The Metropolitan Opera: The Exterminating Angel 2017 ( 7.7)

After the acclaimed Met premiere of Thomas Adès's "The Tempest" in 2012, the composer returned with another masterpiece, this time inspired by filmmaker Luis Buñuel's seminal surrealist classic "El Ángel Exterminador", during the 2017–18 season. As the opera opens, a group of elegant socialites gather for a lavish dinner party, but when it is time to leave for the night, no one is able to escape. Soon, their behavior becomes increasingly erratic and savage. The large ensemble cast tackles both the vocal and dramatic demands of Adès's opera with one riveting performance after another. Tom Cairns, who also penned the work's libretto, directs an engrossing and inventive production, using a towering wooden archway to trap the characters onstage. And Adès himself takes the podium to conduct the frenzied score, which features a host of unconventional instruments, including the eerie electronic ondes Martenot.

The Metropolitan Opera: The Tempest 2012 ( 10)

Composer Thomas Adès conducts the Met premiere of his powerful opera based on Shakespeare’s last play, in Robert Lepage’s brilliantly inventive production. Simon Keenlyside is the magician Prospero, who conjures the storm that shipwrecks his enemies and sets in motion the course of events. Rising Met stars Isabel Leonard and Alek Shrader are the young lovers, Miranda and Ferdinand, Alan Oke sings the sinister Caliban, and Audrey Luna gives a memorable performance as the sprite Ariel.

Le Grand Macabre 2019

“An exhilarating success, a brilliant presentation of Ligeti's commanding score and a disarming production.” This was the verdict of the New York Times after three sold-out performances of György Ligeti's opera “Le Grand Macabre”, with which Alan Gilbert, in collaboration with director Doug Fitch, brought this milestone of modern music theater to New York for the first time in May 2010. For the Hamburg International Music Festival - which focuses on Ligeti's music - the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra is now bringing the highly acclaimed production to Hamburg in a version adapted for the Elbphilharmonie. “Le Grand Macabre” is a grotesque parable on the downfall of humanity, ‘an opera about the existential crisis in the modern world, about the search for the meaning of life - with all its nonsense and craziness’, states Alan Gilbert. It is no coincidence that this pitch-black musical theater spectacle is the most frequently performed contemporary opera in the world.

Bel ami 2005 ( 3.5)

In Belle Epoque Paris, Georges Duroy, a handsome, ambitious but penniless young man, reunites with his friend Forestier, editor-in-chief of a major financial newspaper. Forestier manages to find him a position at the newspaper. With his friend's support, Georges does everything he can to climb the social ladder. He relies mainly on his undeniable charm to win the favor of influential women who can introduce him to the wealthy circles he covets. Georges benefits in particular from the support of Madeleine, the wife of the newspaper's editor-in-chief. His numerous conquests in high society soon earn him the nickname "Bel Ami."

Péril imminent: Mortel chahut 2004 ( 1)

Joseph 2005

El Jeremías 2016 ( 6.7)

In Sonora, Mexico. Jeremías, an eight year old, who finds out he is a gifted child initiates a journey of self discovery. When an opportunistic physiologist makes contact with Jeremías, a new world of experiences open up to him but at the expense of being away from the family he loves. Jeremías must choose between this exciting but lonely new world he finds himself in or returning home to his loving family.