Le Trouvère

The Florentine sculptor and silversmith Benvenuto Cellini rapidly attained a degree of renown that went beyond the confines of Italy. Invariably embroiled in conspiracies, intrigues and quarrels, Cellini is commissioned by the Pope to cast a large sculpture of Perseus. He is loved by Teresa, but she is promised to Fieramosca, an academic artist who has not been favoured with a papal commission. Terry Gilliam’s exuberant production draws the protagonists into a delirious and joyful yet claustrophobic and megalomaniac world: a flaring up of contagious madness.

In England, at Windsor during the reign of Henry IV of England (1399–1413). Sir John Falstaff, also known as ‘Il Pancione’ (the Potbelly), has two identical love letters sent out, one to Meg Page and the other to Alice Ford, then delivers a sarcastic lecture on honour to his servants Bardolfo and Pistola. In Ford’s garden, his wife Alice and her friend Meg notice the similarity between Falstaff’s letters and decide to take revenge on him by pretending that Alice is receiving him at home whilst Ford is away. ‘Falstaff’ is a three-act opera buffa by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare’s ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ and ‘Henry IV’, Parts I and II. It premiered on 9 February 1893 at La Scala in Milan and on 18 April 1894 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. It was the last opera composed by the composer, then aged 80. Taken from the 27-opera Verdi box set “Tutto Verdi”. Recorded live at the Teatro Regio in Parma on 10, 12, 15, 22 and 25 October 2011.

As part of the Viva Verdi initiative organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna presents an evening dedicated to the masterpieces of Giuseppe Verdi at the Comunale Nouveau venue. Conducted by Daniel Oren.

Rebeka Lokar is a "commanding Turandot" (Bachtrack) and Jorge de Leon as the Priness' suitor a "true giant" (Corriere delle Sera) with his perfect rendition of "Nessun dorma". Grammy Award nominee Gianandrea Noseda impressively conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio "as modern as you have rarely experienced it. Chapeau! (Operalounge) Stage director Stefano Poda dedicates himself to bring Puccini's Ancient Chinese setting to life. To achieve an aesthetic and conceptual unity, his work also emcompasses setand costume design as well as lighting and choreography. "Extraordinary Turandot" (La Republica). "Unanimous applause at the end!" (La Stampa). "The icy Turandot inflames the Teatro Regio! (Coriere della Sera)

Ernani is a gripping drama about love and revenge by Giuseppe Verdi. Written in his unique style it brims with poignant arias, rousing choruses and enthralling ensemble scenes. The rebel leader Ernani recognises his father's murderer in the Spanish King Carlo and seeks revenge on him. Both men love Elvira – as does old Silva whom she is to be married to ... Director Lotte de Beer and her set and costume designer Christof Hetzer devote themselves to the fictional plot which bears references to the 16th century. They demonstrate their rich scenic imagination in this production, conducted by Enrique Mazzola who “provides musically magic moments at the stand of the Wiener Symphoniker” (Schwäbische Zeitung). “Great singers, fiery music and an action-packed staging” (Allgäuer Zeitung). “A mixture of Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’ and Monty Python’s ‘The Knights of the Coconut’” (Deutschlandfunk).

Francesco Cilea’s Gloria, performed here in its 1932 revised edition, takes as its theme the ultimately tragic story of two lovers caught up in a conflict in 14th-century Siena. The libretto is based on Victorien Sardou’s play La Haine (Hatred) and the opera features Cilea’s refined orchestral writing inspired by the Russian and French schools, with vocal lines that are varied and rewarding. Opera Today called this production “musically magical”, while Operawire.com extolled the inventive and convincing staging along with Francesco Cilluffo’s compelling musical direction.

In the present stylised production by Lorenzo Mariani the 'violet-perfumed murderess' is taken by mezzo-soprano Marianne Cornetti, one of the most in-demand representatives of her vocal category. Opposite her, in the role of Adriana, is a soprano who as a Verdi and verismo specialist also appears regularly at all the major international opera houses, Micaela Carosi. The 'cock-of-the-walk' role is sung by the world-class tenor Marcelo Álvarez. His timbre, velvety smooth yet robustly virile, is ideally suited to a vocal characterisation of the idolised Maurizio. Conductor Renato Palumbo is very much at home with Cilea's operatic masterpiece, since the Italian Romantic and verismo periods are at the core of his extensive repertoire.

