Winner of the 2016 Abbiati Prize, baritone Nicola Alaimo is one of the leading singers of his generation, with a supreme versatility that is explored in full in this Donizetti recital. Honorable, heroic and romantic characters are all vividly brought to life in Alaimo's interpretations, such as the tragic figure of Enrico, Duke of Chevreuse from Maria di Rohan, whose discovery that his wife is in love with his friend brings out the most intense feelings of any solo passage in European opera of the day.

Initially composed for performance during the season of Lent, Donizetti's Il diluvio universale ('The Great Flood') takes a Biblical story and mixes it with the human nature of the main characters, creating a uniquely intense drama. Performed here with a stellar cast in it's acclaimed 2023 revival at the Festival Donizetti in Bergamo, this production transports Donizetti's opera into the present day. In this staging collective and individual destinies are interwoven, urging us to reflect on issues such as the environmental crisis and climate change.

Initially composed for performance during the season of Lent, Donizetti's Il diluvio universale ('The Great Flood') takes a Biblical story and mixes it with the human nature of the main characters, creating a uniquely intense drama. Performed here with a stellar cast in it's acclaimed 2023 revival at the Festival Donizetti in Bergamo, this production transports Donizetti's opera into the present day. In this staging collective and individual destinies are interwoven, urging us to reflect on issues such as the environmental crisis and climate change.

Chiara e Serafina was the young Donizetti's first opera composed for La Scala in 1822. A tardy librettist and an incoherent plot resulted in the premiere being a fiasco but Donizetti's music is characterful with delightful duets, trios and ensembles. This 200th anniversary live recording from the 2022 Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo is performed on period instruments and conducted by Sesto Quatrini.

Donizetti: Anna Bolena

“Roberto Devereux” (1837) saw the light of day during a period of intense creativity for Donizetti. After its premiere and up until 1848, Devereux was performed almost uninterruptedly. In the years that followed it would also enjoy a successful international career, throughout Europe and in the Americas, with versions in French, German, Russian, and Hungarian. When Donizetti moved to Paris in 1838, he enriched the opera with the overture that paraphrases the British anthem “God Save The Queen.” The Queen dominates from her very entrance, a true protagonist, here performed by the great Mariella Devia: her pure voice, perfect intonation, great stage presence, all combined with the technical qualities of her voice, led to an extended standing ovation. It was a great success, too, for Sonia Ganassi (Sarah) and the tenor Stefan Pop (Devereux).

Gaetano Donizetti's La Favorite was rather laborious in the making: it started out as a re-working of L'Ange de Nisida, to which the composer added parts taken from some other operas of his. The work, which was premiered at the Op�ra of Paris, is set in 14th-century Castile and tells the story of the hapless love between Fernand, who has second thoughts about taking holy orders and leaves the monastery of Santiago de Compostela, and Leonor, the mistress of king Alphonse XI. It is an intimate drama, where history and politics are but the backdrop to the protagonists' passions and torments. Fabio Luisi's conducting is both measured in balancing the orchestral sounds, and personal, varied and vigorous. The orchestra is crystal-clear, neat in it's accompaniment, neither subject to the voices nor prevaricating. Veronica Simeoni (Leonor), Celso Albelo (Fernand) and Mattia Olivieri (Alphonse) give excellent vocal and acting performances.

“Roberto Devereux” (1837) saw the light of day during a period of intense creativity for Donizetti. After its premiere and up until 1848, Devereux was performed almost uninterruptedly. In the years that followed it would also enjoy a successful international career, throughout Europe and in the Americas, with versions in French, German, Russian, and Hungarian. When Donizetti moved to Paris in 1838, he enriched the opera with the overture that paraphrases the British anthem “God Save The Queen.” The Queen dominates from her very entrance, a true protagonist, here performed by the great Mariella Devia: her pure voice, perfect intonation, great stage presence, all combined with the technical qualities of her voice, led to an extended standing ovation. It was a great success, too, for Sonia Ganassi (Sarah) and the tenor Stefan Pop (Devereux).

Less well remembered by the general, non-cognoscenti opera admirer, Ettore Bastianini (1922-67) was nonetheless among the finest, busiest and most beloved Italian bass-baritones of the 1950s. This now legendary 1959 studio performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor finds him in the company of the young, rising star soprano of the opera world at that time, Renata Scotto, and tenor Giuseppe di Stefano. The under-appreciated Nino Sanzogno (1911-83) leads the La Scala, Milan Orchestra and Chorus.

Donizetti: Anna Bolena

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor

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' (La Depeche) 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' (San Francisco Sentinel) - 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... (Opera Today)

This is a world premier recording of the French version of Donizetti's Le Duc d'Albe.

Fiorenza Cedolins, Sonia Ganassi, Jose Bros, Mirco Palazzi, Marco Caria, and Pervin Chakar star in this Teatro La Fenice production of the Donizetti opera conducted by Fabrizio Maria Carminati.

Illicit love, suspicion, deception and supernatural portents of doom lead to a shocking drama at a masked ball in 1790s Sweden. The incomparable Placido Domingo stars as the dashing King Gustavus III, whose reforms have inspired talk of assassination among the conservative nobility. Katia Ricciarelli is Gustavus's beloved Amelia, married to his closest friend, Anckarstrom, sung by Piero Cappuccilli. Claudio Abbado conducts the distinguished cast, supported by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera house and Royal Opera Chorus, in Otto Schenk's classic production of this Verdi favorite for The Royal Opera. This recording, with English subtitles, is preserved in it's original Standard Definition and 4:3 picture format.