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.
Car Men is a collaboration between the renowned choreographer Jíri Kylían and filmmaker Boris Paval ...

All the throbbing eroticism—and ultimate heartbreak—of Puccini’s youthful score is unleashed by Jame...

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...

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

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make...

Who loves whom in Così fan tutte, Mozart’s and Da Ponte’s cruelly comic reflection on desire, fideli...

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the...

Two years prior to the opening scene, the nobleman Florestan has exposed or attempted to expose cert...

It's hard to imagine confirmed Straussians not wanting this starry Metropolitan Opera performance of...

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

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

Pietro Mascagni's opera recorded in 2009. Conductor Stefano Ranzani leads the orchestra and chorus o...

Desdemona in Verdi's Otello was a career role for soprano Renata Tebaldi, from her first operatic pe...

Here is a rare and exceptional example in which the director and costume designer amuse themselves w...

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

This live version of Puccini s superbly dramatic opera was recorded in Rome in the exact locations a...

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

This is the 2004 version of Kaija Saariaho's opera performed by the Finnish National Opera and condu...