Conductor: Adam Fischer
CAST: Alan Titus (Wotan); Hartmut Welker (Alberich); Mihoko Fujimura (Fricka); Olaf Bär (Donner); Endrik Wottrich (Froh); Arnold Bezunyen (Loge); Johann Tilli (Fasolt); Philip Kang (Fafner); Michael Howard (Mime); Anja Kampe (Freia); Simone Schröder (Erda); Caroline Stein, Daniela Sindram, Elena Zhidkova (Rheinmaidens)

Our quarter starts off in grand fashion with what many would call the ultimate opera, straight from its original source. With this production of Das Rheingold, World of Opera begins a five-week visit to the 2003 Bayreuth Festival for Wagner's entire cycle, The Ring of the Nibelungen, followed by Bayreuth's production of Tannhäuser.

Conductor: Adam Fischer
CAST: Robert Dean Smith (Siegmund); Violeta Urmana (Sieglinde); Alan Titus (Wotan); Philip Kang (Hunding); Evelyn Herlitzius (Brünnhilde); Mihoko Fujimara (Fricka); Anja Kampe (Gerhilde); Yvonne Wiedstruck (Ortlinde); Irmgard Vilsmaier (Waltraute); Elena Zhidkova (Schwertleite); Iréne Theorin (Helmwige); Daniela Sindram (Siegrune); Simone Schröder (Grimgerde); Yumi Koyama (Rossweisse)

Conductor: Adam Fischer
CAST: Christian Franz (Siegfried); Evelyn Herlitzius (Brünnhilde); Hartmut Welker (Alberich); Graham Clark (Mime); Alan Titus (The Wanderer); Phlip Kang (Fafner); Simone Schröder (Erda); Eva Scheider (The Forest Bird)

Conductor: Adam Fischer
CAST: Christian Franz (Siegfried); Evelyn Herlitzius (Brünnhilde); Olaf Bär (Gunther); Peter Klaveness (Hagen); Hartmut Welker (Alberich); Yyvonne Wiedstruck (Gutrune); Lioba Braun (Waltraute); Simone Schröder, Irmgard Vilsmaier, Judit Nemeth (Norns); Caroline Stein, Daniela Sindram, Elena Zhidkova (Rheinmaidens)

Conductor: Christian Thielemann
CAST: Glenn Winslade (Tannhäuser); Barbara Schneider-Hofstetter (Venus); Ricarda Merbeth (Elisabeth); Kwangshul Youn (Hermann); Roman Trekel (Wolfram von Eschenbach); Clemens Bieber (Walter von der Vogelweide); John Wegner (Biterolf); Arnold Bezuyen (Heinrich der Schreiber); Alexander Marco-Buhrmester (Reinmar von Zweter)

The always dynamic and sometimes controversial conductor Christian Thielemann leads this production from Bayreuth, with is perhaps appropriate. Tannhäuser is, after all, the story of a musician whose unconventional attitudes get him in a bit of trouble. Maybe, if the good knight Tannhäuser had simply attached a Parental Advisory to his infamous song, he could have avoided the whole mess.

Conductor: Bruno Bartoletti
CAST: Cristina Gallardo Domas (Mimi); Marcelo Alvarez (Rodolfo); Hei-Kyung Hong (Musetta); Roberto Servile (Marcello); Giovanni B. Parodi (Colline); Natale De Carolis (Schaunard)

This week, it's an all-time favorite from the cradle of Italian opera. From Milan, Italy, the Teatro alla Scala presents Puccini's La Bohème with a stellar cast. 'Nuff said!

Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
CAST: Rosemarie Joshua (Vixen); Alan Forester (Forester); Sim Tokyurek (Forester's Wife); Anna Katharina Behnke (Fox); Alessandro Moretti (Innkeeper); Elisabeth Ann Kirby (Innkeeper's Wife); Irene Pipa (Boy); Ian Thompson (Schoolmaster)

World of Opera is back in Milan this week for something completely different. Do you recognize the title, La piccola volpe astuta? Well, at La Scala, that's what they call one of the twentieth century's most popular operas, Janacek's magical and moving The Cunning Little Vixen.

Conductor: Bernard Haitink
CAST: Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Mélisande); Simon Keenlyside (Pélleas); Gerald Finley (Golaud); Nathalie Stutzman (Genevieve); John Tomlinson (Arkel)

Bernard Haitink leads one of the most highly acclaimed musical events of 2003, Debussy's atmospheric masterpiece, in a definitive concert performance from Boston's acoustical marvel, Symphony Hall. The New York Times called Lorraine Hunt Lieberson an "ideal" Mélisande, singing with, "wistful beauty and wondrous nuances."

Conductor: Jesus Lopez-Cobos
CAST: Juan Diego Florez (Count Ory); Marie-Ange Todorovitch (Isolier); Bruno Pratico (Raimbaud); Stefania Bonfadelli (The Countess) Alastair Miles (The Governor)

The series shifts back to Europe this week and next. We visit Gioaccino Rossini's hometown, for two productions from the Rossini Opera Festival. First up, an opera composed for Paris comes home to Pesaro's Rossini Theatre, starring the brilliant young tenor, Juan Diego Florez.

Conductor: Renato Palumbo
CAST: Joyce di Donata (Adina); Raul Gimenez (Selimo); Saimir Pirgu (Ali); Carlo Lepore (Mustafa); Marco Vino (Califfo)

Once more, a Rossini opera has a homecoming, of sorts. Adina was composed for a premiere in Lisbon, and has story reminiscent of Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio. The Rossini Theatre's production showcases this seldom-heard opera's fine music with a top-notch ensemble cast.

Conductor: Jiri Belohlávek
CAST: Ivan Kusnjer (Lord of the Rose); Valentin Prolát (Jarek); Vera Kavanová-Poláchová (Katuska); Jitka Svobodova (Countess Hedvika); Jaroslav Brezina (Michálek)

Jiri Belohlávek leads a little known gem by a composer best known (at least in the opera house) for his sparkling comedy The Bartered Bride. The Devil's Wall, however, is a comedy that also has a more serious, romantic side, with a score noted for its profound lyricism.

Conductor: Ivor Bolton
CAST: Vesselina Kasarova (Orphée); Rosemary Joshua (Eurydice); Deborah York (L'Amour)

The Bayerischer Staatsoper celebrates 350 years of opera in Munich with its 2003-04 season. This week it's the first of several operas we'll bring you from that anniversary season, performed at the Munich National Theatre. It's one of the oldest stories in opera, set by one of opera's greatest innovators.

Conductor: Djansug Kakhidze
CAST: Viktor Lutkiuk (Hermann); Tatiana Anisimova (Lisa); Helga Dernesch (The Countess); Detlef Roth (Yeletsky); Wojtek Drabowicz (Tomsky); Alexander Krawetz (Chekalinsky)

This dark masterpiece might lead even the most occasional gambler to kick the habit altogether. It comes to World of Opera as another in a long line of productions we've enjoyed from Switzerland's Grand Theatre.