Ludovic Tézier

Passions run high as Manrico and the Count di Luna compete for the affections of Leonora. Little do they know, Manrico’s mother Azucena has been keeping a terrible secret for decades. Soon a curse from the past will rise up from the ashes with devastating implications for them all. Starring Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Yusif Eyvazov, Gregory Kunde, Ludovic Tézier and Jamie Barton, Adele Thomas’s energetic staging sets Verdi’s tale in a Hieronymus Bosch-inspired universe of medieval superstition. On the podium, Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi’s dramatic score, featuring the famous Anvil chorus.

Love and duty collide and nations clash in Verdi's political drama, starring Elena Stikhina and Angel Blue and conducted by Antonio Pappano and Mark Elder.

Ernani is a love story about a young woman, Elvira, caught between three men: her lover, the nobleman-turned-outlaw Ernani; her guardian, the rich, elderly de Silva, who wants her for himself; and Don Carlo, the King of Spain who also has his eye on Elvira. Given the number of protagonists, it is also the story of a tragedy. Only 14 years after the premiere of Hernani, Giuseppe Verdi adapted Victor Hugo’s play into an opera to premiere at La Fenice, Venice in 1844. Ernani was an immediate and lasting triumph for the young Verdi, marking his prowess at adapting an historical event (the crowning of Charles V as emperor at Aachen Cathedral) to a psychologically convincing musical drama. The backdrop of three men paying court to one woman was the perfect foil for Verdi to explore the expressive qualities of three types of male voice. The tenor, the bass and the baritone.

“Manon is like any person who, strolling down the street one day, glances up at a second-story window and catches a glimpse of a different life,” explains Vincent Huguet about his staging of Massenet’s Manon, “a life that she suddenly desires ardently … and will do anything to have.” In his update of Prévost’s famous novel, Huguet demonstrates, with empathy and acuity, that Manon’s tale could really be anyone’s.

As Aragon descends into unrest, a count jealously fights for a noble lady's heart. But she has already given it to a passionate troubadour whose mother holds a terrible secret. This Verdi masterpiece overflows with dramatic tension and musical geniality, resulting in a story that increases in intensity throughout. Maria Agresta plays the unfortunate Leonora alongside Ludovic Tézier and Francesco Meli as her rival admirers in this new production at the Teatro Real.

A spectacular concert at the site of Beijing’s Forbidden City. The concert features the renowned Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Long Yu, who perform Orff’s Carmina Burana with Aida Garifullina, Toby Spence and Ludovic Tézier, before being joined by Daniil Trifonov for Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 and Mari Samuelsen for Max Richter’s Violin piece "November". Length 114′ (complete repertoire) / 71′ (Carmina Burana & Jasmine Flower Song) / 43′ (Piano Concert & November)

Verdi's sweepingly ambitious opera on war, religion, love and fate is given a cinematic staging by Christof Loy. The Marquis of Calatrava forbids his daughter Leonora to marry the South American nobleman Don Alvaro. The lovers attempt to elope, but the Marquis catches them. In the ensuing altercation, Alvaro accidentally kills the Marquis, who curses his daughter as he dies. Leonora and Alvaro become separated during their escape. Leonora's brother Don Carlo di Vargas decides to find them and avenge his father.

Anja Harteros excels in the title role of Michael Sturminger’s cinematic staging of Puccini’s “Tosca”, the centrepiece of Salzburg Easter Festival. Aleksandrs Antoņenko compellingly portrays Cavaradossi, while Ludovic Tézier is a thrillingly malevolent Scarpia. Christian Thielemann leads the Staatskapelle Dresden. “Tosca” is a political thriller with a heart-breaking love story that gives a vivid account of the harassment of artists, political persecution, torture and arbitrary executions. In Salzburg it is set in the Mafiosi world of modern day Rome and is “the perfect thriller … reminiscent of Scorsese’s ‘Goodfellas’” (Kleine Zeitung), a “film noir”

Andrea De Rosa's production of Guiseppe Verdi's Liguria-set masterpiece about the eponymous 14th century Doge of Genoa. Ludovic Tezier is the Doge, Andriy Yurkevych conducts.

The year 2019 marks the 350th year of existence of the Opéra de Paris, and the Opéra national is staging two exceptional shows at the Palais Garnier in the form of an inaugural gala. Under the direction of Dan Ettinger, the principal dancers, soloists, corps de ballet and orchestra of the Opéra national de Paris will perform extracts from famous ballets as well as some of the most popular opera arias. Soprano Sonya Yoncheva, tenor Bryan Hymel and baritone Ludovic Tézier are among the headliners. A magical experience!

The ambiguities of Verdi’s theatre are particularly clear in his baritone roles, among which is that of Boccanegra, corsair turned doge of Genoa and the troubled observer of the conflicts that tore apart 14th century landowners and peasants. An eminently political opera in which power struggles are interwoven with family conflicts, Simon Boccanegra echoes the life of its composer – the man who championed the cause of Italian unification and overcame the loss of his wife and children. Calixto Bieito, that most Shakespearean of opera directors, brings humanism and truth to a work haunted by gleaming images of the sea.

