Éva Marton

Luciano Pavarotti brings his spectacular voice and artistry to one of the most famous of all tenor roles—Manrico, the ardent troubadour, trapped in an impossible situation by forces beyond his control. The sensational Dolora Zajick, only days after her Met debut, gives an incandescent performance as the demented gypsy Azucena, thirsting for revenge against Count Di Luna (Sherrill Milnes). Eva Marton is the passionate Leonora, desired by both Manrico and the Count, and James Levine brilliantly leads the Met’s orchestra and chorus in some of Verdi’s best-known music.

1213 Queen Gertrude of Meran's compatriots are playing the dorba in the royal castle. The unpeaceful Hungarian nobles are watching the dárido, and under the leadership of King Petur they are plotting. Their anger is only increased by the fact that while the king's viceroy, Bánk bán, who is fighting in the distance, is roaming the country, his wife, the beautiful Melinda, who has been left at court, is being besieged more and more openly by the queen's lecherous brother Otto. Petur secretly recalls Bánko, who, however, accuses the unpeaceful of treason. But Otto's confidant, the knight Biberach, tells Banach that the prince is trying to seduce Melinda. Otto, encouraged by the Queen, prepares to make a decisive attack. He pursues his lover Melinda in the castle's cloisters and chapel, and she rejects him contemptuously, but is nevertheless in a misunderstood position. Bánk, who has just seen them, is shocked: it seems that his adoring spouse is indeed unfaithful...

Wagner’s Romantic opera demands singing actors who can truly inhabit their parts, and that’s just what we have here. Is it possible for a Knight of the Holy Grail to look more enticing than Peter Hofmann? No wonder Elsa (Eva Marton) falls in love at first sight. Marton’s heroine is innocent, but she is also a passionate, real-life young woman—which is good, because Leonie Rysanek is positively demented as Ortrud, the sorceress who accuses Elsa and Lohengrin of using magic. With James Levine’s superb conducting, the orchestra and chorus are similarly magical.

Enjoy the World premiere of the full and original version of Merlin by Isaac Albéniz, over a century after he completed the work. Albéniz composed this Wagnerian opera to an English libretto by his patron Francis Money-Coutts between 1898 and 1902. Many believed the score was lost, until the conductor José de Eusebio reconstructed it from various manuscript sources and publishers proofs. For this stunning production, director John Drew created a world of magic and fantasy, using evocative sets and splendid lighting. Filmed in High Definition.

Nina Stemme, Eva Marton, Victoria Cortez, Jorma Silvasti, and Par Lindskog star in this Gran Teatre del Liceu production of the Janacek opera conducted by Peter Schneider and directed by Olivier Tambosi.

The Franco Zeffirelli production of Puccini's "Turandot", recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera in April, 1987. Éva Marton stars as Turandot, with Plácido Domingo as Calaf, Leona Mitchell as Liù, Paul Plishka as Timur, and Hugues Cuenod as L'Imperatore Altoum. James Levine conducts.

As renowned for its harmonious overture as for its romantic storybook characters, this three-act masterwork features some of the composer’s most groundbreaking and unforgettable music, as well as a theme the young Wagner would revisit again and again later in his career—the redemptive and transcendent power of a woman’s love. The enchanting plot harks back to medieval history: Wolfram is a lovesick troubadour who desires the virtuous Elisabeth. She, however, has eyes for another: the rebellious knight Tannhäuser, who in turn cannot get over an overwhelming sensual experience in the realm of the goddess Venus, and is banished for singing her praises at court. Only saintly Elisabeth’s death can atone for his misdeeds.