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...

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

The production by Deutsche Oper Berlin achieves a beautiful balance between the stage drama and the ...

Jean-Marie Villegier's modern interpretation of Handel's "Rodelinda" – filmed live at the world-reno...

Takarazuka Revue's Phantom based on the play by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit.

"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...

La traviata (Italian: [la traˈviaːta], "The Fallen Woman"[1][2]) is an opera in three acts by Giusep...

The grand scale and magnificent acoustics of the Roman arena in Verona are ideally suited to the pag...

Originally commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal and the opening of Cairos new ...

German composer Richard Wagner wrote Parsifal, which is a three-act opera that tells the story of th...

Carlos Álvarez takes the title role in the first of Verdi's Shakespearean operas, with Maria Guleghi...

Opera in one act, libretto by G. Forzano based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Third part of his opera Tri...
The writer Dario Fo applies his inventive genius to Rossini's comic opera in its premiere DVD releas...

There are elements of Eurotrash in this outdoor Aix-en-Provence summer opera production. Nevertheles...

Axel Kohler, the internationally renowned countertenor has brought Admeto into the modern era in tim...

The many passionate, fiery or lyrical vocal pieces of Spanish zarzuela have continued to thrive in c...
Eugen Suchoň's opera Svätopluk returns to the stage of the Slovak National Theatre Opera in 2023. Si...

The director, Roland Schwab, has created his version of Hell. The set is like a high iron walled han...

The production was the Vienna State Opera debut for the young Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan – the ...

Emmanuelle Haïm has established herself as one of the world’s leading performers, conductors and int...