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Operas from the finest stages around the world
From Milan to New York, Barcelona to Chicago, WFMT gives you a front-row seat to performances from some of the world’s greatest opera companies and performers.
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
La Scala Orchestra & Chorus | June 20, 2026
The 50th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich’s death was honored with an original staging of his most infamous opera. La Scala opened their 2025-26 season with the very first, 1934 version of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. It was this staging that was seen by Stalin in 1936, and this opera that caused the Russian leader to denounce blacklist Shostakovich as an ...
Handel’s Ariodante
Pygmalion Ensemble; Paris Opera Chorus | June 27, 2026
A political drama tinged with romance and laments, Handel’s Ariodante holds its own as a Baroque opera gem. The libretto was insipred by Ariosto’s Olrando furioso and the music teems with some of Handel’s best arias. Ariodante was performed in 2025 by the Pygmalion Ensemble and the Paris Opera Chorus, featuring Cecilia Molinari in the titular role.
Beethoven’s Fidelio
Vienna State Opera | June 13, 2026
Beethoven’s only opera is renowned for its drama and poltical commentary. Leonore (Malin Byström), wife of the wrongfully imprisoned Florestan (David Butt Philip), disguises herself to free her husband from jail. Also on the cast are Christopher Maltman as Don Pizarro, Tareqq Nazmi as Rocco, and Kathrin Zukowski as Marzelline. Franz Welser-Möst leads the Vienna State Opera Orchestra & Chorus.
Smetana’s The Bartered Bride
Vienna State Opera | June 6, 2026
A classic Czech opera, sung in German. In the 2026 season premiere of the WFMT Opera Series, we hear a production of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride from the Vienna State Opera. Conductor Tomáš Hanus leads the ensemble featuring Franz Xaver Schlecht as Krušina, Margaret Plummer as Ludmila, Slávka Zámečníková as Mařenka, and Ivo Stanchev as Mícha.
Strauss’ Arabella
Vienna State Opera | November 29, 2025
Season Finale: Richard Strauss’ Arabella is full of his usual gorgeous music, weaving folk melodies with modern orchestration. Yet there is none of the darker themes that he has come to be known for: instead, the work is one of his few lyrical comedies. Camilla Nylund stars in the titular role with Sabine Devieilhe playing her sister Zdenka and Michael ...
Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta
Vienna State Opera | November 22, 2025
Based on a Danish play, Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta follows the story of a blind princess who lives in a beautiful enclosed garden. Betrothed to someone who doesn’t love her, and forbidden from the man who does, Iolanta slowly learns about love and her own identity. This production features Ivo Stanchev as René, King of Provence, Sonya Yoncheva as his blind daughter, Boris ...
Wagner’s Lohengrin
Bayreuth Festival | November 15, 2025
Wagner’s Lohengrin is an opera based on the medieval poem “Wartburgkrieg”: a German fairy-tale with a classic battle between good and evil. The Bayreuth Festival staged the classic opera this past summer using director Yuval Sharon’s ‘blue’ production, with a star-studded cast and a revived set by painter Neo Rauch. Christian Thielemann conducts the festival orchestra with Piotr Beczała in ...
Wagner’s Parsifal
Bayreuth Festival | November 8, 2025
The final opera of Richard Wagner, Parsifal, was first premiered at the second ever Bayreuth Festival in 1882. Until the year 1914, the Bayreuth Festival was the only place people were able to hear Wagner’s Parsifal: Wagner forbade any company apart from Bayreuth from presenting the work for years. The dramatic opera made its return to the Beyreuth stage this past summer, ...
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Bayreuth Festival | November 1, 2025
From the Bayreuth Festival in Bayreuth, Germany comes one of the longest operas commonly performed today. Wagner’s dramatic opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg follows a guild of master singers and poets as its members compete for various affections. The talented cast of characters include Georg Zeepenfeld as the historical figure Hans Sachs, Jonhmin Park as Pogner, Michael Spyres as Walther von ...
Bizet’s Pearl Fishers
Les Musiciens du Louvre/Aix-en-Provence Festival | October 25, 2025
This lyrical French work contains exemplary vocal writing with beautiful colors and textures. Pene Pati and Florian Sempey play Nadir and Zurga, whose friendship is tested when the woman they both fell in love with, Leïla (played by Elsa Benoit), re-appears in their lives.
Gustave Charpentier’s Louise
Salzberg Festival | October 18, 2025
Though a lesser-performed work, Gustave Charpentier’s psychoanalytical Louise nonetheless compels attention from start to finish. Its most famous aria “Depuis le jour” is a favorite among star sopranos, recorded by big names such as Maria Callas and Renée Fleming. Today’s production comes from the 2025 Salzburg Festival with soprano Elsa Dreisig in the titular role of Louise. Tenor Adam Smith ...
Handel’s Giulio Cesare
Salzburg Festival | October 11, 2025
The 2025 Salzburg Festival saw the performances of many classic operas: among them, Handel’s Giulio Cesare. It is perhaps one of Handel’s most popular operas, interpreting the story of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra’s first meeting. Christophe Dumaux is Giulio Cesare and Olga Kulchynska Cleopatra: also in the cast are Lucile Rechardot, Federico Florio, and Yurly Mynenko. The choir in this performance ...
Mozart’s Così fan tutte
LA Opera | October 4, 2025
From LA Opera in Los Angeles, California comes a colorful production of one of Mozart’s most beloved operas. Erica Petrocelli and Rihab Chaieb star as sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella, whose fiancés Anthony León (Ferrando) and Justin Austin (Guglielmo) switch places to try and test their fidelity. Rod Gilfry is the cynical Don Alfonso and Ana María Martínez plays Despina in ...
Verdi’s Rigoletto
LA Opera | September 27, 2025
From the LA Opera in Los Angeles, California comes an opera classic that long withstood the test of time, whose cast of complex characters oftentimes resembles a Shakespearean drama. The titular character Rigoletto is played by Quinn Kelsey: also in the cast, Lisette Oropesa as Gikla, Peixin Chen as Sparafucile, Sarah Saturnino as Maddalena, and René Barbera as the Duke ...
Gabriel Fauré’s Pénélope
Bavarian State Opera | September 20, 2025
A rare staging of Faure’s only opera. Despite being a success at its 1913 premiere, the work was quickly eclipsed by Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, which premiered a mere three weeks later in the same theater. The opera tells the story of Ulysses through the eyes of Penelope, who fends off suitors while awaiting his return. Brandon Jovanovich is Ulysses; Victoria ...
Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni and Pagliacci by Leoncavallo
Bavarian State Opera | September 13, 2025
Daniele Rustioni leads the Bavarian State Opera in two tragic Italian operas. In Cavalleria rusticana, Ekaterine Buachidze and Yulia Matochkina play Lola and Santuzza – both lovers of the swaggering Turiddu (played by Ican Gyngazov). Playing the role of Alfio, Lola’s husband, is Wolfgang Koch. The program then turns to the story of Pagliacci with Jonas Kaufmann in the central role of ...
Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and The Seven Deadly Sins by Kurt Weil
Malmö Opera Chorus/Danish National Symphony Orchestra | September 6, 2025
Geoffrey Paterson conducts the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Malmö Opera Chorus in an opera double header! First, a production of Dido and Aeneas, starring Danielle De Niese as Dido, Jóhann Kristinsson as Aeneas, and Julie Roset (Belinda). Then later, Kurt Weil’s The Seven Deadly Sins features Danielle De Niese (Anna I and Anna II); Kristoffer Appel (Father); Benjamin Nellemose ...
Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier
Théâtre des Champs-Elysées | August 30, 2025
From Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Henrik Nánási conducts Véronique Gens (The Marschallin), Niamh O’Sullivan Octavian), Regula Mühlemann (Sophie), and Peter Rose (Baron Ochs). Also among the cast are Francesco Demuro, Jean-Sébastien Bou, and Éléonore Pancrazi.
Massenet’s Werther
Théâtre des Champs-Elysées | August 23, 2025
Marc Leroy-Calatayud conducts Benjamin Bernheim (Werther); Marina Viotti (Charlotte); Jean-Sébastien Bou (Albert) in this performance from the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris
Wagner’s Die Walküre
The Royal Opera | August 16, 2025
Wagner’s epic opera, starring Christopher Maltman (Wotan), Elisabet Strid (Brünnhilde), Natalya Romaniw (Sieglinde), and Stanislas de Barberyrac (Siegmund). Sir Antonio Pappano conducts.
Puccini’s Turandot
The Royal Opera | August 9, 2025
Rafael Payare conducts Sondra Radvanovsky (Turandot), SeokJong Baek (Calaf), Gemma Summerfield (Liù), and Adam Palka (Timur).
Puccini’s Manon Lescaut
Teatro Regio, Turin | July 26, 2025
From Turin, Erika Grimaldi stars in the title role, with Roberto Aronica (Des Grieux) and Alessandro Luongo (Lescaut). Renato Palumbo conducts.
Massenet’s Manon Lescaut
Teatro Regio, Turin | July 19, 2025
From Turin, Ekaterina Bakanova stars in the title role, with Atalla Ayan ((Le Chevalier des Grieux) and Björn Bürger (Lescaut). Evelino Pidò conducts.
Auber’s Manon Lescaut
Teatro Regio, Turin | July 12, 2025
From Turin, Rocío Pérez stars in the title role, with Sébastien Guèze (Des Grieux), Armando Noguera (Le Marquis), and Francesco Salvadori (Lescaut). Guillaume Tourniaire conducts.
Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les Fêtes d’Hébé
Opéra Comique | July 5, 2025
From Les Arts Florissants and Opéra Comique in Paris, France. Emmanuelle de Negri, (Hébé / The Naiad); Lea Desandre (Sapho / Iphise / Eglé); Ana Vieira Leite (Cupid / A Spartan woman / The stream / A shepherdess); Antonin Rondepierre (Thélème); Cyril Auvity (The stream / Lycurgue); Marc Mauillon (Momus / Mercure); Lisandro Abadie (Eurilas / Alcée); Renato Dolcini (Hymas ...
Cesti’s L’Orontea
La Scala | June 28, 2025
From Milan’s fabled Teatro alla Scala, a seldom heard Italian 17th-century opera led by conductor Giovanni Antonini. Stéphanie d’Oustrac stars as the title character, the Queen of Egypt.
Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin
La Scala | June 21, 2025
From Milan’s historic Teatro alla Scala, a production of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin starring Alexey Markov in the title role, with Aida Garifullina (Tatiana), Dmitry Korchak (Lensky), and Elmina Hasan (Olga), conducted by Timur Zangiev.
Verdi’s La forza del destino
La Scala | June 14, 2025
From Milan’s historic Teatro alla Scala, a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La forza del destino starring Anna Netrebko, Ludovic Tézier, Brian Jagde, and Vasilisa Berzhansaya, led by conductor Riccardo Chailly.