In Benoît Jacquot’s production, Manet’s Olympia dominates the stage of the Opéra Bastille. In 1863, the painting caused a scandal: the prostitute awaits her client, her expression proud, her demeanour assured. Is this Violetta? Like Olympia, Verdi’s most celebrated heroine surrenders to the spectator just as she surrenders to love, going so far as to die on stage, a woman’s ultimate sacrifice for her lover. Or might it be the spectator who strips her bare and intrudes upon her privacy, in the image of this milieu of social voyeurism? Whatever the case, these two women regard us with defiance and subjugate those who cannot help but look at them.

Stage director Jean-Louis Grinda and the Opéra de Monte-Carlo present Verdi’s early smash hit opera Ernani. Ramon Vargas heads up an incredible cast in the heroic title role and maestro Daniele Callegari leads the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra in the sumptuous melodies of Verdi’s score.

A bel canto jewel and one of the most technically-challenging operas of the repertoire found its dream team in 2016 at the Teatro Real de Madrid with the incredible soprano Diana Damrau as Elvira, Javier Camarena as Arturo, Ludovic Tézier as Sir Riccardo Forth, and Nicolas Testé as Sir Giorgio. The Spanish stage director Emilio Sagi’s setting of I Puritani is somber and elegant, a perfect match for the excellent musical direction of Evelino Pidò, one of the great interpreters of this repertoire.

Set in 16th-century France and Spain, Don Carlos tells of the political and amorous rivalry between King Philip II and his son, Don Carlos, over Elisabeth de Valois. Krzysztof Warlikowski strips down a tragedy haunted by ghosts, and places the intimate at the heart of an imaginary fresco truer than history itself. Along with Philippe Jordan, he reveals to the public the very first version of this great five-act opera: the version modified by Verdi himself for the work’s first performance in 1867.

Diana Damrau’s reputation as the world’s leading coloratura soprano has been built on her extraordinary technical virtuosity, her sensitive musicianship and her acute psychological insight. In this DVD of Katie Mitchell’s sometimes radical production of Lucia di Lammermoor from London’s Royal Opera House, she is, as the Financial Times wrote, “brilliantly convincing”. The British award winning director Katie Mitchell – took a revisionist approach to the drama, updating the action to the mid-19th century and applying a feminist slant as she added new and unexpected elements. The Financial Times wrote: “Mitchell shows us on stage personal traumas that a self-respecting woman in the early 19th century was meant to keep to herself. It is a messy, bloody list — nocturnal sex trysts, a knife murder, a miscarriage, a suicide in the bath … In all this Damrau is brilliantly convincing. Her rebellious Lucia is a woman of modern attitudes stuck in a still feudal Victorian world.”

Lucia’s brother Enrico is horrified to learn she has fallen in love with his sworn enemy Edgardo. He hastily arranges her marriage to his associate Arturo. Edgardo and Lucia privately exchange rings before he leaves to fight in France. Enrico tricks Lucia into believing that Edgardo has been unfaithful. Longing for death, she signs the contract with Arturo – moments before Edgardo returns. Lucia murders Arturo in their wedding bed. His death is followed first by Lucia’s, and then by Edgardo’s.

Alex Ollé, one of the famous La Fura dels Baus, recreates the conflict and places principal protagonists in clear, transforming set with supporting lighting – facing all primal emotions directly, with no place to hide. The set design (smart and impressive solution of scenography by Alfons Flores) encased in mirrors and accented with silently moving columns, creating cloister, battlefield, cemetery or castle with minimalistic hints (impressive lighting design by Urs Schönebaum), gives us the opportunity to keep full attention on the vocal performance of main characters.

Following her performances in recent seasons in Verdi’s La travita on the world’s major opera stages – the Metropolitan, New York, La Scala, Milan, Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Paris Opera – Diana Damrau has become the primary interpreter of Violetta, arguably opera’s most iconic character. This DVD release is from Paris Opera production of June 2014, when the German soprano appeared in a new production – inspired by the paintings of Manet – by the film director Benoit Jacquot. This critically acclaimed production was conducted by Francesco Ivan Ciampa, with a cast including Francesco Demuro and Ludovic Tezier.

In a mythical yet real Rome, from the shadows of the church of Sant’ Andrea della Valle to the terrace of Castello Sant’ Angelo, passions collide and tear all apart, mingling the erotic with the sacred, love with possession, theatre with life. Nothing is what it seems in Tosca. Live from the Opéra Bastille in Paris.

This performance of 2014 can be considered as a reference on account of the quality of the vocal material involved and because the daring staging of Austrian Martin Kušej is rich in meaning within the context of the global challenges of today. He proposes a reflection on war, on vengeance and also on the mark of guilt which ends with the joie de vivre and the expansion of passions. In the intimacy of Calatrava, his is a post-Bauhaus picture of a Fascist neatness which then contrasts with the chaos of battles, the abyss of misery and the sexual stampede after triumph or failure. In this context, religion, instead of being a consolation is both an escape and the tomb of humanity; the chapel wherein Leonora hides is made out of huge crosses and in one of them, just for a moment, Don Álvaro seems crucified by his fate.

