Rossini's "Le Comte Ory" tells the story of a libidinous and cunning nobleman who disguises himself first as a hermit and then as a nun in order to gain access to the virtuous Countess Adele, whose brother is away at the Crusades. The 2011 Met production was directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, who presented the action as an opera within an opera, updating the action by a few centuries and giving the costume designer, Catherine Zuber, the opportunity to create some particularly extravagant headgear. Juan Diego Florez starred as the title role while Diana Damrau plays Countess Adele, and Joyce DiDonato was in breeches as his pageboy Isolier. Conducted with verve and finesse by Maurizio Benini, the production also features the stylish French baritone Stephane Degout as Ory's bibulous conspirator Raimbaud, charismatic Italian bass Michele Pertusi as the Count's long-suffering Tutor, and, formidable as Adele's housekeeper Ragonde, the Swedish dramatic mezzo Susanne Resmark.

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

The Lyric Opera of Chicago's 1985 production of Puccini's opera, set in the late nineteenth century ...

Take a perfect cast, a great conductor and a groundbreaking staging in-out makes a 'Tristan' for ete...

Officers Ferrando and Guglielmo are certain that their lovers Dorabella and Fiordiligi are faithful ...

The complete version of Verdi's Otello performed by Placido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa, at the Royal...

Viva Vivaldi! is a concert by the Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli interspersing arias from the...

The celebrated mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli joins Bryn Terfel for a recital of arias and duets reco...

John Eliot Gardiner conducts Gluck’s 1776 French version of “Alceste” at the Théâtre du Châtelet in ...

This is a joy from beginning to end. Although there are many tricks and ideas from Laurent Pelly, as...

The first-ever audio-visual recording of this opera – directed by Christof Loy, conducted by Marc Al...

A production of Mozart's opera recorded live at Zurich Opera House in 2000. Cecilia Bartoli leads an...

Starring Jonas Kaufmann as Bacchus and featuring Emily Magee with Daniel Harding conducting the Vien...

Passion, jealousy and betrayal take center stage at Londons Royal Opera House in a spectacular produ...

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

Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in Stepháne Braunschweig's production of Richard W...

The life and career of Italian opera singer Farinelli, considered one of the greatest castrato singe...

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