Season Finale: Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades
Met Opera | June 7, 2025
Tchaikovsky’s macabre thriller, set against the backdrop of Tsarist Russia, is back in the Met’s atmospheric staging.
Rossini’s Barber of Seville
Met Opera | May 31, 2025
Rossini’s effervescent comedy retakes the stage in Bartlett Sher’s madcap production. Star mezzo-sopranos Aigul Akhmetshina headlines a winning ensemble as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongside high-flying tenor Lawrence Brownlee as her secret beloved, Count Almaviva. Baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky stars as Figaro, the inimitable barber of Seville, with bass-baritone Peter Kálmán as Dr. Bartolo and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Don Basilio ...
John Adams’s Antony and Cleopatra
Met Opera | May 24, 2025
The most recent opera by preeminent American composer John Adams—a glorious adaptation of Shakespeare’s immortal drama—has its Met premiere. Following her debut in the company premiere of Adams’s El Niño in 2024, soprano Julia Bullock stars as the irresistible Cleopatra, one of theater’s most complex and captivating characters, opposite bass-baritone Gerald Finley as the conflicted Antony. Adams himself takes the ...
Strauss’s Salome
Met Opera | May 17, 2025
Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met performances of Strauss’s white-hot one-act tragedy, which receives its first new production at the company in 20 years. Claus Guth, one of Europe’s leading opera directors, gives the biblical story—already filtered through the beautiful and strange imagination of Oscar Wilde’s play—a psychologically perceptive Victorian-era setting rich in symbolism and subtle shades of ...
Verdi’s Il Trovatore
Met Opera | May 3, 2025
Verdi’s charged drama of family strife and forbidden love stars tenor Michael Fabiano as Manrico, the bold troubadour unwittingly at war with his own brother. Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen performs the role of the noble Leonora, with mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Manrico’s tormented mother, Azucena. Baritone Igor Golovatenko is the unbending Count di Luna, with bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the ...
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro
Met Opera | April 26, 2025
Conductor Joana Mallwitz makes her Met debut leading Mozart’s comic masterpiece. Bass-baritone Michael Sumuel stars as the clever valet Figaro, opposite soprano Olga Kulchynska as his betrothed, the wily maid Susanna. Baritone Joshua Hopkins is the philandering Count, soprano Federica Lombardi is his anguished wife, and mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce plays the role of the adolescent page Cherubino.
Rossini’s L’assedio di Corinto
Met Opera | April 19, 2025
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Beverly Sills’s Met debut with a performance from April 19, 1975
Mozart’s Magic Flute
Met Opera | April 12, 2025
Simon McBurney’s uproarious full-length German-language production of Mozart’s beloved fable—with its ingenious theatrical concoction of projections, puppetry, and special effects—returns to the Met stage following its celebrated 2023 premiere.
Golijov’s Ainadamar
Met Opera | April 5, 2025
Osvaldo Golijov’s Grammy–winning first opera dramatizes the life and work of poet-playwright Federico García Lorca, who was assassinated by fascist forces at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick
Met Opera | March 29, 2025
Jake Heggie returns to the company with his 2010 adaptation of Herman Melville’s sea-drenched, heaven-storming epic.
Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges & Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias
Met Opera | March 22, 2025
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Ravel's opera with a performance from February 28, 1981.
Beethoven’s Fidelio
Met Opera | March 15, 2025
Soprano Lise Davidsen stars as Leonore, who risks everything to save her husband from the clutches of tyranny, with Susanna Mälkki conducting.
Puccini’s La Bohème
Met Opera | March 8, 2025
Kristina Mkhitaryan and Joseph Calleja take the stage as Puccini’s lovesick young bohemians in Franco Zeffirelli’s picturesque production, with Alexander Soddy conducting.
Bizet’s Carmen
Met Opera | March 1, 2025
Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Bizet’s opera with a performance from January 16, 2010. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Elīna Garanča (Carmen), Roberto Alagna (Don Jose), Barbara Frittoli (Micaela), Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Escamillo).
Artist’s Choice: Verdi’s Falstaff
Met Opera | February 22, 2025
Chosen by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Leonard Bernstein conducts a performance from March 21, 1964.
Artist’s Choice: Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos
Met Opera | February 15, 2025
Chosen by Lise Davidsen, Jessye Norman shines as Ariadne in a performance from January 5, 1985. Sir Andrew Davis conducts Norman alongside Gianna Rolandi (Zerbinetta), William Cochran (Bacchus), Maria Ewing (Composer), Dale Duesing (Harlekin).
Artist’s Choice: Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer
Met Opera | February 8, 2025
Chosen by Ryan Speedo Green, George London stars as the Wagner’s accursed Dutchman in a performance from March 5, 1960. Thomas Schippers conducts a cast that also features Leonie Rysanek (Senta), Karl Liebl (Erik), and Giorgio Tozzi (Daland).
Artist’s Choice: Verdi’s La traviata
Met Opera | February 1, 2025
Chosen by Angel Blue, hear Renée Fleming in a performance from November 7, 2007. Fleming is the the self-sacrificing courtesan Violetta—one of opera’s ultimate heroines. Tenor Matthew Polenzani is her self-centered lover Alfredo, alongside baritone Dwayne Croft as his disapproving father, and Marco Armiliato on the podium.
Verdi’s Aida
Met Opera | January 25, 2025
This grandest of grand operas — set in Ancient Egypt and packed with magnificent choruses, complex ensembles, and elaborate ballets — is in essence, an intimate love story.
Puccini’s Tosca
Met Opera | January 18, 2025
The extraordinary Lise Davidsen sings Tosca for her first time at the Met, alongside tenor Freddie De Tommaso in his eagerly anticipated company debut and powerhouse baritone Quinn Kelsey. Yannick Nézét-Séguin conducted this performance from November 23, 2024.
Verdi’s Rigoletto
Met Opera | January 11, 2025
Verdi’s heartbreaking masterpiece returns, with baritone Luca Salsi in the title role, alongside soprano Erin Morley as naïve daughter, Gilda, and rising tenor Pene Pati as the rakish Duke of Mantua, with Daniele Callegari on the podium to conduct Bartlett Sher’s Weimar-inspired production.
Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann
Met Opera | January 4, 2025
Offenbach’s fantastical final work features tenor Benjamin Bernheim in the title role of the tormented poet.
Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel
Met Opera | December 28, 2024
In this performance from Christmas Day, 1982, Thomas Fulton conducts Frederica von Stade (Hansel) and Judith Blegen (Gretel) plus Rosalind Elias (Witch), Jean Kraft (Gertrud), Michael Devlin (Peter), Betsy Norden (Dew Fairy), and Diane Kesling (Sandman).
Mozart’s The Magic Flute
Met Opera | December 21, 2024
A family-friendly, English-language holiday presentation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
Jeanine Tesori’s Grounded
Met Opera | December 14, 2024
Emily D’Angelo, one of opera’s most compelling young stars, headlines in the tour-de-force role of Jess, a hot-shot fighter pilot who operates a Reaper drone halfway around the world.
Richard Strauss’s Die Frau Ohne Schatten
Met Opera | December 7, 2024
Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium to lead Strauss’s grand mythological epic, a tour de force for orchestra and soloists alike.
Richard Strauss’s Capriccio
Vienna State Opera | November 30, 2024
Richard Strauss’s Capriccio delves into the nature of art and the rivalry between words and music, with Elsa Dreisig starring as the Countess, with Bo Skovhus as the Count, and Sebastian Kohlhepp as Flamand.
Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | November 23, 2024
Marius Manea stars as Gustav III, with Karine Babajanyan as Amelia and Lado Ataneli as Renato. Lü Jia conducts this intense performance.
Richard Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | November 16, 2024
A Beijing production of Richard Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer and the story of the cursed ghost ship captain seeking redemption through true love, with Ólafur Sigurdarson as the Holländer and Diana Lamar as Senta.
Zhang Qianyi’s Lan Huahua
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | November 9, 2024
This modern Chinese opera blends traditional Chinese elements with contemporary themes, and features performances from Zhao Lili and Guan Zhijing.
Vincenzo Bellini’s La sonnambula
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | November 2, 2024
In Bellini’s pastoral tale of love and sleepwalking, Dilbèr stars as Amina, with Antonino Siragusa as Elvino and Zhang Wenwei as Il Conte Rodolfo.
Paul Moravec’s The Shining
Lyric Opera of Kansas City | October 26, 2024
An adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel, the opera relates the story of Jack Torrance, performed by Edward Parks, and his descent into madness at the isolated Overlook Hotel.
Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Samson
Aix-en-Provence Festival | October 19, 2024
This baroque masterpiece recounts the biblical hero’s struggle against the Philistines, with Jarrett Ott as Samson and Jacquelyn Stucker as Delilah.
Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito
Aix-en-Provence Festival | October 12, 2024
A story of mercy and forgiveness set in ancient Rome, the opera explores the complex relationships and political intrigue surrounding Emperor Titus. Pene Pati stars.
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly
Aix-en-Provence Festival | October 5, 2024
This opera tells the story of Cio-Cio-San, a young Japanese woman who marries an American naval officer, only to be abandoned, leading to tragic consequences.
Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde
Bayreuth Festival | September 28, 2024
Presented at the Bayreuth Festival, this production features Andreas Schager as Tristan and Camilla Nylund as Isolde with conductor Semyon Bychkov.
Puccini’s Turandot
LA Opera | September 21, 2024
This seminal opera captivates with its exotic setting and dramatic story of the cold-hearted Princess Turandot and her suitors.
Double Bill: Still’s Highway 1, USA & Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf
LA Opera | September 14, 2024
Highway 1, USA explores themes of family and sacrifice, with a compelling narrative of a couple striving to provide a better future for their son. Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf tells a dark tale of love and vanity.
Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades
Bavarian State Opera | September 7, 2024
This opera navigates the dark and obsessive tale of Hermann, performed by Brandon Jovanovich in a story of desire, gambling, and the supernatural.
Puccini’s Tosca
Bavarian State Opera | August 31, 2024
The intense and dramatic love story of the singer Tosca (Eleonora Buratto) and the artist Cavaradossi, (Charles Castronovo) set against the backdrop of political unrest in Rome.
Mozart’s Idomeneo
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus | August 24, 2024
Hercules Hall in Munich is the location of a stunning performance of Mozart’s Idomeneo led by the legendary Sir Simon Rattle.
Dvořák’s Rusalka
Opéra Royal de Wallonie | August 17, 2024
A captivating fairy tale steeped in Slavic mythology stars Corinne Winters in the title role of the water nymph Rusalka.
Verdi’s Don Carlo
La Scala | August 10, 2024
Riccardo Chailly conducts this grand opera that delves deep into themes of power, love, and betrayal.
Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust
French National Orchestra | August 3, 2024
As part of their 90th anniversary season in 2023-24, the French National Orchestra and music director Cristian Măcelaru bring a gripping production of The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.
Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Médée
Opéra de Paris | July 27, 2024
This opera delves into the dark and tragic tale of Médée, portrayed by Lea Desandre, who uses her sorceress powers in vengeful acts against her unfaithful lover, Jason.
Richard Strauss’s Elektra
Royal Opera House | July 20, 2024
Aušrinė Stundytė takes the lead role, with notable performances by Sara Jakubiak as Elektra’s sister Chrysothemis, and Karita Mattila sings the role of their mother in this intense drama. Sir Antonio Pappano conducts.
Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold
Royal Opera House | July 13, 2024
A London performance of the majestic story of Das Rheingold.
Mozart’s Don Giovanni
Opéra de Lille | July 6, 2024
Featuring Timothy Murray as the licentious nobleman Don Giovanni, alongside James Platt as the Commendatore and Emőke Baráth as his daughter Donna Anna.
Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen
Utrecht Early Music Festival | June 29, 2024
A baroque interpretation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this semi-opera combines Purcell’s exquisite music with spoken drama and dance, celebrating the enchantment and complexities of love in a fantastical setting.
Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten
Vienna State Opera | June 22, 2024
This opera, renowned for its intricate psychological depth and lavish score, weaves a tale of a fairy empress on a quest to gain a shadow—symbolizing her desire for motherhood and human connection.
Gioachino Rossini’s Guillaume Tell
Vienna State Opera | June 15, 2024
Roberto Frontali in the title role of the Swiss folk hero, with John Osborn as Arnold and Lisette Oropesa starring as Mathilde.
Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice
Met Opera | June 8, 2024
Season Finale: Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo stars as the mythic hero who ventures into the underworld to rescue his beloved Euridice, performed by soprano Ying Fang.
Massenet’s Cinderella
Met Opera | June 1, 2024
An all-new English translation with mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as its rags-to-riches princess.
Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West
Met Opera | May 25, 2024
Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek gives a fearless performance as Minnie, the opera’s gun-toting heroine, who runs a saloon for a camp of rambunctious miners in the California Gold Rush.
Kevin Puts’s The Hours
Met Opera | May 18, 2024
Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Kevin Puts’s hit new opera triumphantly returns, as do the original trio of legendary divas—sopranos Renée Fleming and Kelli O’Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly
Met Opera | May 11, 2024
Extraordinary soprano Asmik Grigorian makes her highly anticipated Met debut tackling the demanding role of Cio-Cio-San, the loyal geisha at the heart of Puccini’s devastating tragedy
John Adams’s El Niño
Met Opera | May 4, 2024
Eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Met after a decade-long hiatus for the company premiere of his acclaimed opera-oratorio, an extraordinarily dramatic retelling of the Nativity.
Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Met Opera | April 27, 2024
Terence Blanchard’s stirring drama returns following its landmark company premiere in 2021, with bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green starring as Charles.
Puccini’s La Rondine
Met Opera | April 20, 2024
Puccini’s bittersweet love story makes a rare Met appearance, with soprano Angel Blue starring as the French courtesan Magda.
J. Strauss’s Die Fledermaus
Met Opera | April 13, 2024
Celebrating the opera’s 150th anniversary with a performance featuring conductor Jeffrey Tate leading Kiri Te Kanawa (Rosalinde), Håkan Hagegård (Eisenstein), and more.
Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore
Met Opera | April 6, 2024
Exactly fifty years after its recording, a performance starring Luciano Pavarotti (Nemorino), Judith Blegen (Adina), and more.
Verdi’s Requiem
Met Opera | March 30, 2024
Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for a performance of Verdi’s soul-stirring Requiem alongside a thrilling quartet of soloists.
Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
Met Opera | March 23, 2024
Two singers at the height of their powers—radiant soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor sensation Benjamin Bernheim—come together as the star-crossed lovers in Gounod’s sumptuous Shakespeare adaptation.
Puccini’s Turandot
Met Opera | March 16, 2024
Franco Zeffirelli’s dazzling vision of mythic China retakes the stage, with soprano Elena Pankratova making her Met debut as the legendary—and lethal—title princess.
Verdi’s La Forza del Destino
Met Opera | March 9, 2024
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Verdi’s grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendetta, and family strife, with stellar soprano Lise Davidsen as the lead role.
Listeners’ Choice: Verdi’s Ernani
Met Opera | March 2, 2024
A 1962 audience-favorite Met Broadcast featuring Carlo Bergonzi and Leontyne Price.
Mozart and Beethoven in Concert at the Met
Met Opera | February 24, 2024
Two concert presentations of pivotal classical works in performances from February 2023 and March 2022.
Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera
Met Opera | February 17, 2024
Carlo Rizzi conducts an all-star ensemble that features soprano Angela Meade, Quinn Kelsey, and Charles Castronovo.
Valentines from the Met: Great Love Duets
Met Opera | February 10, 2024
Romantic moments in memorable performances from the Met’s radio archives.
Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
Met Opera | February 3, 2024
Anthony Davis’s groundbreaking and influential opera, which premiered in 1986, arrives at the Met at long last.
Bizet’s Carmen
Met Opera | January 27, 2024
The Met begins the New Year with a vital new production of one of opera’s most enduringly powerful works.
Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking
Met Opera | January 20, 2024
Starring Joyce DiDonato and Ryan McKinny, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts this landmark premiere of the most widely performed new opera of the last 20 years.
Puccini’s La Bohème
Met Opera | January 13, 2024
Soprano Elena Stikhina is the heartbreaking seamstress Mimì, and tenor Joseph Calleja is the role of the love-struck poet Rodolfo.
Verdi’s Nabucco
Met Opera | January 6, 2024
Ancient Babylon comes to life in a classic Met staging of biblical proportions.
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro
Met Opera | December 30, 2023
The legendary Cesare Siepi sings one of his most popular roles in this historic broadcast—the effervescent servant Figaro in this classic performance from 1956.
Wagner’s Tannhäuser
Met Opera | December 23, 2023
Dashing Austrian tenor Andreas Schager returns as the knight Tannhäuser in Wagner’s ravishing opera of love, lust, and redemption.
Mozart’s The Magic Flute
Met Opera | December 16, 2023
The Met’s English-sung, family-friendly production of Mozart’s dazzling fairy tale returns.
Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas
Met Opera | December 9, 2023
Sung in Spanish and inspired by Gabriel García Márquez, Florencia en el Amazonas tells the story of an opera diva who returns to her homeland to perform at the legendary opera house of Manaus... and to search for her lost lover.
Giddens & Abels’ Omar
LA Opera | December 2, 2023
The luminous score—composed by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels—incorporates distinctive West African traditions with traditional opera instrumentation.
Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande
LA Opera | November 25, 2023
Lost in the forest, a prince encounters an ethereal beauty with a mysterious past (and lush locks that would make Rapunzel envious).
Verdi’s La forza del destino
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | November 18, 2023
Verdi’s epic opera combines love, war, religion, and fate, and is sung by a stellar cast including Sondra Radvanovsky, Brian Jagde and Etienne Dupuis, conducted by Mark Elder.
Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman
Bayreuth Festival | November 11, 2023
A production of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, featuring Georg Zeppenfeld, Elisabeth Teige, Tomislav Mužek, Nadine Weissmann, Attilio Glaser, and Michael Volle as the Dutchman. Oksana Lyniv conducts.
Héctor Armienta’s Zorro
Opera Southwest | November 4, 2023
Filled with all the romance, swordplay and humor that is a trademark of the Zorro universe.
Rossini’s Le comte Ory
Opera Southwest | October 28, 2023
While all the men in town are called away to war, Ory seizes the opportunity to pursue the now unguarded women of the village. But they’ve all taken a vow of chastity – even the Countess Adèle...
Verdi’s Attila
Opera Festival of Chicago | October 21, 2023
Verdi's Attila takes us to the mid-5th century near Rome following Attila, King of the Huns.
Pizzetti’s Assassinio nella cattedrale
Opera Festival of Chicago | October 14, 2023
This dramatic opera portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral during the reign of Henry II in 1170.
Handel’s Jephtha
Music of the Baroque | October 7, 2023
Music of the Baroque’s first performance in over three decades of Handel’s final oratorio.
George Benjamin’s Picture a Day Like This
Aix-en-Provence Festival | September 30, 2023
A universal tale with moving colors, where the flow of music follows the flow of life; an initiatory fable on human nature and self-discovery.
Puccini’s La fanciulla del West
China's NCPA | September 23, 2023
An epic production starring Amarilli Nizza as Minne, Claudio Sgura as Jack Rance, and more.
Donizetti’s La fille du régiment
China's NCPA | September 16, 2023
Donizetti’s light-hearted and humorous story features a fabulous cast that combines the talents of Western and Chinese artists.
Yin’s The Ballad of the Canal
China's NCPA | September 9, 2023
An exciting production of Chinese composer Yin Qing’s The Ballad of the Canal, presented here for the very first time on US radio.
Wagner’s Tannhäuser
China's NCPA | September 2, 2023
Wagner’s audience-favorite Tannhäuser stars Endrik Wottrich stars in the title role.
Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea
Gran Teatre del Liceu | August 26, 2023
A performance of Monteverdi's last opera led by none other than Jordi Savall.
Massenet’s Manon
Gran Teatre del Liceu | August 19, 2023
From Barcelona, a performance of Massenet’s Manon, under the baton of Marc Minkowski. Performed in May 2023, this fresh production features Amina Edris, Pene Pati, Albert Casals, and more.
Bellini’s La sonnambula
Opéra Royal de Wallonie | August 12, 2023
Belgium’s Opéra Royal de Wallonie takes the stage for a stunning production starring Jessica Pratt, Marko Mimica, and René Barbera.
Britten’s Turn of the Screw
Budapest Festival Orchestra | August 5, 2023
Benjamin Britten’s mysterious and spellbinding ghost story-turned-opera is presented by the Budapest Festival Orchestra under the baton of Iván Fischer.
Vinci’s Li zite ‘ngalera
Teatro alla Scala | July 29, 2023
The world-famous La Scala returns to the series for another season with a new production of Leonardo Vinci’s Li zite ‘nglera, a part of La Scala’s project to rediscover and reinvigorate Italian baroque repertoire.
Berg’s Wozzeck
Royal Opera House | July 22, 2023
An exquisite production of Berg’s inimitable Wozzeck by the UK’s Royal Opera. Christian Gerhaher stars in the title role, with Anja Kampe returning to the series as Marie.
Verdi’s I Lombardi
Munich Radio Opera | July 15, 2023
From the Prinzregententheater in Munich, Germany, we hear a production of Verdi’s I Lombardi alla prima crociata with the Munich Radio Opera, featuring Galeano Salas as Arvino, Andreas Burkhart as Acciano, Nino Machaidze as Giselda, and Réka Kristóf as Viclinda.
