Francesca Zambello

When a free-spirited Gypsy is arrested, an impressionable soldier is charmed into letting her go. But having risked everything to be with her and lost, his hopes of happiness soon turn into a jealous rage. With equal parts danger and desire, Carmen is an intoxicating cocktail that never fails to excite the senses. Spanish mezzo-soprano María José Montiel plays the seductive sevillana in this festive production from ‘The Giant Egg’ in Beijing. Streamed on Bizet’s birthday, this performance is part of OperaVision’s events celebrating the inaugural World Opera Day on 25 October 2019.

As the end nears for the gods, and human ambition rules the world, Alberich’s son Hagen hatches a plot to take control of the ring, threatening the union of Siegfried and Brünnhilde. Fueled by greed, Hagen’s actions lead to chaos and destruction, until Brünnhilde steps forward to return the world to its natural order.

A fearless young hero battles otherworldly challenges on a journey to discover his destiny.

Get ready for Das Rheingold, the first chapter in Richard Wagner’s four-part epic, The Ring of the Nibelung. Travel to a world where gods, giants, and dwarves vie for control over the realms of myths and mortals.

A father’s blinding ambition and a daughter’s profound defiance drive the story forward in the cycle’s dramatic second installment. This Ring production is partly #MeToo, partly environmental—and almost entirely American.

The young soldier Don José intends to marry Micaëla, a girl from his home village. But when he meets the sensual and high-spirited Carmen, he sacrifices everything to be with her. Carmen grows tired of Don José and falls in love with the toreador Escamillo. Unable to bear her leaving him, Don José tracks Carmen down to a bullring where Escamillo is fighting and murders her.

She didn’t know his name. She didn’t know his background. But what Luisa Miller did know was that her heart belonged to the stranger Carlo as soon as she clapped eyes on him. But the secret behind Carlo’s identity is the least of her problems in Giuseppe Verdi’s star-crossed romance Luisa Miller, a tale of class, deception and betrayal set in the Alps.

Hammerstein and Kern’s Show Boat is a true classic of American musical theater - a tale of life on the Mississippi from the 1880s to the 1920s is both a poignant love story and a powerful reminder of the bitter legacy of racism. The exuberant production from the San Francisco Opera features songbook classics such as “Ol’ Man River” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”.

Berlioz’s epic masterpiece retells the magnificent saga of the aftermath of the Trojan War and the exploits of Aeneas. Rising tenor Bryan Hymel, in his Met debut, stars as the hero charged by the gods with the founding of the city of Rome. Susan Graham is Dido, Queen of Carthage, who becomes Aeneas’s lover, and Deborah Voigt sings Cassandra, the Trojan princess whose warnings about the impending destruction of Troy go unheeded. Francesca Zambello’s atmospheric production, featuring choreography by Doug Varone, is led by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi.

George Gershwin miraculously melded classical idioms, jazz, blues, and spirituals in this quintessentially American masterpiece about a crippled beggar, the headstrong woman he loves, and the community that sustains them both; presented here in an acclaimed productions from San Francisco Opera

George Gershwin miraculously melded classical idioms, jazz, blues, and spirituals in this quintessentially American masterpiece about a crippled beggar, the headstrong woman he loves, and the community that sustains them both; presented here in an acclaimed productions from San Francisco Opera

Live from ROH 2009, TV relay 1/12/2009.

Albert Rosen conducts the Wexford Festival Opera's production of the classic Antonín Dvorák tale about a young woman who defies her parents by insisting on dancing even if it means she must dance with the devil. Anne-Marie Owens plays Kate, who's dismayed to discover that her spontaneous outburst has attracted the attention of one of Lucifer's minions. Joseph Evans stars as Jirka, the handsome shepherd who risks a voyage to hell to rescue her.

DON GIOVANNI is one of the timeless classics of all opera. Mozart’s music, and the words of his great collaborator Da Ponte, are brought to life in Francesca Zambello’s engrossing production with its rich and colourful designs by Maria Bjornson. The music is memorable, dramatic and enjoyable: from the seductive solo voices of the famous ‘La ci darem la mano’ to the fabulous ensemble as Don Giovanni’s infatuated conquests, vengeful victims and their outraged relatives join forces for justice. And retribution does finally come to Don Giovanni, a serial womanizer and a murderer, with the searing flames of Hell ready to engulf him. Simon Keenlyside heads the outstanding cast at the Covent Garden Royal Opera House, conducted by renowned Mozart expert Charles Mackerras.

Jonas Kaufmann and Anna Caterina Antonacci bring rare erotic intensity to the drama of Don José and Carmen in this darkly passionate reading of one of the most popular operas. Kaufmann uses his burnished tenor and smouldering good looks to portray the man undone by Carmen's love. As the object of his desire, Antonacci gives a physical and compelling performance.

The plot adheres closely to the original novel, revolves around wealthy Maxim DeWinter, his naïve new wife, and Mrs. Danvers, the manipulative housekeeper of DeWinter's Cornish estate Manderley. Mrs. Danvers resents the new wife's intrusion and persuades the new wife that she is an unworthy replacement for the first Mrs. DeWinter, the glamorous and mysterious Rebecca, who perished in a drowning accident. The new Mrs. DeWinter struggles to find her identity and take control of her life among the shadows left by Rebecca.

In an opera version of the famous literature classic, during World War I, an airplane pilot crashes his plane in the Sahara Desert, where he has a very unusual near-death experience.

Street Scene is a Broadway musical or, more precisely, an "American opera" by Kurt Weill (music), Langston Hughes (lyrics), and Elmer Rice (book). It was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Rice. For his work on Street Scene, Weill received the first Tony Award for Best Original Score. In Germany, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Weill had already begun to use American jazz and popular song elements in his operas. After fleeing from Germany in 1933, he worked in Paris, then England, and then, beginning in 1935, in New York. Weill made a study of American popular and stage music and worked to further adapt his music to new American styles in his writing for Broadway, film and radio. He strove to find a new way of creating an American opera that would be both commercially and artistically successful.

La agridulce ópera de Giacomo Puccini sobre animosos bohemios y el amor condenado entre Rodolfo, el poeta idealista y Mimi, la florista tísica, es una serie de cuadros maravillosamente equilibrados que representan la contagiosa alegría de vivir de la juventud y el trágico desperdicio de la enfermedad y separación. La legendaria e incomparable asociación de Mirella Freni y Luciano Pavarotti como los dos amantes ha sido capturada en esta grabación especial en vivo desde el escenario de la Ópera de San Francisco. Brian Large ha adaptado la producción de Francesca Zambello para video, iluminando aún más la fascinante interacción de los personajes de Puccini. Gino Quilico canta Marcello, el pintoresco y tempestuoso pintor, cuya tempestuosa relación con la coqueta Musetta (cantada por Sandra Pacetti), refleja cómicamente el amor más profundo de Rodolfo y Mimi. Nicolai Ghiaurov canta Colline.

Don Giovanni, ossia il dissoluto punito (KV 527) es una ópera en dos actos con música de Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart y libreto de Lorenzo da Ponte, compuesta entre marzo y octubre de 1787, en Viena y en Praga, y basada en el mito de Don Juan (el correspondiente italiano de Juan es Giovanni). Surgió como un encargo a raíz del éxito que tuvo en esta última ciudad el estreno de su anterior ópera, Las bodas de Fígaro. Fue estrenada en el Teatro Estatal de Praga el 29 de octubre de 1787, con gran éxito de crítica y público. Su obertura fue compuesta un día antes de su estreno, de manera que fue interpretada por vez primera sin ensayo previo alguno. El libreto está escrito en italiano.