Written by John Gay in 1728 The Beggar sOpera is widely considered to be the ...Written by John Gay in 1728 The Beggar s Opera is widely considered to be the first musical comedy and one that pre-empted by about 300 years the current vogue for jukebox productions which create a plot to fit around hit songs. Gay took some of the...more
From fake potions and feigned emotions to the follies of youth and the vulnera...From fake potions and feigned emotions to the follies of youth and the vulnerability of age this set brings together two of Donizetti s greatest comedies L elisir d amore and Don Pasquale charming works packed with musical wit in which the composer...more
?Tosca is a melodrama of love betrayal and death set in the revolutionary unre...?Tosca is a melodrama of love betrayal and death set in the revolutionary unrest of 1800. The story concerns the opera singer Floria Tosca who tries to save her lover the painter Mario Cavaradossi from the brutal chief of police Scarpia....more
These two pinnacles of Italian opera Pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana have i...These two pinnacles of Italian opera Pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana have it all - love infidelity betrayal jealousy and murder. Both are classic examples of verismo operas that dramatise the lives of ordinary people: Pagliacci fuelled by the...more
Dimitra Theodossiou Alessandro Liberatore Paolo Peccholi Sebastian Catane Will...Dimitra Theodossiou Alessandro Liberatore Paolo Peccholi Sebastian Catane William Corro and Tiziana Carrera star in this 2008 Steristona Opera Festival production of the Rossi opera conducted by David Crescenzi and directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi.more
The collaboration of the poet John Dryden and Hendry Purcell marked a conspicu...The collaboration of the poet John Dryden and Hendry Purcell marked a conspicuous leap forward for English opera. Their greatest project King Arthur is a five-act dramatick opera the text of which had it s origins in a patriotic musical play Dryden...more
Weber was at the forefront of the rise of German Romantic opera and sought to ...Weber was at the forefront of the rise of German Romantic opera and sought to dethrone Rossini from his position as the leading operatic composer in Europe. In his breakthrough and most popular opera Der Freischütz ( The Marksman ) composed in 1821...more
Giuseppe Saverio Mercadante was a contemporary of Donizetti and Rossini and hi...Giuseppe Saverio Mercadante was a contemporary of Donizetti and Rossini and his prolific output of operas proved influential in founding dramatic techniques that were taken on by Verdi. Set in the ancient and besieged city of Carthage Didone...more
Mozart s trilogy of operas composed to librettos by Lorenzo Da Ponte delight a...Mozart s trilogy of operas composed to librettos by Lorenzo Da Ponte delight and entertain audiences with their combination of sublime music and their mix of humor romance and drama. Cosi Fan Tutte also known as the school for lovers stars a cast of...more
Svetla Vassileva Maya Dashuk Fabio Sartori Emmanuelle Giannino and Marzio Gios...Svetla Vassileva Maya Dashuk Fabio Sartori Emmanuelle Giannino and Marzio Giossi star in this 2007 Puccini Festival production of the Puccini opera conducted by Alberto Veronesi.more
Based on real events and drawing on Georg Büchner s revolutionary play Alban ...Based on real events and drawing on Georg Büchner s revolutionary play Alban Berg s Wozzeck turns a grimly tragic narrative of violence and murder into one of the most powerful and original operas of the 20th century. Berg s uncompromising...more
The plot of Gounod sopera La Nonne sanglante ( The Bleeding Nun ) is drawn fr...The plot of Gounod s opera La Nonne sanglante ( The Bleeding Nun ) is drawn from Matthew Lewis s once famous 1796 novel The Monk. The subject is a Gothic melodrama featuring warring families two lovers and the vengeful spectre of the Nun to which...more
Weber s great heroic-romantic opera Euryanthe premiered in Vienna in 1823. It ...Weber s great heroic-romantic opera Euryanthe premiered in Vienna in 1823. It concerns the wronged Euryanthe victim of a plot to establish her unfaithfulness but her love imbues her with colossal strength which Weber characterizes with acute...more