Mozart's third and final opera with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, the hugely ambitious dramatic comedy Così fan Tutte (roughly translated as "They're All Like That"), is brought passionately to life in a first-class production conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and featuring one of the great starring roles for Cecilia Bartoli. Filmed live at the Zurich Opera House in February 2000 on a set that visualizes the subtitle "The School for Lovers," the plot revolves around two army officers arguing about the fidelity of their brides, then setting out to test their chastity.

The creation of Daphne was not a simple affair, especially for what concerned the poetic text (due to the modest talent of the librettist Joseph Gregor), but on 15th October 1938 the opera was finally premièred at Dresden’s Staatstheater. On the podium was the young conductor Karl Böhm. Daphne is a masterpiece of early 20th-century vocal music. Structured in a single act, this opera is a solid work with a rich musical vein. Strauss’s orchestration appears, as always, remarkably refined. The vocal writing is demanding for all the main characters, but especially so for the protagonist, here interpreted by a magnificent June Anderson. Filmed in high definition at Venice’s La Fenice, the present production is directed by Paul Curran.

Stefan Herheim's idea of staging a midsummer night's dream as a fairytale narrative is enchanting and with this admirably matched ensemble of excellent singer-players, all of whom bring sharp contours to their roles, and the brilliant details of characterization make each scene an experience to cherish. This unbelievably lavish and absolutely splendid stage set radiates youthful charm and conjures up a flood of incomparable images.

Translucence, transparency – warmth' are the qualities identified by Bernard Haitink as necessary for an ideal sound performance of Beethoven's only opera, and all are present in this fantastic recording of Katharina Thalbach's new production for Opernhaus Zurich. Haitink conducts the Zurich Opera Orchestra in a magnificent performance in which Leonore Overture No. 3 provides an interlude between the two scenes of the second act, following a tradition started by Gustav Mahler.

The overwhelming success of the Prague performance of Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) in December 1786, led to the commissioning of a new opera. Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte turned to the Don Juan theme, making this promising material the basis for their new opera. In the spring of 1787 Mozart began to compose it in Vienna, and was able to complete it in Prague by the autumn of the same year. Don Giovanni received its first performance, under the composer’s personal direction, on 20 October 1787 at Prague’s Count Nostitz National Theatre.

Mozart's third and final opera with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, the hugely ambitious dramatic comedy Così fan Tutte (roughly translated as "They're All Like That"), is brought passionately to life in a first-class production conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and featuring one of the great starring roles for Cecilia Bartoli. Filmed live at the Zurich Opera House in February 2000 on a set that visualizes the subtitle "The School for Lovers," the plot revolves around two army officers arguing about the fidelity of their brides, then setting out to test their chastity.

This production of Rossinis Il Barbiere di Siviglia, staged by Coline Serreau, was presented at the Opera Bastille for the first time in 2002. It was the successful film directors second opera project. The international cast features one of the leading lyric mezzos working in the Rossini repertoire American Joyce DiDonato sings Rosina. German-Italian star tenor Roberto Saccà takes the role of her seducer, Count Almaviva and Czech baritone Dalibor Jenis, currently one of the best Figaros available, completes the leading trio. Delicate Spanish bass baritone Carlos Chausson playing Bartolo, Rosinas guardian, and Icelandic bass Kristinn Sigmundsson as the curious music teacher Basilio provide suitable buffo material for the operas various comic scenes.

TWhen the legendary Venetian Teatro La Fenice, which had been completely destroyed by fire in 1996, rose like a phoenix from the ashes again, its rebirth was celebrated with Verdi’s La Traviata, an opera that had seen its première more than 150 years earlier in the same theatre. Led by star conductor Lorin Maazel, a cast of brilliant singer-actors brought an exact replica of the March 1853 version to the stage, giving audiences the opportunity to experience the opera as the world first heard at its premiere in Venice. The original score had been found in the archives of La Fenice, so that La Traviata could relive its premiere without any revisions. The great Violetta-Germont duet, the second act finale and the opera’s last two numbers resounded through the theatre in just the way that Verdi initially intended.