Opera Rara

Reviews are in for our final Donizetti & Friends recital at Wigmore Hall, featuring Nicola Alaimo, Carlo Rizzi and Hetty Snell!

"Nicola Alaimo and Carlo Rizzi demonstrated that in the right hands these songs can be mini-masterpieces and this proved a delightful hour with Alaimo as a truly captivating host." - Planet Hugill

"With its carefully calculated range of dramatic situation, romantic gesture and instrumental dynamics, this programme provided a fitting end to an exemplary voyage of exploration and rediscovery."
- Playstosee.com

Thank you to the critics who joined us and shared their thoughts on the performance. Read the full reviews from Planet Hugill and Plays To See below:

https://www.planethugill.com/2026/06/truly-captivating-bass-baritone-nicola.html

https://playstosee.com/reviews-in-a-special-category/concert/donizetti-friends-nicola-alaimo-carlo-rizzi-and-hetty-snell/

📸 Russell Duncan

It’s been an incredible journey...so far...

Today Wigmore Hall Nicola Alaimo Carlo Rizzi & Hetty Snell marks the final concert in our Donizetti Song Project recital series, and as we look back on the many recordings, rehearsals, discoveries, and performances that brought us here, we’re filled with gratitude for everyone who has been part of it.

These photos capture moments from across the project - from its earliest stages to today’s finale - and the remarkable artists, scholars, and teams who helped bring Donizetti’s songs back to life.

But the journey isn’t over yet. This summer, we’ll be revisiting the series through our streamed concert broadcasts, giving audiences another chance to experience these extraordinary works.

Thank you for joining us every step of the way. Here’s to celebrating what we’ve achieve and to the music still to come.

In September 2023, we were delighted to work for the first time with Belgian soprano Anne-Catherine Gillet on our award-winning revival of Offenbach's La Princesse de Trébizonde

We're very happy to be reunited with her exactly 3 years later for our next Offenbach rediscovery this autumn ✨

This is a behind-the-scenes clip from 2023 of Anne-Catherine rehearsing with conductor Paul Daniel and French mezzo-soprano Virginie Verrez in South London.

Volume 8 of our Donizetti Songs cycle featuring Nicola Alaimo and Carlo Rizzi has only just come out but the critics are already saying very nice things about it 👏

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'The colourful singing of Nicola Alaimo, beautiful in vocal production and clear in timbre, leaves nothing to be desired—quite the contrary. His handling of the text is exemplary, and time and again he captures exactly the right atmosphere, giving the CD a wide range of emotions, from buffoonish humour to profound tragedy. Thanks also to the propulsive accompaniments of Carlo Rizzi and the fine, spacious (though not overly so) recording, the performances by this Sicilian singer create the impression that they can hardly fall short of those by Luigi Lablache.' - Opus Klassiek 🙏

36 excerpts from 22 different Offenbach works set to an original English text by our co-founder Don White

➡️ Christopher Columbus is our June Recording of the Month ✨

'With singers and singing actors of the quality of Marilyn Hill Smith, Johanna Peters, Anna Dawson and Alec Bregonzi supporting Maurice Arthur, it would be difficult to imagine the piece performed with greater skill or relish. If you want a CD set for sheer uninhibited enjoyment, this should be it.' - Gramophone

Now out of stock, this is your chance to hear our first Offenbach recording 💿 in full:

Offenbach's Christopher Columbus | Maurice Arthur, Joy Roberts, Johanna Peters, Lissa Gray Support great opera discoveries and restorations by donating to Ope...

A reminder today of the final event of our season 📢

Next Tuesday 16 June at Wigmore Hall, join us, Nicola Alaimo, Carlo Rizzi and Hetty Snell for a recital of Italian songs from 1pm BST.

Tickets still available 🎫
https://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/202606161300

We look forward to celebrating the culmination of our Donizetti Song Project with you all then! 👏

Nicola Alaimo bass-baritone; Carlo Rizzi piano; Hetty Snell cello Nicola Alaimo bass-baritone; Carlo Rizzi piano; Hetty Snell cello Opera Rara's Donizetti & Friends

In this month's BBC Music Magazine, discover what Nicola Alaimo's best and worst experiences were in his career to date.

Hint, both were Teatro alla Scala - Verdi's Falstaff and Bellini's Il Pirata, but which was his and which was his ?

And!

Don't forget to join us tonight if you can, to hear him at our final Donizetti Song Project launch with Carlo Rizzi. The launch starting at 6pm BST/7pm CET will be immediately followed by the YouTube premiere of Volume 8
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