Description
Gay : The Beggar’s Opera
Step into The Beggar’s Opera, a baroque masterpiece where the melodies of the past, with biting irony, reveal the timeless flaws of greed and social injustice. A production by Robert Carsen with William Christie conducting.
Written by John Gay in 1728, The Beggar’s Opera is often regarded as the first musical comedy in history. Predating “jukebox musicals” by nearly three centuries, the work weaves some of the most popular tunes of its time—both classical and folk—into a savagely satirical story set in London’s underworld of thieves, pimps, and prostitutes.
Wildly successful from its premiere, The Beggar’s Opera has inspired countless adaptations for stage, film, and musical theatre. Among the most famous is The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (1928), a bold reimagining that transported Gay’s biting social critique to the fraught atmosphere of Weimar Germany. Both works share a cynical portrayal of a world ruled by capitalist greed, crime, and social inequality—themes that resonate powerfully even today.
In Robert Carsen’s staging, this visionary work takes on a strikingly fresh dimension. Hailed as “a brilliant tour de force between baroque and modernity” (Libération), this production combines the charm of historical melodies with a bold contemporary aesthetic, casting an unflinching spotlight on human flaws with renewed intensity.
Gay : The Beggar’s Opera [DVD & Blu-ray]
HD recording : Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord | 04/2018
TV direction : François Roussillon
Release date : 01 February 2021
Distribution : Naxos Distribution
1 DVD
Reference : OA1328D
Barcode : 809478013280
Running time : 118 min.
Subtitles : FR / ENG / GER / JAP / KOR
Image : Colour, 16/9, NTSC
Sound : PCM 2.0, DTS 5.1
Region code : 0
1 BLU-RAY
Reference : OABD7283D
Barcode : 809478072836
Running time : 118 min.
Subtitles : FR / ENG / GER / JAP / KOR
Image : Colour, 16/9, Full HD
Sound : PCM 2.0, DTS HD Master audio 5.1
Region code : A, B, C
Founded as a production company by Hans Petri in 1999, Opus Arte released its first DVD in 2001. From the outset, the label has been releasing recordings from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, one of the closest and longest-standing relationships they have had. So much so that in 2007 the ROH acquired Opus Arte, which in turn became their in-house DVD label. In 2018 the label joined the Naxos family, although its continues to work very closely with the ROH and maintains its base of operations at the Royal Opera House in London.
Opus Arte now boasts a catalogue of over 800 programmes, including recordings in 4K, 3-D and Dolby ATMOS, and was one of the first labels to release high definition content on Blu-ray. They proudly associate with many of the world’s finest arts organisations, which aside from the Royal Opera House includes Glyndebourne, Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Teatro Real, Bayreuth, Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
As of 2024, Naxos, Opus Arte and Bel Air Classiques have agreed to pull their resources together to further highlight their shared values of artistic excellence, innovation and transmission.
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Step into <strong><em>The Beggar’s Opera</em></strong>, a baroque masterpiece where the <strong>melodies of the past</strong>, with biting irony, reveal the <strong>timeless flaws</strong> of greed and social injustice. A production by <strong>Robert Carsen</strong> with <strong>William Christie</strong> conducting.
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