Music to break hearts 😭 With the curtain rising this week on Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, here's a classic clip of the opera starring Plácido Domingo and Marina Poplavskaya, filmed back in 2010 Tickets still available for the current run: www.bit.ly/ROHboccanegra | Royal Ballet And Opera

Verdi’s masterpiece “Simon Boccanegra” is very dear to my heart. The title character Simone is one of my favorite roles. Before having the opportunity to perform Simone, I also had the pleasure of singing the tenor part, Gabriele Adorno. Here please enjoy the love duet of Gabriele and Amelia, together with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, The Metropolitan Opera, 1995. You can watch the free stream of this “Simon Boccanegra” (Te Kanawa, Placido Domingo, Chernov, Lloyd; Levine) on https://www.metopera.org/ ‪f

Out today: Opera Rara's new recording of Verdi's original 1857 Simon Boccanegra, feat. the Chorus of Opera North alongside RNCM - Royal Northern College of Music, The Hallé and a stellar cast under Sir Mark Elder. Here's the opera's finale (😢) which you can also hear in our upcoming concert stagings of the 1881 version of Boccanegra, opening at St. George's Hall next month 👉 bit.ly/ONBoccanegra | Opera North