A 16-year-old oriental princess with the voice of an Isolde: this was the perfectionist expectation Richard Strauss set for anyone portraying Salome, and now the South African soprano Elsa van der Heever, known for her portrayal of Elisabetta in the 2016 broadcast of Maria Stuarda, is about to prove she can pull it off.
Aida, the greatest hit of the Met's HD broadcast series, will now return in Michael Mayer's dazzling brand new staging, in which we will also proudly get to watch our own Judit Kutasi in the role of Amneris.
At the centre of David McVicar's delightfully spectacular staging of Tosca this time we have the Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen, who in just a few short years has become one of New York's biggest opera stars, now irresistibly conquering us in the Italian repertoire as well.