DJ Sessions: Discovering New Opera, Even If It's Really Old

In this week's installment of the Here & Now DJ Sessions, host Jeremy Hobson gets a tour through a few opera classics, from Richard Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde" to Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot," with Ryan Lohr of Minnesota Public Radio.

Lohr points to some spellbinding performances from divas Birgit Nilsson, Renée Fleming, Frederica von Stade and more.

Hear previous installments of the Here & Now DJ Sessions.

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"Mir ist so wunderbar" from "Fidelio," composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

Performed by Gundula Janowitz with the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein.

"Liebestod" from "Tristan und Isolde," composed by Richard Wagner

Performed by Birgit Nilsson (soprano) with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, conducted by Karl Bohm.

"Hab mir’s gelobt" from "Der Rosenkavalier," composed by Richard Strauss

Performed by Renee Fleming, Kathleen Battle and Frederica von Stade with the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Claudio Abbado.

"Signore, ascolta!" from "Turandot," composed by Giacomo Puccini

Performed by Anita Hartig with the Metropolitan Opera.

Ryan Lohr, music director of Classical Minnesota Public Radio. He tweets @ClassicalMPR.