Maria Stuarda

‘Maria Stuarda’, the tragedy of the Stuart Queen Mary and her embittered foe Elizabeth, is the most popular work in Donizetti’s trilogy of bel canto operas on Tudor queens (next to ‘Anna Bolena’ and ‘Roberto Devereux’). The production of Venice’s Teatro La Fenice shows Maria and Elisabetta both as prisoners, trapped in a labyrinth that is the central set element in Italian-based Franco-Tunisian director Denis Krief’s staging. With his sharp and lively conducting, Fabrizio Maria Carminati puts the Orchestra of the Teatro La Fenice entirely at the service of three exceptional singers, Sonia Ganassi (‘an extraordinary performance,’ Opera Today) as Elisabetta, Fiorenza Cedolins (‘colorful, nuanced, highly dramatic heroine,’ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) as Maria Stuarda, and José Bros as a passionate Leicester. The recording was made at Venice’s beautiful Teatro La Fenice, rebuilt after the fire that destroyed it in 1996.

Il Volo – Notte Magica “A Tribute To The Three Tenors”

“Notte Magica – A Tribute To The Three Tenors” – on July 7, 1990, a magical night took place in Rome: José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti sang together for the very first time in one of the most evocative temples of opera, the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome giving life to the biggest classical music project of the century, The Three Tenors. Twenty-six years later, worldwide platinum selling artists, Il Volo, pay tribute to the event and to the Three Tenors with a live concert event, “Notte Magica – A Tribute to The Three Tenors”. The concert took place at the Piazza Santa Croce, one of the most beautiful plazas in Florence with the famous Teatro Massimo di Palermo Orchestra. Il Volo performed some of the most famous Neapolitan songs and arias from the Italian and international operatic repertoire all of which were sung by the original Three Tenors. As a special guest, Maestro Plácido Domingo conducted almost half of the program and joined Il Volo singing the classic “Non ti scordar di me”. Although Il Volo were not yet born when The Three Tenors first performed, they grew up listening to them, being fascinated and inspired by their voices and legendary achievements. Now, Il Volo deliver this music to a younger audience so they can experience the same emotions from that long ago magical night.

Lucia di Lammermoor

Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor is by no means a private love tragedy, but rather an eminently political story that demonstrates how a system of power deforms and ultimately corrodes human relationships. Donizetti provided his most haunting music for the rebellion and extinction of betrayed love; the revenge is bloody, the madness deadly. In this new production of the Opernhaus Zürich, soprano Irina Lungu sings the title role of Lucia. Piotr Beczala appears as her lover and Massimo Cavalletti as her brother. Tatjana Gürbaca, renowned for her precise direction, staged the visually powerful production under the musical direction of Speranza Scappucci.