Donizetti wrote any number of irresistible comedies, including The Elixir of Love and The Daughter of the Regiment, and this sparkling score may be the best of them all. From Vienna, acclaimed veteran Juan Diego Florez does a star turn alongside the captivating young Romanian soprano, Valentina Nafornita.
The first of this quarter's three shows from Vienna, Halévy's drama premiered at the Paris Opéra in 1835 in what may then have been the most extravagant opera production in history, complete with lavish, period costuming and a phalanx of onstage equestrians.