Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur is full to the brim with historical inaccuracies and characters of confused pedigree. Nevertheless, it remains one of the great testaments to the sacrifices artists make for their love of the theatre. Jansson J. Antmann talks to director Rosetta Cucchi, soprano Ermonela Jaho and mezzo-soprano Carmen Topciu ahead of a season at the Sydney Opera House.

Adriana Lecouvreur
Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Photo © Andrea Ranzi

In February, Opera Australia presents Francesco Cilea’s 1902 opera Adriana Lecouvreur, in a production by Rosetta Cucchi, Artistic Director of the Wexford Festival. Originally staged in March 2021 at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the first glimpse audiences got of Cucchi’s production was on screen, when a specially filmed performance was streamed around the world....