Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision, brings the opening night live performance of Staatsoper Hannover’s  presentation of Monteverdi’s Orfeo, the cruel story of a great love.  Orpheus cannot get over the death of his beloved; he longs and yearns for her and loses himself in loops of loss. Using otherworldly images, director Silvia Costa imagines an enigmatic universe of dreams and hallucinations, of colours and symbols where Orpheus is bereft and disorientated. The production is conducted by baroque specialist David Bates, who brought Trionfo splendidly to life in Hannover.  Orfeo is sung by Luvuyo Mbundu and Eurydice by Nikki Treurniet.

The Plot: When he sings, the animals stop and listen; Orpheus can literally melt stone. To find Eurydice, who disappears on their wedding day, this master of harmony must charm the underworld with his musical talent. Orpheus’s appeals convince Pluto to free Eurydice, under certain conditions. But when this gifted and infallible hero fails, he must live on with the consequences.

Subtitles in English, German and Italian.

Available from Friday  28 April 2023 at 1930 CET / 1830 London/ 13.30 NY

Live streaming tonight on Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision, is  Bellini’s first mature masterpiece La Sonnambula.    The pastoral setting and Utopian vision of a harmoniously ordered society reaches a happy ending by way of situations of great poignancy.  Here Bellini extends the expressive range of his lyricism with the most beautiful coloratura and lilting melodies; from Anima’s opening aria – which embraces ecstatic introspection, tender recitative-like musings and exuberant virtuosity – to her heart-breaking closing scene. Bellini creates a sense of the lead characters being part of a close-knit community by a constant musical interaction between the soloists and chorus. Deutsche Oper am Rhein’s new production is conducted by bel canto specialist and Principal Guest Conductor Antonino Fogliani and is directed by Johannes Erath, whose poetically subtle stagings have been seen in Munich, Frankfurt, Vienna, Palermo and beyond. Count Rodolfo  is sung by Bogdan Taloș, Teresa by Katarzyna Kuncio and  Amina by Stacey Alleaume.

The Plot – in an apparent idyll high in the Swiss Alps, a secluded village society prepares for the next wedding. Amina is to be the lucky one this time. The groom Elvino, however, soon turns his attention back to his former wife because Amina sleepwalks into the bed of a stranger who has just arrived. Count Rodolfo, son of the former lord of the manor and travelling incognito, cannot convince the villagers of his innocence nor that of Amina, until she sleepwalks again and the collective belief in the supernatural is put to the test.

Available on Friday 21 April 2023 at 1900 CET / 1800 London / 1300 NY

With its cast of hundreds, thrilling score, and sweeping tale of love and heroics in ancient Egypt, Verdi’s Aida has long been a fixture on the stages of every major opera house in the world and it is being brought to you by Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision.

This new production combines the colossal and the intimate. For Michele Mariotti, conductor and music director of Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Verdi’s genius lies in his managing to combine spectacular, triumphal elements with a love story that unfolds far from public space in delicate pianissimi and sotto voce singing. For these elements to exist on stage, director Davide Livermore has found inspiration in silent epic cinema of the early twentieth century combined with certain references to Art Deco. Soprano Krassimira Stoyanova takes on the title role with mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk as her rival, the conniving princess Amneris. Tenor Gregory Kunde is Radamès, the warrior that both women love, and baritone Vladimir Stoyanov is Aida’s father, the fallen king Amonasro.

The Plot: Princess Aida has been kidnapped: a valuable prize in a war between Egypt and Ethiopia. The ambitious soldier Radames wrestles with his feelings for her. As they draw closer together, each must make a painful choice between their loyalty to home, and their love for each other.

Available from Friday 7th March 2023 at 1900 CET/ 1800  London/ 1300 NY  (subtitles in English and Italian)

Tonight’s free opera on Slipped Disc, courtesy of Operavision, comes from Ferrara in Italy. It’s a wonderful show. All that is missing is the opening act.

Catone in Utica was staged for the first time in 1737 in Verona and is one of the last operas by Antonio Vivaldi. Although only Acts II and III survive, this work is considered to be one of the greatest operatic compositions of the Venetian composer.  After the successful staging of Vivaldi’s Farnace in December 2021, Teatro Comunale di Ferrara ‘Claudio Abbado’ offers a a chance to discover live a rarely-performed production by the ‘red priest’, as Vivaldi was known. The production, broadcast live by Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision, is conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli – who is also an essayist, composer, painter and satirist – and directed by Marco Bellussi. To elegant designs by Matteo Paoletti Franzato, part of the action is set in a villa, perhaps the private retreat of Emilia, Pompey’s widow, a central figure in the unfolding of events. The collision and the competition between Cato and Caesar takes place on a playing field, where Cato’s weakness emerges. The sets and the costumes (the latter by Elisa Cobello) have classical and contemporary aspects, framing a universal drama of private emotions intertwined with political intrigue.

