Parma

In the title role, Ambrogio Maestri possesses the highest-caliber voice of the cast. As Alice Ford, Svetlana Vassileva…is surprisingly satisfying and inhabits this mischievous role with vivaciousness and charm…Romina Tomasoni [is] a lovable, jovial Mistress Quickly with a warm, sunny contralto to match.
Antonio Gandia‘s sweet tenor and graceful phrasing suit Fenton beautifully…The orchestral playing is crisp and jaunty, and the very young conductor Andrea Battistoni does an admirable job of untangling the musical lines and keeping things cohesive. (Parterre Box)

Based on a Romantic tragedy by Zacharias Werner, Attila is set in the 5th century AD. The opera takes as its starting point Attila’s plans to storm Rome with his army of Huns and the Roman’s attempts to prevent him. As with Nabucco and I Lombardi, Verdi spiced up the action with a number of patriotic choruses, guaranteeing that – against the background of the Italian movement for unification – the opera was a great success.

The opera was based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo and is perceived to be the first of Verdi’s great masterpieces of his mid-to-late career. This performance features a top-class cast, led by Nino Machaidze and Leo Nucci.
Nucci simply owns the role of Rigoletto…a master-class in vocal acting…Machaidze is the very embodiment of Gilda. Her characterization is simply marvellous…[she] has a lovely full tone - this is no canary Gilda - with 'Caro nome' poised and emotional…The supporting cast is excellent…I was highly impressed by Massino Zanetti's conducting. (International Record Review)

Giovanna d’Arco is based on Friedrich Schiller’s tragedy The Maid of Orleans and deals with the life of Joan of Arc. But Verdi and his librettist Temistocle Solera departed from both Schiller and historical fact by turning Joan’s father into the opera’s powerful antagonist. Ever since its first performance in Milan in 1845, Giovanna d’Arco has been admired and loved for its emotionally affecting arias and thrilling choral writing.

Oberto was the first of Verdi’s operas to be staged and was heard for the first time at La Scala, Milan, in November 1839. As a young and unknown composer, Verdi was subject to the rules then governing the opera industry in Italy. Even so, there are already many scenes in this early work that reveal unmistakable signs of the composer’s individual style.

I due Foscari was Verdi’s sixth opera and based on Lord Byron’s play The Two Foscari. Rich in intrigue, the plot tells of the final days of the famous Venetian doge, Francesco Foscari, and his illegal overthrow in 1457.
Lee’s production of I due Foscari, set against a simple curved backdrop and beautifully costumed, works best on screen…with Nucci giving a baritonal masterclass in the title role, Tatiana Serjan pouring out exciting (if veiled) tone as Lucrezia, and De Biasio enjoying a success as Jacopo. (Opera Now)

I Lombardi alla prima crociata was Verdi’s fourth opera and received its first performance at La Scala, Milan, in February 1843. The grandiloquent subject matter is fleshed-out with broad-brushed musical and dramatic effects and lavish choral scenes created a correspondingly impressive impact. A great success in Milan, it spread to the rest of Europe within a matter of only a few years.

This is a wonderful performance, one of the finest in this Tutto Verdi series of the complete operas. Conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti is an unlikely looking gentleman at first glance but at his first wave of the baton one realizes he is a master. His upbeat tempi have a big sweep that gives the opera the brilliance Verdi intended. The tenor, Francesco Meli (Riccardo), is a young fresh voice, powerful and sensitive; the baritone, Vladimir Stoyanov is beginning to take over from the venerable Nucci in the series.

What makes this production so rewarding are the utterly compelling performances of the Macbeths, Shakepearian in intensity…[Nucci's] Macbeth is a deeply thoughtful portrayal…Valayre is up there with the finest Lady Macbeths.(International Record Review)Nucci’s Macbeth is often described as veteran, which rather dismisses his musical and dramatic insight and his sense of Verdian line…Bartoletti is authoritative in the pit. Liliana Cavani’s production is strong, her stage-on-the-stage set magnifying and scrutinising the Macbeths’ moral descent. (Opera Now)

Un giorno di regno is the rare case of a musical comedy by Verdi. But his second stage work proved a complete fiasco when unveiled at La Scala, Milan, in 1840 and more than half a century was to pass before he attempted a second comedy with his final opera, Falstaff. Today, conversely, Verdi’s early melodrama giocoso enjoys increasing popularity thanks to its wellspring of musical ideas and effervescent melodies.