Wiener Staatsoper

A colorful and comedic staging of the classic opera buffa by the Vienna State Opera.

Since its premiere in 1893, Engelbert Humperdinck's fairytale opera »Hansel and Gretel« has awakened a passion for music theatre in generations of children. Even his great contemporaries – such as Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler or Johannes Brahms – were delighted by this work. It is the successful combination of seemingly folkloric simplicity and the complex musical language of Wagner’s direct successor, of simple melody and artful orchestration, and of socio-critical realism and atmospheric magic that makes the music to the Brothers Grimm’s famous story so captivating. And so the Vienna State Opera's production speaks to both children and adults alike, leading through wondrous projections of a magic lantern into the middle of the fairytale storyline.

The last and arguably finest opera of Modest Mussorgsky is captured in one of its most powerful interpretations in this 1989 recording from the Vienna State Opera, conducted by Claudio Abbado. A moody opera that is thematically broad at times and intimately personal in others, "Khovanshchina" tells the story of the 17th-century clash between Russian conservatives and Peter the Great's reformists. Among the singers is renowned basso Nicolai Ghiaurov and Paata Burchuladze, as well as Anatoly Kocherga, Ludmila Semtchuk, and Heinz Zednik.

In an epic tale of good versus evil, Faust sells his soul to the Devil and tries to save Marguerite from an eternity in Hell.

Production of Verdi's opera Otello, performed and streamed on March 18, 2018.

The plot of Die Fledermaus is woven around a ball given by Prince Orlofsky.

A performance of Strauss' opera performed/streamed in Vienna on the 23rd October 2014

Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro performed live (and streamed) on the February 4, 2021.

1987 recording of Wozzeck by the Vienna State Opera with Claudio Abbado conducting. Based upon Georg Büchner's 1837 play, Alban Berg's Wozzeck details the harsh existence of the title character, a former soldier in the German army who has to struggle mightily to make a living, even as others around him prosper.

Performance of Verdi's opera performed/streamed from Vienna on the 28th March 2015.

Performance of Janacek's opera performed/streamed live in Vienna on April 27th, 2017.