World of Opera

Domencio Cimarosa: Il Matrimonio Segreto (The Secret Marriage)
Royal Theater, Turin
Royal Theater Orchestra and Chorus
Francesco Pasqualetti, conductor

CAST: Barbara Bargnesi (Carolina); Paolo Bordogna (Sir Geronimo); Erika Grimaldi (Elisetta); Emanuele D'Auganno (Paolino); Roberto de Candia (Count Robinson); Chiara Amarù (Fidalma)

Richard Strauss: Capriccio
Paris National Opera, Palais Garnier
Paris National Opera Orchestra
Philippe Jordan, conductor

CAST: Michaela Kaune (Countess); Michaela Schuster (La Clairon); Joseph Kaiser (Flamand); Adrian Eröd (Olivier); Bo Skovhus (Count); Peter Rose (La Roche); Ryland Davies (Monsier Taupe)

Antonin Dvorak: Rusalka
Göteborg Opera, Sweden
Göteborg Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Olaf Henzold, conductor

CAST: Elisabet Strid (Rusalka); Nikolai Schukoff (Prince); Anders Lorentzson (Vodník); Annalena Persson (Foreign Princess); Susanne Resmark (Jezibaba); Eva-Lotta Ohlsson, Mia Karlsson, Erika Sax (Wood Sprites); Henrik Andersson (Hunter)

Giacomo Meyerbeer: Robert le Diable (Robert the Devil)
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus
Daniel Oren, conductor

CAST: Bryan Mymel (Robert); Patrizia Ciofi (Isabelle); John Relyea (Bertram); Marina Poplavskaya (Alice); Jean-Francois Borras (Raimbaut); Nicolas Courjal (Alberti)

Philip Glass: Kepler
Spoleto Festival USA
Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra
Westminster Choir
John Kennedy, conductor

CAST: John Hancock (Kepler); Anne-Carolyn Bird, Leah Wool, Kathryn Krasovec, Gregory Schmidt, Dan Kempson, Matt Boehler (Scholars)

In an encore presentation, the American stage premiere of Philip Glass's dynamic new drama, rooted in the life and inspirational ideas of the 17-century mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler.

Richard Wagner: Das Rheingold
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus
Antonio Pappano, conductor

CAST: Bryn Terfel (Wotan); Wolfgang Koch (Alberich); Stig Anderson (Loge); Sarah Connolly (Fricka); Gerhard Siegel (Mime); Ann Petersen (Freia); Peter Coleman-Wright (Donner); Andrew Rees (Froh); Maria Radner (Erda); Iain Paterson (Fasolt); Eric Halfvarson (Fafner); Nadine Livingston (Woglinde); Kai Rüütel (Wellgunde); Harriet Williams (Flosshilde)

Jacques Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffman
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona
Liceu Orchestra and Chorus
Stéphane Denève, conductor

Giacomo Puccini: Manon Lescaut
La Monnaie Theatre, Brussels
La Monnaie Orchestra and Chorus
Carlo Rizzi, conductor

CAST: Eva-Maria Westbroek (Manon Lescaut); Brandon Jovanovich (Chevalier des Grieux); Giovanni Furlanetto (Geronte); Aris Argiris (Lescaut); Julien Dran (Edmondo); Alexander Kravits (Dancing Master/Lamplighter)

Gaetano Donizetti: La Favorite
Champs-Elysées Theatre, Paris
National Orchestra of France, Radio France Chorus
Paolo Arrivabeni, conductor

CAST: Alice Coote (Léonor de Guzman); Judith Gauthier (Inès); Marc Laho (Fernand); Ludovic Tézier (Alphonse XI); Carlo Colombara (Balthazar); Loic Felix (Don Gaspar)

Antonin Dvorak: Armida
National Moravian-Silesian Theatre, Ostrava
National Moravian-Silesian Theatre Orchestra and Chorus
Robert Jindra, conductor

CAST: Dana Buresová (Armida); Tomás Cerný (Rinald); David Szendiuch (Petr); Martin Gurbal (King Hydraot); Ulf Paulsen (Ismen); Martin Bárta (Bohumir); Peter Svetlik (Dudo); Martin Srejma (Sven); Matej Chadima (Gernand); Ondrej Koplik (Roger); Roman Vlkovic (Ubald); Martin Stolba (Muezzin); Marianna Pillárova (Siren)

