LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER presents New York City Opera’s current production of MADAMA BUTTERFLY. Written four decades before World War II, Puccini’s MADAMA BUTTERFLY has only become more relevant as history has unfolded. This poignant story of a disastrous clash of cultures is elegant in its simplicity, making Puccini‚s luscious score downright transcendental. The intimacy [...]

Julie Taymor’s sparkling English-language production of Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE illustrates the tale with flying birds, dancing bears and a star-shimmering Queen of the Night. Set in a fanciful ancient Egypt, the story is as universal as any fairy tale. The noble Prince Tamino is encouraged by The Queen of the Night to rescue her [...]

Jealousy, murder, suicide, religious rapture, intrigue, young love! No, it isn’t a soap opera — it’s Puccini’s triple-bill of one-act operas, IL TRITTICO. This new production by Broadway luminary (and Tony Award-winner) Jack O’Brien and a team of leading theater designers showcases the amazing technical resources of the Met stage as well as a brilliant [...]

The instantly familiar music of Rossini’s THE BARBER OF SEVILLE (IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA) has been featured in cartoons, commercials, and TV shows galore, but it’s best heard in its original form, where its infectious charm and bubbling joy are given free reign. In the Met’s new production, by acclaimed theater director Bartlett Sher and [...]

Composer Tan Dun’s epic opera is based on the life and reign of the Qin Shi Huangdi, the first man to unify the warring states of ancient China and the builder of the first Great Wall. With music that is a mix of East and West, the monumental production features the legendary tenor Plácido Domingo [...]

American soprano Renée Fleming joins Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky for this broadcast of Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous and lyrical adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s iconic text EUGENE ONEGIN. The sweeping dramatic arc of this opera — youthful longing, rejection, regret, a desperate plea that comes too late — is perfectly mirrored in Tchaikovsky’s achingly beautiful music and in [...]

Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, who has taken the opera world by storm since her American debut in 1995, now inhabits the role of the fragile Elvira in Bellini’s final work, I PURITANI, the tale of love and madness set during the English Revolution. With its vocal fireworks and opportunities for real acting, this has been [...]

Gounod’s ultra-sensual interpretation of Shakespeare is an ideal vehicle for star soprano Anna Netrebko and the remarkable tenor Roberto Alagna, both of whom bring their incandescent appeal to the title roles. The irresistible Nathan Gunn is Mercutio and Plácido Domingo presides on the podium. ROMEO ET JULIET airs for SundayArts on April 6, 2008.

Most fairy tales, though charming on the outside, have darker underpinnings. Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer play the siblings lost in a shadowy world of unknown menace, pursued by the Witch (portrayed by tenor Philip Langridge) who seeks to devour them. The English-language production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s masterful treatment of the beloved story by the [...]