This 2013 Salzburg Festival performance of Falstaff, Giuseppe Verdis late masterwork and crowning achievement, features conductor Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic. The staging thought up by Italian director Damiano Michieletto moves the action from a fictitious London to that special care home, the Casa Verdi, a place rich in memories of great days past and impressions of a real-time present. Ambrogio Maestri seems a tailor-made Falstaff. His physique is just right for the part, as are his powerful voice, flair for drama and feeling for the Verdi style. (New York Times)

Performance of Verdi's opera performed/streamed from Vienna on the 28th March 2015.

Music Director James Levine conducts his first new Met production after a two-year absence: Robert Carsen’s hit staging of Verdi’s great human comedy. Ambrogio Maestri is an ideal Falstaff, leading an extraordinary ensemble cast of veteran and up-and-coming Met stars, including Angela Meade (Alice), Stephanie Blythe (Mistress Quickly), Franco Vasallo (Ford), and Jennifer Johnson Cano (Meg). Lisette Oropesa and Paolo Fanale are the young lovers, Nannetta and Fenton.

Early recordings of Franco Zeffirelli's 2006 production of Verdi's opera which saw Roberto Alagna's high-profile exit during the second performance. Egypt and Ethiopia are at war. Radames is appointed commander of the Egyptian forces by the King, whose daughter, Amneris, loves Radames. It is in fact Amneris' Ethiopian slave Aida whom Radames loves. Ramades wins the war against the Ethiopians, capturing Aida's father Amonasro in the process. On his return to Egypt he faces a choice between marrying Amneris or betraying his country through his love for Aida.

Puccini's masterpiece La Bohème is by far the most represented opera in the world. At the famous Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago (2014), where Puccini composed his main operas, La Bohème is directed by one of Italy’s greatest film directors: Ettore Scola, the creator of a high number of award-winning seminal films. As he explains in the programme notes, as soon as he was approached to stage La Bohème he had to fight hard to resist the temptation to give life to his “revolutionary” ideas; in the end, he decided for a traditional looking, rich, grandiose and detailed Bohème. Together with the exceptional cast of Daniela Dessì, Fabio Armiliato, Alessandro Luongo, Marco Spotti and Alida Berti, this production makes for an incomparable great performance.

Discover this rare Verdian jewel! Aroldo—one of the composer’s least performed works—premiered in 1857 in Rimini, Italy. The work was created in response to the censorship of Verdi’s 1849 Stiffelio, whose tale of a protestant pastor publicly pardonning an adulterer and his wife proved too scandalous for 19th-century Italian society. In creating Aroldo, Verdi’s librettist and collaborator Francesco Maria Piave transposed Stiffelio’s story and characters to the more distant setting of Great Britain at time of the Crusades, and the composer took advantage of this new version to add a fourth act to the opera, and to rewrite part of the first act as well as a few arias.

To stage Verdi's Il Trovatore, according to Arturo Toscanini, you need to bring together the four best singers in the world. This stunning production at Milan's La Scala unites four luminaries of today's opera scene to great effect: with his lilting legato, Marcelo Álvarez (Manrico) does justice to the opera's bel canto character; Franco Vassallo brings assurance and flair to the Count di Luna; Maria Agresta (Leonora) effortlessly rises to the challenges of the score; and Ekaterina Semenchuk (Azucena) also masters the most difficult notes. With the fastidious Daniele Rustioni leading La Scala's world-class orchestra, the music leads the action apace, resounding alongside the hall's legendary chorus and amid monumental sets and decor in this sublime production of one of the world's favorite operas.

In Italy, in Mantua and its surroundings, in the 16th century. Although newly in love, the Duke of Mantua extols infidelity. His court jester, Rigoletto, mocks the elderly Monterone, who has come to demand the return of his daughter, whom the Duke has seduced. Monterone casts a curse on Rigoletto. The hitman Sparafucile offers his services to the jester, as a man is lurking around the young woman he is protecting. Rigoletto reflects on his dual role as jester and tormented father, for this young woman—whom the courtiers believe he is hiding a romantic affair with—is in fact his own daughter, Gilda. “Rigoletto” is an Italian opera in three acts and four scenes by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on Victor Hugo’s 1832 play “Le roi s’amuse.” It premiered on March 11, 1851, at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. From the “Tutto Verdi” box set of 27 Verdi operas. Recorded live at the Teatro Regio in Parma on October 16, 20, and 22, 2008.