Teatro Regio’s 2013 revival of their highly successful 2006 production of Verdi’s Don Carlo celebrates the 40th anniversary of the theatre’s reopening in 1973. With traditional staging and lavish costume design, the production garnered high acclaim in the national and international press, with GB Opera commending the ‘sumptuous’ setting and French online music magazine ResMusica praising director Hugo de Ana’s decision to revive the show ‘in all its splendour’. Shown here in the four-act version, Don Carlo is the fascinating tale of father-son power struggles, adultery and love that borders on incest. The cast – under the powerful baton of Gianandrea Noseda – is headed by renowned Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas, and also features Ludovic Tézier, who has been hailed as ‘one of the best Verdian singers of our time’

The tragic tale of "the bride of Lammermoor" has always been a favorite of opera-goers and sopranos alike. Yet with the riveting singing actress Natalie Dessay in the title role, Lucia's plight and descent into madness take on another dimension. Joseph Calleja is an ardent Edgardo, the man she loves but is not allowed to marry. Instead, her brother Enrico forces her into a union with the rich Arturo to save the family fortunes. It proves too much to bear for Lucia.

Natalie Dessay made her first European appearances as Violetta in La traviata in a new production by the French director Jean-François Sivadier at the 2011 Aix-en-Provence Festival. This DVD captures her intense performance in the company of American tenor Charles Castronovo as Alfredo and French baritone Ludovic Tézier as his father, Giorgio Germont.

Obsessive in gambling and in love, the soldier Hermann is the protagonist of Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame, based on a story by Pushkin. He is smitten with the aristocratic Lisa and fixated on learning the winning secret of ‘the three cards’ from her grandmother, the Countess, played by iconic contralto Ewa Podles. This opulent production from Barcelona’s Liceu captures St Petersburg in the era of Catherine the Great, while the house’s Music Director Michael Boder conducts a large and impressive cast. Recorded at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, 30th June & 1st July 2010.

Werther loves Charlotte, but she promised her mother on her deathbed that she would marry Albert. After the marriage Charlotte suggests that Werther should travel - but not forget her. In addition to the singing and orchestral accompaniment, the entire cast acts very convincingly. And, there's no backstage mugging, entrances and spoken nonsense to spoil the experience of the drama.

Le Nozze di Figaro New Production Teatro Real in co-production with Bilbao’s ABAO and Las Palmas Teatro Pérez Galdós. From the opening notes of the overture to the final curtain, Emilio Sagi’s classic, triumphant production brings to life all the elegant wit and theatricality of Mozart’s comic masterpiece Le nozze di Figaro. Leading baritone Ludovic Tézier shines as the lustful Count Almaviva who attempts to obtain the favors of Figaro’s bride-to-be, Susanna (Isabel Rey), while Luca Pisaroni gives a feisty performance as Figaro. Conductor Jesús López Cobos masterfully captures the enchanting score. A witty yet profound tale of love, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Puccini’s evergreen paean to young love and the bohemian life has captivated generations of Met-goers through Franco Zeffirelli’s iconic production. Movie theater audiences for the high-definition transmission of this staging got to see it with fresh eyes in a touching performance starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas as the frail seamstress and her poetic lover.

Deutsche Grammophon proudly presents the new faces of the opera world in a glamorous new live concert DVD: Anna Netrebko, Elına Garanca, Ramón Vargas and the highly acclaimed young French baritone Ludovic Tézier sing a wide range of Italian and French opera favorites. This recording features highlights from concerts at Baden- Baden's Festspielhaus, where tickets to this extraordinary event sold out in record time. The DVD features the four young stars performing duets and the popular quartet "Bella figlia dell'amore" from Rigoletto. Other highlights include Delibes' famous flower duet from Lakmé performed sumptuously by Anna and Elına.

Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti.

This epic opera follows Virgil, beginning as the Greeks appear to have ceded the field after ten years of the Trojan War. Cassandra tries to warn of the terrible fate to come, but fate is set and Troy falls. The first two acts cover this tragic end, then the flight of survivors to Carthage and events at Carthage continue in acts 3 - 5, culminating in the further voyage for Italy and Rome. This is Virgil's classic epic, in operatic form, in about a three and a half hour performance from French Opera.

Gaetano Donizetti's tragic masterwork Lucie de Lammermoor (French version) is performed at the Lyon Opera House in 2002. Natalie Dessay sings the title role of the opera staged by Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser, and conducted by Evelino Pido.

Lyon National Opera Chorus and Orchestra production of Mozart's opera

John Eliot Gardiner conducts Gluck’s 1776 French version of “Alceste” at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Soprano Anne Sofie von Otter takes the title role of Alceste, Queen of Thessaly, who offers to die at the hands of the gods in place of her husband, Admète (Paul Groves), so that the people will not lose their king. Alceste is then saved from the underworld by Hercule (Dietrich Henschel).

Glyndebourne's intimate opera house provides the perfect setting for Rossini's third French opera, a sparkling medieval comedy of lust and chastity.