Paris, the city of love (and loose morals) is an excellent setting for an operetta, Franz Lehár must have thought when he was composing Die Lustige Witwe. Widow Hanna Glawari is perversely rich. The ambassador of the poverty-stricken Grand Duchy of Pontevedro wants to avoid that her money ends up in foreign hands, and means to find Hanna a suitable husband. He thinks that Count Danilo Danilovitsch, who had already had his eye on Hanna before her first marriage, fits his profile. Back in the day, the Count could not marry her, as she had nothing to her name. Now he is hesitant to proclaim his love to her, out of fear that she might think it is her 20 million he is after... Recorded in the Semperoper in Dresden in 2008, featuring Gunter Emmerlich, Bo Skovhus and Petra Maria Schnitzer. Manfred Honeck, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Gunther Emmerlich, Lydia Teuscher, Bo Skovhus, Petra-Maria Schnitzer

An all-Schumann programme as highlight of the Schumann Year 2006. Martha Argerich has long been hailed as one of the greatest and most uniquely imaginative pianists. This legendary Argentinean musician is surrounded by an aura of mystery: some find her too uncompromising, others generous and beautiful, yet to all she is without doubt incredibly talented! When Argerich and Chailly performed the Schumann Piano Concerto it created a musical sensation! Riccardo Chailly, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Martha Argerich (piano)

The Middle-Eastern story of street urchin Aladdin who makes his way through life with the aid of a magic lamp gets quite a northern feel in this version. Danish composer Carl Nielsen wrote the music at the request of the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, for a new production of Aladdin, the fairy tale by Danish poet Adam Oehlenschläger. Probably this drama was intended more as a pantomime than a serious piece fact is, Nielsen provided the story with amazingly original and colourful music. Neeme Järvi, Berliner Philharmoniker

With standing ovations, bouquets and rave reviews, Simon Rattle started his debut as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. He launched his 10-year tenure mixing tradition with Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony and future with a contemporary piece by the young composer Thomas Adès, receiving an enthusiastic welcome. At the end of Mahler's Fifth Symphony, the audience cheered the conductor, calling him back five times to bows. The new chief conductor performed a miracle of transparency and ecstasy, sharpness of tone and ambiguity. Sir Simon Rattle, Berliner Philharmoniker

Verdi’s dramatic opera La Traviata, recorded live at the Römersteinbruch St. Margarethen, 2008. Artistic director: Wolfgang Werner. Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Ernst Märzendorfer. Ernst Märzendorfer, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Violetta Valéry – Kristiane Kaiser Flora Bervoix – Magdalena Anna Hofmann Annina – Stefanie Kopinits Alfredo Germont – Jean-François Borras Giorgio Germont – Georg Tichy Gastone – Michael Kurz Barone Douphol – Daniel Ohlenschläger Marchese d'Obigny – Dieter Kschwendt-Michel Dottoer Grenvil – Alessandro Teliga Giuseppe – Ladislav Hallon Un commissionario – Eugen Gaal Un domestic – Attila Galács

Family fun, beautiful dance and generous helpings of colour, wit and charm. Matthew Hart’s wonderfully inventive version of Peter and the Wolf, choreographed for The Royal Ballet School, has an energy all its own as it portrays the scenes of young Peter and his naively valiant attempts at hunting. Peter’s Grandfather, a cat, a duck – even the forest trees and greenery – act out the events that leave Peter triumphant and the wolf his captive. Robert Gibbs, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Sergei Polunin (The Wolf), Will Kemp (Grandfather), Kilian Smith (Peter), Charlotte Edmonds (Duck), Laurine Muccioli (Bird), Chisato Katsura (Cat)

This funny opera by Mozart stars Sally Matthews and Maite Beaumont as two women whose fidelity is harshly tested. When the two young officers Guglielmo and Ferrando enter a bet with their older friend Don Alfonso, who is of the opinion that women cannot be trusted in matters of love, the three of them come up with a plan. Guglielmo and Ferrando pretend to be called away to the front but return right away, dressed up as Albanians, to seduce their fiancés Fiordiligi and Dorabella. At first the two ladies do not pay the strange gentlemen any attention at all, but gradually they do warm up to them, with all that entails. One of the men starts flirting with the other’s fiancé and they even plan a double wedding! In the end, none of the disguises last and they all decide to go back to the reality of their own lives. And the conclusion? Neither men nor women are capable of staying true to their intended. Recorded in 2006 at the Amsterdam Music Theatre as part of a modern staging of the three La Ponte operas, starring Sally Matthews, Luca Pisaroni and Maite Beaumont among others. Ingo Metzmacher, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera, Fiordiligi: Sally Matthews, Dorabella: Maite Beaumont, Guglielmo: Luca Pisaroni, Ferrando: Norman Shankle, Despina: Danielle de Niese, Don Alfonso: Garry Magee

Two queens on one island. A recipe for disaster. Especially as both have a legitimate claim to the other’s throne. They are, after all, related… So the power politics are the name of the game. And, for reasons of state, one of the heads that wears a crown has to roll. Maria Stuarda was laid to rest for more than a hundred years, finally being revived in 1958 in Bergamo under conductor Oliviero de Fabritiis. However the real breakthrough for the opera finally came with Giorgio de Lullo’s Florentine production for the Maggio Musicale in 1967 (with set design and costumes by Pier Luigi Pizzi, director, set designer and costume designer at La Scala in 2008). As the two queens, Leyla Gencer and Shirley Verrett, set the vocal standards. Since then, the triumph of Maria Stuarda has been unstoppable. Various top interpreters have taken on the vocal and acting challenges of the main roles, including Montserrat Caballé, Beverly Sills, Janet Baker, Rosalind Plowright, Joan Sutherland, Huguette Tourangeau, Maria Chiara, Edita Gruberova and Agnes Baltsa. Mariella Devia as Maria and Anna Caterina Antonacci as Elisabetta have now also added their names to this illustrious list. Antonio Fogliani, Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala, Corpo di Ballo of the Teatro alla Scala, Anna Caterina Antonacci (Elisabetta) Mariella Devia (Maria Stuarda) Paola Gardina (Anna Kennedy) Francesco Meli (Roberto, conte di Leicester) Simone Alberghini (Giorgio Talbot) Piero Terranova (Lord Guglielmo Cecil)

