When the most voluptuous, sought-after courtesan in the world meets an ascetic monk whose life is devoted to God, you know erotic sparks are going to fly. And when the clash takes place in a glorious, but rarely performed, opera by Massenet, it’s a delight to the ear just as much as to the eye. Renée Fleming is every inch the glamorous Thaïs, swathed in elegant gowns designed by Christian Lacroix. Thomas Hampson is Athanaël, the tortured man of God. This production by John Cox, which premiered in December 2008, brilliantly sets the stage for a confrontation as old as civilization itself.

Deep in a forest where druids and warriors seek revenge against the conquering Romans, Norma is scor...

After the acclaimed Met premiere of Thomas Adès's "The Tempest" in 2012, the composer returned with ...

Sir David McVicar’s bold new staging of Tosca, Puccini’s operatic thriller of Napoleonic Rome, thril...

A rarely performed bel canto gem, Rossini’s Semiramide returned to the Met for the first time in nea...

Premiered immediately before the enduring masterpieces Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, and La Traviata, Lui...

The grand scale and magnificent acoustics of the Roman arena in Verona are ideally suited to the pag...

A version of Benjamin Britten's opera based on the Melville story. Will the virtuous young sailor Bi...

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make...

This is a good video of "Figaro", but there are a couple of better ones available. The Bohm and the ...

All the throbbing eroticism—and ultimate heartbreak—of Puccini’s youthful score is unleashed by Jame...

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the...

Who loves whom in Così fan tutte, Mozart’s and Da Ponte’s cruelly comic reflection on desire, fideli...

1989 recording of the San Francisco Opera production of Mefistofele: Boito's retelling of Goethe's F...

Part of an epoch-making release of Mozart's complete operas on DVD, here is the 18-year old composer...

Maria Callas, the world's greatest opera singer, lives the last days of her life in 1970s Paris, as ...

La traviata (Italian: [la traˈviaːta], "The Fallen Woman"[1][2]) is an opera in three acts by Giusep...

Stage director Emilio Sagi's production of the legendary Barber of Seville is enriched by a bright d...

With his affinity for the 16th-century sculptor Benvenuto Cellini's advocacy of artistic and persona...

La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo (Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant) is an operatic dramma...

An excellent performance of this delightful opera. The principals are superb, especially the sisters...