Irène Friedli

Die Zauberflöte

Alf Bernhard-Leonardi

Malin Hartelius, Piotr Beczala

Live production of the Mozart opera Die Zauberflöte.

Fierrabras

László Polgár, Juliane Banse

Schubert Opera composed in 1823 but not performed until 1988. It is set in a medieval world and based on La Chanson de Roland and the legend of the love between Eginhard and Emma. Live performance from 2007 at the Opernhaus Zürich.

Elektra

Felix Breisach

Eva Johansson, Marjana Lipovšek

The Martin Kušej production of Richard Strauss's "Elektra", filmed live at the Opernhaus Zurich on 30 November and 4 December 2005. Eva Johansson stars as Elektra, with Marjana Lipovšek as Klytämnestra, Melanie Diener as Chrysothemis, Rudolf Schashing as Aegisth, and Alfred Muff as Orest. Christoph von Dohnányi conducts.

Verdi La Traviata

Jürgen Flimm, Felix Breisach

Eva Mei, Piotr Beczala

This DVD of a live 2005 performance from the Zürich Opera under the musical direction of Franz Welser-Möst has many things to recommend it -- the young tenor Piotr Beczala as Alfredo, the marvelous Thomas Hampson as Giorgio Germont, the playing of the Zurich Opera orchestra, the simple but effective sets by by Erich Wonder, the uncluttered stage direction by Jürgen Flimm. It also has some flaws: strangely variable volume level of the recorded sound sometimes coming on so loud as to make one reach for the volume control, and the uneven performance of the Violetta, Eva Mei who, for all her merits, gives a dramatically effective performance marred by occasional difficulties with vocal production. Still, overall I felt this was a moving production, one that I would recommend, although perhaps not as an only DVD of one of Verdi's most popular operas.

Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana

José Cura, Irène Friedli

Pietro Mascagni's opera recorded in 2009. Conductor Stefano Ranzani leads the orchestra and chorus of the Zurich Opera House, with performances by Argentinian tenor Jose Cura and soprano Pauletta Marrocu.