This marvellous fable about brotherhood, brimming with Masonic symbology and nods, was one of the last operas to be conducted by the great composer. The depth and coherence of this work, its powerful message of peace and its capacity to incite both action and reflection, remain unaltered today. With Richard Wagner’s ‘Die Walküre’ (The Valkyrie), the mighty ring continues to be an object of desire and conflict, in addition to dictating the destiny of those who aspire to it and those who fear it. Not even the god Wotan will be capable of restraining his burning desire for the ring and, obsessed with possessing it, he tramples a large part of his family. This is a chapter of a story that will endure until the world reaches its end. 

Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” will be running between May and July of 2020. This opera tells the story of Violetta, a young woman who is pressed as much by her illness as by her feelings for Alfredo, a young bourgeois from the provinces who is enthralled by her beauty. Her past as a courtesan, however, cannot be forgiven by a society marked by prejudice and hypocrisy that prevents them from fulfilling their love. Intent on finding a solution, Violetta consents to the sacrifice which Alfredo’s father demands of her: she dies, leaving behind one of the most moving stories in the annals of opera. This is an exceptional piece due to the portrayal of the public life of a decadent society, and of the private idyll between two people who, despite the impossibility of their feelings, cannot help but love each other to the end.