Jessye Norman is a regal Ariadne, the mythological Greek heroine in this opera-within-an-opera, opposite the passionate Bacchus of the great James King. Kathleen Battle delivers the coloratura fireworks of Zerbinetta, the leader of a commedia dell’arte troupe that finds itself stranded on Ariadne’s island. Tatiana Troyanos and Franz Ferdinand Nentwig star as the young Composer and the Music Master in the opera’s prologue. James Levine brings out all the color and charm of Strauss’s brilliant chamber-sized score with its equal amounts of pathos and humor. Bodo Igesz’s production features sets by esteemed designer Oliver Messel.

This telecast offers a rare opportunity to see the legendary Joan Sutherland in the role that first ...

Recorded at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1995, this acclaimed presentation of composer Gioachi...

"La Bohème" is one of Giacomo Puccini's most popular and timeless works and the second-most performe...

The stupendous climax to Wagner’s four-part Ring cycle is brilliantly realized by the Otto Schenk/Gü...

Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep...

Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), WWV 86B, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner with a German libre...

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

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

Richard Strauss's opera, from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

This is a joy from beginning to end. Although there are many tricks and ideas from Laurent Pelly, as...

Jean-Marie Villegier's modern interpretation of Handel's "Rodelinda" – filmed live at the world-reno...

The complete version of Verdi's Otello performed by Placido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa, at the Royal...

David McVicar's exhilarating new production, with Anne Sofie von Otter in the title role, restores t...
The writer Dario Fo applies his inventive genius to Rossini's comic opera in its premiere DVD releas...

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...