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- DirectorJean-Pierre PonnelleStarsPhilippe HuttenlocherDietlinde TurbanRachel YakarThis opera tells the fable of Orpheus, a demigod with a talent for music. When his bride Eurydice dies, he decides to seek her soul in the Underworld. However, things will not be so easier than he initially thinks.
- DirectorBrian LargeStarsMontserrat FiguerasFurio ZanasiArianna SavallOpera in five acts. At the Court of Gonzaga, La Musica, with her golden zither, sings the tragic tale of Orpheus, the legendary musician who witnessed twice the death of his beloved bride Euridice.
- DirectorMatteo RicchettiStarsDietrich HenschelMaria Grazia SchiavoSonia PrinaThe Mantua Orfeo is the culmination of a long process that saw the gradual acceptance of pastoral fables, comedies, and tragedies in imitation of classical models, offering special musical elements to delight the listener. The novelty lay not only in the type of drama involved, but also in the manner of song, which favoured the accompanied monody. Solo voice singing, so extolled and theorized within the intense conceptual debates of Giovanni Bardi's Florentine academy, likely derives from a yearning for classicism, and for a recovery of Greek theatre - but is made contemporary through the principle of the comprehensibility of speech, which had many advocates. The "Tale of Orpheus" was written as a musical opera; the libretto by Alessandro Striggio assumes a knowledge of Rinuccini's tale. Whether openly or in more concealed fashion, Monteverdi makes use of topoi or practices in common use during his day: trumpet flourishes as signals, a narrative in dactylic rhythm, and dissonant intervals to emphasize struggle or grief. These are immediately recognizable even to a "common" public. At the same time though, he introduces complete innovations not only in the expository elements of profane song, but also in its other aspects: the exhaustive attention given to the collocation of words, the vibrant quality of the rhythmic pulse, bold dissonances, the harmonies chosen, and the wavelike melodic line.
- DirectorDave HeatherStarsBenjamin LuxonJanet BakerRichard Lewis
- DirectorJohn VernonStarsHugues CuénodOwen BranniganFederico Davià
- DirectorFrançois RoussillonStarsBernard RichterStéphanie d'OustracEmmanuelle de NégriAtys is a 'tragédie en musique' in a prelude and five acts. It was premiered at the royal court in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, January 10, 1676. Although this opera was met with indifference by the Parisian audience, it became known as "the king's opera" because of King Louis XIV's love for it.
- DirectorJonathan HaswellStarsLucy CroweSarah ConnollyAnita Watson
- DirectorYvon GéraultStarsPaul GreenwoodDavid KillickSylvestra Le TouzelMistaken identity, unrequited love, and the supernatural are combined in Shakespeare's classic set in the woods of Greece on a moonlit night.
- DirectorBrian LargeStarsDavid WalkerDeborah YorkDavid Daniels
- DirectorJohn Michael PhillipsStarsJanet BakerValerie MastersonSarah WalkerCleopatra and Ptolemy vie to become monarch of Egypt, while Caesar and Cleopatra fall in love and Ptolemy attempts to kill Caesar. Pompey's widow is wooed and imprisoned by Ptolemy and Achilla, and his son Sexto wants to kill them.
- DirectorHorst BoschStarsBenjamin LuxonMarjana LipovsekAnn Murray
- DirectorOlivier SimonnetStarsAndreas SchollCecilia BartoliAnne Sofie von OtterThis "dynamite new production" (Opera Today) of Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto inaugurated Cecilia Bartoli's first season as Artistic Director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival in 2012. "Bartoli's Dream Start with Dream Voices" wrote the Vienna Kurier of this uproarious Moshe Leiser/Patrice Caurier in which Bartoli heads a hand-picked cast including Andreas Scholl, Philippe Jaroussky and Anne Sofie Von Otter with Il Giardino Armonico conducted by Giovanni Antonini. "[Andreas Scholl's] coloratura is note perfect, he phrases recitatives with as much musicianship as arias, and the steadiness and purity of his voice are remarkable." The Financial Times "Bartoli remains at her peak. Not only is her coloratura flawless, and her voice as colorful and ravishingly beautiful as ever, but her ability to use her incomparable technique at the service of expression has also deepened with age. As a seductress, Bartoli was irresistible. Teasing out her incomparably agile coloratura runs, she softened high notes to tickle the senses with a mixture of sweetness and delight. When, in the second act, she mounted a missile and diagonally ascended into the heavens, it felt as though she were riding the ultimate pink Cadillac off to her honeymoon rendezvous. And in her final aria, "Da tempeste il legno infranto" when she danced around the stage and adorned herself with strings of lights while flashing the trademark Bartoli smile, it was all one could do to resist running onstage and give her a huge hug."
