All warmth springs from woman, All light from love does flow – Truly, only the heat of a virgin's body can ignite your fires.

The story is by the dramatist Carlo Gozzi and dates from 1762, telling of the Chinese princess Turandot, who sets her suitors three riddles in order to marry her. Only the suitor who solves the riddle may ask for her hand in marriage, otherwise death awaits.

The acclaimed Italian director, Emma Dante, presents a powerful, barbaric and at time frenzied Macbeth with great attention to detail. Staged and filmed in Italy's largest theatre, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily, this production captures remarkable performances by the Italian soprano Anna Pirozzi as Lady Macbeth, the renowned Verdi specialist, baritone Roberto Frontali, in one of his signature roles, and the rising star, Croatian bass-baritone Marko Mimica as Banco (Banquo). The conductor, Gabriele Ferro, has opted to use the 1865 Paris version of the score, sung in Italian and without the ballets, for a production that received generous praise in Palermo and on tour.

Jerusalem mourns its defeat, which places its fate in the hands of Nabucco, King of Babylon. Ismaël warns them that Nabucco is approaching the Temple. He remains alone with Ferena, the daughter of the Babylonian king, who has been taken hostage by the Hebrews, and confesses his love for her. However, Ferena's sister, Abigaille, also loves Ismael. In this new production, Arnaud Bernard sets the plot in the aesthetic context of the Italian Risorgimento. When it premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1842, Nabucco was an immediate triumph. In an Italy then in the throes of nationalist movements, the audience immediately identified with the Hebrews held captive in Babylon. The chorus of slaves, "Va, pensiero," thus became one of the most famous arias in the history of opera.