherine Foster and John Lundgren.

Fierrabras of 1823 is the last of Franz Schubert’s stage works. Rarely performed to this day, this heroic-romantic opera has now been staged for the first time ever at the Salzburg Festival by famous director Peter Stein. Based on an old French 12th-century epic, the plot depicts the military conflict between Christians and Moors at the time of Charlemagne – as a backdrop to stories of love and friendship that prove to be stronger than war and hatred of otherness. The strong cast includes the “marvellously expressive miracle Dorothea Röschmann” (Die Zeit) and “Michael Schade, who exudes his exceptional tenor in Fierrabras’s heroic arias” (Der neue Merker). Under the energetic baton of lngo Metzmacher, the Vienna Philharmonic unfold “the melos, the poetry, the sweetness and the dramatic force of Schubert’s highly refined and atmospheric sound worlds” (Kleine Zeitung) in highly romantic fashion.

Robert Schumann’s secular oratorio Das Paradies und die Peri, created and first performed in 1843. The libretto derives from a German translation of a verse epic by the Irish writer Thomas More entitled Lalla Rookh, which in turn makes use of Persian mythology.

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 plot of Die Fledermaus is woven around a ball given by Prince Orlofsky.

Like Handel’s Orlando (1732) and Ariodante (1734), Alcina derives from the narrative material in Ariosto’s Orlando furioso. The story of the sorceress Alcina, an initially hedonistic, manipulative woman who later finds herself a victim of love, fits into the genre of the ‘magical opera’ with numerous magical elements, but Handel achieved considerable emotional authenticity in his characterisations. This makes Alcina one of the most deeply felt and multifaceted operas. ‘You may despise what you like ; but you cannot contradict Handel,’ said the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. As in Tamerlano, Pierre Audi based this production on the stage at the baroque theatre at Drottningholm, for which he originally developed the directing concept. His set is thus based on the principles of perspective, with wings in the form of painted panels. The result is marvellous modern musical theatre in a historizing frame.

The rigid morals of a village community put a young woman under pressure: Jenůfa is pregnant by her lover Števa, but he rejects her and retracts his offer of marriage. Once the child is born, Jenůfa’s stepmother, the village sextoness, is worried about the young woman’s reputation as well as her own future. When Laca, another marriage suitor, offers Jenůfa his hand in marriage, the sextoness thinks that life would be better for all of them without the child …

The inaugural season of Tobias Kratzer and Omer Meir Wellber's partnership at the Hamburg State Opera kicks off. The director and conductor present Schumann's rarely performed oratorio Paradise and the Peri. The Peri's quest for redemption, brilliantly interpreted by Vera-Lotte Boecker, illustrates many of today's issues, such as the need for empathy in a world shaken by crises.

Grand tragic opera in 5 acts by Richard Wagner. Libretto by Richard Wagner after the homonymous novel by Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton.

A religious mystery opera; a magnificent doomsday vision. Composer Rued Langgaard's opera on the moral decay of modern society features the Royal Danish Opera and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Dausgaard. Performers include Sten Byrel, Anne Margrethe Dahl, John Lundgren and Camilla Nylund. A Danish co-production by the Royal Danish Opera and the Danish Broadcasting corporation from 2002.

The former corsair Simon Boccanegra has risen to power in Genoa but carries the burden of personal loss and old rivalries. He is unexpectedly reunited with his long-lost daughter, and their renewed bond becomes entangled with conflicts involving noble families, love and revenge. Simon struggles to preserve peace in the city while protecting those closest to him. Can he overcome betrayal and reconcile the forces tearing his world apart before it is too late?

Set to the backdrop of the Highlanders revolt against the Crown of Scotland, three men are in love with the same woman, Elena, the daughter of the king’s main opponent: Rodrigo, a warrior highlander, Malcolm, a valiant servant of the cause and Uberto, aka King Giacomo V, in disguise. Triumphant both militarily and politically, the king finally extends his pardon to Douglas’ family and offers Elena’s hand to the man she loves, Malcolm…

Live performance filmed at the Innsbrucker Festwochen on 6 October 2006 at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. Marcos Fink, Werner Güra and Alexandrina Pendatchanska perform as the principals, while the Freiburger Barockorchester and the Innsbruck Festival Chorus provide accompaniment. Georg Wübbolt directs.

Semyon Bychkov conducts a cast of young, up-and-coming talent including American soprano Corinne Winters in a new production of Mozart’s opera on the nature of love.

Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven Symphonies 1-9

The high-point of the 2017 Bayreuth Festival, Barrie Kosky’s astonishingly entertaining and convincing new Meistersinger is a triumph: a production of enormous insight and great quality... that plumbs the depths of both the opera and its composer.

