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

Andrea Chénier

May 21, 2026

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)

  • Tosca

    Episode

    Giacomo Puccini

    Katia Ricciarelli (soprano) [Floria Tosca] ** José Carreras (tenor) [Mario Cavaradossi] ** Ruggero Raimondi (baritone) [Il barone Vitellio Scarpia] ** Gottfried Hornik (bass) [Cesare Angelotti] ** Heinz Zednik (tenor) [Spoletta] ** Fernando Corena [Un sagrestano] ** Victor von Halem (baritone) [Sciarrone] ** Victor von Halem (baritone) [Un carceriere] ** Wolfgang Bünten (tenor) [Un pastore] ** Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin ** Schöneberger Sängerknaben ** Berlin Philharmonic ** Herbert von Karajan (conductor)

  • La traviata

    Episode

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Anna Netrebko (soprano) [Violetta Valéry] ** Rolando Villazón [Alfredo Germont] ** Thomas Hampson (baritone) [Giorgio Germont] ** Helene Schneiderman [Flora Bervoix] ** Diane Pilcher [Annina] ** Paul Gay [Barone Douphol] ** Herman Wallén [Marchese d'Obigny] ** Luigi Roni [Dottore Grenvil] ** Dritan Luca [Giuseppe, servo di Violetta] ** Wolfram Igor Derntl [Domestico di Flora] ** Friedrich Springer [Commissionario] ** Vienna State Opera Concert Chorus ** Vienna Philharmonic ** Carlo Rizzi (conductor)