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World of Opera Listings


NPR's World of Opera airs Saturday nights at 7 p.m.



February 11, 2012
Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro
ROSSINI: Moses in Egypt
Bologna Municipal Theater Orchestra and Chorus
Roberto Abbado, conductor
CAST: Sonia Ganassi (Elcia); Dmitry Korchak (Osiride); Riccardo Zanellato (Moses); Olga Senderskaya (Amaltea); Alex Esposito (Pharoah); Enea Scala (Mambre); Yijie Shi (Aaron); Chiara Amarù (Amenofi)

To skirt the official prohibition of opera performances during Lent, Rossini came up with an operatic take on the biblical story of Moses and the exodus from Egypt, complete with the parting of the Red Sea, as in Hollywood's The Ten Commandments. You might think of this one as "Rossini meets Cecil B. DeMille," with bass Riccardo Zanellato filling in for Charlton Heston.



February 18, 2012
Champs-Elysees Theatre, Paris
VERDI: Oberto
National Orchestra of France, Radio France Chorus
Carlo Rizzi, conductor
CAST: Michele Pertusi (Oberto); Maria Guleghina (Leonora); Ekaterina Gubanova (Cuniza); Sophie Pondjiclis (Imelda); Vater Borin (Riccardo)

Oberto was Verdi's first opera, and the young composer picked an intimidating a venue for his first world premiere: Milan's La Scala. The opera's high-octane story involves an illicit romance that leaves the title character dead, the lead tenor's character in exile, and his girlfriend headed for a cloister.



February 25, 2012
Maggio Musicale, Florence
LEOS JANACEK: The Makropulos Affair
Maggio Musicale Orchestra and Chorus
Zubin Mehta, conductor
CAST: Angela Denoke (Emilia Marty); Miro Dvorsky (Albert Gregor); Karl Michael Ebner (Count Hauk-Sendorf); Rolf Haunstein (Dr. Kolenaty); Andrezej Dobber (Baron Jaroslav Prus); Mirko Guadagnini (Janek); Jan Vacik (Vitek); Jolana Fogasova (Kristina); Roberto Abbondanza (Strojnik); Stefanie Iranyi (Poklizecka)

A complex and fascinating drama told in the compelling musical and dramatic idiom that's unique to Janacek's operas. The Makropulos Affair is the mysterious story of a miraculously ageless diva who seems to have found a formula for immortality, only to be confronted by the sudden reality of death.



March 3, 2012
Opera Garnier, Paris
ROSSINI: La Cenerentola
Paris National Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Bruno Campanella, conductor
CAST: Karine Deshayes (Cenerentola); Javier Camarena (Don Ramiro); Riccardo Novaro (Dandini); Carlos Chausson (Don Magnifico); Alex Esposito (Alidoro); Jeannette Fischer (Clorinda); Anna Wall (Tisbe)

Based on the fairytale favorite "Cinderella" La Cenerentola is one of Rossini's most delicate and delightful comedies. But in this version of the story, it's not magic slippers and fairy godmothers that carry the day, but rather the strength of love and the resiliency of the human spirit.



March 10, 2012
Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
MIKHAIL GLINKA: Ruslan and Lyudmilla
Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
CAST: Albina Shagimuratova (Lyudmilla); Mikhail Petrenko (Ruslan); Vladimir Ognovenko (Svetozar); Yuri Minenko (Ratmir); Almas Shvilpa (Farlaf); Alexandrina Pendachanska (Gorislava); Charles Workman (Finn/Bayan); Elena Zaremba (Naina)

Glinka's opera has a famously rollicking overture -- and the rest of the opera keeps the action going strong. Based on a poem by Pushkin, it might be called an "epic frolic" -- a lush but lighthearted romp, through a world of fantastic adventures and fairytale love, heard here from Moscow's historic Bolshoi.



March 17, 2012
La Scala, Milan
MOZART: Don Giovanni
La Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
CAST: Peter Mattei (Don Giovanni); Anna Netrebko (Donna Anna); Barbara Frittoli (Donna Elvira); Bryn Terfel (Leporello); Giuseppe Filianoti (Don Ottavio); Anna Prohaska (Zerlina); Stefan Kocan (Masetto); Kwangchul Youn (Commendatore)

If ever a story fell right into a composer's wheelhouse, this would be the one. It's hard to imagine a more complex weave of antic comedy, shocking violence and emotional betrayals than Lorenzo da Ponte's incisive adaptation of the Don Juan legend -- or a composer better equipped to handle it than Mozart.



March 24, 2012
Maggio Musicale, Florence
PUCCINI: La Boheme
Maggio Musicale Orchestra and Chorus
Zubin Mehta, conductor
CAST: Gianluca Terranova (Rodolfo); Carmela Remigio (Mimi); Alessandra Marianelli (Musetta); Stefano Antonucci (Marcello); Simone del Savio (Schaunard); Marco Vinco (Colline); Andrea Cortece (Alcindoro)

Puccini's love-stoked tearjerker may end tragically, but the opera's multiple levels of passion and sentiment still make for a great "date night." And, as the perfect remedy for any tottering romance, La Boheme is also among the most popular operas ever composed.



March 31, 2012
Bastille Opera, Paris
VERDI: La Forza del Destino
Paris National Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Phillipe Jordan, conductor
CAST: Violeta Urmana (Leonora); Marcelo Alvarez (Alvaro); Vladimir Stoyanov (Don Carlo di Vargas); Mario Luperi (Marquis of Calatrava); Nadia Krasteva (Preziosilla); Nicola Alaimo (Fra Melitone); Rodolphe Briand (Trabuco); Nona Javakhidze (Curra)

The last of this quarter's trio of shows from the great opera houses of Paris, this production of Verdi's relentless drama of politics, passion and revenge boasts a top-notch, international cast.



April 7, 2012
Theater an der Wien, Vienna
TCHAIKOVSKY: Iolanta
RACHMANINOFF: Francesca da Rimini
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony
Kiril Petrenko, conductor
CAST (Iolanta): Olga Mykytenko (Iolanta); David Pittsinger (Rene); Dalibor Jenis (Robert); Saimir Pirgu (Vaudemont); Elchin Azizov (Ibn-Hakia); Vladimir Baykov (Bertrand) CAST: (Francesca da Rimini)

This intriguing double bill features two very different love stories. In Iolanta, tender romance leads to a powerful vision of healing light. In Francesca, based on a famous episode from Dante's Inferno, illicit lovers meet a violent death.