Rossini - Il signor Bruschino

Donna Leonora, daughter of the Marquis of Calatrava, is about to flee secretly with her lover Don Alvaro (son of the Viceroy of Mexico and an Inca princess). The Marquis bursts in unexpectedly. Alvaro hesitates to raise his weapon against his lover’s father and throws his pistol. As it falls, the pistol goes off and the Marquis is mortally wounded. As he lies dying, he curses his daughter. Don Carlo di Vargas, Leonora’s brother, resolves to avenge his sister and her fiancé for their father’s death. In the turmoil of the chase, Leonora and Alvaro lose track of one another... ‘La forza del destino’ is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, adapted from the play ‘Don Álvaro o la fuerza del destino’ (Spain, 1835) by Ángel de Saavedra, the Duke of Rivas. Premiered on 10 November 1862 at the Imperial Theatre in Saint Petersburg. From the box set of 27 Verdi operas “Tutto Verdi”. Recorded live at the Teatro Regio in Parma on 2 and 5 February 2011.

This colourful and exuberant production was staged by Daminano Michieletto, “one of the truly new voices in stage direction today” (L’Unita). Damiano Michieletto made his international debut at the Wexford Opera Festival in 2003 with a highly-acclaimed production of Weinberger’s Svanda Dudák, named Opera Production of the Year by the Irish Times. Claudio Scimone, a key figure in the international Rossini Renaissance, conducts the Orchestra di Bolzano e Trento and leads a cast of Rossini specialists including Daniele Zanfardino, Olga Peretyatko and Anna Malavasi.

A look at the entire process of creating and developing Patrice Chéreau’s third staging of "In the Solitude of Cotton Fields" by Bernard Marie Koltès with Pascal Greggory and Chéreau himself. From the first reading around the table through the first contact with the performance space, rehearsals and lighting to opening night, the entire creative process unfurls in front of our eyes. The film shows us the evolving and ongoing dialogue between Greggory and Chéreau, a dialogue full of crises and magical moments of harmony and insight via which the truth, intensity, complexity, mystery and depth of Koltès’ text gradually emerge to form an implicit bond between these two men. The film also shows Chéreau directing rehearsals for Mozart’s "Don Giovanni" in Salzburg, revealing both the unity of and profound differences between his opera and theater work.

Il mondo della luna (1777) is a sparkling comic opera by Joseph Haydn, with a witty libretto based on Carlo Goldoni’s play. In this award-winning production from the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, co-produced with Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao, visionary director Emilio Sagi crafts a whimsical journey that earned Best New Opera Production at the 2014 Teatro Campoamor Lyric Awards. Set in a world where imagination and deception collide, the story follows the gullible Buonafede, an old man tricked into believing he’s been transported to the moon. Goldoni’s sharp satire on human credulity meets Haydn’s elegant, playful score, full of creative flourishes and refined humor. Known as the father of the symphony and string quartet, Haydn’s operatic genius shines in this delightful fable, long overshadowed by his contemporaries but brought to vivid life in a production brimming with charm, humor, and lunar magic. Prepare for a journey where the moon feels closer than ever!

In this new "Marriage of Figaro", Jérémie Rhorer revisits this composer and US film director James Gray makes his first foray into opera. This opera is recorded for broadcast by Louise Narboni.

Celebrating a great artist is always a gala occasion, but when the honoree is the legendary Luciano Pavarotti, the event is one to treasure. To pay tribute to the 30th anniversary of Pavarotti’s Met debut, the company featured him in fully staged excerpts of three operas: Act II of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, Act III of Puccini’s La Bohème (the opera he sang at his debut), and Act IV of Verdi’s Aida. Joining the superstar tenor were colleagues like Ruth Ann Swenson, Leo Nucci, Daniela Dessì, Maria Guleghina, and Dolora Zajick, all conducted by James Levine.

This Wagner opera is rarely performed because of the scandals that engulfed the Magdeburg Theatre when it was performed in 1836 under the title The Novice of Palermo, and became known as a cursed opera from which the composer had to distance himself. Wagner's adaptation of the story reflects the rebellious mood of a Revolutionary Germany, vindicating sensual love and attack the fanatical repression of sexuality by a puritanical and hypocritical authority. As the prose says, "Shame to him whose cruel striking/Kills for faults of his own liking!". One of the most extraordinary musicals based on a text by Shakespeare, especially worthy of a new performance as it is four hundred years since the death of the Bard.

