Earlier this summer, Jonas Kaufmann, The world s greatest tenor (The Telegraph), performed his most popular Italian repertoire live at Waldbühne, Berlin s outdoor amphitheater. The smash-success live concert was recorded for Kaufmann s new album, An Italian Evening. Kaufmann brought-the-house-down with a succession of hits from his extremely popular Dolce Vita album as well as exciting arias and duets (with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili) from the Italian opera repertoire including Volare, Non ti scordar di me and Nessun Dorma.

Released on the 'Sony Clasical' label - "Élégie" is the second album from Anita Rachvelishvili, showcasing her in the song repertoire to which she has a special connection despite being best known as a star of the world's greatest opera houses. Accompanied by acclaimed pianist Vicenzo Scalera, this album reveals another side to the Georgian singer; the repertoire is notable for its variety featuring five languages (Russian, Georgian, Italian, French and Spanish) and, correspondingly, five very different repertoire traditions.

Originally commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal and the opening of Cairo’s new opera house, Verdi’s Egyptian epic Aida is here seen in a spectacular new staging in the Teatro Regio Torino by the Oscar-winning American film director William Friedkin, creator of such famous movies as The Exorcist and The French Connection. The cast featuring the American soprano Kristin Lewis, who exhibits “a remarkable voice, which she uses with powerful dramatic instinct” (La Stampa), and the Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, whose Amneris “dominates the stage with her dark, rounded, irresistible voice and extraordinary stage presence” (La Gazzetta Musicale) is first-rate.