Kwangchul Youn

The Metropolitan Opera: Manon

Massenet’s tale of passion, excess, and their consequences stars rising soprano Lisette Oropesa in the effervescent title role. Tenor Michael Fabiano is her ardent admirer, Chevalier des Grieux, with Maurizio Benini conducting Laurent Pelly’s enchanting production.

Lucia di Lammermoor

Diana Damrau’s reputation as the world’s leading coloratura soprano has been built on her extraordinary technical virtuosity, her sensitive musicianship and her acute psychological insight. In this DVD of Katie Mitchell’s sometimes radical production of Lucia di Lammermoor from London’s Royal Opera House, she is, as the Financial Times wrote, “brilliantly convincing”. The British award winning director Katie Mitchell – took a revisionist approach to the drama, updating the action to the mid-19th century and applying a feminist slant as she added new and unexpected elements. The Financial Times wrote: “Mitchell shows us on stage personal traumas that a self-respecting woman in the early 19th century was meant to keep to herself. It is a messy, bloody list — nocturnal sex trysts, a knife murder, a miscarriage, a suicide in the bath … In all this Damrau is brilliantly convincing. Her rebellious Lucia is a woman of modern attitudes stuck in a still feudal Victorian world.”

Macbeth

Giuseppe Verdi's powerful opera Macbeth sees a barnstorming staging by legendary stage director Harry Kupfer at the newly reopened Staatsoper Unter den Linden.

Parsifal

Parsifal in Bayreuth, directed by Stefan Herheim and conducted by Daniele Gatti.

Il Trovatore (La Scala)

To stage Verdi's Il Trovatore, according to Arturo Toscanini, you need to bring together the four best singers in the world. This stunning production at Milan's La Scala unites four luminaries of today's opera scene to great effect: with his lilting legato, Marcelo Álvarez (Manrico) does justice to the opera's bel canto character; Franco Vassallo brings assurance and flair to the Count di Luna; Maria Agresta (Leonora) effortlessly rises to the challenges of the score; and Ekaterina Semenchuk (Azucena) also masters the most difficult notes. With the fastidious Daniele Rustioni leading La Scala's world-class orchestra, the music leads the action apace, resounding alongside the hall's legendary chorus and amid monumental sets and decor in this sublime production of one of the world's favorite operas.

Mozart: Don Giovanni

Calixto Bieito's famously controversial 2002 production of Mozart's great opera sets the action in the late twentieth century and brings to life an ancient story brilliantly retold. Bertrand de Billy conducts an energetic cast led by Wojtek Drabowicz in the title role, with the Liceu's Orchestra Academy. Press Reviews "The musical performance has its own distinction, as well as complete integration with the staging concept." (Gramophone) " It's a strong cast, led by Drabowicz's nobly-voiced, savage Don, and Youn's powerful Leporello." (BBC Music Magazine) "A fully rounded piece of work...Coherent production, perfectly staged, impeccable singers." (El Periodico) "Musically much better than the London version – Véronique Gens makes a wonderful Donna Elvira, confident, strong, perfect both in her singing and acting." (El Pais)

Mozart: Don Giovanni

Don Juan sins with his servant and is doomed in this tragicomic opera.

Wagner: Die Walküre

Wagner - Das Rheingold

The prologue to Wagner's giant masterpiece Der Ring des Nibelungen unfolds the beginning of an epic journey when Alberich seizes the ring of gold, its awesome power unleashing an unstoppable story of deceit, destruction, death and transfiguring love. Filmed at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu in 2004, Harry Kupfer's stunning production first staged in Berlin, and recorded in sumptuous surround sound, numbers among the greatest productions of modern times.

Tannhauser

Wagner's tale of the struggle between spiritual and profane love, and of redemption through love, is given a radical visual update in Sebastian Baumgarten's controversial yet thought-provoking Bayreuth production. Joep van Lieshout's giant installation 'The Technocrat'; dominates the stage, its industrial interior giving credence to the idea that Tannhäuser is one big experiment and playing host to some magnificent performances, among them Torsten Kerl's robust interpretation of the title role and Camilla Nylund's wonderfully empathetic Elisabeth. Recorded live at the Bayreuth Festspiele, August 2014.