Mercadante’s Il proscritto
Opera Rara | July 8, 2023
Unheard since its premiere in 1842, conductor and Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi leads the Britten Sinfonia and Opera Rara Chorus alongside an exceptional cast including Ramón Vargas, Irene Roberts, and Elizabeth DeShong.
Adams’ Nixon in China
Paris Opera | July 1, 2023
From Paris Opera, hear a star-studded cast that includes Thomas Hampson as Richard Nixon and Renée Fleming as Pat Nixon, with John Matthew Myers as Chairman Mao.
Strauss’s Salome
Vienna State Opera | June 24, 2023
Conductor Philippe Jordan leads the ensemble in Strauss’s Salome, with Malin Byström in the titular role, alongside Gerhard Siegel (Herod), Wolfgang Koch (John the Baptist) and more.
Beethoven’s Fidelio
Vienna State Opera | June 17, 2023
Vienna’s production of Fidelio stars Brandon Jovanovich as Florestan, alongside an Axel Kober-conducted cast that includes Anja Kampe as Leonore.
Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer
Met Opera | June 10, 2023
Season Finale: Following his acclaimed 2019 performances as Alberich in the Ring cycle, bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny stars as the accursed Dutchman in Wagner’s eerie drama.
Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte
Met Opera | June 3, 2023
One of opera’s most beloved works receives its first new Met staging in 19 years.
Terence Blanchard’s Champion
Met Opera | May 27, 2023
Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green is the young boxer Emile Griffith, who rises from obscurity to become a world champion.
Mozart’s Don Giovanni
Met Opera | May 20, 2023
Maestro Nathalie Stutzmann makes her Met debut conducting a star-studded cast led by baritone Peter Mattei as a magnetic Don Giovanni.
Verdi’s Aida
Met Opera | May 13, 2023
The mighty walls and towering monuments of Ancient Egypt once again fill the Met stage, as Verdi’s great spectacle returns.
Puccini’s La Bohème
Met Opera | May 6, 2023
Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Puccini’s timeless tragedy for the first time at the Met.
Britten’s Peter Grimes
Met Opera | April 29, 2023
Benjamin Britten’s masterpiece delivers a tragically realistic rendering of the mistrust, misunderstandings, and dark secrets that lurk within even the closest communities
Mozart’s Idomeneo
Met Opera | April 22, 2023
The opera that announced the young Mozart’s genius to the world returns to the Met stage, with acclaimed maestro Manfred Honeck making a notable company debut on the podium
Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier
Met Opera | April 15, 2023
A dream cast assembles for Strauss’s grand Viennese comedy.
Puccini’s Tosca
Met Opera | April 8, 2023
Sparks are sure to fly as some of opera’s most electrifying artists light up Puccini’s classic thriller.
Verdi’s Falstaff
Met Opera | April 1, 2023
Baritone Michael Volle stars as the caddish knight Falstaff, gleefully tormented by a trio of clever women who deliver his comeuppance.
Bellini’s Norma
Met Opera | March 25, 2023
Sonya Yoncheva stars in the dynamite title role of Bellini’s Norma alongside Ekaterina Gubanova (Adalgisa), Michael Spyres (Pollione), and Christian Van Horn (Oroveso). Maurizio Benini conducts.
Wagner’s Lohengrin
Met Opera | March 18, 2023
Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Piotr Beczała (Lohengrin), Tamara Wilson (Elsa), Christine Goerke (Ortrud), Evgeny Nikitin (Telramund), Günther Groissböck (Heinrich), and Brian Mulligan (Herald).
Verdi’s La traviata
Met Opera | March 11, 2023
Dazzling soprano Angel Blue stars as Violetta in Verdi‘s stirring romantic tragedy. Nicola Luisotti conducts the Met Opera Orchestra and Dmytro Popov (Alfredo) and Artur Ruciński (Giorgio).
Listeners’ Choice: Donizetti’s La Favorita
Met Opera | March 4, 2023
Shirley Verrett (Leonora), Luciano Pavarotti (Fernando), and Sherrill Milnes (Alfonso), headline this dazzling 1978 performance.
Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Met Opera | February 25, 2023
Keri-Lynn Wilson conducts this Dmitri Shostakovich performance from October 12, 2022 starring Svetlana Sozdateleva.
Verdi’s Don Carlo
Met Opera | February 18, 2023
In a performance from Fall 2022, Russell Thomas stars in the title role.
Celebrating Franco Zeffirelli
Met Opera | February 11, 2023
The Met commemorates the centenary of Franco Zeffirelli’s birth with a special presentation drawn from the company’s radio archives.
Verdi’s Macbeth
Met Opera | February 4, 2023
Sherrill Milnes, a definite Verdi baritone, stars in the title role of Giuseppe Verdi‘s opera setting of Shakespeare‘s Macbeth. Martina Arroyo (Lady Macbeth), Ruggero Raimondi (Banquo), and Franco Tagliavini (Macduff) costar in this historic 1973 performance conducted by Francesco Molinari-Pradelli.
Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites
Met Opera | January 28, 2023
Ailyn Pérez, Christine Goerke, Alice Coote, and Jamie Barton lead this impressive cast in a Bertrand de Billy-conducted performance.
Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore
Met Opera | January 21, 2023
Javier Camarena stars as Nemorino, with Golda Schultz (Adina), Davide Luciano (Belcore), Ambrogio Maestri (Dulcamara). Michele Gamba conducts.
Giordano’s Fedora
Met Opera | January 14, 2023
In this new production, Sonya Yoncheva stars in the title role under the baton of Marco Armiliato. Piotr Beczała (Loris Ipanoff), Rosa Feola (Olga), Lucas Meachem (De Siriex) co-star.
Cherubini’s Medea
Met Opera | January 7, 2023
Sondra Radvanovsky stars in the title role in this performance from October 2022. Matthew Polenzani, Janai Brugger, Ekaterina Gubanova, and Michele Pertusi share the stage, and Carlo Rizzi conducts.
Met Debuts On the Air
Met Opera | December 31, 2022
Highlights of artists making their Metropolitan Opera debuts during live broadcasts, including sopranos Bidu Sayão, Kiri Te Kanawa, and Astrid Varnay and conductor Sir Georg Solti.
Mozart’s The Magic Flute (abridged English-language version)
Met Opera | December 24, 2022
The Met’s abridged, family-friendly version of Mozart’s musical fairy tale returns for the holiday season.
Verdi’s Rigoletto
Met Opera | December 17, 2022
Giuseppe Verdi’s ever-popular masterpiece returns for a performance starring Lisette Oropesa, Aigul Akhmetshina, Stephen Costello, and Luca Salsi in the title role, with Speranza Scappucci conducting.
Kevin Puts’s The Hours
Met Opera | December 10, 2022
The exciting premiere radiates with star power with Kelli O’Hara and Joyce DiDonato joining Fleming as the opera’s trio of heroines.
Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | December 3, 2022
WFMT Opera Series Season Finale: Donizetti’s fabulous L’Elisir D’Amore stars Serena Gamberoni in the role of Adina alongside Francesco Meli as Nemorino and Liu Songhu as Belcore.
Verdi’s Falstaff
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | November 26, 2022
Verdi’s Falstaff features Roberto de Candia in the title role, with Rachele Stanisci as Alice, Filippo Polinelli as Ford, and more
Donizetti’s Don Pasquale
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | November 19, 2022
Donizetti’s Don Pasquale stars Bruno Pratico in the title role, with Ekaterina Bakanova as Noria, Shi Yijie as Ernesto, and more. Daniele Callegari conducts.
Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | November 12, 2022
The second set of NCPA productions begins with Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Mélissa Petit and Francesco Demuro in the title roles. Patrick Fournillier conducts.
Bologne’s L’Amant anonyme
Haymarket Opera Company | November 5, 2022
Joseph Bologne’s only extant opera comes to the stage with a star-studded cast, sumptuous ballets, the complete original French dialogue, and costumes fit for Marie Antoinette herself.
Verdi’s Aida
LA Opera | October 29, 2022
In this stunning, James Conlon-conducted performance of Verdi’s audience favorite, Latonia Moore and Russell Thomas star as secret lovers from rival kingdoms.
Rossini’s L’Inganno Felice
Opera Festival of Chicago | October 22, 2022
L’Inganno Felice, Rossini’s one act opera, was an instant success after its premiere in 1812, creating a worldwide sensation thanks to the beauty of its music from overture to finale.
Verdi’s Il Corsaro
Opera Festival of Chicago | October 15, 2022
Giuseppe Verdi’s bombastic 1848 opera plunges us into the swashbuckling world of seafaring pirates.
Hao’s A Village Teacher
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | October 8, 2022
Likely the first time that this Mandarin-language production by Chinese composer Hao Weiya has been heard on US radio!
Lehár’s The Merry Widow
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | October 1, 2022
This stunning production of The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár features Song Yuanming as Hanna Glawari; Thomas Rösner conducts.
Dvořák’s Rusalka
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | September 24, 2022
Dvořák’s fantastical Rusalka features a stunning cast of artists that includes Zhou Xiaolin in the titular role.
Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers)
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts | September 17, 2022
This production of Bizet’s impeccable Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) stars soprano Olga Peretyatko in the role of Leila alongside Francesco Demuro as Nadir.
Bellini’s I Puritani
Teatro dell’Opera di Roma | September 10, 2022
Teatro dell’Opera Rome’s production of Bellini’s I Puritani boasts a stellar cast, including Jessica Pratt as Lady Elvira Valton, John Osborn as Lord Arturo Talbot, and more.
Ponchielli’s La Gioconda
Teatro alla Scala | September 3, 2022
In Ponchielli's grant, Venice-set opera, Saioa Hernández stars in the title role, with Frédéric Chaslin conducting.
Puccini’s Manon Lescaut
Vienna State Opera | August 27, 2022
Asmik Grigorian sings the title role in Puccini’s story of love and loss.
Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov
Vienna State Opera | August 20, 2022
Alexander Tsymbalyuk sings the title role in Mussorgsky's masterpiece.
Handel’s Almira
Boston Early Music Festival | August 13, 2022
Handel’s fantastic Almira features period instruments led by music directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs. Emőke Baráth performs in the title role.
Quadruple Bill: Charpentier & Lalande
Boston Early Music Festival | August 6, 2022
An exquisite quartet of late-17th century works: two by Charpentier and two by Lalande.
Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila
Royal Opera | July 30, 2022
Closing out Royal Opera’s suite of productions is Camille Saint-Saëns’ grand opera; Elīna Garanča stars as the Philistine Dalila, and SeokJong Baek as the inspiring Jewish hero Samson.