- DirectorMichel DamiStarsArleen AugérDella JonesDonna Brown
- DirectorPeter BrookStarsLaurence OlivierHugh GriffithGeorge RoseWhen the composer of an opera about a swashbuckling, wenching highwayman meets his hero's real-life counterpart, he's disappointed with his lack of dash.
- DirectorJonathan MillerStarsBob HoskinsGraham CrowdenStratford JohnsA historical adaptation of John Gay's 18th Century ballad opera, exuberantly performed for BBC television. With its story of a condemned highwayman, it brings to life the greed, lust and corruption of low-life London.
- DirectorKriss RussmanStarsGwynne HowellJoan RodgersAnn MurrayOn 8th January 1735 at the Covent Garden in London, Georg Friederich Handel presented his new opera Ariodante on a libretto by Antonio Salvi adapted by Paolo Rolli and inspired by Ariosto. The opera did not immediately win public favour and thus failed to furnish a definitive solution for the fate of Handel's company, but with time it was to be understood and appreciated and has remained on playbills among the more successful and interesting titles. Handel's particular attention to the expressive aspect was most probably the reason for the opera's limited commercial success: the characters fit only partially into the customary types of opera of the day. The tendency to formulate autonomous patterns in the expressive genre is also underlined by an illustrious contemporary, John Mainwaring, in his Memoirs of the life of George Frederick Handel. Extraordinary is also the strength of the instrumental composition, which again in Ariodante is intended now as support to the voices now as independent, coinciding with steps in the sinfonia and with delightful dance motives. In this production of the Spoleto Festival, at his 50th anniversary, Alan Curtis conducts the Complesso Barocco and an extraordinarily agile Ann Hallenberg in the title role. Scenes and costumes by John Pascoe. Together with Giulio Cesare and Rodelinda, Ariodante is considered one of Handel's operatic masterpieces. It was composed for London's Covent Garden theatre, where it was first performed on January 8th, 1735. Alan Curtis and his Complesso Barocco rank among the best specialists in baroque music, and regularly record for Virgin, Deutsche Grammophone and now also for Dynamic. Thanks to the interesting and personal touch of the director Alan Pascoe, this production comes across as a very credible show. Pascoe and Curtis, incidentally, already gained remarkable success with Vivaldi's Ercole sul Termodonte, published by Dynamic in 2007
- DirectorAndy SommerStarsLisette OropesaGoran JuricAna Quintans
- DirectorStéphane VéritéStarsRaphaël PichonPygmalionKarina Gauvin
- DirectorVincent BatallionStarsLes Arts FlorissantsWilliam ChristieIngela BohlinAs the first collaboration ever between conductor William Christie and director Luc Bondy, this production of Hercules was the major event of the 2004 opera season. Originally Created in Aix-en-Provence in July 2004, the show then moved on to the Palais Garnier in Paris where it was recorded in December of the same year. The Hercules received the student prize at the Golden Prague 2005.
- DirectorPeter SellarsStarsFrode OlsenDavid DanielsRichard Croft
- DirectorFrançois RoussillonStarsTopi LehtipuuStéphanie d'OustracSandrine PiauInspired by a fable by La Fontaine, Rameau produced perhaps his most brilliant music for his penultimate great work, blending reality and the surreal on several levels. This passionate new production by Jose Montalvo, stunningly choreographed by Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu, sets new standards in entertainment, charm and ingenuity. The sharp and spectacular multimedia staging does full justice to Rameau's dazzling burlesque, confirming Olivier Rouviere's statement that 'Les Paladins is the last laugh of a witty 77-year old composer'. Recorded live in 2004 at the Paris Theatre du Chatelet, both the virtuoso cast and Les Arts Florissants are in top form, clearly enjoying themselves in the masterful hands of William Christie.
