Il Trovatore - NCPA

La Traviata - Arena di Verona

La Traviata

La Traviata is not only one of Giuseppe Verdi's best known works but ranks among the most popular operas of all times. Based on the novel and play La Dame aux camélias by Alexander Dumas (fils), the tragic story of the terminally ill courtesan Violetta who falls in love with the young gentleman Alfredo Germont has moved audiences to tears for more than 150 years. Live from the Arena di Verona, 2011

La fanciulla del West

Le Grandi Operette : La vedova allegra

This specific production from the "Le Grandi Operette" collection is a nostalgic gem, led by the legendary Sandro Massimini. If you're a fan of old-school European musical theater, this is the definitive Italian take on Franz Lehár's masterpiece.

Puccini: Tosca (Arena di Verona)

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.

Lucrezia Borgia - Teatro degli Arcimboldi

Verdi: Don Carlo

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’

Giacomo Puccini - Tosca aus der Arena von Verona

Il Trovatore (La Scala)

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.

Ernani - ROMA

Ernani is a love story about a young woman, Elvira, caught between three men: her lover, the nobleman-turned-outlaw Ernani; her guardian, the rich, elderly de Silva, who wants her for himself; and Don Carlo, the King of Spain who also has his eye on Elvira. Given the number of protagonists, it is also the story of a tragedy. Only 14 years after the premiere of Hernani, Giuseppe Verdi adapted Victor Hugo’s play into an opera to premiere at La Fenice, Venice in 1844. Ernani was an immediate and lasting triumph for the young Verdi, marking his prowess at adapting an historical event (the crowning of Charles V as emperor at Aachen Cathedral) to a psychologically convincing musical drama. The backdrop of three men paying court to one woman was the perfect foil for Verdi to explore the expressive qualities of three types of male voice. The tenor, the bass and the baritone.