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.

  • Catone in Utica

    Episode

    Antonio Vivaldi

    Cecilia Gasdia [Cesare] ** Marilyn Schmiege [Marzia] ** Susanna Rigacci [Arbace] ** Margarita Zimmermann [Emilia] ** Lucrezia Lendi [Fulvio] ** Ernesto Palacio [Catone] ** I Solist Veneti ** Claudio Scimione (conductor)
  • Manon Lescaut

    Episode

    Giacomo Puccini

    Mirella Freni (soprano) [Manon Lescaut] ** Renato Bruson [Lescaut] ** Plácido Domingo (tenor) [Il Cavaliere Renato Des Grieux] ** Kurt Rydl [Geronte di Ravoir] ** Robert Gambill [Edmondo] ** George Macpherson [L'Oste] ** John Fryatt [Il Maestro di Ballo] ** Brigitte Fassbaender (mezzo-soprano) [Un Musico] ** Handel Thomas [Sergente degli Arcieri] ** Mark Curtis [Un Lampionaio] ** John Tomlinson [Un Comandante di Marina] ** Paschal Allen [Un Sergente] ** Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden ** Philharmonia Orchestra ** Giuseppe Sinopoli (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)
  • Don Quichotte

    Episode

    Jules Massenet

    Teresa Berganza (mezzo-soprano) [La belle Dulcinée] ** José van Dam (baritone) [Don Quichotte] ** Alain Fondary [Sancho Pança] ** Isabelle Vernet [Pedro] ** Marie-Ange Todorovitch [Garcias] ** Christian Papis [Rodriguez] ** Nicolas Rivenq (bass) [Juan] ** Jean-Claude Barbier [Le chef des bandits] ** Chour et Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse ** Michel Plasson (conductor)
  • Il trovatore

    Episode

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Giorgio Zancanaro [Il Conte di Luna] ** Rosalind Plowright [Leonora] ** Brigitte Fassbaender (mezzo-soprano) [Azucena] ** Plácido Domingo (tenor) [Manrico (Il trovatore)] ** Evgeny Nesterenko [Ferrando] ** Anna di Stasio (mezzo-soprano) [Ines] ** Walter Gullino [Ruiz] ** Alfredo Giacomotti [Un vecchio zingaro] ** Aldo Verrecchia [Un messo] ** Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia [Seguaci] ** Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ** Carlo Maria Giulini (conductor)
  • Hippolyte et Aricie

    Episode

    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)
  • 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)
  • Les Huguenots

    Episode

    Giacomo Meyerbeer

    Ghylaine Raphanel [Marguerite de Valois] ** Françoise Pollet [Valentine] ** Danielle Borst [Urbain] ** Richard Leech (tenor) [Raoul de Nangis] ** Gilles Cachemaille (bass) [Le Comte de Nevers] ** Boris Martinovic [Le Comte de Saint-Bris] ** Nicola Ghiuselev [Marcel] ** Jean-Luc Maurette [De Tavannes] ** Christian Jean [De Cossé/Bois Roé/Un Moine] ** Marc Barrard (baritone) [De Thoré] ** Antoine Garcin [De Retz] ** Herve Martin [De Meru/Un Moine/Un Archer] ** Christian Boulay [Maurevert/Un Moine] ** Chours de l'Opéra de Montpellier ** Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier ** Cyril Diederich (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)
  • Così fan tutte

    Episode

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Renée Fleming (soprano) [Fiordiligi] ** Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) [Dorabella] ** Olaf Bär (baritone) [Guglielmo] ** Frank Lopardo (tenor) [Ferrando] ** Adelina Scarabelli [Despina] ** Michele Pertusi [Don Alfonso] ** London Voices [Soldiers, servants, mariners] ** Chamber Orchestra of Europe ** Sir Georg Solti (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)
  • Libuse

    Episode

    Bedřich Smetana

    Eva Urbanová [Libuse] ** Vratislav Kriz [Premysl of Stadice] ** Ludek Vele [Chrudos from Otava] ** Jan Markvart [Stahlav from Radbuza] ** Miloslav Podskalsky [Lutobor from Dobroslavsky Chlumec] ** Pavel Cervinka [Radovan from the Stone Bridge] ** Helena Kaupova [Krasava] ** Miroslava Volkova [Radmila] ** Chorus of the Prague National Theatre ** Orchestra of the Prague National Theatre ** Oliver Dohnanyi (conductor)