Fabio Maria Capitanucci

A feathered thief, a servant wrongly sentenced to death and a corrupt, power-hungry politician: those are the protagonists of Rossini’s semi-serious opera whose overture, with its drum rolls and oboe solo, is one of the best-known pieces in the history of music. La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) is set in a time of great social upheaval. When Ninetta is accused of stealing a silver spoon, a series of unfortunate events begins that initially makes the happy ending expected from an opera semiseria seem highly unlikely. What sort of world is it where a person can be executed for the alleged theft of a spoon? Tobias Kratzer, successful as a director throughout Europe, now debuts in Vienna with Rossini’s opera that received its first performance in 1817 and traces the uncertainty felt by people in a politically and socially destabilised world.

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Linda di Chamounix is a pretty country girl who is in love with Carlo, who she believes is a penniless artist. Her honour is threatened by the local squire and she escapes to Paris in search of fortune. This is a tale of courage and madness, in which we discover and experience the strength and suffering of a woman torn apart by estrangement from family and love. Donizetti reaped full and longlasting success with Linda di Chamounix, and it became one of his most modern, appreciated and long-lived works. Jessica Pratt leads an all-star cast in this acclaimed production from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

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A brilliant comedy about a lecherous glutton who vainly attempts to seduce two women at once, Falstaff features renowned Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel in one of his legendary signature roles. Spanish soprano Ainhoa Arteta is Alice Ford and Italian baritone Fabio Capitanucci makes his Company debut as her husband.

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After the destruction of Troy, the Trojan warrior Énée sets out on a journey to found a new dynasty. He meets Didon, Queen of Carthage, and falls in love. But will Énée's love for Didon prove stronger than his sense of duty? LES TROYENS ('The Trojans') is a tour de force of music that ranges from fiery military marches to intense choruses, passionate soliloquies – such as those of the prophetess Cassandre – and the lyrical love duets of Didon and Énée. It is Hector Berlioz's largest work and he wrote the libretto himself, drawing upon his intimate knowledge of Virgil's Aeneid. To the composer's disappointment, LES TROYENS was only performed once in full during his lifetime and was often presented in shortened form during the 20th century. The Royal Opera's production provides a rare chance to see this epic work in its entirety. David McVicar's staging is on an enormous scale, assembling one of the largest casts ever seen at Covent Garden.

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Madrid's legendary Teatro Real staged this production of Giacomo Puccini's seminal opera La Bohème, starring Inva Mula, Aquiles Machado and Jesús López Cobos in the principal roles. Giancarlo del Monaco directed for the stage, Michael Scott designed the sets and costumes, and The Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real provide musical accompaniment.

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Rossini's first staged opera already contains all the elements that would take the music world by storm in Il barbiere di Siviglia, L'italiana in Algeri and La Cenerentola in the years to come: melodic inventiveness, ingenious connections between sung lines and orchestral accompaniment in the exuberant finale, musical humour and ensembles using breathtakingly fast parlando singing. This sparkling production continues the Rossini one-act opera series emerging from the Schwetzingen Festival with excellent direction, acting and stagecraft. Director Michael Hampe created a perfect realization of the opera in the small, jewel-like Rococo Theatre of Schwetzingen Palace in May 1989.

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