Giuseppe Verdi’s Ernani is a vibrant adaptation for the lyric stage of one of the most flamboyant dramas by the French poet. Both the composer and his librettist have combined Hugo’s verbal eloquence with the right musical temperament. A perfect example of Grand opera with chorus, the magnificent Act III is above all the first time Verdi draws the very precise contours of what is about to become a type of voice in itself: the Verdi-baritone. In Ernani he starts to focus as never before on the psychological side of his characters. All his operas after Ernani will follow the same path in his perpetual quest of the truth.

The Mexican star tenor Ramón Vargas, Svetla Vassileva, Ludovic Tézier and Alexander Vinogradov give an outstanding performance in this early work. The production from the Opera Monte Carlo fascinates with a contemporary stage direction by Jean-Louis Grinda with buoyant conducting from Daniele Callegari.

Ernani is a good supplement to the variety of previously released Verdi operas across the whole Arthaus Musik catalogue.

“Grinda’s production provided attractive stage pictures and excellent cast” – Opera News, 9/2015

Cast:
- Ernani: Ramón Vargas
- Don Carlo: Ludovic Tézier
- Don Ruy Gomez de Silva: Alexander Vinogradov
- Elvira: Svetla Vassilieva
- Giovanna: Karine Ohanyan
- Don Riccardo: Maurizio Pace
- Jago: Gabriele Ribis

Stage director: Jean-Louis Grinda
Set design: Isabelle Partiot-Pieri
Costumes: Teresa Acone
Lights: Laurent Castaingt
Film director: Stéphan Aubé

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1
Picture Format: 16:9
DVD 9 / NTSC
Running Time: 130 mins
Language: IT
Subtitles: IT, EN, DE, FR, ES, KO, JP