Giuseppe Verdi: I Vespri Siciliani
Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor

CAST: Angela Meade (Elena); Gregory Kunde (Arrigo); Gabriele Viviani (Guido de Montforte); Ferruccio Furlanetto (Giovanni da Procida); Alexandru Moisiuc (Bethune); Alisa Kolosova (Ninette); Hans Peter Kammerer (Vaudemont); Marian Talaba (Danieli); Carlos Osuna (Tebaldo)

Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco
La Scala, Milan 
La Scala Orchestra and Chorus 
Nicola Luisotti, conductor

CAST: Leo Nucci (Nabucco); Liudmyla Monastyrska (Abigaille); Veronica Simeoni (Fenena); Alexander Antonenko (Ismaele); Vitaly Kovalyov (Zaccaria); Tatyana Ryaguzova (Anna); Giuseppe Veneziano (Abdallo); Ernesto Panariello (High Priest of Baal)

Special: Bach's St. Matthew Passion by the Handel and Hayden Society

Directed by Harry Christophers, this masterpiece combines the sounds of a double orchestra, a double choir, and a chorus of soloists to tell the story of Christ’s crucifixion from different characters’ perspectives.

Vincenzo Bellini: Il Pirata 
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona 
Liceu Symphony Orchestra and Chorus 
Antonino Fogliani, conductor

CAST: Mariella Devia (Imogene); Gregory Kunde (Gualtiero); Vladimir Stoyanov (Ernesto); Vicenc Esteve (Itulbo); Fernando Radó (Goffredo); Elena Copons (Adele)

Regarded by many as the first truly Romantic Italian opera, Il Pirata was also Bellini's first indisputable hit, beginning a career that soon saw him threatening Rossini as Italy's most popular opera composer.

Modest Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina
Bastille Opera, Paris 
Paris National Opera Orchestra and Chorus 
Michail Jurowski, conductor

CAST: Gleb Nikolsky (Prince Ivan); Vladimir Galusin (Prince Andrei); Larissa Diadkova (Marfa); Vsevolod Grivnov (Golitsin); Orlin Anastassov (Dosifey); Sergei Murzaev (Shaklovity); Viacheslav Voinarovsky (Scrivener); Natalia Tymchenko (Emma)

Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviata 
Teatro San Carlo, Naples 
Teatro San Carlo Orchestra and Chorus 
Michele Mariotti, conductor

CAST: Carmen Giannattasio (Violetta); Saimir Pirgu (Alfredo); Vladimir Stoyanov (Giorgio Germont); Giuseppina Bridelli (Flora); Bernadette Lucarini (Annina)

2013's yearlong celebration of Verdi's 200th birthday continues with one of his most beloved operas, in a performance from the historic San Carlo in Naples, a theater dating to the mid 1700s.

Leos Janacek: Jenufa 
Zurich Opera House 
Zurich Opera Orchestra and Chorus 
Fabio Luisi, conductor

CAST: Kristine Opolais (Jenufa); Christopher Ventris (Laca); Michaela Martens (Kostelnicka); Pavol Breslik (Steva Buryja); Ivana Rusko (Karolka); Hanna Schwarz (Grandmother Buryjovka); Cheyne Davidson (Starek); Lukas Jakovski (Mayor); Susanne Grossteiner (Jano)

Vincenzo Bellini: The Capulets and the Montagues 
öteborg Opera, Sweden  
Göteborg Opera Orchestra and Chorus 
Giancarlo Andretta, conductor

CAST: Kerstin Avemo (Giuletta); Katarina Karnéus (Romeo); Mats Persson (Lorenzo); Karl Rombo (Tebaldo); Markus Schwarz (Cappelio)

Giacomo Puccini: La Boheme 
Chorégies d'Orange Festival, France (Théâtre Antique, Orange) 
Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra 
Myung-Whun Chung, conductor

CAST: Inva Mula (Mimi); Vittorio Grigolo (Rodolfo); Nicola Beller Carbone (Musetta); Ludovic Tézier (Marcello); Marco Spotti (Colline); Lionel Lhote (Schaunard/Benoit); Jean-Pierre Frémeau (Alcindoro/Parpignol)

Giuseppe Verdi: La Forza del Destino 
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona 
Liceu Symphony Orchestra and Chorus 
Renato Palumbo, conductor

