Giuseppe Verdi Les vêpres siciliennes

Les vêpres siciliennes like the similarly epic Don Carlos was conceived as a grand opéra for Paris and is driven by the tensions between private passions and public politics Originally set during Sicilys 13thcentury uprising against French rule in Christof Loys staging for the Netherlands Opera the action is transposed to a 1940s world of sudden violence and shadowy doubledealing Imaginatively cast and idiomatically conducted the performance presents this magnificent score in its entirety including the allegorical ballet The Four Seasons