Opera at Eight

In addition to the opera excerpts presented throughout the day, WETA VivaLaVoce features a complete opera at 8 pm each day: Opera at 8. These opera performances are taken from the extensive WETA Classical library, ranging from classic recordings to the most recent releases.

  • Les Troyens

    Episode

    Hector Berlioz

    Jon Vickers [Enée] ** Josephine Veasey [Didon] ** Berit Lindholm (soprano) [Cassandre] ** Peter Glossop [Chorèbe] ** Heather Begg [Anna] ** Roger Soyer [Narbal] ** Anthony Raffell [Panthée] ** Anne Howells [Ascagne] ** Ian Partridge [Poète tyrien] ** Pierre Thau [Priamus] ** Elizabeth Bainbridge [Hécube] ** Maldwyn Davies (tenor) [Hylas] ** Raimund Herincx [Sentinelle] ** Denis Wicks [Sentinelle] ** David Lennox [Hélénus] ** Wandsworth Boys' Choir ** Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden ** Sir Colin Davis (conductor)
  • Ottone in villa

    Episode

    Antonio Vivaldi

    Sonia Prina [Ottone] ** Julia Lezhneva [Caio Silio] ** Verónica Cangemi [Cleonilla] ** Roberta Invernizzi [Tullia] ** Topi Lehtipuu [Decio] ** Il Giardino Armonico ** Giovanni Antonini (conductor)
  • Boris Godunov

    Episode

    Modest Mussorgsky

    Alexander Vedernikov [Boris Godunov] ** Glafira Koroleva [Feodor] ** Elena Shkolnikova [Xenia] ** Nina Grigorieva [Nurse] ** Andrei Sokolov [Shuisky] ** Alexander Voroshilo [Shchelkalov] ** Vladimir Matorin (bass) [Pimen] ** Vladisolav Piavko [Grigory/Dmitri] ** Irina Arkhipova [Marina Mnishek] ** Yuri Masurok [Rangoni] ** Artur Eisen [Varlaam] ** Anatoli Mishutin [Missail] ** Ludmila Simonova [Hostess] ** Janis Sporgis [Simpleton] ** Vladimir Filippov [Nikitich] ** Nikolaï Nizinenko [Mitiukha] ** Yuri Elnikov [Boyar/Khrushchov/Lavitsky] ** Vladimir Silaev [Chernikovsky] ** USSR TV and Radio Large Chorus and Symphony Orchestra ** Vladimir Fedoseyev (conductor)
  • Mefistofele

    Episode

    Arrigo Boito

    Nicolai Ghiaurov (bass) [Mefistofele] ** Luciano Pavarotti (tenor) [Faust] ** Mirella Freni (soprano) [Margherita] ** Nucci Condò [Marta] ** Piero de Palma (tenor) [Wagner] ** Montserrat Caballé (soprano) [Elena] ** Alan Jones [Pantalis] ** Robin Leggate [Nereo] ** London Opera Chorus ** Trinity Boys' Choir ** National Philharmonic Orchestra ** Oliviero de Fabritiis (conductor)
  • La traviata

    Episode

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Edita Gruberova [Violetta Valéry] ** Patricia Spence [Flora Bervoix] ** Monica Bacelli [Annina] ** Neil Shicoff [Alfredo Germont] ** Giorgio Zancanaro [Giorgio Germont] ** Kim Begley [Gastone, Visconte de Létorières] ** Peter Sidhom [Barone Douphol] ** David Barrell [Marchese d'Obigny] ** Alastaire Miles [Dottore Grenvil] ** Peter Bronder [Giuseppe, servo di Violetta] ** Fabrizio Visentin [Domestico di Flora] ** Nicholas Folwell [Commissionario] ** Ambrosian Singers [Signori e signore ** Amici di Violetta e Flora ** Mattadore ** Piccadori e zingare ** London Symphony Orchestra ** Carlo Rizzi (conductor)
  • Les contes d'Hoffmann

