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.

For the centenary of the Verona Opera Festival, Jonas Kaufmann gave a gala concert in the Arena on 20 August 2023. With colleagues Sonya Yoncheva and Ludovic Tézier, and accompanied by the Orchestra della Fondazione Arena di Verona conducted by Jochen Rieder, he performed arias and duets from Tosca, Otello and Andrea Chenier, and evergreens by Franz Lehár and Leonard Bernstein as well as famous film songs such as 'Nella fantasia' (The Mission) and 'Nelle tue mani' (Gladiator).

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

One of the composer's most beguiling scores, La Favorite is Gaetano Donizetti's La favorita in it's original French form; a tale of love and war that represents a glorious mix of Italian bel canto and 19th c. grand opera. Vincent Boussard's arresting Toulouse production does full justice to this newly renewed masterpiece. Three international principals take on the work's demanding roles: Chinese tenor Yijie Shi is a 'revelation' as Fernand, the rich-toned, authoritative French baritone Ludovic Tezier as King Alphonse XI and lauded American mezzo Kate Aldrich - 'the Carmen of this generation' - plumbing the emotional depths of Leonor's music. Conductor and bel canto specialist Antonello Allemandi adds to the passionate proceedings onstage. Maestro Allemandi demonstrated full authority over the stage for the musically complex scenes, and in the arias and duets demonstrated his confidence in the singers by establishing ample tempos to support their soaring vocal lines.