Un Ballo in Maschera

Based on Shakespeare's play, Verdi's opera depicts the devastating effects of jealousy, "...the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds upon". Believing Otello has promoted the fast-rising Cassio over himself, Iago plots to destroy both Cassio and Otello. Iago convinces the jealous Otello that his beautiful wife Desdemona is unfaithful, and that Cassio is her lover. Jealousy is followed by tragedy, then retribution, "Has Heaven no more thunderbolts?"

Leonore disguises herself as a man, "Fidelio," to infiltrate a prison and rescue her husband, Florestan, unjustly imprisoned by the tyrant Pizarro. Gaining the trust of the jailer, Rocco, and his daughter, Marzelline—who unknowingly falls for Fidelio—Leonore’s courage is tested when Pizarro orders Florestan’s execution. In a climactic moment, she reveals her identity and saves Florestan just as the king’s minister arrives, restoring justice. The opera celebrates themes of love, sacrifice, and freedom.

All the throbbing eroticism—and ultimate heartbreak—of Puccini’s youthful score is unleashed by James Levine and his top-flight cast. Plácido Domingo is Des Grieux, the handsome, headstrong young aristocrat who falls head over heels for the enticing, impetuous Manon Lescaut (Renata Scotto). Manon returns his love, but her obsession with luxury ruins them both. Gian Carlo Menotti’s opulent production, with sets and costumes by Desmond Heeley, superbly captures the colorful world of 18th century France.

Live performance from the Metropolitan Opera, 31 December 1986.

Berlioz’s epic masterpiece retells the magnificent saga of the aftermath of the Trojan War and the exploits of Aeneas. Rising tenor Bryan Hymel, in his Met debut, stars as the hero charged by the gods with the founding of the city of Rome. Susan Graham is Dido, Queen of Carthage, who becomes Aeneas’s lover, and Deborah Voigt sings Cassandra, the Trojan princess whose warnings about the impending destruction of Troy go unheeded. Francesca Zambello’s atmospheric production, featuring choreography by Doug Varone, is led by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi.

The incomparable Luciano Pavarotti at his most eloquent brings Donizetti’s Nemorino to live as only he can, combining vocal fireworks, personal charisma, and charm. The enchanting production by Nathaniel Merrill, with designs by Robert O’Hearn, is the perfect setting for Nemorino’s quest to win the heart of beautiful Adina, sung by the sparkling Judith Blegen. Brent Ellis as Belcore and Sesto Bruscantini as Dr. Dulcamara round out the all-star cast. Nicola Rescigno conducts.

Leonard Bernstein made these recordings during his wonderfully productive collaboration with the Wiener Philharmoniker in the mid-1970s when he was at the peak of his career. Humphrey Burton's direction is, as always, very fine, giving the viewer/listener both the larger picture and highlighting individual soloists, players or groups of musicians and, of course, the maestro. The video and audio tracks show their age, but are quite acceptable even for today's standards. Bernstein's Seventh is everything one could desire: dark and spooky, highly sensual, but also structurally strong and assertive where needed. Bernstein's reading does not gloss over breakdowns in tonality and the foreshadowing of later musical developments.

The Metropolitan Opera's performance of "Hansel and Gretel" features music by Engelbert Humperdinck and is conducted by Thomas Fulton. The Met's storybook production cheerfully evokes a magic world of woodland sprites and candy dreams and yet brings as well the entire apparatus of Wagnerian music and drama to bear on a German fairy tale. This production is sung in English, and features the Metropolitan Opera, Chorus, and Ballet.

John Dexter’s brilliant production of Britten’s searing opera stars Dwayne Croft in the title role of the handsome young sailor whose kindness and innocence cause his downfall. The great James Morris is Claggart, master-at-arms on the 18th-century warship Indomitable, who falsely accuses Billy of inciting a mutiny. Philip Langridge sings Captain Vere, the honest commander who knows that Billy is innocent but finds himself unable to save him. Steuart Bedford, Britten’s close collaborator during the last years of the composer’s life, is on the podium.

