This opera is based on the Greek legend of Ulysses and his return to Ithaca after years at the Trojan wars.

Richard Strauss’s Elektra was the sensation that ushered in modernity by at the same time popularizing it. Heroes on the verge of madness, just what the audience loves! The world comes tumbling down upon us, specifically here: the Straussian…

‘Pray. But to whom.' In his erudite and haunting novel The Convert, Stefan Hertmans captures the inner conflict of his titular heroine with these concise words. The Belgian composer Wim Henderickx and librettist Krystian Lada were inspired by these…

On the island of Ceylon, two pearl fishermen and childhood friends are torn apart by their love for the same woman, the young priestess Leïla. In this opera, which marks his debut, Bizet delivers luminous, tender music with a subtle Oriental flavour…

Director Christof Loy continues his series of opulent operas from the first third of the 20th century at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In “La fiamma”, imposing choruses and colossal tableaux accompany a story about intrigues, power play and an affair…

Prior to the Nazi invasion of 1939, the successful Jewish Czech businessman Emil Freund spent years building a magnificent art collection of impressionist, modernist and abstract paintings. Here we imagine an intimate soirée in his Prague apartment…

Ingmar Bergman’s semi-autobiographical film "Fanny och Alexander" (1982) comes to life on the opera stage, in a creation by composer Mikael Karlsson and librettist Royce Vavrek. Stage director is Ivo van Hove. A grandiose family chronicle demands…

Ludwigburg's Festival Orchestra, conducted by Wolfgang Gönnenwein, performs Mozart's romantic comedy "Cosi fan tutte" with much attention to details. The Russian director Dmitri Bertman presents this opera as a fantastic journey through different…

With "Alcina" Wieler shows how modern Händel can be. The production is fascinating, conclusive and full of eroticism. Helene Schneidermann is absolutly overwhelming as Ruggiero's fiancée and the brilliant soprano Catherine Naglestad is more blissful…

Das Rheingold is the prologue to Wagner's Ring cycle, and opens up the rich world of gods, dwarves, giants, dragons and humans that the story inhabits. With beautiful orchestration and an unerring sense of the dramatic, the first opera explains how…