Opera Matinee

Inspired by a translation of Goethe’s dramatic poem “Faust”, about a tortured man who makes a fateful bargain with Mephistopheles. Berlioz scored the work for large chorus and orchestra with four main singers. This production of the Salzburg Festival features Charles Castronovo in the title role and Ildar Abdrazakov as the wily Mephistopheles.

This dramatic oratorio, composed late in Handel's career, is a tour de force, based on the Christian martyr Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover, Didymus.  The production of the Royal Opera House in London, sung in English, features Julia Bullock and Joyce DiDonato.

Vivaldi’s dynamic opera from his later period is a thrilling and moving power struggle between rulers and strong women during the Ottoman Empire. A performance by the Royal Opera House, London, featuring Gianluca Margheri and Francesco Giusti.

Verdi's first adaptation of a Shakespeare play, Macbeth is a dark psychological drama in which witches’ prophecy and greed for power lead Macbeth to madness and murder.  A presentation of the Royal Opera House with acclaimed baritone Simon Keenlyside in the title role.

French grand opera, and Camille Saint-Saëns' Samson and Dalila is based on the Biblical story of the life of Samson, the legendary strongman, and Dalila, who seduced and betrayed him.  A production of Royal Opera House, London, starring Nicky Spence and Elīna Garanča, led by Sir Antonio Pappano.

A quartet of French Baroque operas showcases two operas by Charpentier – Les Plaisirs de Versailles and Les Arts Florissants – along with Lalande’s Les Fontaines de Versailles and Le Concert d’Esculape, each performed by the Boston Early Music Festival.

The dramatic Almira, Handel's first opera, in a performance with period instruments by the Boston Early Music Festival, led by music directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs. Emőke Baráth performs in the title role. Sung in German.

Modest Mussorgsky's masterpiece and a centerpiece of Russian opera, Boris Godunov is an epic presentation of Pushkin's tragic portrayal of a tsar struggling between blind ambition and catastrophic paranoia. This performance from the Vienna State Opera features Alexander Tsymbalyuk in the title role.

Ill-fated love and loss between a tragic beauty seeking the finer things in life and her besotted knight. Asmik Gregorian sings the title role in this production of Vienna State Opera, led by Francesco Ivan Ciampa.