Stiffelio

Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus

May 9, 2009, 1:00 pm

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor: Nicola Luisotti

Cast: Jose Cura (Stiffelio); Hui He (Lina); Anthony Michels-Moore (Stankar); Gergely Nemeti (Leuthold); Goran Simic (Jorg); Peter Jelosits (Federico); Elisabeth Marin (Dorotea)

A stirring drama depicting adultery among the pious, this 1850 opera got off to a rough start -- in large part because 19th-century censors found the story intolerable. Still, there are many who feel that Stiffelio belongs in the same league as the three Verdi operas that followed it -- Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata.

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