With state-of-the-art sonics and high-definition photography, the DVD has replaced the CD as the most effective format for enjoying opera at home -- a reminder that the music may still come first, but opera is by its nature a total theatrical experience. The darker side of this is that stage directors may take wild liberties with the original librettos. The king of the gods may be portrayed as a corporate CEO, the Duke of Mantua as a Mafia don. Most of the productions recommended below -- each from a world-class opera house -- tend toward the traditional, and the vocal performances are all of a high level. Still don't be surprised to see Faust seducing a nun, or even the Metropolitan's conservative John Dexter altering the initial accident that sets off the tragic series of events ascribed to "the force of destiny." Enjoy them all. (They make excellent holiday gifts.) And decide for yourself which of the directors' concepts work best for you.

GIORDANO: 'FEDORA' La Scala Opera 1993 (TDK)

It's safe to say that no one will call "Fedora" a great opera. The music and plot are thin, but it's a short, pleasant work that has become a vehicle for sopranos of a certain age who are nearing retirement. Here the diva is the beloved Mirella Freni, 58 and in splendid voice and grand demeanor when this La Scala performance took place. Oddly, the opera's most famous moment is the tenor's "Amor ti vieta" -- hardly an aria, but a passionate minute-and-a-half outburst with a showy climax on a high A. Freni's tenor partner is Placido Domingo, and it's unlikely that his solo (nor the big duet that concludes the second act) will be better performed in the foreseeable future.

GOUNOD: 'FAUST' VIENNA STATE OPERA 1985 (DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON)

Film director Ken Russell has taken Gounod's sweetened setting of Goethe's "Faust," updated it to the 18th century and made Gretchen (Marguerite in the opera) a nun -- thereby adding another level of evil to her seduction. If you can accept his premise and his tampering, Russell's conception works, since he caries it off brilliantly, providing fantastic visions and colorful displays.

There's not a Francophone in the cast, but -- if a lot of iffy French doesn't bother you -- the singing is high-powered and overtly emotional. Francisco Araiza uses his warm tenor sound effectively to suggest the passion of the newly youthful Faust, and makes a good team with the gruff, resonantly vocalized Mephistophele of Ruggero Raimondi. Gabriela Banackova's Marguerite is more matronly than virginal, but there's no denying the brilliance and stamina of her outpourings. Moreover, Russell has developed each supporting character in an interesting way.

LEHAR: 'THE MERRY WIDOW' ZURICH OPERA 2004 (ARTHAUS MUSIK)

This is an altogether engaging production, stylishly led by Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Most. The staging is in the period but there is a contemporary pizazz to the whole production. Everyone sings splendidly, and acts with gusto, while the two leading couples -- Dagmar Schellenberger and Rodney Gilfrey as Hanna and Danilo; Ute Gfrerer and Piotr Beczala as Valencienne and Camille -- are gorgeous and sexy to boot. Oh yes, they can dance too! With superb photography and easy-to-read English subtitles, this is one of the best ever transfers of a musical theater to the small screen. I watched it in one sitting and was sorry to see it end.

PROKOFIEV: 'THE LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES' NETHERLANDS OPERA 2005 (OPUS ARTE)

Most music lovers know "The Love for Three Oranges" from the popular symphonic excerpts, but it is actually a witty and delightful full-length comic opera first performed -- in French -- at the Chicago Opera House in 1921. The plot, about playing-card characters, centers on the son of the King of Clubs, who suffers from hypochondria and can be cured only with laughter. He is cursed by an evil witch to fall in love with giant oranges -- each of which contains a beautiful princess. The score is pungent with humor, the singers seem to have been born to do their particular roles, and Laurent Pelly's manic absurdist staging for the Netherlands Opera is an experience not to be missed.

VERDI: 'LA FORZA DEL DESTINO' METROPOLITAN OPERA 1984 (DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON)

This classic Metropolitan Opera performance is notable for James Levine's incandescent conducting of Verdi's sprawling, difficult score, and for preserving the great Leontyne Price in one of her most famous roles. Price as Leonora generates excitement with every note, even though she was past her vocal prime when this live performance was recorded. One phrase may be glorious, another off the mark, but she dominates every scene in which she appears. The plot is a panoramic illustration of what we now call Murphy's Law: Everything that can go wrong does, and Price expresses the emotions of the hapless heroine convincingly.

Her colleagues are uneven in different ways: tenor Giuseppe Giacomini competent rather than memorable as Leonora's lover Alvaro, Leo Nucci as her vengeful brother Carlo thrilling in his best moments but sometimes a bit phased out, Bonaldo Giaotti solid-toned but cool as the priest who oversees her penitence. A special joy of this video is its preservation of sets by Eugene Berman -- an important Russian-American painter whose numerous opera sets are still the most interesting and beautiful I've ever known.