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...

The Zurich Opera gathered a superb cast for this production: Italian soprano Eva Mei sings the Count...

A group of merchants and vikings navigate dramatic events both within and without in this epic music...

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The tale of a quick-witted fox and her escape from confinement for a life in the forest.

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Politics and love leads to a love triangle between father, son and stepmother.

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This epic opera follows Virgil, beginning as the Greeks appear to have ceded the field after ten yea...

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A dead woman wanders through the shadowy space between memory and reality, tracing the lines of her ...

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Starring the exquisite coloratura soprano Emma Matthews as the innocent girl priestess Lakmé, and su...

Berlioz’s colossal masterpiece requires stupendous forces—dozens of soloists, enormous chorus, orche...