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

Scylla et Glaucus

May 5, 2026

Jean-Marie Leclair

Donna Brown [Scylla] ** Howard Crook (tenor) [Glaucus] ** Rachel Yakar (soprano) [Circé] ** Catherine Dubosc (soprano) [Dorine] ** Françoise Golfier [L'Amour] ** Agnes Mellon [Vénus] ** Renè Schirrer [Licas] ** Elisabeth Vidal (soprano) [Témire] ** Andrew Murgatroyd (tenor) [Un Propetide] ** Nicolas Robertson [Un Propetide] ** Philip Salmon [Un berger] ** Richard Stuart (baritone) [Un Silvain] ** Francis Dudziak [Un Silvain] ** Francis Dudziak [Hécate] ** The Monteverdi Choir ** The English Baroque Soloists ** John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

  • Paride ed Elena

    Episode

    Christoph Willibald Gluck

    Magdalena Kozená [Paride] ** Susan Gritton (soprano) [Elena] ** Carolyn Sampson [Amore] ** Gillian Webster [Pallade] ** Gabrieli Consort and Players ** Paul McCreesh (conductor)

  • Lucia di Lammermoor

    Episode

    Gaetano Donizetti

    Joan Sutherland (soprano) [Lucia] ** Luciano Pavarotti (tenor) [Edgardo] ** Sherill Milnes [Enrico] ** Nicolai Ghiaurov (bass) [Raimondo] ** Ryland Davies [Arturo] ** Huguette Tourangeau [Alisa] ** Pier Francesco Poli [Normanno] ** Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden ** Richard Bonynge (conductor)

  • Guglielmo Tell

    Episode

    Gioachino Rossini

    Giorgio Zancanaro [Guglielmo Tell] ** Chris Merritt [Arnoldo] ** Giorgio Surian [Gualtiero] ** Franco de Grandis [Melchthal] ** Amelia Felle [Jemmy] ** Luciana D'Intino [Edwige] ** Vittorio Terranova [Un pescatore] ** Alberto Noli [Leutoldo] ** Luigi Roni [Gessler] ** Cheryl Studer (soprano) [Matilde] ** Ernesto Gavazzi [Rodolfo] ** Ernesto Panariello [Un cacciatore] ** Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala ** Riccardo Muti (conductor)

  • Andrea Chénier

    Episode

    Umberto Giordano

    José Carreras (tenor) [Andrea Chénier] ** Eva Marton [Maddalena di Coigny] ** Giorgio Zancanaro [Carlo Gerard] ** Tamara Takács [La Contessa di Coigny] ** Tullio Pane [L'Incredibile] ** Franco Federici [Jean-Antoine Roucher] ** Gábor Vághelyi [Pietro Fleville] ** Klára Takács [Bersi] ** Istvan Rozsos [L'Abate] ** József Gregor [Mathieu] ** Éva Farkas [La Vecchia] ** Kázmér Sárkány [Dumas] ** Tamás Bátor [Antoine Fouquier-Tinville] ** János Tóth [Schmidt] ** József Moldvai [Maestro di Casa] ** Chorus of the Hungarian State Radio and Television ** Children's Choir of the Hungarian State Opera ** Hungarian State Orchestra ** Giuseppe Patanè (conductor)

  • The Tsar's Bride

    Episode

    Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    Gennady Bezzubenkov [Vasily Stepanovich Sobakin] ** Marina Shaguch [Marfa] ** Dmitri Hvorostovsky [Grigory Grigoryevich Gryaznoy] ** Sergei Alexashkin [Grigory Lukyanovich Malyuta-Skuratov] ** Evgeny Akimov [Ivan Sergeyevich Lykov] ** Olga Borodina [Lyubasha] ** Nikolai Gassiev [Yelisey Bomelius] ** Irina Loskutova [Domna Ivanovna Saburova] ** Olga Markova-Mikhailenko [Dunyasha] ** Lyubov Sokolova [Petrovna] ** Yuri Shkliar [Stoker] ** Lyudmila Kasjanenko [Serving Girl] ** Viktor Vikhrov [Lad] ** Kirov Chorus and Orchestra, St. Petersburg ** Valery Gergiev (conductor)

  • Orfeo ed Euridice

    Episode

    Christoph Willibald Gluck

    Agnes Baltsa (mezzo-soprano) [Orfeo] ** Margaret Marshall (soprano) [Euridice] ** Edita Gruberova [Amore] ** Ambrosian Opera Chorus ** Philharmonia Orchestra ** Riccardo Muti (conductor)

  • La Rondine

    Episode

    Giacomo Puccini

    Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano) [Magda] ** Plácido Domingo (tenor) [Ruggero] ** Mariana Nicolesco [Lisette] ** David Rendall [Prunier] ** Leo Nucci (baritone) [Rambaldo] ** Lillian Watson [Yvette] ** Ambrosian Opera Chorus ** London Symphony Orchestra ** Lorin Maazel (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)

  • 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)

  • 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)

  • Norma

    Episode

    Vincenzo Bellini

    Maria Callas [Norma] ** Mario Filippeschi [Pollione] ** Ebe Stignani [Adalgisa] ** Nicola Rossi-Lemeni [Oroveso] ** Paolo Caroli [Flavio] ** Rina Cavallari [Clotilde] ** Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala ** Tullio Serafin (conductor)

  • Götterdämmerung

    Episode

    Richard Wagner

    Birgit Nilsson (soprano) [Brünnhilde] ** Wolfgang Windgassen (tenor) [Siegfried] ** Gustav Neidlinger [Alberich] ** Gottlieb Frick (bass) [Hagen] ** Claire Watson [Gutrune] ** Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau [Gunther] ** Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano) [Waltraute] ** Lucia Popp [Woglinde] ** Della Jones [Wellgunde] ** Maureen Guy [Flosshilde] ** Helen Watts (alto) [Erste Norn] ** Grace Hoffman [Zweite Norn] ** Anita Välkki [Dritte Norn] ** Vienna State Opera Chorus ** Vienna Philharmonic ** Sir Georg Solti (conductor)