Japan, early twentieth century. U.S. Navy Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton inspects the house he has leased from a marriage broker. The broker, Goro, has procured him three servants and a geisha wife, Cio-Cio-San, known as Madama Butterfly. He is enchanted with the fragile Cio-Cio-San. Cio-Cio-San is heard in the distance joyously singing of her wedding. In a quiet moment, Cio-Cio-San shows her bridegroom her few earthly treasures and tells him of her intention to embrace his Christian faith. The Imperial Commissioner performs the wedding ceremony, and the guests toast the couple. The celebration is interrupted by Cio-Cio-San's uncle, a Buddhist priest, who bursts in, cursing the girl for having renounced her ancestors' religion. Alone with Cio-Cio-San in the moonlit garden, her husband dries her tears, and she joins him in singing of their love.

Live peformance from the Sferisterio Opera Festival, August 2004. Our edition has an Italian cast of exceptional quality, in which stand out the amazing voice of Desirée Rancatore, the extraordinary artistry of Ruggiero Raimondi and the fascinating direction of Pier Luigi Pizzi, one of today's most creative directors. Interesting overview here: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2006/08/offenbach_les_c.php

Rare production of the opera which immediately preceded Lucia di Lammermoor in Donizetti’s oeuvre. This performance was taped live at the Teatro Regio di Parma, January 5, 2002.

Violetta, a courtesan much wooed by Parisian society, organizes a grand party that is attended, amongst others, by the young Alfredo Germont. He confesses his feelings to Violetta, who is already suffering from consumption. She vacillates between genuine affection and a realistic assessment of her situation as a "fallen woman", which precludes any lasting relationship with a man. The Franco Zeffirelli production of LA TRAVIATA, recorded live at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, Februari 2002.

Puccini’s melodrama about a volatile diva, a sadistic police chief, and an idealistic artist has offended and thrilled audiences for more than a century. Critics, for their part, have often had problems with Tosca’s rather grungy subject matter, the directness and intensity of its score, and the crowd-pleasing dramatic opportunities it provides for its lead roles. But these same aspects have also made Tosca one of a handful of iconic works that seem to represent opera in the public imagination.

The opening work of the 2019-2020 season of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma was Verdi's grand opera based on a historical uprising Sicily in 1282. Conducted by Daniele Gatti and directed by Valentina Carrasco. Given in the original French version as "Les Vêpres Siciliennes.”

Teatro Regio’s 2013 revival of their highly successful 2006 production of Verdi’s Don Carlo celebrates the 40th anniversary of the theatre’s reopening in 1973. With traditional staging and lavish costume design, the production garnered high acclaim in the national and international press, with GB Opera commending the ‘sumptuous’ setting and French online music magazine ResMusica praising director Hugo de Ana’s decision to revive the show ‘in all its splendour’. Shown here in the four-act version, Don Carlo is the fascinating tale of father-son power struggles, adultery and love that borders on incest. The cast – under the powerful baton of Gianandrea Noseda – is headed by renowned Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas, and also features Ludovic Tézier, who has been hailed as ‘one of the best Verdian singers of our time’

As Aragon descends into unrest, a count jealously fights for a noble lady's heart. But she has already given it to a passionate troubadour whose mother holds a terrible secret.

The love between Sita, the priestess of the temple of Indra, and an unknown stranger, who is actually Alim the King of Lahore, is hindered by Scindia who wants to take the throne and to marry Sita. When Scindia discovers the lover's true identity, he accuses him before the high priest Timour, who condemnsns him to go into battle against the muslims. In the battle Alim is defeated, and, seriouslyy wounded, returns to Lahore where he ides in the arms of his beloved Sita. Having g risen in to the Hindu paradise and been reincarnated aim turns to Lahore just in time to witness the usurper's splendid coronation and to reveal Scindia's crimes to the entire populace, In the last act the two lovers take refuge in the temple of Indra to escape from Scindia: Sita takes her own life with a dagger thus provoking Alim's death. The two lovers will be together in the hereafter.