The Plot:  Catone in Utica is the story of the power struggle between two giants of the Roman world, the dictator Julius Caesar (Cesare) and Cato the Younger (Catone), the upholder of traditional republican ideals. This battle of political wills forms the backdrop to the military action in which Cesare and Catone are engaged in 49-48 BCE and to an involved secondary love plot.

Available from 17 March 2023    at 2000 CET / 1900 London / 1400 NY

Disguise and transvestism have been an essential part of opera plots from the Venetian origins of the genre.  In line with this tradition, the story of Achilles on the Island of Scyros inspired more than 30 compositions for voice based on Metastasio’s libretto of 1737. The Italian composer Francesco Corselli (1705-1788) was a key figure in Spanish opera. As Kapellmeister of the Royal Chapel of Madrid for nearly 30 years, he was the principal supplier of opera to the Spanish court. Some of these were under the artistic direction of the famous castrato Farinelli.   First seen in 1744 at the Real Coliseo del Buen Retiro in Madrid, Achille in Sciro was composed to celebrate the marriage of the Infanta of Spain, María Teresa Rafaela, to the Dauphin of France.

Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision, brings this live stream from Madrid, this production staged by Mariame Clément and conducted from the harpsichord by Ivor Bolton, is a milestone in the recovery of Spain’s musical heritage.

Licomede is sung by Mirco Palazzi, Ulises by Tim Mead, Deidami by Francesca Aspromonte, Teagene by Sabina Puertolas and Achille/ Pirra by Franco Fagioli.

The Plot: Thetis, mother of Achilles, disguises her son as a woman to hide him in the court of King Lycomedes of Scyros and prevent him being sent off to the Trojan War. The plan begins to come apart when Achilles, incapable of subduing his virility, falls in love with Princess Deidamia.

Available on 25 February 2023 at 1930 CET /1830 London / 1330 NY

Tonight, Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision takes you live to the Finnish National Opera for their new, visually stunning production of Puccini’s Turandot. Director Sofia Jupither sets out to focus on the essence of Puccini’s
interest in private and the public lives, power and responsibility, love and vulnerability.

Puccini composed the opera in the heyday of exoticism and orientalism; an Europe-centric view of the Far East is in danger of distancing modern audiences from Puccini’s masterpiece. As Jupither describes in the interview below, her ambition is to pull down decades-old stereotypes embedded in the work and show the people beneath them, revealing the central themes of the opera, the psychology of the characters and a story of our society today.

The Armenian soprano Astrik Khanamiryan is the beautiful Chinese princess who has issued a decree for her suitors: whoever cannot solve her riddles to win her hand will be beheaded. As unlucky suitors fail and fall, up steps the prince of the Tatar people, Calaf sung by Georgian tenor Mikheil Sheshaberidze.

Sung in Italian with subtitles in  English, Italian and Finnish.

The Plot:  a beautiful Chinese princess has issued a decree for her suitors: whoever cannot solve her riddles to win her hand will be beheaded.  As unlucky suitors fail and fall, up steps Calaf, a prince of the Tatar people.

Interview with the director Sofia Jupither:

Live streaming available tonight 16 February 2023 at 17.50 CET / 1650 London / 11.50 New York

On 9 February 1893, the premiere of Falstaff was a tremendous success at Teatro alla Scala. After more than fifty years spent in setting dramas and torments of the human soul to music, Verdi greeted the world of opera with the worldly-wise smile of someone who had experienced everything to the fullest. Falstaff is the work of an amusing and amused Verdi; the score abounds in musical experimentation. As sung in the finale: ‘Tutto nel mondo è burla. L’uom è nato burlone.’ [‘Everything in the world is a jest. Man is born a jester.’] 

Baritone Nicola Alaimo stars as the caddish knight, gleefully tormented by a trio of clever women who deliver his comeuppance. Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts a fine ensemble cast directed by Sven-Eric Bechtolf. The result is a joyful production, with gorgeous costumes that seem to inspire those wearing them as much as they will delight our viewers.   And so says Sir John (the conductor) ‘You should not miss this opportunity to watch Falstaff, because it’ll enrich your lives, it’ll entertain you, it’ll inspire you, and you’ll have a great time.’

The Plot:  the lecherous Falstaff, with his infamous roving eye, finally meets his match when his underhand plans to solve money troubles have the three merry wives of Windsor conspiring to teach him a lesson.

English, Italian, French, German, Korean, Japanese subtitles.