CAST: Violeta Urmana (Leonora); Marcello Giordani (Don Alvaro); Ludovic Tézier (Don Carlo di Vargas); Abramo Rosalen (Marquis of Calatrava); Marianne Cornetti (Preziosilla); Bruno de Simone (Fra Melitone); Cristina Faus (Curra); Vicenc Esteve Madrid (Trabuco); Vitali Kowaljow (Padre Guardino)

Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice 
Boston Baroque 
Boston Baroque Orchestra and Chorus 
Martin Pearlman, conductor

CAST: Owen Willets (Orfeo); Mary Wilson (Euridice); Courtney Huffman (Amor)

Georges Bizet:The Pearl Fishers 
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam 
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus 
Michel Plasson, conductor

CAST: Annick Massis (Leila); Charles Castronovo (Nadir); Jean-Francois Lapointe (Zurga); Nicolas Teste (Nourabad)

Giuseppe Verdi: Otello 
La Fenice, Venice 
La Fenice Orchestra and Chorus 
Myung-Whun Chung, conductor

CAST: Gregory Kunde (Otello); Leah Crocetto (Desdemona); Lucio Gallo (Iago); Elisabetta Martorana (Emilia); Francesco Marsiglia (Cassio); Antonello Ceron (Roderigo); Mattia Denti (Lodovico); Matteo Ferrara (Montano)

Gaetano Donizetti: The Elixir of Love
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden  
Royal Opera Orchestra and Chorus 
Bruno Campanella, conductor

CAST: Aleksandra Kurzak (Adina); Roberto Alagna (Nemorino); Fabio Capitanucci (Belcore); Ambrogio Maestri (Dr. Dulcamara); Susana Gaspar (Gianetta)

Gaetano Donizetti: Don Pasquale
Champs-Elysées Theatre, Paris
National Orchestra of France
Radio France Chorus
Enrique Mazzola, conductor

CAST: Alessandro Corbelli (Don Pasquale); Désirée Rancatore (Norina); Gabriele Viviani (Dr. Malatesta); Francesco Demuro (Ernesto); Richard Tronc (Notary)

George Frideric Handel: Semele
Candian Opera Company, Toronto
Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and Chorus
Rinaldo Alessandrini, conductor

CAST: Jane Archibald (Semele); William Burden (Jupiter); Allyson McHardy (Juno, Ino); Steven Humes (Cadmus, Somnus); Katherine Shyte (Iris); Anthony Roth Costanzo (Athamus)

Frederick Delius: A Village Romeo and Juliet
Wexford Opera (Ireland)
Wexford Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Rory Macdonald, conductor

CAST: Jessica Muirhead (Vreli); John Bellemer (Sali); Quentin Hayes (Manz); Andrew Greenan (Marti); David Stout (The Dark Fiddler)

Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Teatro Real, Madrid
Madrid Symphony Orchestra
Intermezzo Chorus
Hartmut Haenchen, conductor

CAST: Günther Groissböck (Boris Godunov); Stefan Margita (Shuysky); Béatrice Uria-Monzon (Mrina); Dmitri Ulyanov (Pimen); Alexandra Kadurina (Fyodor); Alina Yarovaya (Xenia); Yuri Nechaev (Shchelkalov); Michael König (Grigory) 

Giuseppe Verdi: Rigoletto
Teatro Regio, Turin
Teatro Regio Orchestra and Chorus
Daniele Rustioni, conductor

CAST: Giovanni Meoni (Rigoletto); Désirée Rancatore (Gilda); Piero Pretti (Duke of Mantua); Alessandro Guerzoni (Sparafucile); Irini Karaianni (Maddalena); Maria Di Mauro (Giovanna); Davide Motta Fré (Ceprano); Ziyan Atfeh (Monterone)

P. I. TCHAIKOVSKY: The Enchantress
Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
Bolshoi Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Alexander Lazarev, conductor

CAST: Anna Nechaeva (Nastasya); Vladislav Sulimsky (Prince Nikita Kurlyatev); Elena Manistina (Princess Yevpraksiya Romanovna); Eduard Martynyuk (Prince Yury); Vyacheslav Pochapsky (Mamïrov); Tatiana Erastova (Nenila); Alexei Pashiev (Ivan Zhuran); Mikhail Diyakov (Foka); Anastasia Kikot (Polya)