I Vespri Siciliani

Verdi’s gripping tale of Sicilians rising against the occupying French stars Renata Scotto in her only broadcast of this rarely heard masterpiece. From the beginning of the opera, when Elena (Scotto) sings an “innocent” song fanning the people’s resentment against the foreign army, to the end, when the ringing of her wedding bells signals the start of the revolt, Scotto’s artistry blazes. James Levine leads the Met Orchestra and Chorus in a wonderfully idiomatic performance, and Ruggero Raimondi is magnificent as Procida, the outlawed Sicilian leader.