Artiste: Paolo Gavanelli

A huge revolving grey monolith centre stage dominated a grey floor, grey props and men in grey costumes, all detracting from the gaiety Verdi envisaged as the essence of Falstaff.

Pour l'ouverture de sa 35ème saison anniversaire, l'Opéra de Montréal a conçu Nabucco de Verdi comme une reconstitution de la première de l'opéra en 1842 : le résultat n'appelle aucune réserve.

Rigoletto is what an opera promoter might describe as a "banker": it's a safe bet to get those seats filled and keep the audience happy. There's a rare blend of gorgeously beautiful music allied to darkly nasty drama that gives the opera enormous, continuing appeal.