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 Sicily’s 13th-century uprising against French rule, in Christof Loy’s staging for the Netherlands Opera the action is transposed to a 1940s world of sudden violence and shadowy double-dealing. Imaginatively cast and idiomatically conducted, the performance presents this magnificent score in its entirety, including the allegorical ballet The Four Seasons.

2 DVDs

Hélène Barbara Haveman

Ninetta Lívia Ághová

Henri Burkhard Fritz

Guy de Montfort Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester

Jean Procida Balint Szabo

Thibault Hubert Francis

Danieli Fabrice Farina

Mainfroid Rudi de Vries

Robert Roger Smeets

Le Sire de Béthune Jeremy White

Le Comte de Vaudemont Christophe Fel