This first-rate 1982 production of Verdi’s Falstaff marked the great 20th century Italian maestro Carlo Maria Giulini's return to opera conducting after more than a decade's absence. Renato Bruson leads a brilliant cast as the lovable fat knight Sir John Falstaff, going toe to toe in a series of hijinks with Katia Ricciarelli (Alice Ford) and Brenda Boozer (Meg Page).

The historic 1984 revival performance of Il viaggio a Reims was the first time in over 150 years the opera was performed. Set in a luxurious hotel in Plombières-les-Bains, the opera follows a diverse group of aristocratic characters as they gather to celebrate the coronation of King Charles X of France. Amidst the festivities, wacky antics ensue, romantic entanglements unfold, and the characters face various comedic and dramatic challenges, showcasing Rossini's masterful blend of music, comedy, and drama.

World-renowned conductor Herbert Von Karajan directs the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in this performance of Bach's Violin Concerto No. 2 for a New Year's Eve concert filmed in Berlin in 1984. Together with noted violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and gifted vocalists Judith Blegen, Helga Muller Molinari, Francisco Araiza and Robert Holl, Karajan and his orchestra present a remarkable performance of Bach's masterwork.

The Metropolitan Opera performance of L'Elisir d'Amore is conducted by Nicola Rescigno and features Luciano Pavarotti in the title role. Donizetti's graceful melodies have long endeared his L'Elisir d'Amore to operatic audiences and performers alike. Judith Blegen, Louise Wohlafka, Luciano Pavarotti, Nicola Rescigno, Sesto Bruscantini.

Opera greats Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland -- one of the most acclaimed tenors and one of the most beloved sopranos of the 20th century -- take the stage at the Met for a gala evening of opera scenes with special guest Leo Nucci. Filmed in 1987, the memorable program includes scenes from the first and third acts of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor," the third act of Verdi's "La Traviata" and the third act of Verdi's "Rigoletto."

Glyndebourne's intimate opera house provides the perfect setting for Rossini's third French opera, a sparkling medieval comedy of lust and chastity.

Ghiaurov, Freni, and Bumbry were great voices in their time, and they are still effective here -- good enough musicians to put over the quite heavy vocal and expressive demands of their roles. Louis Quilico was never quite in that league, and he sounds a bit spread and woofy in places here, but he works hard and effectively to bring Rodrigo to life. Placido Domingo recorded his first Don Carlo, for EMI with Giulini, about 15 years before this production, but he looks and sounds fine here -- in the early 1980's he was doing very good Otellos and Lohengrins too, and Furlanetto, still in his 30's, brings a rich, young voice to an old part and succeeds in making the Grand Inquisitor vocally as well as expressively formidable. Levine brings both weight and energy to the score, and that reading fits well with the overall "traditional" design and production -- the Met's wardrobe budget must have been severely taxed, but everybody looks splendid.

Renowned Italian soprano Renata Tebaldi and Canadian baritone Louis Quilico perform the finale of the second act from "Tosca" in this rare television event, which originally aired in March 1965. Tebaldi also sings Rossini's song cycle "La Regata Veneziana" while Quilico takes over on the finale of Puccini's "Il Tabarro" and Tosti's "L'ultima Canzone." Ernesto Barbini conducts the CBC Festival Orchestra.

James Levine leads a remarkable cast in one of Verdi’s most enduringly popular operas and brings fresh insights to this beloved score. Ileana Cotrubas is poignant and touching as Violetta, the consumptive courtesan who finds true love with Alfredo, sung with style and passion by the great Plácido Domingo. Cornell MacNeil is Germont, Alfredo’s father, who forces the two apart, setting in motion events that lead to a shattering and tragic conclusion. Colin Graham’s production features design by Tanya Moiseiwitsch and choreography by Zachary Solov.

At age 19, a young woman is jilted at the altar. This leads to a declaration that she will swear off men forever. Now 10 years later, she suddenly decides she would like to have a child. She advertises in the newspaper for potential mates, whether by traditional methods or by sperm donors, but gets nothing but losers. However, two neighborhood men vie for her attention - her gynecologist and a professional clown.

