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

Turandot

March 31, 2026

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)

  • Un Ballo in Maschera

    Episode

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Luciano Pavarotti (tenor) [Riccardo] ** Renato Bruson [Renato] ** Margaret Price [Amelia] ** Christa Ludwig [Ulrica] ** Kathleen Battle [Oscar] ** Peter Weber [Silvano] ** Robert Lloyd [Samuel] ** Malcolm King [Tom] ** Alexander Oliver [Un Giudice] ** Peter Hall [Un Servo d'Amelia] ** London Opera Chorus [Deputies, officers, sailors, guards, men and women of the people, gentlemen, followers of Samuel and Tom, servants, maskers and dancing couples] ** Royal College of Music Junior Department Chorus ** National Philharmonic Orchestra ** Sir Georg Solti (conductor)

  • Ivan Susanin (A Life for the Tsar)

    Episode

    Mikhail Glinka

    Nicola Ghiuselev [Ivan Susanin] ** Elena Stoyanova [Antonida] ** Hristina Angelakova [Vanja] ** Roumen Doikov [Bogdan Sobinin] ** Nikolai Stoilov [Russian Soldier] ** Angel Petkov [Polish Messenger] ** Dimiter Stanchev [Sigizmund the Third] ** Bulgarian Television and Radio Mixed Choir [Peasants, Russian volunteers, ladies-in-waiting, Polish knights, soldiers, etc.] ** Bulgarian Television and Radio Symphony Orchestra ** Ivan Marinov (conductor)

  • Faust

    Episode

    Charles Gounod

    Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano) [Marguerite] ** Francisco Araiza [Faust] ** Evgeny Nesterenko [Méphistophélès] ** Andreas Schmidt (baritone) [Valentin] ** Pamela Coburn [Siébel] ** Marjana Lipovsek (alto) [Marthe] ** Gilles Cachemaille (bass) [Wagner] ** Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra ** Sir Colin Davis (conductor)

  • Ariodante

    Episode

    George Frideric Handel

    Denis Sedov [Il Re di Scozia] ** Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) [Ariodante] ** Lynne Dawson (soprano) [Ginevra] ** Richard Croft [Lurcanio] ** Ewa Podles [Polinesso] ** Verónica Cangemi [Dalinda] ** Luc Coadou [Odoardo] ** Chour des Musiciens du Louvre ** Les musiciens du Louvre ** Marc Minkowski (conductor)

  • Morgiane (Le Sultan d'Ispahan)

    Episode

    Edmond Dédé

    OperaCréole Ensemble ** Opera Lafayette Orchestra ** Patrick Dupre Quigley (conductor)

  • La Clemenza di Tito

    Episode

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor) [Tito Vespasiano] ** Julia Varady (soprano) [Vitellia] ** Sylvia McNair [Servilia] ** Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) [Sesto] ** Catherine Robbin [Annio] ** Cornelius Hauptmann (bass) [Publio] ** The Monteverdi Choir ** The English Baroque Soloists ** John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)