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.

Current Episode

Iphigénie en Tauride

September 20, 2026

Christoph Willibald Gluck

Christine Goerke (soprano) [Iphigénie] ** Rodney Gilfry [Oreste] ** Vinson Cole [Pylade] ** Stephen Salters [Thoas] ** Sharon Baker [First Priestess ** Greek Woman] ** Jayne West [Second Priestess ** Mark Andrew Cleveland [A Scythian] ** Mark Risinger [Minister of Thoas] ** Boston Baroque Chorus [Priestesses, Scythians, Eumenides, and Greeks] ** Boston Baroque Orchestra ** Martin Pearlman (conductor)

  • Adriana Lecouvreur

    Episode

    Francesco Cilea

    Renata Scotto (soprano) [Adriana Lecouvreur] ** Plácido Domingo (tenor) [Maurizio] ** Sherill Milnes [Michonnet] ** Elena Obraztsova (mezzo-soprano) [La Principessa di Bouillon] ** Giancarlo Luccardi [Il Principe di Bouillon] ** Florindo Andreoli [L'Abate di Chazeuil] ** Lillian Watson [Mlle. Jouvenot] ** Anne Murray (mezzo-soprano) [Mlle. Dangeville] ** Paul Crook [Poisson] ** Paul Hudson [Quinault] ** Paul Crook [Un Maggiordomo] ** Ambrosian Opera Chorus ** Philharmonia Orchestra ** James Levine (conductor)

  • Lohengrin

    Episode

    Richard Wagner

    René Kollo (tenor) [Lohengrin] ** Anna Tomowa-Sintow [Elsa von Brabant] ** Siegmund Nimsgern [Friedrich von Telramund] ** Dunja Vejzovic [Ortrud] ** Karl Ridderbusch [Heinrich der Vogler (Henry the Fowler)] ** Robert Kerns (baritone) [The King's Herald] ** Klaus Lang [Nobleman of Brabant] ** Peter Maus [Nobleman of Brabant] ** Martin Vantin [Nobleman of Brabant] ** Josef Becker [Nobleman of Brabant] ** Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin [Saxons, Thuringians, Brabantians] ** Berlin Philharmonic ** Herbert von Karajan (conductor)

  • Le nozze di Figaro

    Episode

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Thomas Hampson (baritone) [Count Almaviva] ** Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano) [Countess Almaviva] ** Dawn Upshaw (soprano) [Susanna] ** Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass) [Figaro] ** Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) [Cherubino] ** Tatiana Troyanos [Marcellina] ** Paul Plishka [Bartolo] ** Anthony Lacuira [Basilio] ** Michael Forest [Don Curzio] ** Renato Capecchi [Antonio] ** Heidi Grant [Barbarina] ** Joyce Guyer [Contadina] ** Stella Zambalis [Contadina] ** The Metropolitan Opera Chorus ** The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra ** James Levine (conductor)

  • Khovanshchina

    Episode

    Modest Mussorgsky

    Aage Haugland (bass) ** Vladimir Atlantov [Prince Andrei Khovansky] ** Vladimir Popov [Prince Vasili Golitsyn] ** Anatoly Kotcherga (bass) ** Paata Burchuladze [Dosifei] ** Marjana Lipovsek (alto) [Marfa] ** Brigitte Poschner-Klebel (soprano) ** Heinz Zednik (tenor) [Scribe] ** Joanna Borowska [Emma] ** Wilfried Gahmlich [Kuzka] ** Peter Köves [Strelyets] ** Goran Simic [Strelyets] ** Peter Köves [Varsonofiev] ** Bojidar Nikolov (tenor) ** Vienna State Opera Concert Chorus ** Slovak Philharmonic Choir, Bratislava ** Vienna Boys Choir ** Vienna State Opera Orchestra ** Claudio Abbado (conductor)

  • Il barbiere di Siviglia

    Episode

    Gioachino Rossini

    Thomas Allen (baritone) [Figaro] ** Agnes Baltsa (mezzo-soprano) [Rosina] ** Francisco Araiza [Il Conte d'Almaviva] ** Domenico Trimarchi [Bartolo] ** Robert Lloyd (bass) [Basilio] ** Sally Burgess [Berta] ** Matthew Best [Fiorello] ** John Noble [Ufficiale] ** Ambrosian Opera Chorus ** Academy of St. Martin in the Fields ** Sir Neville Marriner (conductor)

  • Norma

    Episode

    Vincenzo Bellini

    Montserrat Caballé (soprano) [Norma] ** Fiorenza Cossotto [Adalgisa] ** Plácido Domingo (tenor) [Pollione] ** Ruggero Raimondi (baritone) [Oroveso] ** Elizabeth Bainbridge [Clotilde] ** Kenneth Collins [Flavio] ** Ambrosian Opera Chorus ** London Philharmonic Orchestra ** Carlo Felice Cillario (conductor)

  • Farnace

    Episode

    Antonio Vivaldi

    Max Emanuel Cencic [Farnace] ** Ruxandra Donose [Tamiri] ** Mary Ellen Nesi [Berenice] ** Ann Hallenberg [Selinda] ** Karina Gauvin [Gilade] ** Daniel Behle [Pompeo] ** Emiliano Gonzalez-Toro [Aquilio] ** Coro della Radiotelevisione svizzera, Lugano ** I Barocchisti ** Diego Fasolis (conductor)

  • Nabucco

    Episode

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Piero Cappuccilli (baritone) [Nabucco] ** Plácido Domingo (tenor) [Ismaele] ** Evgeny Nesterenko [Zaccaria] ** Ghena Dimitrova [Abigaille] ** Lucia Valentini Terrani [Fenena] ** Kurt Rydl [Il Gran Sacerdote di Belo] ** Volker Horn [Abdallo] ** Chorus and Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin ** Giuseppe Sinopoli (conductor)

  • Turandot

    Episode

    Giacomo Puccini

    Joan Sutherland [Turandot] ** Luciano Pavarotti [Calaf] ** Montserrat Caballé [Liù] ** Nicolai Ghiaurov [Timur] ** Peter Pears [L'Imperatore Altoum] ** Tom Krause [Ping] ** Pier Francesco Poli [Pang ** Il Principe di Persia] ** Piero de Palma [Pong] ** Sabin Markov [Un Mandarino] ** John Alldis Choir ** Wandsworth Boys' Choir ** London Philharmonic Orchestra ** Zubin Mehta (conductor)

  • The Fairy Queen

    Episode

    Henry Purcell

    The Monteverdi Choir ** The English Baroque Soloists ** John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)