Manon Lescaut

First staged at the Teatro La Fenice in 1846, Verdi’s ninth opera, Attila, returns to the stage of La Scala on December 7th. Following the inauguration of the 2015-2016 Season with Giovanna d’Arco and in anticipation of Macbeth, with Attila Musical Director Riccardo Chailly continues his study of Verdi’s early works, renewing a successful collaboration with creative director Davide Livermore that began with his acclaimed production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale for La Scala. In this complex opera Verdi experiments with fresh perspectives, featuring spectacular historical settings, introspective angles and moral uncertainties. Attila demands of its performers not only passion and confidence, but also the ability to find subtle accents and psychological nuances.

Renée Fleming stars in the title role of one of Handel’s greatest dramas, seen in Stephen Wadsworth’s 2004 Met premiere production. Rodelinda is faced with an impossible dilemma: With her husband Bertarido believed dead, she either has to marry the despised Grimoaldo (the elegant Joseph Kaiser), who has usurped her husband’s throne, or see him murder her son. But Bertarido (leading countertenor Andreas Scholl) is alive and eventually reclaims both throne and wife—and makes peace with his enemies. Stephanie Blythe is marvelous as Eduige, Bertarido’s sister, who is betrothed to Grimoaldo but turns against him. Baroque authority Harry Bicket conducts.

Richard Strauss's opera, from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Live performance at the Metropolitan Opera in 2000.

Live performance from the Opéra National de Paris, 2003.

“Let us assume that Switzerland is truly a paradise. The music hereto was written long ago. We have merely forgotten it.” (Daniel Schmid) This is the material from which the most Swiss of all operas is made: the legendary Wilhelm Tell – a Swiss hero: straightforward, a primus inter pares of the indomitable freedom fighters, a good shot, surefire. A myth that becomes a poetic playground: nature in turmoil, the struggle for freedom and forbidden love. A legendary overture at a gallop with an iconic post horn motif – all this and much more in the thirty-seventh and last opera by Rossini.

Live performance by the Bolshoi Theatre at the Palais Garnier, Opéra National de Paris, 2008.

An Egyptian military commander, Radamès, struggles to choose between his love for the enslaved Ethiopian princess Aida, and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris is in love with Radamès, although he does not return her feelings.

The Met’s spectacular production of Verdi’s Egyptian epic captures both the grandeur and the intimacy of this powerful tale of love and politics. Liudmyla Monastyrska is Aida, the Ethiopian princess-turned-slave in love with the Egyptian warrior Radamès, sung by Roberto Alagna. Olga Borodina is her rival, Amneris, daughter of the Pharao, and George Gagnidze sings Aida’s father, Amonasro, the King of Ethiopia. Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi is on the podium.

Live from the Metropolitan Opera, 14 February 1980. This version takes place in Boston rather than Sweden.

David Alden’s elegant 2012 production moves Verdi’s thrilling drama to a timeless setting inspired by film noir. Marcelo Álvarez is Gustavo III, the Swedish king in love with Amelia (Sondra Radvanovsky), the wife of his best friend and counselor, Count Anckarström (Dmitri Hvorostovsky). When Anckarström joins a conspiracy to murder the king, tragedy ensues. Stephanie Blythe is the fortuneteller Madame Ulrica Arvidsson and Kathleen Kim sings the page Oscar. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi is on the podium.