Il Pirata

Bellini’s emotion-drenched opera had never been performed at the Met until superstar soprano Renée Fleming revealed its riches to captivated audiences. Gualtiero (Marcello Giordani) is an exiled count, forced to become a pirate. His enemy Ernesto (Dwayne Croft) blackmails Imogene (Fleming) into marrying him, even though he knows she loves Gualtiero. In the searing final scene Imogene goes insane when Gualtiero is condemned to death. This is riveting bel canto drama as you have seldom hear it.