Verdi’s Macbeth
Royal Opera | July 23, 2022
Simon Keenlyside reprises the role of Macbeth, with Anna Pirozzi by his side as Lady Macbeth. Daniele Rustioni conducts.
Vivaldi’s Bajazet
Royal Opera | July 16, 2022
Vivaldi’s 1735 opera is a dark and thrilling work where “powerful men and strong women negotiate their relationships as desires of the heart clash with rank and duty.”
Handel’s Theodora
Royal Opera | July 9, 2022
Handel’s gripping Theodora features Joyce DiDonato, Julia Bullock, and Jakub Józef Orliński.
Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust
Salzburg Festival | July 2, 2022
For this concert performance, Charles Castronovo stars as the romantic and tortured title character, with Ildar Abdrazakov as the wily Mephistopheles and Elīna Garanča as Marguerite.
Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro
Opéra de Paris | June 25, 2022
Star conductor Gustavo Dudamel leads a performance of the hilarious Mozart classic. The stellar cast includes Luca Pisaroni in the title role.
Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
Santa Fe Opera | June 18, 2022
Heralded as “a triumph,” Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs combines electronics and operatic orchestration to tell a fascinating story about the complicated man behind the rise of a tech giant.
Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress
Met Opera | June 11, 2022
Season Finale: Susanna Mälkki returns to lead Stravinsky’s neoclassical dark comedy.
Dean’s Hamlet
Met Opera | June 4, 2022
When Brett Dean’s Hamlet had its world premiere in 2017, The Guardian declared, “New opera doesn’t often get to sound this good … Shakespeare offers a gauntlet to composers that shouldn’t always be picked up, but Dean’s Hamlet rises to the challenge.”
Glass’ Akhnaten
Met Opera | May 28, 2022
Philip Glass’ mesmerizing modern masterpiece returns. Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo reprises his celebrated turn as the revolutionary pharaoh Akhnaten.
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
Met Opera | May 21, 2022
Virtuosic soprano Nadine Sierra takes on one of the repertory’s most formidable and storied roles, the haunted heroine of Lucia di Lammermoor.
Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Met Opera | May 14, 2022
Wagner’s sublime comedy takes the Met stage for the first time in seven years.
Puccini’s ‘Turandot’
Met Opera | May 7, 2022
Thrilling soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska plays the title role of the legendary cold-hearted princess. Yonghoon Lee appears as the bold prince determined to win Turandot’s love, alongside soprano Ermonela Jaho as the devoted servant Liù and bass Ferruccio Furlanetto as the blind king Timur.
Puccini’s ‘Madama Butterfly’
Met Opera | April 30, 2022
Soprano Eleonora Buratto takes on the touchstone title role of Puccini's tragic geisha. Tenor Brian Jagde is the callous American naval officer who betrays her.
The Gershwins’ ‘Porgy and Bess’
Met Opera | April 23, 2022
Smashing box office records when it premiered during the 2019–20 season, the Met’s landmark staging of this American classic returns, and bass-baritone Eric Owens and soprano Angel Blue reunite as the title couple.
R. Strauss’ ‘Elektra’
Met Opera | April 16, 2022
Soprano Nina Stemme brought down the house when she headlined the premiere of visionary director Patrice Chéreau’s 2016 staging of Elektra. Now she returns to Strauss’ unhinged heroine.
Mozart’s ‘Le nozze di Figaro’
Met Opera | April 9, 2022
Daniele Rustioni takes the podium to lead Mozart’s breathless and breathtaking comedy.
Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’
Met Opera | April 2, 2022
James Gaffigan conducts Igor Golovatenko in the title role. Ailyn Pérez (Tatiana), Piotr Beczała (Lenski), Varduhi Abrahamyan (Olga), and Ain Anger (Prince Gremin) also star.
Verdi’s Don Carlos
Met Opera | March 26, 2022
In the network broadcast premiere of the opera’s French-language version, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts an all-star cast: Matthew Polenzani (Don Carlos), Sonya Yoncheva (Élisabeth de Valois), Eric Owens (Philippe II), and Jamie Barton (La Princesse Eboli).
Handel’s Rodelinda
Met Opera | March 19, 2022
Baroque music specialist Harry Bicket conducts this performance which features Elza van den Heever in the title role, in a cast also including Iestyn Davies (Bertarido), Paul Appleby (Grimoaldo), and Jamie Barton (Eduige).
R. Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos
Met Opera | March 12, 2022
Marek Janowski conducts Lise Davidsen (Ariadne), Brandon Jovanovich (Bacchus), and Isabel Leonard (Composer) in a performance of Richard Strauss’ inventive, scintillating opera.
Listeners’ Choice: Donizetti’s ‘La Fille Du Régiment’
Met Opera | March 5, 2022
The Met revisits this January 1973 performance conducted by Richard Bonynge and featuring Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Regina Resnik, and Fernando Corena.
Celebrating Black History Month: Groundbreaking Artists on the Air
Met Opera | February 26, 2022
Broadcast highlights from some of the Met’s most revered African American stars
Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov
Met Opera | February 19, 2022
Bass René Pape, the world’s reigning Boris, reprises his overwhelming portrayal of the tortured tsar caught between grasping ambition and crippling paranoia.
The Met’s First Decade on the Air
Met Opera | February 5, 2022
Highlights from historic Met broadcasts
Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’
Met Opera | January 29, 2022
Baritone Quinn Kelsey stars in the title role of Verdi's timeless tragedy.
Puccini’s ‘La bohème’
Met Opera | January 22, 2022
The Met celebrates the 40th anniversary of Franco Zeffirelli’s beloved staging with an exceptional cast.
Mozart’s ‘Le nozze di Figaro’
Met Opera | January 15, 2022
Daniele Rustioni takes the podium to lead Mozart’s breathless and breathtaking comedy.
Blanchard’s ‘Fire Shut Up in my Bones’
Met Opera | January 8, 2022
The opera — the Met's first performance of an opera by a Black composer — tells a poignant and profound story about a young man’s journey to overcome a life of trauma and hardship.
Massenet’s ‘Cinderella’ [Abridged English-language version]
Met Opera | January 1, 2022
Continuing a treasured holiday tradition, the Met presents a new installment in its series of abridged opera adaptations for family audiences.
‘Aida’ at the Met
Met Opera | December 25, 2021
Highlights from great Met broadcasts of Verdi’s Aida in celebration of the 90th anniversary of Met broadcasts and the 150th anniversary of Aida.
Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’ [Abridged English-language version]
Met Opera | December 18, 2021
The Met’s abridged, English-language version of Mozart’s magical fairy tale is a classic holiday treat for audiences of all ages.
Puccini’s ‘Tosca’
Met Opera | December 11, 2021
Sondra Radvanovsky stars in the title role, sharing the stage with tenors Brian Jagde as the painter-revolutionary Cavaradossi and bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin as the vile police chief Scarpia. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
Aucoin’s ‘Eurydice’
Met Opera | December 4, 2021
American composer Matthew Aucoin has created a new, captivating, 21st-century take on the myth of Orpheus.
Puts’ Silent Night
Minnesota Opera | November 27, 2021
Recounting a miraculous moment of peace during one of the bloodiest wars in human history, Scottish, French, and German officers defy their superiors and negotiate a Christmas Eve truce. The Pulitzer Prize-winning music underscores the yearning, despair, and hope of the soldiers living in the trenches. Silent Night masterfully juxtaposes the bombastic sounds of war with serene songs from home, ...
Verdi’s Luisa Miller
Teatro dell’Opera Rome | November 20, 2021
Rome Opera presents a stunning performance of Verdi’s Luisa Miller, starring Roberta Mantegna in the title role, alongside Michele Pertusi as Count Walter, Antonio Poli as Rodolfo, and Daniela Barcellona as Federica. Michele Mariotti conducts the Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus from the stage of Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera.
Britten’s Peter Grimes
Teatro Real, Madrid | November 13, 2021
In Britten's Peter Grimes, maritime atmosphere, the crudity of people’s lives and passions, and the complex, impenetrable personality of the protagonist come together in a tragedy which ferments and explodes in the din of silence and hearsay. A tragedy which is immediately forgotten gives way to the self-righteousness of everyday lives and the movement of the sea itself.
Bizet’s Carmen
Vienna State Opera | November 6, 2021
It's a story full of misunderstandings: Love is confused with desire, an affair with an exclusive relationship, affection with possession, and violence with passion. But the highest price in this web of dysfunctional relationships is paid by Carmen – a woman who loves her independence more than anything else, including men.
Donizetti’s La Fille du régiment
Slovene National Theatre, Maribor | October 30, 2021
Marie was found on a battlefield as a infant, and was taken in by the 21st Regiment, where she was treated as a 'daughter'. Her foster-father Sulpice tells her that she should marry a soldier from the Regiment. When Marie falls for a solider from the rival camp Tyrolean Tonio , it looks as though she may have to choose between her family and true love.
Handel’s Orlando
Haymarket Opera | October 23, 2021
The warrior knight Orlando is madly in love with Angelica, Princess of Cathay. Angelica and the shepherdess Dorinda both love Prince Medoro. Deception and chaos reign. Can the sorcerer Zoroastro, benevolent guardian of Orlando, save the day?
Puccini’s La bohème
LA Opera | October 16, 2021
It’s 19th-century Paris, a world capital filled with bustling cafes, bold ideas and creative energy. Six struggling young artists dream of making it big and finding their perfect matches. Along the way, they learn to celebrate life for all that it’s worth.
Britten’s Billy Budd
LA Opera | October 9, 2021
Based on the novella by Herman Melville, the Benjamin Britten's maritime masterpiece follows an innocent naval recruit who joins the crew of the H.M.S. Indomitable, helmed by a noble captain. But one commanding officer's dark desires cause a tragic turn of events for the beloved young sailor...and himself.
Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito
LA Opera | October 2, 2021
Rome in the first century A.D. is the most powerful civilization in the world. And yet even this greatest of capitals falls vulnerable to power players seeking glory. In a plight to keep his crown and save the city he loves, Emperor Titus is faced with the ultimate choice between mercy or murder.
Debussy’s Pelléas and Mélisande
Rouen Normandy Opera | September 25, 2021
An unspoken song, sumptuous orchestration, a love story inspired by the myth of Tristan and Iseult, and a poetic atmosphere: so many elements that make Claude Debussy's Pelléas and Mélisande such a bewitching work.
Bottesini’s Alì Babà
Opera Southwest | September 18, 2021
With a libretto based on “Alì Babà and the Forty Thieves,” the well-known and lively story from One Thousand and One Nights, Alì Babà was composed by Giovanni Bottesini, an Italian composer and double bass virtuoso, known as the “Paganini of the bass”.
Rossini’s Tancredi
Opera Southwest | September 11, 2021
Set against the exotic backdrop of war, intrigue, and conquest in medieval Sicily, Tancredi follows the romance between the exiled soldier Tancredi the beautiful Amenaide. When Amenaide is sentenced to death for a crime she did not commit, a disguised Tancredi fights to defend both love and honor.