Streaming available on 10 the February 2023  at 1900 CET/ 1800 London/  1300 NY

Rossini’s thrilling epic, his final masterpiece with the world’s most famous overture, is his most ambitious, forward-looking and vocally challenging opera is brought to you today by Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision.  Having become the rallying cry of the 1830 revolution in France, Rossini’s final opera is nothing short of revolutionary itself. Retelling the legend of the Swiss folk hero based on Schiller’s play, William Tell is a grandiose ode to freedom. Staged for the first time in Ireland since 1875, this Irish National Opera production is conducted by Fergus Sheil and directed by Julien Chavaz who takes a mythological approach. For him, ‘the story is not just about a remote Swiss community facing Austrian invaders. It is the story of a society that suddenly has to face a threat to its model of civilisation.’  Singers are Brett Polegato as Guillaume Tell, Konu Kim as Arnold Melchtal, Máire Flavin as Mathilde, Amy Ní Fhearraigh as Jemmy.

The Plot:  A freedom fighter in Austrian-occupied Switzerland. An oppressive Habsburg governor. The most famous Swiss apple. And a love story that crosses national divides.

Available today 13 January 2023   at 1900 CET / 1800 London / 1300 NY

On the first day of 2023 Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision, broadcasts  Rigoletto.   The production by Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie of Verdi’s opera confronts the two faces of Rigoletto: that of the loving father-monster who locks up his daughter from the very first scene, and his alter ego, the modern-day buffoon. While the latter, like a comedian alone on stage, sneers at power and the elite, the former reveals his darkest fears and persecution complex. You are invited to witness the public entertainer’s last laugh in this lyrical masterpiece where fiction and reality end up merging. Marie-Eve Signeyrole directs the irresistible threesome of the court jester, his daughter and the duke. Roderick Cox, winner of the 2018 Georg Solti Conducting Prize, presides over the Chorus and Orchestra national Montpellier Occitanie.  Singers are Gezim Myshketa as Rigoletto, Julia Muzychenko as Gilda, Rame Lahaj as Duke of Mantua.

The Plot:  When a sharp-tongued court jester Rigoletto is cursed for his spiteful words, he is forced to hide his unworldly daughter Gilda from his own licentious master the Duke. For Verdi’s wonderful ambivalent hunchback, paradise is the peaceful home and family that he struggles to protect.

Available Sunday 1 January 2023 at 1500 CET / 1400 London / 0900 NY

Subtitles in English,, Italian and French.

Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision has broadcast weekly operas for our readers almost every week this year.   One of our favourites from the  2022 selection is Puccini’s Turandot in a new staging by Daniel Kramer in Geneva.  He transposes the old fairy tale to a futuristic world where Turandot’s magic holds sway. In a dystopian game show, reminiscent of Hunger Games, the Princess presides over a surveillance state in which men are culled and the reproduction of the human race is conducted in breeding labs. For the first time in their career, the international art collective teamLab work extensively on the scenography of an opera, using state-of-the-art visual technologies never before seen on an opera stage. teamLab’s light creations are an immersive artistic experience known for their power to absorb and enthral audiences. Antonino Fogliani, a master of the Italian repertoire, conducts an excellent cast including Ingela Brimberg who returns to  the Grand Théâtre de Genève as the icy Princess Turandot and Teodor Ilincai as Calaf.    Enjoy his Nessun dorma in the last act.  Sung in Italian with subtitles in English, Italian and French

The Plot:  Puccini’s last opera is all about riddles. The Emperor of China rules over the Forbidden City of Peking. His unmarried daughter, the Princess Turandot, has refused her hand to all her princely suitors by putting them to a test. She sets them three riddles; if they do not answer them correctly, they will lose their heads. As unlucky suitors fail and fall, up steps Calaf, a prince of the Tatar people.

Poznan Opera stages a rarely performed opera by the national composer Stanislaw Moniuszko, shown for the first time on slippedisc (courtesy of OperaVision) in an arrangement by its conductor Rafał Kłoczko.

Ilaria Lanzino, an Italian director of the young generation, known for her unconventional and coherent productions, directs Jawnuta to designs by Dorota Karolczak.   For Lanzino, this is a story about the Polish Roma and their complicated history, about the power of prejudice and how to avoid it.   Be prepared to be moved by Moniuszko’s lyrical Roma songs and rousing melodies.  Main singers are  Małgorzata Olejniczak – Worobiej  as Chicha,  Piotr Kalina  as Stach / Officer and  Galina Kuklina as Jawnuta.

The Plot:  A great love that must defy prejudice. A secret kept hidden for years and a surprising denouement. The formidable force of memories unveiling the mysteries of the past. Stach comes from a wealthy family, Chicha is a Gypsy. Social conventions, intolerance and stubbornness stand in the way of their happiness. Will Stach and Chicha end up together? Will the family secrets come out? Is a happy ending always happy?

Available tonight  18 December 2022 at 18:00 CET / 1700 London/  1200 NY      (Subtitles in English and Polish)