Verdi: Simon Boccanegra / Hampson, Calleja

Thomas Hampson (Simon Boccanegra), Joseph Calleja (Gabriele Adorno), Kristine Opolais (Amelia/Maria), Carlo Colombara (Fiesco), Luca Pisaroni (Paolo) Wiener Symphoniker & Wiener Singakademie, Massimo Zanetti

In a major release in Verdi year, Decca's star tenor Joseph Calleja makes his first major opera release in a lead role, singing Gabriele Adorno in a stunning new Simon Boccanegra for Verdi's bicentenary year. Calleja sings Gabriele Adorno opposite Thomas Hampson's Simon Boccanegra in a live concert performance recorded at the Vienna Konzerthaus. The first-class cast also includes Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais as Amelia, Luca Pisaroni as Paolo and Carlo Colombara as Fiesco. Top-league Italian conductor Massimo Zanetti leads the Wiener Symphoniker and Wiener Singakademie. A star of the Metropolitan Opera New York and a favourite around the world, the Maltese-born Calleja has been receiving extravagant praise at every step of his meteoric career. He stunned audiences with his Nessun dorma at last year's Last Night of the Proms, televised worldwide, and was named Gramophone's "Artist of the Year 2012" at just 34.

Price: $35.98