The Europa Konzert 2004 takes place in Athens. At the ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre the Berliner Philharmoniker will be heard in a highly interesting combination: Sir Simon Rattle and Daniel Barenboim perform works by Johannes Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 and Schoenberg's arrangement of Brahms' Piano Quartet No 1. The Athens concert marked a double première: the first Europa Konzert under the direction of the new chief conductor and the first occasion on which Rattle and Barenboim appeared together. The Herodes Atticus Theatre, built in about 161 as an amphitheatre, is situated at the foot of the Acropolis. Seating at least 5,000 spectators, it was reckoned to be the finest theatre in Greece. Sir Simon Rattle, Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Barenboim (piano)

Witch Medea has lived a life of turmoil. She helped her much-loved Jason (leader of the Argonauts) against her father’s will earn the Golden Fleece, allowing him to reclaim the throne. Her father does not like this one bit, and together with Jason she flees. Finally, Medea and Jason arrive in Corinth, but not without having killed her own brother and Jason’s uncle, and having given birth to two of Jason’s children. Fatum does not take to them kindly here, too: King Creonte sees in Jason his ideal son-in-law, and Jason leaves Medea for Glauce. The witch will not allow this to happen , and her revenge is terrible, affecting everyone: even her own children are not spared. Except for Jason, who is confronted with his suffering and loss for the rest of his life. Evelino Pidó, Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Regio di Torino, Medea: Anna Caterina Antonacci, Giasone: Giuseppe Filianoti, Glauce: Cinzla Forte, Neris: Sara Mingardo, Creonte: Giovanni Battista Parodi.

When Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian author Edward Said in 1998 conceived the idea of promoting understanding in the Middle East by gathering young musicians from Israel and Arab countries in an orchestra, it was regarded as another idealistic dream. When the West- Eastern Divan Orchestra (named after Goethe’s collection of poems) travelled to Ramallah in 2005, it was turned into a sensational film and Barenboim’s work with these young people already created interest all over the world. Meanwhile the young ensemble has become almost a household name. This year the concert was originally planned to take place within the current international concert tour at the historic site of the 6,000-seat Roman Theatre in Amman, Jordan. For security reasons a new location had to be found at short notice and the concert was relocated to the picturesque Amalfi coast and the Ravello Festival. Conducted by Daniel Barenboim, the concert was dedicated to Richard Wagner: the young musicians played the Meistersinger Overture, Prelude and “Liebestod” from Tristan und Isolde and Act I from Die Walküre. The West-Eastern Divan is not only a musical project, it is also a forum for cross-cultural dialogue among the young musicians and with the audience. Daniel Barenboim, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Waltraud Meier, mezzo-soprano Simon O'Neill, tenor John Tomlinson, bass

The essential task viewers of Mozart’s ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ have is to keep track of who is into who exactly. Susanna and Figaro love each other and want to get married, but that is not the end of it. The Count has also set his sights on Susanna, while his page Cherubino quite likes the Countess. The Countess, however, wants to put new life into her marriage with the Count and Figaro also has more than one admirer: housekeeper Marcellina demands that Figaro marry her if he cannot pay off his debts soon enough. Amidst all the intrigue and the complex relationships there is Figaro and Susanna’s indestructible love. Recorded at the Amsterdam Music Theatre in 2006 with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra led by Ingo Metzmacher. Ingo Metzmacher, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera, Il Conte di Almaviva: Garry Magee, La Contessa di Almaviva: Cellia Costea, Susanna: Danielle de Niese, Figaro: Luca Pisaroni, Cherubino: Maite Beaumont, Marcellina: Charlotte Margiono, Bartolo: Mario Luperi

Les Patineurs (The Skaters) cleverly translates skating into ballet, allowing a series of virtuoso displays linked in a complex sequence of meetings and partings as different characters take to the the ice rink. There is no plot, but there are anecdotal relationships: a group of friends enjoy themselves, a girl and boy are in love, a virtuoso skater shows off his skill. Les Patineurs was immediately popular when first performed in London in 1937, as Britain stood on the brink of World War II. Its joyful evocation of the blithe innocence of Edwardian England was a powerful antidote to the anxious times. Indeed, three years after it opened the entire original production had to be abandoned in Holland when The Royal Ballet was on tour and made a narrow escape from the invading Nazis in May 1940. The original scenery, costumes, and musical scores were all abandoned as the company fled. Paul Murphy, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, The Royal Ballet, Calros Acosta, Leane Benjamin, Darcy Bussell, Jonathan Cope, Steven McRae, Ivan Purtov, Tamara Rojo, Miyako Yoshida

Sultan Shakhriar, convinced of the infidelity of women, has sworn to kill each of his wives after the first night. But Sheherazade managed to save her own life, fascinating him with the stories she told him over 1001 nights. His curiosity stirred, the Sultan kept postponing her execution day by day and eventually gave up on his bloody plan altogether. Spellbound by these stories from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov composed his exotic Sheherazade. This symphonic suite consists of four movements that each convey a life-saving story. The violin plays the leading role in this piece, this is Sheherazade we hear telling her stories. In the first movement (The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship) we hear of Sinbad sailing the seas. Neeme Järvi, Berliner Philharmoniker