Axel Köhler’s production of Der Freischütz at the Dresden State Opera was described by Die Presse as “a minor miracle in Dresden”. In the words of the Salzburger Nachrichten, Köhler “scored a bulleye” with his sombre and satanic interpretation of Weber’s Romantic opera about love, temptation, souls sold to the Devil, obsession andfaith. According to the Financial Times, Christian Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle conjured up a sense of “mortal terror from the orchestra pit. […] Thielemann is in command of every detail. That makes for utterly gripping listening.”

The French conductor Emmanuelle Haïm conducts here her music ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée during this performance of Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera at the Opéra de Lille (France) on March 22nd and 25th 2014. This production, directed by David Lescot, stars a remarkable cast, with Erin Morley and Enea Scala in the roles of the Contino Belfiore and the Marchioness Violante Onesti.

New 2019 version of the Kasper Holten’s 2014 production of Don Giovanni for the Royal Opera offers a glimpse inside the mind of one of opera’s most notorious seducers. With a spectacular revolving set by award winning designer Es Devlin, ingenious video projections by Luke Halls, and an ‘ideal cast on world beating form’ (The Independent), this staging brings Mozart’s dazzling score to life, in all its wit, glamour, and darkness.

In Baden-Baden, Nayo Titzin follows the producers of the opera Don Giovanni, created for the Innsbruck Festival of 2006. He is looking for a musical truth... What if Mozart's masterwork Don Giovanni had been interpreted in a wrong way for more than two centuries? Conductor René Jacobs, famous for his performance of Così fan tutte and laureate of a Grammy Award for his innovative recording of The Marriage of Figaro, comes back with new ideas on the comprehension of one of the greatest operas of all times. In this relevant documentary, Nayo Titzin clarifies and highlights all the brightness of those melodies and recitatives. Rewarded with many praises in the international press, this production shows the dramaturgical perfection of the "opera of the operas," the absolute of the genre, as Wagner once said. Once more, the Bulgarian director offers a fun and subtle report, and makes sure that everyone will understand this myth.

Live performance from the Salzburg Festival, 6 August 2012.

Franz Lehár’s “Die Lustige Witwe” is reputed to be one of the most famous operettas in the world. Under the direction of the French Jerome Savary's the “Merry Widow” sparkles. At the first staging of this production at the Opera-Comique in Paris (Octobre, 2005) the singers appeared to be having as much fun as the audience. The Austrian Maestro Manfred Honeck presents his musical view on this operetta.

Heavenly Voices tells the story of the castrato phenomenon, and how the most gifted amongst these singers rose to international stardom. Max Emanuel Cencic and Philippe Jaroussky, two of today's singing stars, take us back in time and talk about operatic entertainment in the Baroque Age. This is illustrated by paintings and prints from the time as well as major performances of today. In this film, many countertenors are featured in famous roles and in interviews, amongst them Jochen Kowalski, Andreas Scholl, David Daniels, Daniel Behle and Valer Barna-Sabadus.

Mozart under the stars and on the big screen. This is the principle of the operation proposed on 16 July 2011 by the Opéra de Lyon. The representation that was played on his stage was broadcast simultaneously and outdoors in thirteen Rhône-Alpes cities including Ambérieu-en-Bugey, Valence and Grenoble. Thousands of spectators were able to attend a free version of the opera "Cosi fan tutte". It is Adrian Noble who signs the mise-en-scene of this umpteenth production of the famous masterpiece, a joke on the banter that will turn to drama. The American made a bold choice by transposing the plot to a beach in California . The idea came to him during a stay in Santa Monica: the skaters on the sidewalk made him think of the characters Ferrando and Guglielmo who play with their lovers.

Lucia loves Edgardo, the last heir of her family’s enemy clan. They are in danger, but Lucia refuses to betray her love. A ring falls to the floor, the nightmare begins – the nocturnal sky fills with lightning and thunder, madness and blood reign, there is a corpse, then another and yet another. Staatsoper Hamburg's Lucia di Lammermoor turns the city into a stage. Inspired by worldwide women's protests, director Amelie Niermeyer has filmed dancers in the city and invites them into the theatre via video. They rush to the aid of the main character Lucia, who - like the director - asserts herself as a woman in a man's world.

One of the reasons why Donizetti's Don Pasquale is regarded as a cornerstone of the Italian comic opera tradition is because its characters are no mere commedia dell’arte stereotypes, but complex, vulnerable human beings. This is brought to the fore in Mariame Clément's sensitive and perceptive production, which was hailed by the Financial Times as ‘a Glyndebourne classic’. Acclaimed buffo baritone Alessandro Corbelli sings the title role ‘with just the right degree of lugubriousness’, while Danielle de Niese, one of today's most sought-after sopranos, is an ‘engaging’ and ‘irresistible’ Norina (The Telegraph). Bel canto specialist Enrique Mazzola conducts with flair and panache. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true Surround Sound.