Female voices dominate in the vocal cast: Rachel Willis-Sørensen debuts as Leonora and charms the audience; Anna Maria Chiuri has the temperament and rich vocality requested by the role of the gypsy.
Since their creation in 2010, NIO has brought unconventional opera productions to Northern Ireland. Their Rigoletto is bold, emotional and engaging with a stellar cast of local and international talent.
Traditionally, Italy's most unforgiving loggionisti are reputed to reside at Parma's Teatro Regio. Thankfully for the cast, they appear to be a dying breed.
Verdi's fifth opera can be considered a blueprint for Trovatore and deserves a more regular place in the repertoire, but it needs more sincere advocacy than Bechtolf is prepared to grant.
This concert was inevitably the sum of far more than its parts, and not for nothing are the Monteverdi Choir and the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantiquem, regarded as among the best in the world
A quartet of superb soloists shine through an orchestral and choral performance of great precision to bring out Verdi’s powerful evocation of the terror of eternal damnation.
Opera Bohemia provides a fun-filled showcase for Conservatoire graduates in a finely sung Falstaff heading for the Edinburgh Fringe with a small orchestra.
Svoboda’s mirrors continue to provoke interesting considerations. Titled above the stage, they project a birds-eye-view of the action to the audience, making voyeurs of us all.
Davide Livermore's digital set for Opera Australia's new production of Aida ushers in a new type of staging to the Sydney Opera House, and backs up a stellar performance from Amber Wagner in the title role.
Muti unlocks the immense dramatic potential of Verdi's revolutionary score, providing a wealth of colour and detail capable of conjuring mysterious Shakespearean worlds with no need for staging.
Daisy Evans' take on Verdi's iconic tale of love stymied by the cruelty of others is characteristically innovative and insightful, while also blessed with a remarkable central performance from Anna Patalong.
Bruno Ravella's fast-paced Falstaff for Garsington still has crucial space for pathos amid the comedy, with a notably subtle central performance from Henry Waddington.
Grange Park Opera’s enjoyable new production of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera looks a little homespun on stage, but has plenty of musical compensations.
Unlike the conucopia of duets Verdi wrote for soprano and baritone, his music for soprano and bass is much more limited and what exists is not exactly the acme of his output.
Opera Holland Park starts its 2018 season with a bang (and a cough), offering a splendid new production of La traviata. Lauren Fagan is a sensational Violetta, but the production is a real company effort and achievement.
Marco Tullio Giordana's new production at the Maggio Musicale may be static, but musically there's much to enjoy in this rare slice of middle-period Verdi.
In a dated production by Hans Neuenfels, conductor Giacomo Sagripanti leads a musically successful Trovatore, where Angela Meade and Anita Rachvelishvili show their vocal brilliance.
On their return to Sydney, the Australian World Orchestra under Riccardo Muti offer a subdued reading of Brahms’ Symphony no. 2 and a thrilling account of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 4.
The quality cast purred, but glorious roars are required to jolt audiences from placid enjoyment of Opera Australia’s gorgeous 24-year-old production of this Verdi classic.
Odyssey Opera comes full circle closing its season “Trial By Fire“ with another opera rooted in Schiller’s Die Jungfrau von Orléans, Giovanna d’Arco. Verdi’s seventh opera is an uneven, retrograde effort which fails to mine further the rich vein he had struck in Ernani.
The Royal Opera's revival of Phyllida Lloyd's production is marked by two outstanding Verdian singers and a superb rendering of the score from Pappano and the ROH Orchestra.
Despite the entertainment value and striking imagery, Kramer's production is a surprisingly dull affair, with curiously little chemistry between the lead couple.
In Lyon, Daniele Rustioni drives through a pulsating reading of Macbeth, Ivo van Hove's imaginative setting not always fully backed by the vocal performances.
In a disappointing revival of Hugo de Ana's clichéd and clumsy production, Liudmyla Monastyrska and Violeta Urmana confronted each other with their superb vocal techniques and diverging styles.