Rameau’s Hippolytus and Aricia
Opéra Comique | September 4, 2021
So great and pure is the love between Hippolytus and Aricia that the goddess Diane will do everything in her power to protect them.
Wagner’s Parsifal
Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse | August 28, 2021
For his very last opera, Richard Wagner choose to deepen some of the themes that have marked his artistic and human journey: the feeling of fault, guilt, redemption, sacred love and profane desire. His opera Parsifal is a showcase of some of the most beautiful music written for opera, it takes the artform into the realms of philosophy and mystic visions, as well as being a profound exploration of the great questions at the core of our human experience.
Rubinstein’s ‘The Demon’
Opéra National de Bordeaux | August 21, 2021
The Russian-language opera — based on the controversial poem of the same title by Mikhail Lermontov — was composed by composer, conductor, pianist, and pedagogue Anton Rubinstein (of no relation to pianist Arthur Rubinstein). This performance is conducted by Paul Daniel and stars Alexandros Stavrakakis (Prince Gudal), Ray Chenez (The Angel), Evgenia Muraveva (Tamara), and Nicolas Cavallier (The Demon).
Massenet’s ‘Manon’
Opéra Bastille | August 14, 2021
Manon steers a course between two worlds, escaping the convent to embrace the paths of desire and transgression and throw herself headlong into a passionate, yet self-destructive love affair...
Strauss’ ‘Elektra’
Royal Swedish Opera | August 7, 2021
From 1965 this archive broadcast from Royal Swedish Opera is the sensational Swedish premiere of Strauss' opera and is famed soprano Birgit Nilsson's role debut as Elektra.
Verdi’s ‘Il trovatore’
Swedish Royal Opera | July 31, 2021
This historic broadcast of Il trovatore was recorded at Jussi Björling’s last performance at the Swedish Royal Opera House in 1960, the scene where he made his opera debut in 1930. His counterpart was the legendary Hjördis Schymberg performing the role Leonora. In 1934, she sang with Björling in Puccini’s La Bohème and they sang over 100 performances together over ...
Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Royal Opera | July 24, 2021
Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is one of the twentieth century's masterpieces, acclaimed at its premiere in 1934 but then banned two years later by Stalin.
Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier
Royal Opera | July 17, 2021
Renée Fleming stars as the Marschallin and Alice Coote, as her young lover Octavian. Knowing their love will end, they plot together to save Sophie von Faninal (Sophie Bevan) from a loveless marriage to the philandering Baron Ochs (Matthew Rose).
Wagner’s ‘Tannhäuser’
Royal Opera | July 10, 2021
'Tannhäuser' is the tale of the young troubadour knight who is torn between spiritual love and carnal desire.
Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’
Royal Opera | July 3, 2021
Mozart's Don Giovanni, with its compelling story and characterization, coupled with some of his greatest and most memorable music, has been a hit with audiences ever since its 1787.
Verdi’s ‘Les Vêpres Siciliennes’
Royal Opera | June 26, 2021
Written for the Paris Opera in 1855, Verdi adopted the elaborate styles and traditions of French Grand opera in 'Les Vêpres Siciliennes'. It is a tale of family relationships, loyalty, patriotism and revenge.
Puccini’s ‘Tosca’
Royal Opera | June 19, 2021
Jealousy, torture, murder and suicide: the path of true love certainly produces a bumpy ride. Puccini's Tosca can make for a compelling night at the theatre.
Double Bill: Handel’s ‘Acis and Galatea’ and ‘Apollo e Dafne’
Haymarket Opera Company | June 12, 2021
The 2021 WFMT Radio Network Opera Series begins with an exceptional double-bill of Handel: 'Acis and Galatea', and 'Apollo e Dafne', presented by Chicago’s Haymarket Opera Company.
Britten’s ‘Billy Budd’
Metropolitan Opera | June 5, 2021
From 1997: Steuart Bedford conducts Philip Langridge (Captain Vere), Dwayne Croft (Billy Budd), James Morris (Claggart), Victor Braun (Mr. Redburn), Julien Robbins (Lt. Ratcliffe), James Courtney (Mr. Flint), Paul Plishka (Dansker)
Verdi’s ‘Otello’
Metropolitan Opera | May 29, 2021
From 2015: Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Sonya Yoncheva (Desdemona), Aleksandrs Antonenko (Otello), Dimitri Pittas (Cassio), and Željko Lučić (Iago).
Bellini’s ‘I Puritani’
Metropolitan Opera | May 22, 2021
From 2017: Maurizio Benini conducts Diana Damrau (Elvira Walton) and Javier Camarena (Lord Arturo Talbot).
Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’
Metropolitan Opera | May 15, 2021
From 2016: Simon Rattle conducts Nina Stemme (Isolde), Ekaterina Gubanova (Brangäne), Stuart Skelton (Tristan), Evgeny Nikitin (Kurwenal), and René Pape (King Marke).
Anna Netrebko Puccini Gala
Metropolitan Opera | May 8, 2021
Star soprano Anna Netrebko performs Puccini highlights from La bohème, Tosca, and Turandot.
Donizetti’s ‘Roberto Devereux’
Metropolitan Opera | May 1, 2021
Maurizio Benini conducts; Sondra Radvanovsky (Elisabetta), Elīna Garanča (Sara), Matthew Polenzani (Roberto), and Mariusz Kwiecien (Duke of Nottingham) star.
Strauss’s ‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’
Metropolitan Opera | April 24, 2021
From 2013: Anne Schwanewilms (Empress), Ildikó Komlósi (Nurse), and Christine Goerke (Dyer’s Wife) star, Vladimir Jurowski conducts.
Janáček’s ‘From the House of the Dead’
Metropolitan Opera | April 17, 2021
From 2009: Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts this performance starring Stefan Margita (Filka Morozov/Kuzmich), Eric Stoklossa (Alyeya), Peter Mattei (Shishkov), and Willard White (Gorianchikov).
Puccini’s ‘La bohème’
Metropolitan Opera | April 10, 2021
From 2017: Angel Blue (Mimì), Brigitte Kele (Musetta), Dmytro Popov (Rodolfo), Lucas Meachem (Marcello), and Duncan Rock (Schaunard) star; Alexander Soddy conducts.
Dvořák’s ‘Rusalka’
Metropolitan Opera | April 3, 2021
Renée Fleming stars in the title role; Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’
Metropolitan Opera | March 27, 2021
Gerald Finley stars as the title character in this performance of Mozart’s seminal opera. Sir Andrew Davis conducts; Marina Rebeka (Donna Anna), Ellie Dehn (Donna Elvira), Isabel Leonard (Zerlina), Matthew Polenzani (Don Ottavio), and Bryn Terfel (Leporello) costar.
Rossini’s ‘Le Comte Ory’
Metropolitan Opera | March 20, 2021
Pretty Yende (Countess Adèle), Karine Deshayes (Isolier), Susanne Resmark (Ragonde), and Juan Diego Flórez (Count Ory) star, Maurizio Benini conducts.
Mozart’s ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’
Metropolitan Opera | March 13, 2021
Mozart’s indelible opera buffa, starring Ailyn Pérez (Countess), Nadine Sierra (Susanna), Isabel Leonard (Cherubino), Katarina Leoson (Marcellina), Mariusz Kwiecien (Count), Ildar Abdrazakov (Figaro), Maurizio Muraro (Dr. Bartolo). Conducted by Harry Bicket.
Bizet’s ‘Carmen’
Metropolitan Opera | March 6, 2021
From 2014: Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Anita Rachvelishvili (Carmen), Anita Hartig (Micaëla), Aleksandrs Antonenko (Don José), Ildar Abdrazakov (Escamillo) in Bizet’s seminal work.
Strauss’s ‘Der Rosenkavalier’
Metropolitan Opera | February 27, 2021
Renée Fleming (Marschallin) stars with Elīna Garanča (Octavian), Erin Morley (Sophie), Helene Schneiderman (Annina), Matthew Polenzani (A Singer). Sebastian Weigle conducts this 2017 performance of the landmark Strauss opera.
Puccini’s ‘La Rondine’
Metropolitan Opera | February 20, 2021
Marco Armiliato leads a star-studded cast: Angela Gheorghiu (Magda), Lisette Oropesa (Lisette), Roberto Alagna (Ruggero), Marius Brenciu (Prunier), Samuel Ramey (Rambaldo). From 2009.
Massenet’s ‘Cendrillon’
Metropolitan Opera | February 13, 2021
From April 2018: Joyce DiDonato stars as the title character in Massenet‘s adaptation of the Cinderella fairy tale. Kathleen Kim (La Fée), Alice Coote (Le Prince Charmant), Stephanie Blythe (Madame de la Haltière), Laurent Naouri (Pandolfe) co-star; Bertrand de Billy conducts.
Listeners’ Choice: Donizetti’s ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’
Metropolitan Opera | February 6, 2021
The great Maria Callas stars as the title character in this 1956 performance conducted by Fausto Cleva. Giuseppe Campora (Edgardo), Enzo Sordello (Enrico), Nicola Moscona (Raimondo) costar.
Gounod’s ‘Faust’
Metropolitan Opera | January 30, 2021
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts this 2011 performance with Marina Poplavskaya (Marguerite), Jonas Kaufmann (Faust), Russell Braun (Valentin), and René Pape (Méphistophélès).
Verdi’s ‘Il trovatore’
Metropolitan Opera | January 23, 2021
A star-studded performance from 1961 starring Leontyne Price (Leonora), Irene Dalis (Azucena), and Franco Corelli (Manrico) and conducted by Fausto Cleva.
Verdi’s ‘La traviata’
Metropolitan Opera | January 16, 2021
Karel Mark Chichon conducts; Aleksandra Kurzak (Violetta Valéry), Dmytro Popov (Alfredo Germont), Quinn Kelsey (Giorgio Germont) star in this performance from January 2020.
Rossini’s ‘Il barbiere di Siviglia’
Metropolitan Opera | January 9, 2021
Maurizio Benini conducts Joyce DiDonato (Rosina), Russell Braun (Figaro), and Lawrence Brownlee (Count Almaviva) in this performance from 2007.
Philip Glass’s ‘Satyagraha’
Metropolitan Opera | January 2, 2021
Dante Anzolini conducts Rachelle Durkin (Miss Schlesen), Richard Croft (M. K. Gandhi), Kim Josephson (Mr. Kallenbach), and Alfred Walker (Parsi Rustomji).
Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’ (abridged English-language version)
Metropolitan Opera | December 26, 2020
Erik Nielsen conducts this family-friendly, English language 2010 performance; Susanna Phillips (Pamina), Erika Miklósa (Queen of the Night), Russell Thomas (Tamino), and Alan Oke (Monostatos) star.
