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

Hippolyte et Aricie

November 8, 2026

Jean-Philippe Rameau

Véronique Gens [Aricie] ** Jean-Paul Fouchécourt [Hippolyte] ** Bernarda Fink (alto) [Phèdre] ** Russell Smythe [Thésée] ** Thérèse Feighan [Diane] ** Annick Massis [L'Amour] ** Laurent Naouri [Pluton/Neptune/Jupiter] ** Florence Katz [Onone] ** Jean-Lous Georgel [Mercure/Arcas] ** Luc Coadou [Tisiphone] ** Jean-Louis Meunier [Parque] ** Jacques-François Loiseleur des Longchamps [Parque] ** Jérôme Varnier [Parque] ** Monique Simon [La Grande-Prêtresse] ** Stephan Van Dyck [Un Suivant de l'Amour] ** Kiyoko Okada [Une Prêtresse] ** Meredith Hall [Une Chasseresse] ** Ensemble Vocal Sagittarius [Nymphes de Diane, habitants de la forêt, suivants de l'Amour, prêtresses de Diane, divinités infernales, Trézéniens, matelots, chasseurs et chasseresses, bergers et bergères] ** Les musiciens du Louvre ** Marc Minkowski (conductor)

  • Il Pirata

    Episode

    Vincenzo Bellini

    Maria Callas [Imogene] ** Constantino Ego [Ernesto] ** Pier Miranda Ferraro [Gualtiero] ** Glade Peterson [Itulbo] ** Chester Watson [Goffredo (Solitario)] ** Regina Sarfaty [Adele] ** Chorus and Orchestra of the American Opera Society ** Nicola Rescigno (conductor)

  • La traviata

    Episode

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Edita Gruberova [Violetta Valéry] ** Patricia Spence [Flora Bervoix] ** Monica Bacelli [Annina] ** Neil Shicoff [Alfredo Germont] ** Giorgio Zancanaro [Giorgio Germont] ** Kim Begley [Gastone, Visconte de Létorières] ** Peter Sidhom [Barone Douphol] ** David Barrell [Marchese d'Obigny] ** Alastaire Miles [Dottore Grenvil] ** Peter Bronder [Giuseppe, servo di Violetta] ** Fabrizio Visentin [Domestico di Flora] ** Nicholas Folwell [Commissionario] ** Ambrosian Singers [Signori e signore ** Amici di Violetta e Flora ** Mattadore ** Piccadori e zingare ** London Symphony Orchestra ** Carlo Rizzi (conductor)

  • La Juive

    Episode

    Fromental Halévy

    José Carreras (tenor) [Eléazar] ** Julia Varady (soprano) [Rachel] ** Dalmacio Gonzales [Léopold] ** June Anderson [La Princesse Eudoxie] ** Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass) [Le Cardinal de Brogni] ** René Massis [Ruggiero] ** Renè Schirrer [Albert] ** Ambrosian Opera Chorus ** Philharmonia Orchestra ** Antonio de Almeida (conductor)

  • Eugen Onegin

    Episode

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Rosemarie Lang [Larina] ** Mirella Freni (soprano) [Tatjana] ** Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) [Olga] ** Ruthild Engert [Filipjewna] ** Thomas Allen (baritone) [Eugen Onegin] ** Neil Shicoff [Lenski] ** Paata Burchuladze [Fürst Gremin] ** Michel Sénéchal (bass) [Triquet] ** Jürgen Hartfiel [Ein Hauptmann] ** Gunter Emmerlich [Saretzki] ** Rundfunkchor Leipzig ** Staatskapelle Dresden ** James Levine (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)

  • Die Zauberflöte

    Episode

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Nicolai Gedda [Tamino] ** Gundula Janowitz [Pamina] ** Walter Berry [Papageno] ** Lucia Popp [Königin der Nacht] ** Gottlieb Frick (bass) [Sarastro] ** Franz Crass [Sprecher ** Zweiter Geharnischter ** Zweiter Priester] ** Elisabeth Schwarzkopf [Erste Dame] ** Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano) [Zweite Dame] ** Marga Höffgen [Dritte Dame] ** Ruth-Margret Pütz [Papagena] ** Gerhard Unger [Monostatos ** Erster Priester] ** Karl Liebl [Erster Geharnischter] ** Agnes Giebel [Erster Knabe] ** Anna Reynolds [Zweiter Knabe] ** Josephine Veasey [Dritter Knabe] ** Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra ** Otto Klemperer (conductor)

  • Tannhäuser

    Episode

    Richard Wagner

    Matti Salminen (bass) [Hermann, Landgraf von Thüringen] ** Plácido Domingo (tenor) [Tannhäuser] ** Andreas Schmidt (baritone) [Wolfram von Eschenbach] ** William Pell [Walther von der Vogelweide] ** Kurt Rydl [Biterolf] ** Clemens Bieber [Heinrich der Schreiber] ** Oskar Hillebrandt [Reinmar von Zweter] ** Cheryl Studer (soprano) [Elisabeth] ** Agnes Baltsa (mezzo-soprano) [Venus] ** Barbara Bonney (soprano) [Ein Junger Hirt] ** Margaret Stobart [Erster Edelknabe] ** Jeanette Wilson [Zweiter Edelknabe] ** Ingrid Baier [Dritter Edelknabe] ** Karen Shelby [Vierter Edelknabe] ** Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden [Thüringische Ritter, Grafen und Edelleute ** Edelfrauen ** Ältere und jungere Pilger] ** Philharmonia Orchestra ** Giuseppe Sinopoli (conductor)

  • Rodelinda

    Episode

    George Frideric Handel

    Sophie Danemann [Rodelinda] ** Daniel Taylor [Bertarido] ** Adrian Thompson [Grimoaldo] ** Catherine Robbin [Eduige] ** Robin Blaze [Unulfo] ** Christopher Purves [Garibaldo] ** Raglan Baroque Players ** Nicholas Kraemer

  • Les Pêcheurs de perles

    Episode

    Georges Bizet

    Janine Micheau [Leïla] ** Nicolai Gedda [Nadir] ** Ernest Blanc [Zurga] ** Jacques Mars [Nourabad] ** Chours du Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique ** Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique ** Pierre Dervaux (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)

  • Louise

    Episode

    Gustave Charpentier

    Beverly Sills (soprano) [Louise] ** Nicolai Gedda [Julien] ** Mignon Dunn [La mère] ** José van Dam (baritone) [La père] ** Éliane Lublin [Irma] ** Christiane Chateau [Camille] ** Sonia Nigoghossian [Élise] ** Marie Bertola [Marguerite] ** Martine Surais [Gertrude] ** Claude Vierne [La première] ** Carla Rutili [Madeleine] ** Mireille Laurent [L'apprentie] ** Elya Weismann [Blanche] ** Maria Mella [Suzanne] ** Martyn Hill [Le noctambule] ** Jacques Mars [Le chiffonier] ** Jean-Jacques Doumène [Le bricoleur] ** Chœur et Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opera de Paris ** Julius Rudel (conductor)

  • Scylla et Glaucus

    Episode

    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)