Montserrat Caballé

An all-star cast led by soprano Montserrat Caballé in one of her most acclaimed portrayals. Fiorenza Cossotto sings the role of Adriana’s nemesis, the Princess of Bouillon, and José Carreras is Adriana’s lover, Maurizio, in this live 1976 performance from Tokyo. The NHK Symphony Orchestra is under the direction of Gianfranco Masini. This performance of Adriana Lecouvreur documents the art of Montserrat Caballé at its peak, the soprano employing her singularly ravishing vocal quality and staggering technical facility fully in the service of the drama. In her portrayal of the title character - described in the opera as a supreme tragedienne, self-trained and completely artless - Caballé matches Adriana's attributes with a naturalistic approach that is profoundly moving in its honesty and directness. This production also boasts the presence of Fiorenza Cossotto and José Carreras, stars of the highest caliber with whom Caballé performed this opera on many occasions all over the world.

Oroveso, a Druid High Priest, gathers his people in a sacred forest and prays to their gods for help in vanquishing the Romans who have taken over Gaul. Unbeknownst to Oroveso, his daughter, Norma, a High Priestess, has for some time been the lover of Pollione, the leader of the Romans; she has, in fact, not only broken her sacred vow of chastity but has borne two children to the warrior. Norma uses her position to dissuade the Gauls from attacking the Romans, claiming that the gods have told her that the time is not favourable. Recorded at Théâtre Antique d'Orange, 1974

Biography of Julian Gayarre (1844-1890), one of the best tenors of all times. At 19, a professor at the Conservatory of Music in Madrid heard him singing for the first time and offered him a scholarship to continue his studies. His artistic life runs between continued success, becoming the world's greatest tenor. But in 1890, while singing at the Teatro Real in Madrid, a failure in his voice is like a cruel reminder of what would happen a few days later: his death at a young age. The doctors gave a diagnosis, but his friends know that Julian Gayarre died because he could not sing anymore.

A retelling of the story of John the Baptist, Salome, Herod Antipas and Herodias, but strikingly less psychological and bloody than Richard Strauss's opera "Salome".

Famed tenor José Carreras takes the stage at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre with soprano and fellow Spaniard Montserrat Caballé in this memorable evening of music filmed live in 1989. Selections include ballads, arias and duets by some of the world's most famous composers, including Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gioacchino Rossini, Antonio Vivaldi, Vincenzo Bellini, Alessandro Scarlatti and Alessandro Stradella.

The ambiguities of Verdi’s theatre are particularly clear in his baritone roles, among which is that of Boccanegra, corsair turned doge of Genoa and the troubled observer of the conflicts that tore apart 14th century landowners and peasants. An eminently political opera in which power struggles are interwoven with family conflicts, Simon Boccanegra echoes the life of its composer – the man who championed the cause of Italian unification and overcame the loss of his wife and children.