Violeta Urmana

Recorded at the Paris Opera and co-produced with Siberia’s Novosibirsk Opera, this new Macbeth uses cutting-edge multimedia technology to give the viewer a fresh perspective on the work. Google Earth satellite images plunge us into the heart of the action: a gloomy square surrounded by soulless buildings, and the interior of an aristocratic residence.

Aida (2009) Metropolitan Opera. Verdi / Italian. Live from the Met 2009.

Verdi's Macbeth performed by Opéra National de Paris

Passion, loyalty and political conspiracy are the three pillars of Un ballo in maschera (1859), the 'most operatic of all operas'. Set in 19th-century Boston, Mario Martone's atmospheric production for the Teatro Real brings out all the innate theatricality and drama of Verdi's work. World famous Argentinean tenor Marcelo Álvarez, in the role of Riccardo, leads a fabulous cast including Lithuanian soprano Violeta Urmana as his lover Amelia, and Elena Zaremba as the witch Ulrica. Jesús López Cobos conducts the Madrid Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a performance that emphasises the lyricism and majesty of this wonderful work, in which grand opera and opera comique are woven into the Classical Italian Opera style.

Giancarlo del Monaco's acclaimed new production elegantly intertwines Mascagni's and Leoncavallo's well-loved operas, masterpieces which brought new levels of realism into opera through their so-called verismo style.

“La forza del destino”, estrenada en San Petersburgo en 1862, es una de las composiciones operísticas más importantes de Verdi. Su trama es complicada y combina una secuencia de trazos del destino desafortunados entrelazados. Donna Leonora es el centro de los acontecimientos, junto con su hermano Don Carlo di Vargas y su amante Don Alvaro. La historia se ambienta originalmente en la España del siglo XVIII, sin embargo el director francés Nicolas Joël sitúa la acción en un periodo un poco posterior, en la época del Imperio, a principios del siglo XIX. La función de 2007 en el hermoso teatro Maggio Musicale de Florencia, dirigida por Zubin Mehta, quien es un artista invitado frecuente allí, está protagonizada por Violeta Urmana como Donna Leonora con Carlo Guelfi y Marcello Giordani como Don Carlo y Don Alvaro.

Early recordings of Franco Zeffirelli's 2006 production of Verdi's opera which saw Roberto Alagna's high-profile exit during the second performance. Egypt and Ethiopia are at war. Radames is appointed commander of the Egyptian forces by the King, whose daughter, Amneris, loves Radames. It is in fact Amneris' Ethiopian slave Aida whom Radames loves. Ramades wins the war against the Ethiopians, capturing Aida's father Amonasro in the process. On his return to Egypt he faces a choice between marrying Amneris or betraying his country through his love for Aida.

Getting into his grandfather's pottery workship at night, a little boy finds an unusually large vase. Fascinated, the child feels the still-warm material, which - whether by a miracle ot the hand of a magician, who knows? - at once changes into a magnificent piece of Chinese porcelain. Presently, from behind the great blue-enamelled trees, there appears a fisherman in his sampan... That's how the story of "The Nightingale", told all in music, begins, as the waking dream of a child in the land of Chinese art - and of mobile phones and webcams.

In 2001, the centenary of Verdi's death was commemorated around the world, especially in the composer’s homeland, Italy, where he died on January 27th 1901. La Scala in Milan, where many of Verdi’s greatest works were premiered, marked the anniversary by presenting a new production of Il Trovatore, even though it was first performed in January 1853 in Rome and not in Milan.

Richard Wagner's operatic retelling of the story of the search for the Holy Grail receives a lavish production in this video, which records performances held in Bayreuth, St. Petersburg, and Ravello, Italy. Internationally renowned tenor Placido Domingo leads the distinguished cast; Tony Palmer directs.