The opera house on the Ring opened on 25 May 1869 with a festive performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. It was an event that not only generated great excitement in Vienna, but also attracted considerable attention beyond the borders of the Hapsburg empire. Since then the opera house has remained in the public spotlight. For 150 years it has been an internationally important institution, and the affairs of the Wiener Staatsoper are always also matters of public interest to an extent found in no other city in the world.

With this anniversary CD box set, school and online projects, streaming and the inclusion of the federal provinces, the opera house on the Ring is breaking new boundaries; two exhibitions (at the opera house on the Ring and at the Theatre Museum) and a number of publications will focus on the history and current artistic events in the Vienna opera scene; and on the anniversary itself, the artists and the opera house itself will be honoured.

Contents:

CD 1-2
Berg - Wozzeck (1955)
Walter Berry • Christel Goltz
Karl Böhm

CD 3-4
Beethoven - Fidelio (1962)
Christa Ludwig • Jon Vickers • Walter Berry
Herbert von Karajan

CD 5-6
R Strauss - Elektra (1965)
Birgitt Nilsson • Regina Resnik • Leonie Rysanek
Karl Böhm

CD 7-9
Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro (1977)
Tom Krause • Anna Tomowa-Sintow • José van Dam
Herbert von Karajan

CD 10-11
Rossini - Il viaggio a Reims (1988)
Monsterrat Caballé • Ruggero Raimondi
Claudio Abbado

CD 12-14
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde (2013)
Nina Stemme • Peter Seiffert • Janina Baechle
Franz Welser-Möst

CD 15-16
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin (2013)
Anna Netrebko • Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Andris Nelsons

CD 17-18
R Strauss - Ariadne auf Naxos (2014)
Johan Botha • Soile Isokoski • Sophie Koch • Daniela Fally
Christian Thielemann

CD 19-20
Verdi - Un ballo in maschera (2016)
Piotr Beczała • Krassimira Stoyanova
Jesús López Cobos

CD 21-22 Bonus Discs
Legendary Voices of the Wiener Staatsoper (1955-2009)
- Agnes Baltsa • Walter Berry • Johan Botha • Wolfgang Brendel • Adolf Dallapozza • Lisa della Casa • Franco Corelli • Ileana Cotrubas • Angela Denoke • Plácido Domingo • Mirella Freni • Nicolai Gedda • Nicolai Ghiaurov • Edita Gruberova • Franz Grundheber • Margherita Guglielmi • Gundula Janowitz • Sena Jurinac • Marjana Lipovšek • Waltraud Meier • Orazio Mori • Luciano Pavarotti • Maria Reining • Anneliese Rothenberger • Cheryl Studer • Anna Tomowa-Sintow • Julia Varady • Eberhard Waechter
- Roberto Abbado • Christian Badea • Karl Böhm • Christoph von Dohnányi • Josef Keilberth • Carlos Kleiber • Hans Knappertsbusch • Josef Krips • Zubin Mehta • Ingo Metzmacher • Ulf Schirmer • Horst Stein • Pinchas Steinberg • Simone Young