Set in Memphis and Thebes during the time of the pharaohs, the story centres on a love affair between Aida, an Ethiopian slave owned by Amneris, the pharaoh’s daughter, and Radamès, a captain in the Egyptian guard. Their relationship is thwarted by the armed conflict between their two peoples and the jealousy of Amneris, who is in love with Radamès. ‘Aida’ is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni based on a plot by Auguste Mariette, premiered on 24 December 1871 at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo. From the box set ‘Tutto Verdi’, featuring 27 of Verdi’s operas. Recorded live at the Teatro Regio in Parma on 1 and 5 February 2012.

Live performance at Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, June 2004. Original stage production by Operhaus Zurich. DVD: Dynamic, live recording Cat: 33465. Nabucco (short for Nabucodonosor, English Nebuchadnezzar) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue. It is VerdiÕs third opera and the one which is considered to have permanently established his reputation as a composer. Nabucco follows the plight of the Jews as they are assaulted, conquered, and subsequently exiled from their homeland by the Babylonian King Nabucco (in English, Nebuchadnezzar). The historical events are used as background for a romantic and political plot.

A new staging of the opera curated by the Modenese theater in coproduction with I Teatri di Reggio Emilia, directed by Cristina Pezzoli, the scenes by Giacomo Andrico, the costumes by Andrea Grazia and the lights by Mauro Panizza. Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts at the helm of the Filarmonica of the Italian Opera Bruno Bartoletti and the choir of the Coro Lirico Association of Città di Piacenza - Teatro Comunale di Modena. Le Villi was the first work for the theater composed by Giacomo Puccini and constituted the decisive step towards his glory as an international opera artist. The opera, which lasts an hour and a half, was performed for the first time at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 31 May 1884. The Italian libretto by Ferdinando Fontana is based on the story Les Willis that Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr developed his turn from the ballet Giselle, music by Adolphe Adam on text by Théophile Gautier (1841).