Acting
When the loyal Palatine of Hungary sees the reckless Queen neglect her subjects and dishonour his wife, he decides to take matters into his own hands. Seize this rare opportunity to watch the most popular of all Hungarian operas in a unique production by Attila Vidnyánszky. The tragic story of Bánk bán has not left the repertoire in Hungary since it was first performed in 1861.
Among the greatest operas in Richard Strauss's oeuvre, "Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose)" spins the tale of the Marschallin (Elizabeth Whitehouse), a dowager struggling with old age. Making the transition more difficult is Octavian (Ildiko Komlosi), a lover many years her junior. This 1997 Palermo production, under the baton of maestro Pier Luigi Pizzi, co-stars Daniel Lewis Williams as Baron Ochs, the Marschallin's obnoxious cousin.
An impressive masked figure, Trompe‑la‑mort reveals his true character through his impalpable latent energy and a plot abounding in tragic twists of fate. An ambivalent character, both regal in bearing and warmly protective, cruel and yet loving, rapacious and indomitable even in the face of madness, this ’Machiavelli among miscreants’ destined to become chief of police, uses his conquests to advance relentlessly in the pursuit of his aims whilst keeping his hand closely hidden. Guy Cassiers, working for the first time with the Paris Opera, portrays a three-tiered society where some rise and others fall.
It is no wonder that Met audiences have gone wild over Karita Mattila’s sizzling Salome. Indisputably one of the greatest Salomes of our time, Mattila utterly incarnates Oscar Wilde’s petulant, willful, and lust-driven heroine. With Strauss’s groundbreaking music magnifying the degenerate atmosphere and building the erotic tension, this is one opera that is as shocking today as it was at its premiere in 1905.
Early recordings of Franco Zeffirelli's 2006 production of Verdi's opera which saw Roberto Alagna's high-profile exit during the second performance. Egypt and Ethiopia are at war. Radames is appointed commander of the Egyptian forces by the King, whose daughter, Amneris, loves Radames. It is in fact Amneris' Ethiopian slave Aida whom Radames loves. Ramades wins the war against the Ethiopians, capturing Aida's father Amonasro in the process. On his return to Egypt he faces a choice between marrying Amneris or betraying his country through his love for Aida.
Live from the Arena di Verona 2005
A lyric tragedy in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Salvatore Cammarano. Roberto Devereux was composed in the summer of 1837, the year, according to biographers, in which Donizetti seems to have suffered most, having lost his third son and his adored wife Virginia Vasselli. The opera made its debut at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples on October 28th in the same year and was a great success. The rehearsals of the original performance were postponed for a month due to censorship of the decapitation scene of the leading actor.
