"Despite the multitude of characters and situations, the plot is simple: the eternal flow of life. It is based on Les contes fantastiques d’Hoffmann, a play by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, who were inspired by some of the stories of the German E.T.A. Hoffmann. On a drunken night in the city, Hoffmann tells how he courted and lost three girls, his impossible loves: Olympia, a mechanical doll that only he believes to be truly human; Giulietta, the courtesan who steals his reflection in a mirror; and Antonia, a young woman who sings until she literally dies."Venue & Opera Company: Teatro Regio di Parma Recorded: 1988Singers: Alredo Kraus, Ruth Welting, Jonathan Omilian, Barbara Hendricks, Elena Zilio, Nicola Gjiuselev, Bruno Buulgarelli, Francis Egerton, Aldo BottionOrchestra: Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia-Romagna "Arturo Toscanini" Chorus: Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma Chorus Master: Adolfo Tanhzi Stage Director: Beppe de Tomasi

Maestro Riccardo Muti returns to the podium of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio di Torino for a new production of Macbeth directed by Chiara Muti. Set design by Alessandro Camera and costumes by Ursula Patzak.

Puccini’s operas are among the most beloved and best-known works in the classical repertoire, but Edgar may be unknown even to aficionados, at least as it is presented here. This original four-act version of Edgar, first performed in 1889, was believed lost for over a century when Puccini’s granddaughter Simonetta discovered the score fully intact in 2008. In addition to the third act’s funeral music, which Arturo Toscanini conducted at Puccini’s funeral in 1924, listeners may recognize the duet from the now-restored fourth act, cut by Puccini in subsequent revisions of the work: it bears more than a passing similarity to the third-act duet in Tosca.

"The Tales of Hoffmann" - The story of the poet Hoffmann, who falls in love with a mechanical doll, loses his mirror image in Venice and finally liberates his lover from the clutches of a sinister doctor.

Hoffmann, the poet, is torn between art and life, love and fantasy, dream and reality. His love for Stella, the singer, remains unrequited, and he takes refuge in alcohol and the world of his imagination. Over the course of a wine-soaked evening, he tells his friends of three fantastical love affairs…

In a poet's feverish imagination, the staging of Don Giovanni sets him off on a frenzied journey into nightmarish worlds. Can Mozart himself offer him salvation as he loses himself in his fearful dreams? Barrie Kosky tells Offenbach's fantastic story as a disturbing nightmare of an artist who increasingly loses his sense of identity. As we dive into the obsessions of a deranged mind, the title role itself is shared by three performers - including an actor - while a single soprano embodies all four female lead roles.

This adaptation of three tales by E.T.A. Hoffmann, with a sprinkling of Goethe’s Faust, portrays the German poet as both narrator and hero recounting his love affairs with Olympia, Antonia and Giuletta. Robert Carsen’s spectacular production highlights the melancholy genius of a man marked by life, with a coherence and dramatic sense remarkable for a work that leaves numerous questions unanswered. Under the baton of Philippe Jordan, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Ermonela Jaho, Kate Aldrich, Yann Beuron and Ramón Vargas and Stefano Secco in the main role, interpret the legendary airs of this work whose brilliant mystery will continue to dazzle opera houses for countless years to come.

With its lively dances, ghost scenes and touching arias, Hamlet was Ambroise Thomas’s single great success of the Paris Opera, remaining in its repertoire for decades after the 1868 premiere. On the opening night, the title role was sung by a baritone, as has become the custom ever since. With the rediscovery of the original score in recent years, it transpires that Thomas originally scored the role of Hamlet for a tenor. In this new production of Teatro Regio Torino, the tenor John Osborn is the tormented prince, singing the celebrated monologue “To be or not to be” (“Être ou ne pas être”). Sara Blanch sings Ophélie, whose pyrotechnic aria in the mad scene is a pièce de résistance for a coloratura soprano. Under the musical direction of Jérémie Rhorer, the production is directed by Jacopo Spirei.

The great storyteller Hoffmann is losing himself to drink. His rival in love, Councillor Lindorf, claims that Hoffmann knows nothing of the heart, and so goads Hoffmann into telling the tales of his three great loves – each destroyed by a villain who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lindorf… First Hoffmann tells of his infatuation for the mechanical doll, Olympia – who is destroyed by the inventor Coppélius. Next comes the courtesan Giulietta, who throws over his adoration in favour of jewels from the magician Dappertutto. Finally, the gentle Antonia is forced to sing to her death by the wicked Doctor Miracle. His stories finished, Hoffmann rouses from his drunken stupor to find Lindorf has made off with Stella, Hoffmann’s latest love – but the Muse compels him to transform his heartache into art.

New tenor star Vittorio Grigolo takes on the title role in Offenbach’s fantastical opera, giving a tour-de-force performance as the tortured poet unlucky in love. He is joined by a trio of leading ladies: Erin Morley sings the mechanical doll Olympia, Hibla Gerzmava is the fragile Antonia, and Christine Rice sings Giulietta, the Venetian courtesan. Bartlett Sher’s colorful production, seen here in its second Live in HD presentation, also stars Thomas Hampson as the sinister Four Villains and Kate Lindsey as Niklausse, Hoffmann’s friend and muse. Yves Abel conducts.