(Credit: Teatro Comunale di Bologna/Vincent Pontet-Opera de Paris)

This week, four rarely performed works get stagings and concert performances with formidable casts that should not be missed. There are also some classics with all-stars casts that make them unmissable.

Macbeth – Wiener Staatsoper, Austria

Plácido Domingo returns to the Vienna stage amidst sexual misconduct allegations to sing the title role in Verdi’s early period masterpiece.

The Spanish singer is joined by Tatiana Serjan, Jinxu Xiahou, and Ryan Speedo Green. Giampaolo Bisanti conducts the production by Christian Christian Räth.

Orphée ed Euridice – Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Belgium

Julie Robard-Gendre stars in the title role of Gluck’s masterpiece with Mélissa Petit as Euridice. Julie Gebhart rounds out the cast which Guy Van Wass conducts.

La Reine de Saba – Opéra de Marseille, France

Karine Deshayes stars in the lead role of Gounod’s rarely performed opera. She stars alongside Marie-Ange Todorovitch, and Cécile Galois.  Victorien Vanoostem conducts performances slated for Oct. 25 and 27, 2019.

Don Carlo – Opéra de Paris, France

Verdi’s Don Carlo opens with an all-star cast that includes Roberto Alagna, Aleksandra Kurzak, and Anita Rachvelishvili.

Fabio Luisi conducts a cast that also includes René Pape, Étienne Dupuis, and Vitalij Kowaljow.

Don Quichotte – Wexford Opera Festival, Ireland

Aigul Akhmetshina, Goderdzi Janelidze, Olafur Sigurdarson, and Gavan Ring star in Massenet’s rarely performed work.

The production is directed by Rodula Gaitanou with Timothy Myers conducting.

La Voix Humaine/Cavalleria Rusticana  – Teatro Petruzelli, Italy

An intriguing double bill gets a premiere in Bari. The production by Emma Dante showcases Anna Caterina Antonacci and Alessandra Volpe alternating the role of Elle in Poulenc’s opera while Carmen Topciu and Volpe share the role of Santuzza in Mascagni’s work. “Cavalleria Rusticana” also stars Walter Fraccaro and Dario Di Vietri as Turridu and Alberto Gazale and Badral Chuulunbaatar as Alfio.

OperaWire reviewed the production when it was first seen at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and stated, that it is a “double bill not to be missed.”

La Tabernera del Puerto – Palau de les Arts, Spain

Guillermo García-Calvo conducts Mario Gas’ production of the famed Zarzuela. Marina Monzó stars alongside a distinguished cast that includes Àngel Òdena, Antonio Gandía, Rubén Amoretti, Ruth González, Vicky Peña, Pep Molina, Ángel Ruiz, Abel García, Gaizka Ugarte, Vicent Domingo, Magdalena Aizpurúa, Elisa Morris, and Ángel Burgos. The production comes from the Teatro de La Zarzuela.