23-year-old Gioachino Rossini completed his masterpiece IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA incredibly quickly – legend has it in just 13 days – which Rossini attributed to ‘facility and lots of instinct’. The opera, characterized by youthful energy and bold wit, has all the ingredients for comic chaos: an imprisoned young woman, her lecherous guardian and a young noble suitor. Skilfully plotting behind the scenes is Figaro, an irrepressible and inventive character in whom many have seen a resemblance to the young Rossini himself. The score fizzes with musical brilliance, from Figaro’s famous entrance aria to the frenzy of the Act I finale. This recording sees Joyce DiDonato (Rosina) bring literal meaning to the old theatrical motto Break a leg! She did just that in an earlier show but was determined to finish her commitment and was re-staged into the production to allow for the additional challenges that come when a leading lady in a lively physical role must wheel around the other performers...

Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur was inspired by the real-life story of a celebrated actress at ...

Premiered in 1787, “Don Giovanni” exposes the timeless theme of a man hovering between vitality and ...

CARMEN is the classic tale of forbidden passion between a young man and a spoken-for woman, Carmen. ...

Just as a young woman is about to marry her sweetheart, she is discovered—by the entire village, to ...

Verdi’s admiration for Shakespeare led to such masterpieces as Othello and Falstaff, and if the earl...

A village hires a priestess to pray for the safety of their pearl fishermen, but long lost love gets...

José Cura sings and acts here with an inwardness and intensity which make a profound impression. So ...

"Manon", wrote Puccini to his publisher Giulio Ricordi in 1889, "is a heroine I believe in and there...

This superb 2006 production of the Los Angeles Opera's La Traviata stars Renée Fleming, who joins th...
A colorful and comedic staging of the classic opera buffa by the Vienna State Opera.

With his affinity for the 16th-century sculptor Benvenuto Cellini's advocacy of artistic and persona...

An excellent performance of this delightful opera. The principals are superb, especially the sisters...

"La Bohème" is one of Giacomo Puccini's most popular and timeless works and the second-most performe...

Recorded at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1995, this acclaimed presentation of composer Gioachi...

Kristine Opolais is the young woman whose conflicting desires for love and luxury lead to her tragic...

Richard Wagner's Parsifal, staged at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo in 2020, opened the opera season ...

David McVicar's exhilarating new production, with Anne Sofie von Otter in the title role, restores t...