Actor: Ildar Abdrazakov

Bizet: Carmen

Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili gives a dynamic performance as Bizet’s iconic gypsy, the woman who lives by her own rules. Aleksandrs Antonenko is Don José, the soldier who falls under her spell, and Ildar Abdrazakov plays Escamillo, the swaggering bullfighter who takes Carmen away from Don José—an action that seals Carmen’s tragic fate. Anita Hartig is Micaëla, and Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Richard Eyre’s hit production, set in 1930s Spain.

Verdi: Attila

First staged at the Teatro La Fenice in 1846, Verdi’s ninth opera, Attila, returns to the stage of La Scala on December 7th. Following the inauguration of the 2015-2016 Season with Giovanna d’Arco and in anticipation of Macbeth, with Attila Musical Director Riccardo Chailly continues his study of Verdi’s early works, renewing a successful collaboration with creative director Davide Livermore that began with his acclaimed production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale for La Scala. In this complex opera Verdi experiments with fresh perspectives, featuring spectacular historical settings, introspective angles and moral uncertainties. Attila demands of its performers not only passion and confidence, but also the ability to find subtle accents and psychological nuances.

Gounod Faust

Salzburg Festival’s first-ever performance of Charles Gounod´s most famous and most performed opera! Internationally-acclaimed tenor Piotr Beczala triumphs in the title role as soul-selling philosopher Faust: “Piotr Beczala is a world-Faust” (Kurier) and “The well-deserved crown goes to a perfectly-cast Piotr Beczala” (Abendzeitung). Ildar Abdrazakov was “celebrated” (Broadway World) for his signature role as seductive and demonic Méphistophélès. Maria Agresta as convincingly innocent Marguerite struggling to resist temptation and to gain salvation: “She is fabulous!” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). “Spectacular and photogenic” staging (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) by award winning stage director and designer Reinhard von der Thannen. The Philharmonia Chor Wien and the Wiener Philharmoniker are performing under the baton of young Argentinian conductor Alejo Pérez.

Six Degrees of Celebration 1914

100 years ago, the Russian Empire ... Christmas Eve. December plugs, holiday celebrations, balls and modest luxury holidays, titled nobles and ordinary peasants, the royal family and the soldiers of the First World War, progressive poets and the first skaters - everything was different, except ... the holiday. People prepared, lived, believed dreaming and waiting for this miracle - Christmas!

The Metropolitan Opera: The Marriage of Figaro

Richard Eyre’s elegant production, which opened the Met’s 2014–15 season, sets the action of Mozart’s timeless social comedy in a manor house in 1930s Seville. Ildar Abdrazakov leads the cast as the resourceful Figaro set on outwitting his master, the philandering Count Almaviva, played by Peter Mattei. Marlis Petersen sings Susanna, the object of the Count’s affection and Figaro’s bride-to-be, Amanda Majeski is the Countess, and Isabel Leonard gives a standout performance as the pageboy Cherubino. Music Director James Levine on the podium brings out all the humor, drama, and humanity of Mozart’s score.

Opéra National de Paris: Verdi's Don Carlos

Set in 16th-century France and Spain, Don Carlos tells of the political and amorous rivalry between King Philip II and his son, Don Carlos, over Elisabeth de Valois. Krzysztof Warlikowski strips down a tragedy haunted by ghosts, and places the intimate at the heart of an imaginary fresco truer than history itself. Along with Philippe Jordan, he reveals to the public the very first version of this great five-act opera: the version modified by Verdi himself for the work’s first performance in 1867.

Rossini: Semiramide

A rarely performed bel canto gem, Rossini’s Semiramide returned to the Met for the first time in nearly 25 years during the 2017–18 season. Set in ancient Babylon under the reign of the mythic Queen Semiramis, the opera features political scheming, mistaken identity, divine intervention, and bloodthirsty revenge—not to mention one virtuosic vocal display after another. Soprano Angela Meade is the fierce title monarch, whose quest for power comes to a halt with the discovery that the object of her affection, the warrior Arsace—sung by mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong—may actually be her long-lost son. Together, the two square off in a pair of dazzling duets and deliver some of the opera’s most challenging arias. Bel canto specialist Maurizio Benini takes the podium to lead a cast that also stars tenor Javier Camarena as the ardent prince Idreno, bass Ildar Abdrazakov as the scheming Assur, and bass Ryan Speedo Green as the stern high priest Oroe.