Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore is said to be one of Verdi’s musical masterpieces – full of emotions and expressive melodies, the paragon of Italian romantic opera but also a formidable challenge for the singers. This production from the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is brought to vivid life by directing veteran Cesare Lievi with sets and costumes by Luigi Perego. Young Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat caused a first international stir winning the audience prize of the International Singing Competition “BBC Cardiff Singer of the World” in 2015. In the role of Count di Luna he is “the triumphant winner of the opening night.” (Giornale della musica). Ekaterina Semenchuck as Azucena – “admirable from the first to the last note.” (OperaClick.com) – is joined by the accomplished Verdian interpreters Fabio Sartori as the titular troubadour Manrico and María José Siri as Leonora. Zubin Mehta conducts Chorus and Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Nina
Crazy in love: Mozart was a fan of the operas of Giovanni Paisiello and in the years after its premiere in 1789, Nina took Europe by storm. Its blend of melody, playfulness and pathos is just as potent today, and in 2002 this stylish new staging by Cesare Lievi for the Zurich Opera brought Paisiello a new generation of admirers. Conductor Adam Fischer brings out all its freshness and emotion, and with a cast that includes Cecilia Bartoli at the height of her powers as the lovelorn Nina, as well a young Jonas Kaufmann, Paisiello has never sounded more compelling.
Il Turco in Italia
A romantic poet, a gypsy girl, a spirited young wife and an Ottoman pasha: throw them together under the blue skies of Naples and the result is an opera buffa that’s precisely as fizzy and as farcical as you’d imagine from Rossini at the absolute top of his game. Il Turco in Italia is exuberant (and distinctly spicy) fun in the sun and Cesare Lievi’s delightful, candy-coloured 2002 staging from the Zurich Opera House has a cast to die for: with Cecilia Bartoli, no less, as the capricious Fiorilla and the veteran Ruggiero Raimondi exuding charisma and warmth as the Turk Selim.