First staged at the Weimar Court Theatre under the baton of Richard Strauss in 1893, who hailed it as “a masterpiece of the highest quality”, Humperdinck's debut opera Hänsel und Gretel has remained a solid favourite since its 1893 première…

Rossini was 24 years old when he wrote his seventeenth opera and most renowned "buffa", The Barber of Seville, in barely three weeks. This recording is from the 1988 Schwetzinger Festspiele. The production by Michael Hampe is distinguished by a…

Iolanta and Perséphone - A double bill consisting of two stage works that “represent an ideal of beauty, poetry and hope” forms this production in Madrid from the Teatro Real. In both works the progression from darkness to light acts as an initiation…

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra & State Opera Choir The French Baroque opera Hippolyte et Aricie carries its audience away into a world of wonder with magnificent dance and choir scenes and an astonishing variety of musical…

Three prestigious Kirov Opera recordings with Valery Gergiev, produced 1996 and 1998 by EuroArts Music, are re-released in a new compelling edition: Peter Tchaikovsky: Mazeppa, Alexander Borodin: Prince Igor and Sergei Prokofiev: Betrothal in a…

A fascinating production of La Traviata formed this year’s opera highlight at one of Europe’s most important open-air festivals: the Opera Festival St. Margarethen. The dazzling production, set in a rustically romantic Roman quarry, already boasts…

The collaboration between American filmmaker Sofia Coppola and Italian haute couture king Valentino Garavani comes in the form of one of the most spectacular and successful revivals of “La Traviata”. Sofia Coppola's staging brings new life into Verdi…

The poet E. T. A. Hoffmann as the protagonist of his own fantastic tales: In his encounter with three women - Olympia, Antonia, and Giulietta - he searches in vain for love and for himself. Will he draw the strength for art from his failure in life…

This film is based on Jan Schmidt-Garre's acclaimed stage production of Beethoven's "Fidelio". The producers carefully filmed and edited several performances. By using additional footage of Jacquelyn Wagner as Leonore the stage production is…

In his position as the king’s composer, Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) created the opera Persée for Louis XIV. The opera was considered the crowning achievement of 17th century French music theatre and was widely recognized as Lully’s greatest work…