It is to composer and librettist Arrigo Boito and his constant pestering of the octogenarian Verdi that there remained within him one last great comedy fighting to get out that we owe this absolute miracle of an opera. Produced in 1893 as Verdi turned 80 there is much in this masterpiece that can be identified as a modernist neoclassical work. The use of short motifs instead of long arioso melodic lines, the spry and reduced orchestral textures and the lack of a single 'stand and deliver' dramatic declamatory aria all serve to make this more of a 20th century work than an example of 19th century late-Romanticism.

A Victor Hugo play, haunting and scandalous, provided the inspiration for Verdi’s mid-career masterp...
Politics and love leads to a love triangle between father, son and stepmother.

In the 50's, in Paris, the neighbors Rodolfo and Mimi meet each other when Mimi's candle blows out i...
Nabucco - live from Metropolitan Opera, June 2002. On its surface, Nabucco is about the epic strugg...

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...

Teatro Alla Scala 1983 production of three one-act operas from Puccini.

A romantic opera in three acts with music and libretto by Richard Wagner, performed by the Orchestra...

John Dexter’s brilliant production, James Levine’s masterful conducting of the eclectic score, and a...

In the Summer of 2009, the British director Nigel Lowery and the Iranian choreographer Amir Hosseinp...

Richard Eyre’s elegant production, which opened the Met’s 2014–15 season, sets the action of Mozart’...

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

Charles Mackerras teases the romantic beauty from Gounod's score, which has been widely admired sinc...

Turn of the century Paris provides the glittering setting for this light hearted tale of political a...

A delightful fairy tale, Mozart's final operatic legacy remains a great work in the spirit of the En...

Taped live at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Valery Gergiev conducts this landmark product...

The celebrated three-act opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart comes to life in this dynamic performance ...

From the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Terme di Caracalla "Carmen" by Georges Bizet. Director Jesus Lope...

Deep in a forest where druids and warriors seek revenge against the conquering Romans, Norma is scor...