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.

  • Luisa Miller

    Episode

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Bonaldo Giaiotti [Il Conte di Walter] ** Luciano Pavarotti [Rodolfo] ** Anna Reynolds [Federica] ** Richard van Allan [Wurm] ** Sherrill Milnes [Miller] ** Montserrat Caballé [Luisa] ** Annette Céline [Laura] ** Fernando Pavarotti [A villager] ** London Opera Chorus [Villagers, attendants of the Duchess, page boys, soldiers, servants, huntsmen, archers] ** National Philharmonic Orchestra ** Peter Maag (conductor)
  • L'elisir d'amore

    Episode

    Gaetano Donizetti

    Ileana Cotrubas (soprano) [Adina] ** Plácido Domingo (tenor) [Nemorino] ** Sir Geraint Evans [Dulcamara] ** Ingvar Wixell [Belcore] ** Lillian Watson [Gianetta] ** Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden ** John Pritchard (conductor)
  • Le Prophète

    Episode

    Giacomo Meyerbeer

    Marilyn Horne [Fidès] ** James McCracken [Jean de Leyden] ** Renata Scotto (soprano) [Berthe] ** Jules Bastin [Le Comte d'Oberthal] ** Jerome Hines [Zacharie] ** Jean Dupouy [Jonas] ** Christian du Plessis [Mathisen] ** Oliver Broome [Paysan] ** John Noble [Paysan] ** Patricia Clark (soprano) [Paysanne] ** Shirley Minty [Paysanne] ** Ambrosian Opera Chorus ** Boys Choir, Haberdashers' Aske's School, Elstree ** Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ** Henry Lewis (conductor)
  • La finta giardiniera

    Episode

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Thomas Moser [Don Anchise] ** Edita Gruberova [La Marchesa Violante Onesti/Sandrina] ** Uwe Heilmann [Il Contino Belfiore] ** Charlotte Margiono [Arminda] ** Monica Bacelli [Il Cavalier Ramiro] ** Dawn Upshaw (soprano) [Serpetta] ** Anton Scharinger [Roberto/Nardo] ** Concentus Musicus Wien ** Nikolaus Harnoncourt (conductor)
  • La Cenerentola

    Episode

    Gioachino Rossini

    Agnes Baltsa [Cenerentola (Angiolina)] ** Francisco Araiza [Don Ramiro] ** Simone Alaimo [Dandini] ** Ruggero Raimondi (baritone) [Don Magnifico] ** Carol Malone [Clorinda] ** Felicity Palmer (soprano) [Tisbe] ** John Del Carlo [Alidoro] ** Ambrosian Opera Chorus ** Academy of St. Martin in the Fields ** Sir Neville Marriner (conductor)
  • Ezio

    Episode

    Christoph Willibald Gluck

    Max Emanuel Cencic [Emperor Valentiniano III] ** Ann Hallenberg [Fulvia] ** Sonia Prina [Ezio] ** Mayuko Karasawa [Onoria] ** Topi Lehtipuu [Massimo] ** Julian Prégardien [Varo] ** Il Complesso Barocco ** Alan Curtis (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)
  • La Vestale

    Episode

    Gaspare Spontini

    Anthony Michaels-Moore [Licinius] ** J. Patrick Raftery [Cinna] ** Dimitri Kavrakos [Le Souveraine Pontife] ** Aldo Bramante [Le chef des aruspices] ** Silvestro Sammaritano [Un consul] ** Karen Huffstodt [Julia] ** Denyce Graves [La Grande Vestale] ** Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala ** Riccardo Muti (conductor)
  • La Damnation de Faust

    Episode

    Hector Berlioz

    Richard Leech (tenor) [Faust] ** Gilles Cachemaille (bass) [Méphistophélès] ** Françoise Pollet [Marguerite] ** Michel Philippe [Brander] ** Chours de l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal ** Orchestre symphonique de Montréal ** Charles Dutoit (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)
  • Alcina

    Episode

    George Frideric Handel

    Renée Fleming (soprano) [Alcina] ** Susan Graham [Ruggiero] ** Natalie Dessay (soprano) [Morgana] ** Kathleen Kuhlmann [Bradamante] ** Timothy Robsinson [Oronte] ** Laurent Naouri [Melisso] ** Juanita Lascarro [Oberto] ** Les Arts Florissants ** William Christie (conductor)
  • Siegfried

    Episode

    Richard Wagner

    Wolfgang Windgassen (tenor) [Siegfried] ** Birgit Nilsson (soprano) [Brünnhilde] ** Hans Hotter (baritone) [Der Wanderer] ** Gerhard Stolze [Mime] ** Gustav Neidlinger [Alberich] ** Kurt Böhme [Fafner] ** Marga Höffgen [Erda] ** Joan Sutherland (soprano) [Der Waldvogel] ** Vienna Philharmonic ** Sir Georg Solti (conductor)