Episode list

Prince Tamino and Papageno are sent by the Queen of Night to save her daughter Pamina from the clutches of the evil lord Sarastro.

England, 1640s. Civil war and politics interfere with Elvira's plans to marry Arturo, because he is helping Queen Elizabeth escape from the rebels. Elvira doesn't understand any of this, so she goes stark raving mad and sings a cadenza while lying flat on her back, her head hanging upside-down over the edge of the stage. Fearing that she might die of grief or fall over into the orchestra pit, Uncle Giorgio and Riccardo sing the complete version of "Suoni la tromba," including the repeats, and no cuts. Not to be upstaged by any of this, Arturo finally returns from his mission and explains everything by singing a high F above C, the highest note ever composed for tenor voice. There is much rejoicing. It's non-stop, nail-biting action, and Beverly Sills is on hand to provide commentary on the drama.

To unite the lands he has conquered, the First Emperor of China, believes that a national anthem is needed. He hires a childhood friend to compose it for him, not realizing that his friend does not share the Emperor's aspirations.

Onegin is young, handsome, rich. And bored. After spurning the naive Tatyana's romantic advances, he publicly flirts with his best friend's fiancée merely to amuse himself, but the prank ends in a duel. Some people just don't get it.

Rossini's sparkling comedy is given a new shine here under the direction of Broadway director Bartlett Sher. Count Almaviva is smitten by the feisty Rosina, but she is kept under lock and key by Dr. Bartolo. Send for Figaro to help.

In the early 1900s, two operas by Richard Strauss (Salome and Elektra) were taking Europe by storm. The Italian composer Puccini is said to have looked at the scores and observed, "There is nothing here but algebra and mathematics; where is the music?" True or not, in any case, Puccini set out to show that he too could compose one-act operas, and in different styles. Hence, Il Trittico (The Tryptich), a set of three operas, each less than an hour long, each different from the other two. The first, Il Tabarro (The Cloak) is a moody, macabre story of a spurned husband determined to discover the man who has seduced his wife away from him, and this is the night he finally learns who that man is. The second opera, Suor Angelica (Sister Angelique) is a frank tear-jerker about a young woman forced into a convent by her aristocratic family after she has given birth to a child out of wedlock. For seven years she has waited for news about him, and on this day, her prayers will be answered. The last opera, Gianni Schicchi, is a cynical comedy of greedy relatives who begin fighting over their dead uncle's will even while the body is still lying on its death-bed. Gianni Schicchi arrives to help them sort out the mess, and he teaches them a much-needed lesson in humility, securing a dowry for his daughter at the same time.