    Episode

    Jacques Offenbach

    Plácido Domingo (tenor) [Hoffmann] ** Edita Gruberova [Olympia/Antonia/Giulietta] ** Claudia Eder [Nicklausse/La Muse] ** Andreas Schmidt (baritone) [Lindorf] ** Gabriel Bacquier [Coppélius] ** James Morris (bass) [Miracle] ** Justino Diaz [Dapertutto] ** Robert Gambill [Andrès] ** Paul Crook [Cochenille/Pitichinaccio] ** Michel Sénéchal (bass) [Frantz] ** Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano) [La voix de la mère d'Antonia] ** Robin Leggate [Nathanaël] ** Gérard Friedmann [Spalanzani] ** Urban Malmberg (bass) [Hermann] ** Richard Van Allan [Schlémil] ** Kurt Rydl [Luther] ** Harald Stamm [Crespel] ** Chœurs de Radio France [Esprits invisibles, étudiants, garçons de taverne, invités de Spalanzani, laquais, invitétes de Giulietta] ** Orchestre National de France ** Seiji Ozawa (conductor)
  • Prince Igor

    Episode

    Alexander Borodin

    Constantin Chekerliiksi [Igor Svastoslavich] ** Boris Christoff [Prince Galitsky ** Khan Konchak] ** Todor Todorov [Vladimir] ** Cyril Dulguerov [Eroshka] ** Alexei Milkovsky [Skula] ** Luben Mikhailov [Lovlur] ** Julia Wiener [Yaroslavna] ** Reni Penkova [Konchakovna] ** Radka Gaeva [Nurse] ** Liliana Bareva [Polovtsian Girl] ** Chorus and Orchestra of the National Opera Theatre of Sofia ** Jerzy Semkov (conductor)
  • Hamlet

    Episode

    Ambroise Thomas

    Ambroise Thomas Thomas Hampson (baritone) [Hamlet] ** June Anderson [Ophélie] ** Samuel Ramey (bass) [Claudius, Roi du Danemark] ** Gregory Kunde [Laërte] ** Denyce Graves [La Reine Gertrude] ** Jean-Philippe Courtis [Le Spectre] ** Gerard Garino [Marcellus] ** François Le Roux [Horatio] ** Michel Trempot [Polonius] ** Thierry Felix [Premier Fossoyeur] ** Jean-Pierre Furlan [Second Fossoyeur] ** Ambrosian Opera Chorus ** London Philharmonic Orchestra ** Antonio de Almeida (conductor)
  • Il barbiere di Siviglia

    Episode

    Giovanni Paisiello

    Dénes Gulyás [Count Almaviva] ** Krisztina Laki [Rosina] ** József Gregor [Bartolo] ** István Gáti (baritone) [Figaro] ** Sándor Sólyom-Nagy [Don Basilio] ** Csaba Réta [Laddie] ** Miklós Mersei [Sprightly] ** Gábor Vághelyi [Notary] ** Attila Fülöp [Judge] ** Hungarian State Orchestra ** Adam Fischer (conductor)
  • La Wally

    Episode

    Alfredo Catalani

    Eva Marton [Wally] ** Francesco Ellero d'Artegna [Stromminger] ** Alan Titus [Vincenzo Gellner] ** Francisco Araiza [Giuseppe, servo di Violetta] ** Birgit Calm [Afra] ** Julie Kaufmann [Walter] ** Michele Pertusi [Il Pedone] ** Bavarian Radio Chorus ** Münchner Rundfunkorchester ** Pinchas Steinberg (conductor)
  • Der Rosenkavalier

    Episode

    Richard Strauss

    Elisabeth Schwarzkopf [Die Feldmarschallin] ** Otto Edelmann [Der Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau] ** Christa Ludwig [Octavian] ** Eberhard Wächter [Herr von Faninal] ** Teresa Stich-Randall [Sophie] ** Ljuba Welitsch [Marianne] ** Paul Kuen [Valzacchi] ** Kerstin Meyer [Annina] ** Nicolai Gedda [Ein Sänger] ** Philharmonia Chorus ** Loughton High School for Girls & Bancroft's School ** Philharmonia Orchestra ** Herbert von Karajan (conductor)
  • Tosca

    Episode

    Giacomo Puccini

    Mirella Freni (soprano) [Floria Tosca] ** Plácido Domingo (tenor) [Mario Cavaradossi] ** Samuel Ramey (bass) [Il barone Vitellio Scarpia] ** Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone) [Cesare Angelotti] ** Anthony Lacuira [Spoletta] ** Angelo Veccia [Un sagrestano] ** Ralf Lukas [Sciarrone] ** Bryan Secombe [Un carceriere] ** Lee Tiernan [Un pastore] ** Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden ** Children's Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden ** Philharmonia Orchestra ** Giuseppe Sinopoli (conductor)