Performer: Leo Nucci

If Chung is sometimes hailed as the greatest living conductor of Verdi, here was a performance to support that claim.

This was a performance that had you lickng your lips for Santi’s return next season with Zeffirelli’s time-honoured take on Aida.

Netrebko's Violetta is now fuller in body and voice than in her former incarnation. Goodbye to the fresh-faced damsel we saw in Salzburg; hello to a larger-than-life courtesan in her twilight years.

Leo Nucci visceral animal of the stage has over 500 performances of the role under his belt, and, at the age of 73, he now eats this operatic challenge for breakfast

Received wisdom says “it ain’t over till the fat lady sings”. In the case of a Leo Nucci recital, it ain’t over till the Italian baritone’s sung “Cortigiani, vil razza dannata”.

Bridging new and old, the young graduates of Teatro alla Scala's Academy joined seasoned Italian opera legends for an "Academy Project" performance of Gioachino Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's 46-year-old staging.