Inspired by Beaumarchais' comedy, Rossini retains all the passion to create this bubbling opera buffa. A native of Venice, the cradle of the commedia dell’arte, Damiano Michieletto is sensitive to the burlesque vein of Rossinian music. He transposes the action of this "unnecessary precaution" into a contemporary Seville inspired by the cinema of Almodóvar. Bartolo’s monumental building, in which Figaro swirls in free electron, allows the director to give free rein to his crazy imagination.

Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love story of all time. In Charles Gounod's operatic adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona “Saimir Pirgu and Aida Garifullina mesmerize as the tragic lovers” (Euronews). Charles Gounod is one of the great representatives of French lyric drama and due to his famous aria “Je veux vivre”, ravishing melodies, magical duets and the unique ballet scene in Act IV, Roméo et Juliette continues to gain much popularity. This production by Stephen Lawless once again demonstrates the abundance of ideas that Shakespeare’s legendary tale is able to inspire, even in the 21st century. In addition to the lavish stage sets and the carefully chosen costumes and props, the production captivates the audience thanks to its refined dramaturgical logic

Production of the Teatro San Carlo, 2024. Turandot can be considered Giacomo Puccini's masterpiece, being his last and unfinished opera, which tells the story of the beautiful and cruel Chinese princess Turandot, who subjects her suitors to a test consisting of solving three riddles, awaiting death if they are not able to do so.

Lovely but lethal, the evil Princess Turandot comes to life through the performance of Luana De Vol in this visually stunning production of Giacomo Puccini's Peking-set opera directed by Nuria Espert and conducted by Giuliano Carella. In this 2004 performance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain, all the subtleties of Puccini's unique tonality and unconventional instrumentation are in ample evidence.

For reasons that are by no means clear, in this production the work is set in an hotel at which the guests are invited to a soirée based on the legend of Count Ory. They dress up as the characters in a rudimentary way. The director clearly gets much fun from the disguise of the men as nuns in Act 2 when their nuns’ habits are worn over old-fashioned underwear which they take every opportunity to reveal.

A drama based on the life of 18th century Italian lyricist Lorenzo da Ponte, who collaborated with Mozart on his "Don Giovanni" opera.

Aureliano in Palmira movie was released Oct 30, 2012 by the Bongiovanni studio. The Festival della Valle d'Itria mounted this lavish production of Gioachino Rossini's 1813 opera Aureliano in Palmira, in July 2011. Aureliano in Palmira movie It was staged and performed at the Palazzo Ducale, in Martina Franca, Italy. Aureliano in Palmira video The cast includes Bogdan Mihai as Aureliano, Franco Fagioli as Arsace, Maria Aleida as Zenobia and Asude Karayavuz as Publia, with the special participation of Louise Frank as Vecchia Zenobia. Aureliano in Palmira film The Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia and the Coro Slovacco di Bratislava provide additional musical accompaniment, with Pavol Prochazka serving as chorus master and Giacomo Sagripanti conducting. Aureliano in Palmira review Tiziano Santi designed the sets, Michelle Cantwell created the costumes, Nikos Nagousakos choreographs and Timothy Nelson directs for the stage.

Weary of tragic subjects, for the final part of Il Trittico Puccini composed a grand confidence trick orchestrated by a falsifier willing to do anything to gain wealth. Including bringing back the dead!

Rossini’s La donna del lago, premièred in 1819 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, is a masterpiece based on the poem The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott, which is full of passion and romantic frisson. “With characteristic boldness, Michieletto reformulates this glittering music into something otherworldly” (Financial Times) and the performance is “musically brilliant” (Die Presse.com). “Marko Mimica and Varduhi Abrahamyan produce strong performances as Douglas and Malcom respectively. Flórez is laser like and fresh as ever and thrilling brutish …” (Financial Times) while the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: “Michele Mariotti and his outstanding orchestra were the stars of the evening.”