Humperdinck’s ‘Hansel and Gretel’
Metropolitan Opera | December 19, 2020
Donald Runnicles conducts this family-friendly, English-language 2018 performance featuring Lisette Oropesa (Gretel), Tara Erraught (Hansel), Dolora Zajick (Gertrude), and Gerhard Siegel (Witch).
Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio’
Metropolitan Opera | December 12, 2020
Sebastian Weigle conducts this 2017 performance starring Adrianne Pieczonka (Leonore), Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (Marzelline), and Klaus Florian Vogt (Florestan).
Prokofiev’s ‘War and Peace’
Metropolitan Opera | December 5, 2020
Anna Netrebko (Natasha), Gegam Grigorian (Bezukhov), and Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Andrei) star in this 2002 performance of Prokofiev’s adaptation of Tolstoy’s enduring masterwork. Valery Gergiev conducts.
Rossini’s ‘Il turco in Italia’
La Scala | November 28, 2020
This performance of Rossini’s comedic opera buffa stars Alex Esposito (Selim) and Rosa Feola (Donna Fiorilla). Diego Fasolis conducts.
‘Cavalleria rusticana’ & ‘Pagliacci’
Liceu Opera Barcelona Double Bill | November 21, 2020
Henrik Nánási conducts this verismo double bill.
Puccini’s ‘Tosca’
La Scala | November 14, 2020
Hear Puccini’s indelible masterwork recorded live from the famed La Scala in Milan. Anna Netrebko stars in the title role, with Riccardo Chailly conducting.
‘Trial by Jury’ & ‘Scalia/Ginsburg’
OperaDelaware Double Bill | November 7, 2020
A double bill of courtroom operatic comedies is on the docket as Opera Delaware presents two works separated by 140 years.
Bellini’s ‘Norma’
Hamburg State Opera | October 31, 2020
Marina Rebeka stars in the title role in this performance conducted by Matteo Beltrami.
Handel’s ‘Agrippina’
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | October 24, 2020
Joyce DiDonato stars as the title character. Maxim Emelyanychev conducts.
Massenet’s ‘Werther’
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | October 17, 2020
Juan Diego Flórez stars as the title character opposite Isabel Leonard (Charlotte). Edward Gardner conducts.
Donizetti’s ‘Don Pasquale’
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | October 10, 2020
Sir Bryn Terfel stars in the title role in this performance of Donizetti’s classic comic opera. Evelino Pidò conducts.
Britten’s ‘Death in Venice’
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | October 3, 2020
Tenor Mark Padmore sings 7 roles in this performance of Britten’s Death in Venice. Richard Farnes conducts.
Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | September 26, 2020
Bass-baritone Erwin Schrott stars in the title role in this performance of Mozart’s timeless opera. Hartmut Haenchen conducts.
Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’
Opera Southwest | September 19, 2020
Corey Bix stars as the title character in this performance of Wagner’s Lohengrin. Michelle Johnson (Elsa of Brabant), Claudia Chapa (Ortud), and Sean Anderson (Friederich) co-star. Anthony Barrese conducts.
Hector Armienta’s ‘Bless Me, Ultima’
Opera Southwest | September 12, 2020
Héctor Armienta’s Bless Me, Ultima, based on Rudolfo Anaya’s landmark Chicano novel, stars Daisy Beltran as Tony and Kirstin Chavez as Ultima. Guillermo Figueroa conducts.
Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio’
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | September 5, 2020
Beethoven’s only opera is a masterpiece, an uplifting story of risk and triumph. In this new production, conducted by Antonio Pappano, Jonas Kaufmann plays the political prisoner Florestan, and Lise Davidsen plays his wife Leonore (disguised as ‘Fidelio’) who daringly sets out to rescue him.
Monteverdi’s ‘L’Orfeo’
Royal Danish Opera | August 29, 2020
Regarded as one of the first operas, the late-renaissance L’Orfeo tells the story of Orpheus as he goes down to the underworld in search of his beloved Eurydice. In this performance, Danish conductor and baroque expert Lars Ulrik Mortensen teams up with Concerto Copenhagen to guarantee a sparklingly vivid and close-up interpretation of Monteverdi’s unique and immortal music.
Verdi’s ‘Aida’
Chicago Symphony Orchestra | August 22, 2020
Maestro Riccardo Muti, widely considered to be today’s preeminent interpreter of Verdi’s music, leads this performance of Aida.
Puccini’s ‘La bohème’
LA Opera On Air | August 15, 2020
James Conlon conducts this performance, featuring Marina Costa-Jackson (Mimi), Saimir Pirgu (Rodolfo), Erica Petrocelli (Musetta), and Kihun Yoon (Marcello)
Mozart’s ‘The Clemency of Titus’
LA Opera On Air | August 8, 2020
With Die Zauberflöte, The Clemency of Titus (La clemenza di Tito) was one of the last two operas Mozart completed — it premiered less than two months before the composer's untimely death at age 35. This performance of Mozart's final opera seria features tenor Russell Thomas in the title role.
Bizet’s ‘Carmen’
LA Opera On Air | August 1, 2020
Hear Bizet’s most popular opera starring Ana María Martínez in the title role. The cast also includes Brandon Jovanovich (Don José); Amanda Woodbury (Micaela); Alexander Vinogradov (Escamillo); among other soloists. The performance features the Los Angeles Opera Chorus and Orchestra led by James Conlon.
Bellini’s ‘I puritani’
Lyric Opera of Chicago | July 25, 2020
Albina Shagimuratova (Elvira) and Lawrence Brownlee (Arturo) star in this performance conducted by Lyric music director designate Enrique Mazzola. READ MORE: Hope and Strength: Celebrating Black Artistry with Lawrence Brownlee & Lyric
Gluck’s ‘Orphée et Eurydice’
Lyric Opera of Chicago | July 18, 2020
Dmitry Korchak and Andriana Chuchman are the titular lovers in this performance. Harry Bicket conducts.
Gounod’s ‘Faust’
Lyric Opera of Chicago | July 11, 2020
Benjamin Bernheim stars in the title role, with Ailyn Pérez (Marguerite), Christian Van Horn (Méphistophélès), and Edward Parks (Valentin) in this performance conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.
Wagner’s ‘Die Walküre’
Lyric Opera of Chicago | July 4, 2020
Brandon Jovanovich (Siegmund), Elisabet Strid (Sieglinde), Ain Anger (Hunding), Eric Owens (Wotan), and Christine Goerke (Brünnhilde) in this performance of the second entry in the Ring cycle. Sir Andrew Davis conducts.
Bizet’s ‘The Pearl Fishers’
Lyric Opera of Chicago | June 27, 2020
Marina Rebeka (Leïla), Mariusz Kwiecień (Zurga), and Matthew Polenzani (Nadir) star in this performance conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’
Lyric Opera of Chicago | June 20, 2020
Ryan Opera Center alumnus Quinn Kelsey stars in the title role, in a cast that also features Matthew Polenzani (Duke of Mantua), Rosa Feola (Gilda), and Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Sparafucile). Marco Armiliato conducts.
Puccini’s ‘Turandot’
Lyric Opera of Chicago | June 13, 2020
Amber Wagner stars in the title role in this performance, which also features Stefano La Colla (Calaf), Andrea Silvestrelli (Timur), and Maria Agresta (Liù). Sir Andrew Davis conducts.
Mozart’s ‘Così fan tutte’
Lyric Opera of Chicago | June 6, 2020
Ana María Martínez stars as Fiordiligi in the opening performance in this season of our Lyric Opera of Chicago Broadcast Series. James Gaffigan conducts.
Strauss’s ‘Elektra’
Vienna State Opera | May 30, 2020
Christine Goerke stars in the title role with soprano Waltraud Meier as Klytaemnestra, Simone Schneider as Chrysothemis, and tenor Norbert Ernst as Aegisth in this performance of Strauss’s gripping, one-act opera.
Offenbach’s ‘Tales of Hoffmann’
Vienna State Opera | May 23, 2020
Tenor Dmitry Korchak—one of the most exciting and sought-after voices of his generation and regarded as one of today’s best performers of bel canto repertoire—stars in the title role alongside soprano Olga Peretyatko and mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez.
Gluck’s ‘Alceste’
Bavarian State Opera | May 16, 2020
Dorothea Röschmann stars as the title character in this performance, which also features Charles Castronovo (Admeto) and Michael Nagy (High Priest of Apollo/Hercules). Antonello Manacorda conducts.
Giovanni Bottesini’s Ali Baba
Opera Southwest | November 30, 2019
With a libretto based on “Alì Babà and the Forty Thieves,” the well-known and lively story from One Thousand and One Nights, Alì Babà was composed by Giovanni Bottesini, an Italian composer and double bass virtuoso, known as the “Paganini of the bass” The opera was premiered in 1871 in London, receiving considerable acclaim and numerous performances. However, the score was later ...
Bellini’s Norma
Opera Southwest | November 23, 2019
Opera Southwest artistic director and principal conductor Anthony Barrese leads this performance of Bellini’s seminal bel canto Norma starring Lindsay Ohse in the title role. Cast Norma: Lindsay Ohse Adalgisa: Olivia Vote Pollione: John Pickle Oroveso: Justin Hopkins Clotilde: Cammy Cook Flavio: Gabriel Liboiron-Cohen Ensemble: Opera Southwest Orchestra and Chorus Conductor: Anthony Barrese Chorus master: Kristin Ditlow
Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra | November 16, 2019
Music director laureate Edo de Waart conducted this semi-staged 2016 performance of the celebrated Mozart opera The Marriage of Figaro starring Douglas Williams (Figaro) and Joélle Harvey (Susanna). Cast: Figaro: Douglas Williams Susanna: Joélle Harvey Count: Gordon Bintner Countess Almaviva: Rachel Willis-Sorensen Cherubino: Maren Favela Marcellina: Susanne Mentzer Bartolo: Peixin Chen Don Basilio and Don Curzio: William Ferguson Barbarina: Alisa Suzanne ...
Faccio’s Amleto
OperaDelaware | November 9, 2019
WFMT wraps up its series of 3 broadcasts from OperaDelaware with this production of the lesser-known Franco Faccio opera Amleto, which takes Shakespeare's Hamlet as its inspiration.
Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi & Michael Ching’s Buoso’s Ghost
OperaDelaware | November 2, 2019
A unique double serving of one of opera's best known patriarchs with Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and its comic sequel, Buoso's Ghost, by living composer Michael Ching, who also conducts the performance.
Puccini’s Il Tabarro & Suor Angelica
OperaDelaware | October 26, 2019
WFMT's series of 3 broadcasts from OperaDelaware begins with this double bill of Puccini one-act operas, Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica.