Giancarlo Del Monaco’s atmospheric production brings to colorful life a 19th-century mining camp during the California Gold Rush. At the center of the action is the good-hearted bar owner Minnie, sung by Barbara Daniels, who takes a motherly interest in the miners. Plácido Domingo is Dick Johnson, also known as the bandit Ramerrez, who falls in love with Minnie. Sherrill Milnes sings Jack Rance, the sheriff who is not only determined to capture Ramerrez but also wants Minnie for himself. Bloodshed, a crooked poker game, a snowstorm, and a near lynching ensue before Minnie and her bandit-turned-lover can ride off to start a new life. Leonard Slatkin conducts one of Puccini’s most colorful scores.

Dino craft practice tattoos, Bruna is a beautician; their studies are facing each other. They learn of a mysterious treasure hidden in a chair that belonged to a woman now dead.

Racial integration is Elena's profession and passion, not only filling her working day as a cultural mediator assisting immigrants, but spilling over into her home life as well. All too often her husband Carlo must attend charity events where he feels distinctly out of place. During one of these evenings, Carlo meets Nadine, a beautiful black woman.

When his destituite widowed sister-in-law—whom he had never stopped harbouring feelings for—and her ne'er-do-well son come to live with him after World War II, a mentally-ill farmer who spends all his time destroying unexploded ordnance scattered across the countryside finds a new purpose in his lonely life.

Haydn’s Creation, the culmination of his life’s work, in a legendary 1986 performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein in the exquisite Baroque splendor of the Benedictine Abbey of Ottobeuren, Bavaria, now available on DVD for the first time. This spectacular performance also includes Bernstein’s spoken introduction to the performance —always an invaluable addition to any concert. This work, considered by many to be Haydn’s masterpiece, depicts the creation of the world as inspired by the texts of Genesis, the Book of Psalms and Milton’s Paradise Lost. Though deeply religious in conception, the oratorio gives a physical sense of the immensity of nature and the world’s creation. “The Creation gives us time to remember—and rejoice in— the purity and grace and fortitude of Nature, to restore our souls, to recover our moral strength, and to rediscover our power to praise”—Leonard Bernstein

Bologna, 1954. Taddeo, a young man of 18 whom everyone calls Kid, dreams of becoming one of the regulars of the mythical Margherita Café, located under the portico across from his family's home. Through a ploy, he manages to get work as the chauffeur for Al, the neighborhood's most glamorous and mysterious resident. Having been taken under Al's wing, Taddeo gets to witness the adventures of Bep, who is in love with Marcella the entraineuse; the trials and tribulations of Gian, an aspiring singer and the victim of a horrible practical joke; the crazy behavior of Manuelo, a small-time robber with a sex phobia; the meanness of Zanchi, inventor of the elastic necktie; and the bizarre manias of Sarti, a ballroom dancing champion who wears his tux day and night. And Taddeo's home life is no less out of the ordinary, considering his mother is being led on by the family physician while his grandfather has fallen head over heels for a well-built piano teacher.

Through five stories, the film talks about the problems related to social networks and its use especially by young people.

The opera's dramatic structure frames and enhances the characters. Scenes of magnificence regularly alternate with scenes of darkness and squalor. From sumptuous interiors, we move to a dark street, a lonely inn. The secondary figures are astutely counterpoised: the plotting courtiers against the plotting Sparafucile and Maddalena (also ambiguously tender-hearted). When Rigoletto says "Pari siamo", he could be expressing the motto of the whole work: the beautiful and the ugly can be equally good, equally evil.

In this stunning performance from 1982, Strauss’s enchanting fairy tale for adults is blessed with a cast, conductor, and production that have made it legendary—complete with superstar Luciano Pavarotti in the cameo role of the Italian Singer. Gorgeous Kiri Te Kanawa is the Marschallin, the gracious noblewoman who understands that her affair with a younger man cannot last. Tatiana Troyanos is every bit the passionate seventeen year old Octavian who swears he will never love another woman—until he meets the bewitching Sophie (Judith Blegen) when he presents her with a silver rose on behalf of the loutish Baron Ochs (Kurt Moll). James Levine’s inspired leading of the Met orchestra and the enthralling production by Nathaniel Merrill and Robert O’Hearn combine to bring Old Vienna, with its timeless elegance, to life once again.