Markus Werba
A whimsical fairy tale with themes deeply rooted in the Enlightenment and principles of Free Masonry, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) appeals to audiences of all ages. Tony Award–winner Julie Taymor matches the magic and mystery of this timeless fable with a staging that bursts to life with vivid colors, intricate costumes, and inventive puppetry. In this performance from the 2017–18 Live in HD season, tenor Charles Castronovo stars as Tamino, the noble prince on a quest to rescue the maiden Pamina, sung by radiant soprano Golda Schultz in her Met-debut season. Along the way, Tamino befriends the lovable bird catcher Papageno, sung by baritone Markus Werba, and goes up against the forces of light—represented by bass René Pape’s benevolent Sarastro—and darkness—embodied by soprano Kathryn Lewek’s hair-raising Queen of the Night. Maestro James Levine is on the podium to lead a joyous performance of one of Mozart’s final masterpieces.
Julie Taymor’s kaleidoscopic production returns to select cinemas this holiday season in an encore presentation of the company’s first-ever Live in HD transmission that includes tenor Matthew Polenzani, baritone Nathan Gunn, and bass René Pape in this abridged, English-language version of Mozart’s classic fable.
Filmed production of the 2016 Scala production of the famous opera.
Fierrabras of 1823 is the last of Franz Schubert’s stage works. Rarely performed to this day, this heroic-romantic opera has now been staged for the first time ever at the Salzburg Festival by famous director Peter Stein. Based on an old French 12th-century epic, the plot depicts the military conflict between Christians and Moors at the time of Charlemagne – as a backdrop to stories of love and friendship that prove to be stronger than war and hatred of otherness. The strong cast includes the “marvellously expressive miracle Dorothea Röschmann” (Die Zeit) and “Michael Schade, who exudes his exceptional tenor in Fierrabras’s heroic arias” (Der neue Merker). Under the energetic baton of lngo Metzmacher, the Vienna Philharmonic unfold “the melos, the poetry, the sweetness and the dramatic force of Schubert’s highly refined and atmospheric sound worlds” (Kleine Zeitung) in highly romantic fashion.
Part of an epoch-making release of Mozart's complete operas on DVD, here is the 18-year old composer's first mature opera buffa. Hilarity mingles with passionate emotions when belfiore believes he has killed his lover in a fit of jealousy, but then encounters her disguised as gardener sandrina. Famed filmmaker Doris Dorie directs a superb young cast in this tale of love, hate and intrigue across class barriers, all vividly depicted by Mozart's astonishingly rich and varied music.
