Mario Ferrara

Desdemona in Verdi's Otello was a career role for soprano Renata Tebaldi, from her first operatic performance outside of Italy to her final appearance on the opera stage. Between those landmarks she performed the role nearly 100 times all over the world and made studio audio recordings that became reference recordings for the role. This 1962 production with the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Giuseppe Patane was planned as a media event from the outset and blessedly captures a consummate artist in a signature role at the peak of her gifts.

A police commissioner witnesses the murder of his pregnant partner by a group of criminals during a robbery. After meticulous investigations, he discovers that behind the robbery and other acts of violence and crime there is a well-organized group whose sole aim is to rule the world, by any means.

Opera is an inherently theatrical medium that does not lend itself readily to the realism of film treatment. The shining exception is Puccini's Tosca, an action-packed melodrama that unfolds in three taut and gripping acts like the meatiest of Hollywood films noir. And unlike most operas, these three acts are set in three very specific Roman locales. Thus this 1976 film takes place in the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle (Act 1), the Palazzo Farnese (Act 2), and the Castel Sant'Angelo (Act 3).

Experience the landmark 1983 production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, presented in the beautiful open-air setting of the Arena di Verona and starring Raina Kabaivanska, Lorenzo Saccomani, and Nazzareno Antinori under the direction of Giulio Chazalettes and the baton of Maurizio Arena.