A magnificent Christmas concert, with music ranging from motets to popular Christmas standards, performed by Leipzig's world famous boys' choir. A fascinating half-hour documentary examines the history of the choir from its foundation in the early…

Sir Peter Hall's outstanding Glyndebourne Festival Opera production of "Fidelio" remains remarkably faithful to the way Beethoven intended the opera to be. He managed to inject fresh excitement and suspense into "Fidelio", providing a perfect…

Rossini's popular work - which was first performed in 1816 at the Teatro Argentina in Rome - contains some of opera's most tuneful and recognizable music - from its lively overture to Figaro's Largo al factotum to Rosina's Una voce poco fa. Based on…

The principal conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle, performs music by J. S. Bach. Together with the marvelous Berlin orchestra, the conductor takes on Bach's splendid St John's Passion. The solo voice parts are sung by the…

Idamante, son of Idomeneo, falls victim to a promise of human sacrifice made in a moment of despair by Idomeneo to Neptune. The attempts of Idomeneo to evade the fulfillment of his vow result in the ravaging of the island of Crete.

Based on Beaumarchais' comedy "Le Mariage de Figaro" , Le Nozze di Figaro is a sequel to his earlier play "Le Barbier de Seville ", adapted by Rossini. The production is sung in the original Italian.

This epic opera, inspired by Shakespeare's tragic masterpiece, was the first recording from Glyndebourne. The designer, Emanuele Luzzati, created a series of stunning visual impressions, including the chilling witches' chorus, the banquet at which…

Monteverdi is generally regarded as the father of European opera. His "Poppea" is a blood and thunder melodrama, set in Nero's Rome and loaded with passion, jealousy, murder and savage ambition.

Based on Hogarth's series of prints, "The Rake's Progress" combines the eighteenth century with the twentieth. The highly individualized set of this production, designed by David Hockney, reflects perfectly the "spikiness" of the music, combined with…

The Czech composer based his libretto on the play "Le Voyage de Thésée" by his friend and trusted source of inspiration, Georges Neveux. Martinu is said to have written the opera for Maria Callas. In this production, the role is sung by the…