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.
In the awe-inspiring Teatro Olimpico,Vicenza, Cecilia Bartoli, recognised as one of the best singers...
A production of Mozart's opera recorded live at Zurich Opera House in 2000. Cecilia Bartoli leads an...
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the...
“La Bohème” follows a group of artists struggling to make a living in 19th-century Paris. The poet R...
This production was originally staged for the Pepsico Summerfare Festival, The International Perform...
A destitute, crippled child and his mother are visited late one night by three traveling strangers w...
Weber was at the forefront of the rise of German Romantic opera and sought to dethrone Rossini from ...
The life and work of stage designer ADOLPHE APPIA, originator of the most profound agitations in con...
As Christof Loy put it: Così fan tutte invites us to embrace the complexity of life and face the fut...
The historic Toscanini television concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. This concert, broadcast ...
Franco Zeffirelli's magnificient staging of Puccini's final opera - a fairy tale set in a mythical C...
Bizet's greatest opera tells the story of the enigmatic and seductive Carmen and the dangerous passi...
Since it's premiere in a tiny suburban theatre in Vienna, Die Zauberflote has delighted audiences yo...
Prince Abesalom runs into an orphaned Eteri while hunting, falls for her and brings the woman to his...
At the beginning of 1964, the music world experiences something completely unexpected. Maria Callas ...
Alone in the woods, a young man is pursued by a horrifying specter and by visions of his deceased si...
This DVD of a live 2005 performance from the Zürich Opera under the musical direction of Franz Welse...
With more than 50 years of experience as film director, Peter Greenaway (Nightwatching, Eisenstein i...
Star soprano Anna Netrebko created a sensation in her first Met performances as the malevolent Lady ...