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In a time when operas are often set to different contexts from the ones they were intended for, a philological production has its merits, representing both a rediscovery and a provocation. This Barbiere di Siviglia, which at first sight might appear old-fashioned, restores, in fact, to perfection the setting of an early 19th-centrury Italian theatre. It was a time when the glorious tradition of popular comedy, a direct descendant of the 16th-century "commedia dell'arte", was very much alive, and the singers entertained the audience with humour that was direct and catchy. Bepi Morassi's direction witnesses to the importance of that heritage, based on the improvising skills of actors that came from the common people and needed to communicate concepts of common social life, through colourful costumes, musical instruments and masks modelled on the archetypes of the day. Humour, which here triumphs, makes of this Barbiere di Siviglia, a truly entertaining visual and audio experience.

An operatic adaptation of the 1963 Caldecott-winning classic book.

Billy Budd is an innocent, naïve seaman in the British Navy in 1797. When the ship's sadistic master-at-arms is murdered, Billy is accused and tried.

Live stage performance of the opera 'Carmen', with minute set decors, realistic acting, intense and rich voices.

A young man turns his back on love in pursuit of pleasure and narrowly escapes with his soul, but descends into madness.

A philosopher demonstrates his theory by entrapping 2 sisters to abandon their recently departed soldier fiances for new men, really their fiances in disguise. Their maid assists in multiple roles, and by encouraging them to stray.

First performed in Moscow in 1879, Eugene Onegin is an opera in three acts drawing its inspiration from Alexander Pushkin's novel. Considered by many as the "archetypal work of Russian Romanticism", it explores the inner life of three romantic heroes: Tatiana, a Romanesque young woman, Onegin, a distant dandy hiding emptiness under affected haughtiness, and Lenski, the idealistic poet.

Mistaken identity, unrequited love, and the supernatural are combined in Shakespeare's classic set in the woods of Greece on a moonlit night.

King Saul goes mad with envy over his subjects' appreciation of David slaying Goliath. Consequences are fatal.

The prince is suffering from severe depression, and only laughter can save him.

An American tourist on a day trip to Sussex from London inadvertently finds himself at Glyndebourne Opera House in Sussex where he learns to appreciate Opera.

Kiri Te Kanawa introduces a selection of some of her personal favorite operatic scenes.