Dive Into World Opera Day on STAGE+ – 25 October 2024

Head to STAGE+ and discover new productions and classic stagings of works by
Bizet, Gounod, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Wagner, Weinberg and more

Get a glimpse of some of the gems available on STAGE+ via an 80-minute curated highlights film – featuring Benjamin Bernheim, Elīna Garanča, Jonas Kaufmann, Nadine Sierra, Jonathan Tetelman and more – to be premiered on the DG YouTube Channel on 25 October

And enjoy a month’s free access to STAGE+ with the code OPERADAY24 – full details here

All music fans are invited to celebrate the sixth edition of World Opera Day with Deutsche Grammophon and STAGE+ on 25 October 2024. Founded to promote opera as an art form and raise awareness of its positive impact on society as a whole, World Opera Day is now marked annually by a range of events and activities, both online and live on stage.

As part of the celebrations, STAGE+ is presenting a kaleidoscopic programme of full operas and gala performances, with a special offer of a whole month’s free access to STAGE+ (use the code OPERADAY24, valid until 31 October 2024). A newly curated 80‑minute highlights film for this year’s World Opera Day will be premiered on DG’s YouTube channel on 25 October (10am PT / 12pm ET / 6pm CEST), showcasing such current operatic stars as Benjamin Bernheim, Elīna Garanča, Jonas Kaufmann, Nadine Sierra and Jonathan Tetelman.

Among the treats in store is a brand-new concert performance of Puccini’s Tosca, starring Eleonora Buratto and Jonathan Tetelman (whose latest DG album, The Great Puccini, has just been recognised with a coveted Gramophone award). Filmed live in Rome earlier this week, the opera is conducted by Daniel Harding in his inaugural appearance as Music Director of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia.

STAGE+ also presents two key performances from this summer’s festivals: Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson’s new Bayreuth production of Tristan und Isolde, conducted by Semyon Bychkov, with Camilla Nylund and Andreas Schager in the title roles, and the Salzburg Festival production of Weinberg’s The Idiot, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski and conducted by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla.

There’s a chance to see Elīna Garanča in two contrasting roles, both filmed in 2022 – Princess Eboli in Don Carlo from the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and Carmen in the updated Zeffirelli production at the Verona Arena. Other recent productions include Roméo et Juliette from the Paris Opéra (2023) – Benjamin Bernheim stars opposite Elsa Dreisig in Gounod’s Shakespearean adaptation; La traviata from the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with Nadine Sierra as Violetta, Macbeth from La Scala, Milan, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, and Zandonai’s seldom staged Francesca da Rimini from the Deutsche Oper Berlin, with Sara Jakubiak as Francesca and Jonathan Tetelman as Paolo (all 2021); as well as another rarity, Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, starring Jonas Kaufmann and Marlis Petersen (2019).

STAGE+ is also home to many classic opera productions of earlier decades. Highlights include two films based on Salzburg Festival productions. Conducted by Claudio Abbado and starring Hermann Prey and Teresa Berganza, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s 1972 staging of Il barbiere di Siviglia is a must-watch, as is Herbert von Karajan’s 1967 production of Carmen, which likewise combines the immediacy of live music with cinematic flair.

Finally, as well as full productions, STAGE+ is offering an array of operatic concerts. Brand-new to the platform is this week’s star-studded Georg Solti Accademia 20th-anniversary gala, filmed live at the Hungarian State Opera and featuring Aigul Akhmetshina, Freddie De Tommaso and Hera Hyesang Park. Hera can also be heard in a concert based on her latest DG album, Breathe, captured at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Nadine Sierra is joined by Francesco Demuro for an opera gala filmed in the spectacular surroundings of Majorca’s Festival Cap Rocat, while Rolando Villazón and friends gather for ¡Cincuentañero! – a very special 50th-birthday celebration in Salzburg.