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A rarely performed bel canto gem, Rossini’s Semiramide returned to the Met for the first time in nearly 25 years during the 2017–18 season. Set in ancient Babylon under the reign of the mythic Queen Semiramis, the opera features political scheming, mistaken identity, divine intervention, and bloodthirsty revenge—not to mention one virtuosic vocal display after another. Soprano Angela Meade is the fierce title monarch, whose quest for power comes to a halt with the discovery that the object of her affection, the warrior Arsace—sung by mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong—may actually be her long-lost son. Together, the two square off in a pair of dazzling duets and deliver some of the opera’s most challenging arias. Bel canto specialist Maurizio Benini takes the podium to lead a cast that also stars tenor Javier Camarena as the ardent prince Idreno, bass Ildar Abdrazakov as the scheming Assur, and bass Ryan Speedo Green as the stern high priest Oroe.

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This new disc from the Zurich Opera presents just about as thoughtful and coherent account of Rossini's Otello as one could hope for. This isn't the first time the company has made something of a splash with the bel canto repertory. Some will remember their CD release, a few years back, of Bellini's Norma, also featuring Bartoli. That set got very mixed reviews, and those who hated that will probably hate this too, no doubt before they even watch it. But for those not initiated in the trench warfare that music loving often attracts, this disc will be most welcome. The world class cast, led by Cecilia Bartoli and tenor John Osborn, are (mostly) young, committed and talented. They deliver, here, an intense performance that makes a very strong case for this neglected opera.

Composed for the Paris Opéra, the romantic but ultimately tragic narrative of Donizetti’s grand opera La Favorite is set amidst the Moorish invasions of Spain and the power struggles between religion and the state in the 14th century. The novice Fernand abandons his monastery having fallen in love with the noble Léonor, not knowing that she is the King’s mistress and favourite. Drawing on traditions established by Rossini and Meyerbeer, La Favorite is noted for Donizetti’s innovative use of the orchestra and for some of his most renowned and enthralling arias. This acclaimed production opened the 2022 Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo, and is performed with its original French libretto.

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Tenor Javier Camarena and soprano Pretty Yende team up for a feast of bel canto vocal fireworks—including the show-stopping tenor aria “Ah! Mes amis,” with its nine high Cs. Alessandro Corbelli and Maurizio Muraro trade off as the comic Sergeant Sulpice, with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as the outlandish Marquise of Berkenfield. Enrique Mazzola conducts.

Gualtiero is an exiled count, forced to become a pirate. His enemy Ernesto blackmails Imogene into marrying him, even though he knows she loves Gualtiero. In the searing final scene Imogene goes insane when Gualtiero is condemned to death. This is riveting bel canto drama as you have seldom hear it.

Cecilia Bartoli stars in this ebullient Zurich Opera House production of Rossini’s first French-language comedy opera described by the international press as “pure, unadulterated fun” and reminds us of her comic gifts and her naturalness as a stage actor — as well as her total sympathy with the music of Rossini.

In its most ambitious effort yet to bring the joy and artistry of opera to audiences everywhere during the Met’s closure, the company presented an unprecedented virtual At-Home Gala, featuring more than 40 leading artists performing in a live stream from their homes all around the world.

This 2013 Salzburg Festival performance of Falstaff, Giuseppe Verdis late masterwork and crowning achievement, features conductor Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic. The staging thought up by Italian director Damiano Michieletto moves the action from a fictitious London to that special care home, the Casa Verdi, a place rich in memories of great days past and impressions of a real-time present. Ambrogio Maestri seems a tailor-made Falstaff. His physique is just right for the part, as are his powerful voice, flair for drama and feeling for the Verdi style. (New York Times)

Live Opera performance of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata. Directed by Jean-Louis Grinda

Marie was found on a battlefield as a baby, and raised by the entire 21st Regiment as their 'daughter'. Her foster-father Sulpice has decreed that she should marry a soldier from the Regiment. When Marie falls for the Tyrolean Tonio, it looks as though she may have to choose between her family and true love.

Opera as never experienced before: a world-class cast, stylish haute couture outfits, the spectacular setting of Hangar-7 with more than 10 different locations and state-of-the-art technology. All of this cut together as a live opera film: a modern and unique production of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail one of the highlights of the Salzburg Festival 2013. In Adrian Marthaler's production, the whole Hangar-7 at Salzburg Airport becomes the backdrop for an extraordinary opera performance. The distinguished Camerata Salzburg is conducted by Hans Graf, one of the best Mozart connoisseurs. The star soloists including Desirée Rancatore (Konstanze), Javier Camarena (Belmonte), Kurt Rydl (Osmin) as well as famed Austrian actor Tobias Moretti as Bassa Selim guarantee a special treat. Even audiences that are not yet opera aficionados are set to be enthused by this novel approach.

On May 21, soprano Nadine Sierra takes on one of the repertory’s most formidable and storied roles, the haunted heroine of Lucia di Lammermoor, in an electrifying new staging by in-demand Australian theater and film director Simon Stone, conducted by Riccardo Frizza. Show-stopping tenor Javier Camarena adds to the bel canto fireworks as Lucia’s beloved, Edgardo, with baritone Artur Ruciński as her overbearing brother, Enrico, and bass Matthew Rose as her tutor, Raimondo. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.

A bel canto jewel and one of the most technically-challenging operas of the repertoire found its dream team in 2016 at the Teatro Real de Madrid with the incredible soprano Diana Damrau as Elvira, Javier Camarena as Arturo, Ludovic Tézier as Sir Riccardo Forth, and Nicolas Testé as Sir Giorgio. The Spanish stage director Emilio Sagi’s setting of I Puritani is somber and elegant, a perfect match for the excellent musical direction of Evelino Pidò, one of the great interpreters of this repertoire.

Live recording from Oper Zurich, 2008, DVD release 2014. Jonas Kaufmann, 'the Prince of Tenors', appears with international star Vesselina Kasarova in Zürich Opera's starkly palpable staging of Bizet's ever-popular Carmen. The production sees Don José (Kaufmann) abandon his teenage attitudes in pursuit of Kasarova's free and independent Carmen - realising too late that his self-control has vanished, along with his youth.

For the first time at the Paris Opera, Natalie Dessay sings one of the most beautiful roles of Italian romanticism. She embodies the modest and charming Amina, this sleepwalker who, escaping from her bedroom, becomes another person as she wanders through the night. This opera by Bellini is a score seemingly written in a daydream, where melody is apparently suspended in time and the heroine's very soul rises to the surface, and where instruments take on transparent tones. At the same time, Bellini portrays the cruelest of worlds – our own – where it is more than difficult for fragility and gentleness to shine past the darker rashness and unfriendliness of the characters.

Love can be questionable, especially when it involves forgery and attempted murder. David Alden directs and Daniel Oren conducts.

To elevate a jester to a tragic stature comparable to a Macbeth or a Lear is no easy feat. The dramatic essence of Shakespeare runs in the veins of this Rigoletto, although the story is based on the controversial Le roi s’amuse by Victor Hugo. While the play was prohibited in France for more than fifty years, Verdi himself fought with the censors who initially prevented the publication of his opera. Multi-faceted, perhaps more than any other opera by Verdi - tender, cruel, interspersed with remarkable strokes of black humour -, Rigoletto is also a heart-wrenching study about the love between a parent and a child. Given the helplessness of a woman in the face of a group of men, Teatro Real’s production, which is directed by Miguel del Arco, also considers society's concept of masculinity. Nicola Luisotti conducts some of the great voices of our day, including Javier Camarena, Ludovic Tézier, Marina Viotti and Adela Zaharia.