In what many believe to be the finest production of Otello in modern times, Plácido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa lead a world-class cast under the exquisite musical direction of Sir Georg Solti. An outstanding performance of the first of Verdi's two late Shakespearian operas, universally regarded as sublime masterpieces of grand opera.

Claude D'Anna's film of Verdi's Macbeth is a gloomy affair, stressing the descent into madness of the principal villains. It's acted by the singers of the Decca recording of the opera (with two substitutions of actors standing in for singers) and the lip-synching is generally unobtrusive. The musical performance is superb, conducted by Riccardo Chailly with admirable fire, and sung by some of the leading lights of the opera stages of the 1980s. Shirley Verrett virtually owned the role of Lady Macbeth at the time, and she delivers a terrific performance, the voice equal to the role's wide register leaps and it's suffused with emotion, whether urging her husband on to murder or maddened by guilt in the Sleepwalking Scene. Leo Nucci's resonant Macbeth may lack the ultimate in vocal color and steadiness (his last notes of the great aria Pietà, rispetto, amore are wobbly) but he compensates with intensity in both singing and acting.

Giuseppe Verdi was born in 1813 and lived until 1901, his life spanning nearly a century of political turmoil and considerable personal turmoil. This 1982 biographical television miniseries, as seen on PBS's Great Performances, dramatizes the life of this classic Italian composer known for operas including La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Aida and his Requiem.

“The life of the Italian composer.” - BFI.

It truly is an historic performance. Domingo looking and singing like a god pouring out golden tones; Renato Bruson sounds, like the sublime Verdian Baritone that he was at that time; Nicolai Ghiaurov proves again that he was one of the greatest "Verdi Basses"; Mirella Freni shows that there was more to her than just being Mimi and Susannah-in fact I can remember reading that at the time of the premiere of this production that there were fist fights (not unusual in La Scala's gallery) between Mirella's many fans--between those fans that just wanting her to continue singing the light lyric repertoire that they were use to her singing and those that felt she should and could sing the lyric-spinto repertoire which, of course, she proved that,indeed, she could (She's still singing more than twenty years later). This performance captures some of the best Verdi singers of the time doing dear ole wonderful Giuseppi proud.

NABUCCO may be Verdi's first masterpiece, and not just because of that amazing Chorus of Hebrews which is justly beloved by everyone who hears it. Dramatically, this opera is tightly constructed, with believable characters in an intense conflict over values and beliefs. And Verdi's music, however early in his career, however distant from triumphs like LA FORSA DEL DESTINO or AIDA, is highly animated, revealing inner turmoil and outer passions with beauty and economy. The ensembles are especially impressive, building to satisfying heights of emotional release for the singers and the audience. And Placido Domingo is a wonder to behold and hear. Even though his original voice was baritone, which he managed to transform into a tenor voice, he doesn't SOUND like a baritone to me. B-U-T his performance is so committed, so deeply interfused with Verdi's music, so generously integrated to the younger singers around him, that the waters part.

As part of the Viva Verdi initiative organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna presents an evening dedicated to the masterpieces of Giuseppe Verdi at the Comunale Nouveau venue. Conducted by Daniel Oren.

David McVicar's production of Verdi's 1847 opera Macbeth.

A staging of Verdi's opera "Nabucco" by Andreas Homoki. Recorded at Opernhaus Zürich.

Like an outcry the elemental force of the orchestra shatters the silence, the storm on the coast of Cyprus rages incessantly. The wind whips, lightening cuts through the roaring skies. As Othello, the great general and commander becomes entangled in Iago's web of machinations; as the calamitous seed of jealousy germinates and Othello's love for his wife Desdemona begins to decay, even on their wedding day; as Desdemona, "nevertheless insists, although she senses or feels that this harm comes her way, and that Othello in his jealousy is really capable of killing her" (Amélie Niermeyer) – with his Otello Verdi created an operatic drama, the likes of which had never before been so tight, so direct, so intensive and so beautiful, and still today unmatched.