Europe's Grand Operas
Fresh from the stages of the world's most renowned opera houses, including Italy's Teatro La Scala and Austria's Salzburg Festival, we're proud to introduce state-of-the-art High Definition presentations of current spectacular opera productions. If you can't stretch your dollar to fly to Europe, then join us for the next best thing with these virtual opera house experiences.

Programs take place selected Sundays starting at 11 am. If you have questions please call 617.734-2501. For group ticket information please dial extension 113 Monday–Thursday.

Tickets are $20 general admission; $17 Students, Seniors, Coolidge Members and Boston Lyric Opera subscribers.

BLO Subscribers: call BLO’s Audience Services at 617.542.6772 or email boxoffice@blo.org for your discount coupon.

Tickets for all performances up through ROMEO ET JULIETTE on sale now! Learn more about the Coolidge’s ticketing policy and mail order form.

This series is co-presented by Boston Lyric Opera.

IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA (ROSSINI)

Sun, Nov 30 at 11 am

Rossini completed all the music for IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA in less than three weeks. This “Opera Buffa”, hated at its first performance only to become a hit within a week, is one of the most performed operas worldwide, and certainly Rossini’s most famous and beloved one. It features numerous Arias that have reached such a status of fame to sound familiar to anyone’s ears (i.e. Figaro’s signature Aria Largo al factotum and Rosina’s final Aria Una voce poco fa ) along with some of Rossini’s most brilliant sextets involving the entire company.

In the form of comedy, IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA tells the story of Rosina who refuses to marry Doctor Bartolo, her guardian, as she is in love with Lindoro (the Count Almaviva in disguise). After many twists and tricks, and thanks to the strategic help of Figaro, Lindoro (the Count of Almaviva) and Rosina finally succeed in getting married.

This production from Venice’s Teatro La Fenice was an immediate hit when it was staged in April 2008.
Opera Buffa in 2 acts, approx 2h37.

Music: Gioacchino Rossini; Libretto: Cesare Sterbini, based on Beaumarchais's comedy "The Barber of Seville"; Conductor: Antonino Fogliani; Director: Bepi Morassi; Set and Costumes: Laura Crisman; Lights: Vilmo Furian

Cast - Roberto Frontali, baritone: Figaro; Rinat Shaham, mezzo-soprano: Rosina; Francesco Meli, tenor: Count Almaviva; Bruno de Simone, baritone: Doctor Bartolo; Giovanni Furlanetto, bass: Don Basilio

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DON GIOVANNI (MOZART)

Sun, Dec 7 at 11 am

DON GIOVANNI, probably Mozart’s most famous opera, was the opening production of the Festival in 2008. Following his successful production of Le nozze di Figaro in Salzburg, German stage director Claus Guth is preparing his second Da Ponte opera. In the title role British baritone Christopher Maltman, Winner of the Lieder Prize at the 1997 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, will be making his first appearance in Salzburg in an opera production. Annette Dasch, highly celebrated last season as Armida, takes the role of Donna Anna. Bertrand de Billy, Anna Netrebko´s favourite conductor, directs the Vienna Philharmonic. Dorothea Röschmann, particularly renowned for her interpretation of the great Mozart roles, sings the Donna Elvira and Erwin Schrott appears as Leporello.
Opera in 2 acts, approx 3h. Performed at Salzburg Festival, Austria, August 2008
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Libretto: Lorenzo da Ponte; Conductor: Bertrand de Billy; Directed: Claus Guth; Sets and costumes: Christian Schmidt; Lighting: Olaf Winter; Choreography: Ramses Sigl
Cast - Don Giovanni, baritone: Christopher Maltman; Il commandatore, bass:Anatoly Kocherga; Donna Anna, soprano: Annette Dasch; Don Ottavio, tenor: Matthew Polenzani; Donna Elvira, soprano: Dorothea Röschmann; Leporello, bass: Erwin Schrott; Zerlina, soprano: Ekaterina Siurina; Masetto, bass: Alex Esposito

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OTELLO (VERDI)

Sun, Jan 4 at 11 am - Encore Thurs, Jan 8 at 7 pm

Verdi’s last tragic opera OTELLO, like Shakespeare’s play, is a shattering psychological drama. The new production for the Salzburg Festival was directed by Stephen Langridge, who in 2006 attracted attention with his production of Offenbach’s Bluebeard in Bregenz. Riccardo Muti, one of the best Verdi conductors of our time, returned to Salzburg for the production. Alongside the Spanish baritone Carlos Álvarez as Jago, two rising international singers of the younger generation can be heard as Otello and Desdemona: the Latvian spinto tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko and the Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya.

