Strauss R: Salome

The Nikolaus Lehnhoff production of Richard Strauss's "Elektra", recorded live at the Salzburger Festspiele in 2010. Iréne Theorin stars as Elektra, with Eva-Maria Westbroek as Chrysothemis, Waltraud Meier as Klytämnestra, Robert Gambill as Aegisth, and René Pape as Orest. Daniele Gatti conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker.

The embittered widow, Kostelnicka, drowns her infant grandson to save her beloved stepdaughter Jenufa from the shame and hardship of raising an illegitimate child.

Adaptation of "Der Prinz von Homburg"; recorded at the Bavarian State Opera.

Drama lyrique in five acts, after the play by Maruice Maeterlink

Visually this is a gripping production which captures the drama of this opera perfectly. It's downright exciting! and I found the singing, acting, and orchestral playing reasonably fine. I found only one major problem with it, a problem that kept Puccini for quite a few years. Turandot has been looking for an opportunity to kill Calif and Calif has singlemindedly tried to get Turandot to love and wed him focusing on her and ignoring a better looking girl who loves him truly. The problem is how to get the audience to applaud the match once Calif gets his wish. Puccini couldn't figure out how to do it. The traditional quick ending doesn't do it, and Berio's attempt is longer , tries its best, but ends up making it plain this is one wierd couple.

Both Florez and Diana Damrau brought their bel canto expertise and superb vocalism to the service of Verdi's music. The Rigoletto, Zeljko Lucic, ran the gamut from tenderness with his Gilda to thundering fury with everyone else. I also liked the production. At first, when Rigoletto was putting on his grease paint during the overture, I was afraid that it might be a typical "Euro-trash" production, with a bit of warmed over I Pagliacci. But the sets and dramatic action really served the music and libretto. I would have to say that I came to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the story and characters as a result of seeing this performance.

Tosca, features an outstanding cast, including Catherine Malfitano in the title role, Bryn Terfel as Scarpia (his role debut), and Richard Margison as Cavaradossi. The visually spectacular staging by Nikolaus Lehnhoff brings the world of James Bond to Puccini's operatic thriller. Modern yet sinister sets and costumes create a fresh and at times horrifying interpretation, a bold departure from traditional stagings, of this classic work. Riccardo Chailly conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the chorus of The Netherlands Opera.

Performance of opera by Franz Schreker from the Salzburger Festpiele. Recorded live at the Felsenreitschule, 26 July 2005

At the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the stage director Nikolaus Lehnhoff signs a remarkable production of Wagner's LOHENGRIN, the third of the German composer's main operas. This production stars an incredible cast, including Hans-Peter König, Klaus Florian Vogt, Solveig Kringelborn, Tom Fox and Waltraud Meier, accompanied by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Kent Nagano's baton.

La Fanciulla del West by Puccini, the first western lyric opera, was performed in Amsterdam in 2009, staged by Nikolaus Lehnhoff. In this version, which is now available on medici.tv, the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest is conducted by Carlo Rizzi. Eva Maria Westbroek plays the part of Minnie and Lucio Gallo plays Jack Rance.

The opera Dialogues of the Carmelites is the only opera the French composer Francis Poulenc has ever written. It is based on the screenplay Die begnadigte Angst by Georges Bernanos. The material for the opera is based on actual historic events.

Glyndebourne's celebrated production of Nikolaus Lehnhoff's Tristan und Isolde is a supremely intelligent achievement; gravely beautiful, haunting and meditative, it is deeply reflective rather than visceral, fortified by Roland Aeschlimann's stunningly effective set, a womb-like space through which the protagonists move like gods. Conductor Jiří Bělohlávek mirrors Lehnhoff's approach in his sophisticated plumbing of the score's depths, with every shift in texture carefully laid bare by an inspired London Philharmonic Orchestra. Nina Stemme's Isolde and Robert Gambill's Tristan, both gloriously lyrical, are matched by superb performances from René Pape as the betrayed and vulnerable King Marke and Bo Skovhus as Kurwenal, deeply touching in his helpless devotion to Tristan. This High Definition recording of a production of uncommon intimacy reveals the opera's music and drama in a new light.

Recorded live at the Festspielhaus, Baden-Baden, Germany, August 2004. Kent Nagano, conductor. Nikolaus Lehnhoff, stage director.

Recorded at Britain's Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Leos Janacek's opera follows the exploits of Emilia Marty (Anja Silja), a sexually irresistible prima donna who experiences everything imaginable in her long life, which lasts longer than 300 years. Directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff and conducted by Andrew Davis, this psychological opera blends comedy and personal tragedy to examine the perplexing mystery of human existence.