Peter Konwitschny’s celebrated and innovative staging of Wagner’s Lohengrin was recorded at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in 2006, where it was revived as an unconventional and spectacular view on the piece. Originally staged in Hamburg in…

This exciting open-air staging of Aida was one of the classical highlights in summer 2004. The vast production of the Verdi masterpiece at St. Margarethen took place amidst the intoxicating scenery of a rustically romantic Roman quarry, which…

Bizet’s passionate tale of the self-willed gypsy woman Carmen is certainly one of the most popular works in the history of opera. It shows how a cigar factory worker in Seville enchants and bewitches the men around her. Melodies like Carmen’s…

Wagner’s Meistersinger is a festive opera in its own right, but at the unforgettable performances of the work at the Vienna State Opera in January 2008 the festive spirit literally leapt out into the audience as well. Vienna’s dailies exploded with…

L´occasione fa il ladro is one of the five one-act operas - farsa giocosa - in which the teenage Rossini first demonstrated his operatic genius. This farce about arranged marriages, role reversals and other amorous confusions is, in musical terms, by…

Not since the so-called “100-Year Ring” (Bayreuth, 1976-1980) has a performance of Richard Wagner’s monumental cycle created such a sensation as the Stuttgart productions. “Four operas – four stage directors” was the artistic idea behind the 1999…

This recording of Götterdämmerung forms the fourth and final part of Wagner's masterpiece, his epic Ring Cycle. The Stuttgart Opera gave it revolutionary treatment in a staging by Peter Konwitschny, a celebrated interpreter of Wagner, whose opera…

This performance of Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser was recorded at the Bayreuth Festival in 1989. The production, conducted by the late Giuseppe Sinopoli (1946-2001) and directed by Wolfgang Wagner, the composer’s grandson, was one of the highlights of…

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…

Recorded live at the Leipzig Opera in November 2005, this film of Verdi’s famous Un Ballo in Maschera, brings DVD viewers an lively musical evening. Riccardo Chailly, who made a critically acclaimed start in his position as General Music Director of…