Handel’s Acis and Galatea
Music of the Baroque | October 19, 2019
WFMT shares the third of its three-broadcast series of Handel works performed by Chicago’s Music of the Baroque. Jane Glover, Music of the Baroque’s music director, conducts this performance of Handel’s Acis and Galatea featuring tenor Thomas Cooley (Acis) and soprano Elizabeth Futral (Galatea). Cast Galatea: Elizabeth Futral Acis: Thomas Cooley Damon: Benjamin Butterfield Polyphemus: Christòpheren Nomura Ensemble: Music of the ...
Handel’s Israel in Egypt
Music of the Baroque | October 12, 2019
WFMT shares the second of its three-broadcast series of Handel works performed by Chicago’s Music of the Baroque. Jane Glover, Music of the Baroque’s music director, conducts this performance of Handel’s Israel in Egypt featuring soprano Sarah Gartshore and tenor Daniel Shirley. Cast Soprano: Sarah Gartshore Soprano: Kimberly McCord Soprano: Amy Conn Countertenor: Joseph Schlesinger Tenor: Daniel Shirley Tenor: Klaus Georg ...
Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus
Music of the Baroque | October 5, 2019
WFMT shares the first of its three-broadcast series of Handel works performed by Chicago’s Music of the Baroque. Jane Glover, Music of the Baroque’s music director, conducts this performance of Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus starring tenor Thomas Cooley (Judas), bass-baritone Eric Owens (Simon) and featuring Anima — The Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus. Cast Israelitish Woman: Yulia Van Doren Israelitish Man: Meg Bragle ...
Mozart’s The Clemency of Titus
LA Opera On Air | September 28, 2019
With Die Zauberflöte, The Clemency of Titus (La clemenza di Tito) was one of the last two operas Mozart completed — it premiered less than two months before the composer's untimely death at age 35. This performance of Mozart's final opera seria features tenor Russell Thomas in the title role.
Bizet’s Carmen
LA Opera On Air | September 21, 2019
Hear Bizet’s most popular opera starring Ana María Martínez in the title role. The cast also includes Brandon Jovanovich (Don José); Amanda Woodbury (Micaela); Alexander Vinogradov (Escamillo); among other soloists. The performance features the Los Angeles Opera Chorus and Orchestra led by James Conlon.
Verdi’s Attila
RAI (Italy) and the European Broadcasting Union | August 3, 2019
Under the music direction of Riccardo Chailly, Ildar Abdrazakov (Attila) and Saioa Hernández (Odabella) star in this La Scala performance of Verdi’s Attila.
Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice
RAI (Italy) and the European Broadcasting Union | July 27, 2019
Carlo Vistoli and Mariangela Sicilia star as the titular ill-fated lovers in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. This Teatro dell’Opera di Roma performance was recorded at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, and was conducted by Gianluca Capuano.
Rossini’s Adina
RAI (Italy) and the European Broadcasting Union | July 20, 2019
Lisette Oropesa (Adina), Vito Priante (Califo), and Levy Sekgapane (Selimo) star in this performance of Adina recorded at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy. One of the composer’s less-performed works, the one-act comic opera tells the story of Adina, who is rescued from captivity by her former lover, Selimo. Diego Matheuz conducts.
Giordano’s Andrea Chénier
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | July 13, 2019
Tenor Roberto Alagna stars as the title character in Umberto Giordano’s French Revolution-set verismo opera. This performance also features soprano Sondra Radvanovsky (Maddalena de Coigny), baritone Dimitri Platanias (Carlo Gérard), and is conducted by Daniel Oren.
Britten’s Billy Budd
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | July 6, 2019
Jacques Imbrailo (Billy), Toby Spence (Captain Vere), Brindley Sherratt (Claggart) star in Benjamin Britten’s seafaring opera based on the novel of the same name by Herman Melville.
Verdi’s La forza del destino
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | June 29, 2019
The Marquis of Calatrava (Robert Lloyd, bass) forbids his daughter Leonora (Anna Netrebko, soprano) to marry the South American nobleman Don Alvaro (Jonas Kaufmann, tenor). The lovers attempt to elope, but the Marquis catches them. In the ensuing altercation, Alvaro accidentally kills the Marquis, who curses his daughter as he dies. Leonora and Alvaro become separated during their escape. Leonora’s ...
Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | June 22, 2019
The penniless soldier Herman (Aleksandrs Antonenko) has fallen in love with Liza (Eva-Maria Westbroek), even though she is engaged to his friend Yeletsky (Vladimir Stoyanov). Herman learns that Liza’s grandmother, the Countess (Dame Felicity Palmer), knows a winning three-card formula. Herman determines to wrest the secret from the Countess, gain a fortune through gambling and marry Liza. Sir Antonio Pappano ...
Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | June 15, 2019
Verdi's opera explores long-held secrets, treachery and the father-daughter relationship, in the majestic setting of Renaissance Genoa. The dashing corsair Simon Boccanegra and Maria, daughter of the nobleman Jacopo Fiesco, have fallen in love and had an illegitimate daughter. The child has disappeared from her foster-home. Boccanegra returns to Genoa to break the news to Maria, and learns of her death as a crowd, led by the plebeian Paolo Albiani, proclaim him Doge of Genoa.
Wagner’s Siegfried
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | June 8, 2019
The third opera in Richard Wagner’s epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungenrevels in its depiction of heroism even as it sets up the cycle’s dramatic conclusion. Siegfried, the child of Siegmund and Sieglinde, has been raised by Alberich’s brother Mime. Mime plans to use Siegfried to take back the ring from Fafner. But, as he grows up, Siegfried rebels against his dubious guardian.
Wagner’s Die Walküre
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | June 1, 2019
The second opera in Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen thrillingly depicts the discovery of a great love. During a storm, Sieglinde gives shelter to a wounded stranger. They find themselves drawn to each other. He is Siegmund, the twin from whom Sieglinde was separated in childhood. Unknown to them, their father is Wotan, the most powerful of the gods. Through ...
Wagner’s Das Rheingold
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | May 25, 2019
The dwarf Alberich forsakes love so that he may steal the Rhine’s gold. A ring is crafted from that gold, invested with great power. When the ring is taken from Alberich, he places on it a terrible curse. John Lundgren (Wotan); Johannes-Martin Kränzle (Alberich); Alan Oke (Loge); Sarah Connolly (Fricka); Lise Davidsen (Freia); Gerhard Siegel (Mime); Günther Groissböck (Fasolt); Brindley ...
Verdi’s Falstaff
Royal Opera House Covent Garden | May 18, 2019
Old, large and lecherous, Sir John Falstaff can’t resist the ladies. But they can resist him, and three of them plot to put an end to his advances once and for all. Bryn Terfel plays the title role in this performance, which also features Ana Maria Martinez (Alice Ford), Simon Keenlyside (Ford), AnnaProhaska (Nannetta), Frédérid Antoun (Fenton), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Dame ...
Puccini and Leoncavallo Double Bill
LA Opera On Air | October 6, 2018
This Los Angeles Opera program features operas from two Italian contemporaries: Gianni Schicchi by Puccini and Pagliacci by Leoncavallo. Plácido Domingo plays the wily the title character in Schicchi, then he steps into the orchestra pit to conduct Pagliacci, featuring Marco Berti (Canio) and Ana Maria Martinez (Nedda).
Verdi’s Nabucco
LA Opera On Air | September 22, 2018
Hear acclaimed singer Plácido Domingo in the title role of Verdi’s Nabucco. The cast also features Liudmyla Monastyrska (Abigaille); Morris Robinson (Zaccaria); Mario Chang (Ismaele); Nancy Fabiola Herrera (Fenena); and the Los Angeles Opera Chorus and Orchestra led by James Conlon.
Bizet’s Carmen
LA Opera On Air | September 15, 2018
Hear Bizet’s most popular opera, Carmen, starring Ana Maria Martinez in the title role. The cast also includes Brandon Jovanovich (Don José); Amanda Woodbury (Micaela); Alexander Vinogradov (Escamillo); among other soloists. The performance features the Los Angeles Opera Chorus and Orchestra led by James Conlon.
John Corigliano’s ‘The Ghosts of Versailles’
LA Opera On Air | September 2, 2017
This performance of Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles features Patricia Racette as Marie Antoinette along with Christopher Maltman (Beaumarchais), Kristinn Sigmundsson (Louis XVI), Lucas Meachem (Figaro), Robert Brubaker (Bégearss), Guanqun Yu (Rosina; Countess Almaviva), Lucy Schaufer (Susanna), Joshua Guerrero (Count Almaviva), Renée Rapier (Cherubino), Stacey Tappan (Florestine), Brenton Ryan (Leon), Scotty Scully (Marquis), Victoria Livengood (Woman with Hat), Joel Sorensen ...
Mozart’s ‘The Marriage of Figaro’
LA Opera On Air | August 19, 2017
This performance of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro features Roberto Tagliavini as Figaro along with performances by Pretty Yende (Susanna), Ryan McKinny (Count Almaviva), Guanqun Yu (Countess Almaviva), Renée Rapier (Cherubino), Kristinn Sigmundsson (Doctor Bartolo), Lucy Schaufer (Marcellina), So Young Park (Barbarina), Philip Cokorinos (Antonio), Robert Brubaker (Don Basilio), and Joel Sorensen (Don Curzio). James Conlon conducts.
Rossini’s ‘The Barber of Seville’
LA Opera On Air | August 12, 2017
This performance of Rossini’s opera buffa The Barber of Seville features Rodion Pogossov as Figaro along with cast members Almaviva René Barbera (Count), Elizabeth DeShong (Rosina), Alessandro Corbelli (Doctor Bartolo), Kristinn Sigmundsson (Don Basilio), Lucy Schaufer (Berta), and Jonathan Michie (Fiorello). James Conlon conducts.
Offenbach’s ‘The Tales of Hoffman’
LA Opera On Air | August 5, 2017
This performance of Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann features Vittorio Grigolo as Hoffmann along with Kate Lindsey (The Muse / Nicklausse), Nicolas Testé (Olympia), Kate Aldrich (Giulietta), Diana Damrau (Antonia / Stella), Christophe Mortagne (The Four Servants), Kihun Yoon (Luther), Theo Hoffman (Hermann), Michael Moore (Nathanael Brian), Rodell Rosel (Spalanzani), Daniel Armstrong (Schlémil), Nicholas Brownlee (Crespel), and Sharmay Musacchio (Voice of ...
Verdi’s ‘Macbeth’
LA Opera On Air | July 29, 2017
This performance of Verdi’s Macbeth, inspired by Shakespeare’s play of the same name, features Plácido Domingo in the title role at the head of an all-star cast that includes: Ekaterina Semenchuk (Lady Macbeth), Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Banquo), Joshua Guerrero (Macduff), Josh Wheeker (Malcom), Summer Hassan (Lady-in-Waiting), Theo Hoffman (Doctor). James Conlon conducts.
