Gala Concert - 50th anniversary of the reopening of the Vienna State Opera

Domingo, Terfel, Gruberova, Urmana, Hampson, Baltsa, Kirchschlager, Polaski, Struckmann, Schade, Furlanetto, Gatti, Mehta, Ozawa, Thielemann, Welser-Möst

On November 5, 2005 the Vienna State Opera held a gala to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the reopening on November 5, 1955 of the Opera after its destruction by Allied bombs in 1945 followed by the ten-year-long reconstruction. They pulled out all the stops and had a cast of stars (as well as current stalwarts of the Opera): five conductors (Ozawa, Gatti, Mehta, Thielemann and Welser-Möst) and such luminaries as Domingo, Baltsa, Gruberova, Hampson, Terfel and Kirchschlager, as well as the fabulous Opera chorus and the Vienna Philharmonic. The gala featured scenes from six of the seven operas given new productions in that 1955 season -- Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier, Aida, Meistersinger, Frau ohne Schatten and Fidelio. The whole thing lasted over three hours (and takes up two DVDs), was produced by the redoubtable Brian Large and shown on Austrian television.