- DirectorOndrej HavelkaStarsBejun MehtaEva LiebauRegula Mühlemann
- DirectorThomas GrimmStarsBarbara BonneyAnna Maria PanzarellaJaël AzzarettiThe mythical tale of a young queen, Alphise, determined to abdicate rather than contemplate an enforced marriage to a descendant of Boréas is nothing less than extremely highly charged.
- 2006– Not Rated8.0 (17)TV EpisodeDirectorBarbara Willis SweeteStarsSusan GrahamNatalie DessayPlácido DomingoIphigenie, banished daughter of Klytemnaestra, is now high priestess to Diana. Two strangers from Greece wash up on shore; when Iphigenie recognizes one as her brother, Orestes, she is powerless to stop his execution. Cue the goddess Diana.
- DirectorKirk BrowningStarsIleana CotrubasFrederica von StadeLoretta Di FrancoReturning home from the Trojan Wars during a storm, Idomeneo, the king of Crete, vows to sacrifice to Neptune (the Greek god Poseidon) the first living creature he meets ashore in return for his own safety. The first person he sees turns out to be his own son Idamante, and Idomeneo attempts to escape from fulfilling his vow. Idamante, meanwhile, is loved by orphaned prisoner Ilia and by the jealous Electra. Who will be sacrificed, and who will stay with Idamante?
- DirectorKarlheinz HundorfStarsThomas HoltzmannFrancisco AraizaEdita GruberovaProduction of Mozart's opera about the Spanish nobleman who seeks to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the hands of the Pasha.
- DirectorFrançois RoussillonStarsRobin TicciatiSally MatthewsEdgaras MontvidasKostanze and 2 servants are captive of the Pasha, with Osmin as overseer. Pasha resists taking Kostanze by force. Belmonte nearly retrieves the captives. When Pasha learns Belmonte's father exiled Pasha from his homeland, things look dire.
- DirectorJosh ShawStarsBrian CheneyPhil MayerRobert Norman
- DirectorDave HeatherStarsKnut SkramIleana CotrubasBenjamin Luxon
- DirectorAndy SommerStarsPaulo SzotMalin ByströmPatricia Petibon
- 2006– 3h 36mNot Rated8.3 (33)TV Episode
- DirectorClaus VillerStarsKlaus KirchnerJean-Philippe LafontHoward CrookTARARE is an opera in five acts composed by Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825) to a French libretto by Pierre Beaumarchais. It was performed for first time by the Paris Opera at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin on 8 June 1787.
- DirectorPaul CzinnerStarsWilhelm FurtwänglerOtto EdelmannElisabeth GrümmerWilhelm Furtwaengler conducts the Vienna State Opera Chorus and Philharmonic Orchestra performing Mozart's famous opera.
- DirectorGeorg MielkeStarsGyörgy MelisKlara BarlowJohn Moulson
- DirectorDave HeatherStarsBenjamin LuxonStafford DeanLeo Goeke
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsRuggero RaimondiJohn MacurdyEdda MoserMozart's opera in lush sets: Don Giovanni, the infamous womanizer, kills Donna Anna's father. He is then chased by Donna Anna's fiancé, Don Ottavio, as well as Donna Elvira, one of his former conquests. But the real threat lies elsewhere.
- DirectorPeter SellarsStarsHerbert PerryEugene PerryDominique LabelleThe utterly amazing Mozart opera, set in modern Harlem. Utilized twin brothers to sing Leporello and Giovanni.
- DirectorBrian LargeStarsSamuel RameyCarol VanessJerry Hadley
- DirectorGary HalvorsonStarsBryn TerfelRenée FlemingPaul GrovesDon Giovanni is the man every woman wants, and every man wants to be. But when he commits murder in his pursuit of women and pleasure, and later insults the statue of the man he killed, there is Hell to pay.
- DirectorPeter ManiuraStarsGerald FinleyAnna SamuilKate RoyalMozart's second collaboration with the mercurial librettist Lorenzo da Ponte is among the very blackest of black comedies. Glyndebourne welcomes back the winning team of director Jonathan Kent and designer Paul Brown, while the music is conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. In the title role, the bass-baritone Gerald Finley, joined by Luca Pisaroni, Kate Royal and the young Russian soprano Anna Samuil.