Opera in 4 acts, approx 2h10m. Performed at the Salzburg Festival, August 2008

Music: Giuseppe Verdi; Libretto: Arrigo Boito; Conductor: Riccardo Muti; Directed: Stephen Langridge; Sets: George Souglides; Costumes: Emma Ryott; Lights: Giuseppe Di lorio

Cast - Aleksandrs Antonenko, tenor: Otello; Marina Poplavskaya, soprano: Desdemona; Carlos Alvarez, baritone: Jago; Barbara Di Castri, mezzo-soprano: Emilia; Stephen Costello, tenor: Cassio; Antonello Ceron, tenor: Roderigo; Mikhail Petrenko, bass: Lodovico; Simone Del Savio, bass: Montano

ROMÉO ET JULIETTE (GOUNOD)

Sun, Feb 1 at 11 am - Encore Thurs, Feb 5 at 7:00 pm

With its four duets for the title couple, Charles Gounod’s ROMÉO ET JULIETTE is one of the most famous love tragedies in opera literature. Stage director Bartlett Sher (winner of this year’s best director of a musical Tony Award for his revival of South Pacific on Broadway) makes his European opera debut with this production of ROMÉO ET JULIETTE. Rolando Villazón, one of the leading lyric tenors of our day and acclaimed for his performances at leading theatres across the world, acts as Romeo. As Julia is the young Georgian soprano Nino Machaizde, who made her La Scala debut in 2006 as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos under the baton of Jeffrey Tate. The young French-Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, music director designate of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, conducts for the first time in Salzburg.

Opera in 5 acts, approx 3h. Performed at Salzburg Festival, August 2008

Music: Charles Gounod; Libretto: Jules Barbier, Michel Carré; Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Directed: Bartlett Sher; Sets: Michael Yeargan; Costumes: Catherine Zuber; Lights : Jennifer Tipton

Cast - Nino Machaidze, soprano: Juliette; Rolando Villazòn, tenor: Romèo; Mikhail Petrenko, bass: Frère Laurent; Russell Braun, baritone: Mercutio; Cora Burggraaf, mezzo-soprano: Stèphano; Falk Struckmann, bass-baritone: Le Comte Capulet; Juna Francisco Gatell, tenor: Tybalt


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DON CARLO (VERDI)

Sun, March 15 at 11 am - Encore Mon, March 23 at 7:00 pm

DON CARLO is possibly the most intense, deep, nuanced, rich, and masterful work of the “mature” Giuseppe Verdi, an extensive and monumental showcase of everything Verdi. It is also the Verdi opera that exists in the most number of versions. The version of this “Grand Opera” is the 1884 Four Acts version that Verdi reduced and changed into Italian from the original 1867 Five Acts version in French.

The story is based on conflicts in the life of Carlos, Prince of Asturias, after his betrothed Elisabeth of Valois was married instead to his father Philip II of Spain as part of the peace treaty ending the Italian War of 1551-1559 between the Houses of Habsburg and Valois.

La Scala put together an incredible team of talents for this opera which inaugurated its 2007-208 season. The conductor is Italian Maestro Daniele Gatti, who has been acclaimed by the Wiener Staatsoper in masterpieces of the German repertoire, and was invited by the Wiener Philharmoniker to join its revered family of directors. Ferruccio Furlanetto, the internationally renowned Italian bass and a master of stage presence, takes on the role of Philip II. Fiorenza Cedolinis, Italy’s most requested soprano who won the Luciano Pavarotti Vocal Competition in 1996, portrays Elisabeth de Valois. Giuseppe Filianoti, the 33-year-old Italian tenor -- who is enjoying well deserved success all over the world -- brings his clear and noble voice to the role of Don Carlo. The great musicality of Slovak baritone Dalibor Jenis perfectly fits the role of Rodrigo. Rounding out the cast are the Finnish Matti Salminen, who brings many years of experience to the role of the Great Inquisitor, and the American Dolora Zajick, the world’s premier dramatic Verdi mezzo-soprano, who sings in one of her signature roles, that of Princess Eboli. The stage direction and the sets are by the young Stephane Braunschweig, the Artistic Director of France’s prestigious Théâtre National de Strasbourg and already the creator of a great number of acclaimed Opera productions.

Opera in 4 acts, approx 2h55m. Performed at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Dec 2008

Music: Giuseppe Verdi; Libretto: François-Joseph Mery and Camille Du Locle (Italian translation by Achille de Lauzières and Angelo Zanardini);

Conductor: Daniele Gatti; Direction and sets: Stephane Braunschweig; Costumes: Thibault van Creanenbroeck; Lights: Marion Hewlett

Cast - Ferruccio Furlanetto, bass-baritone: Philip II; Giuseppe Filianoti, tenor: Don Carlo; Dalibor Jenis, baritone: Rodrigo; Matti Salminen, bass: The Grand Inquisitor; Fiorenza Cedolins, soprano: Elisabeth de Valois; Dolora Zajick, mezzo-soprano: Princesse Eboli

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