Il barbiere di Siviliga

From all accounts, Aleksandra Kurzak is the reason for going to the Royal Opera House's second revival of Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia. This production, though, will forever be haunted by Joyce DiDonato's accident, when she bravely continued singing from a wheelchair. That's style! Congratulations to Kurzak for making this show her own.

If you do need DiDonato (of course you do) she's singing the role again today on BBC Radio 3's afternoon opera slot, repeated online for a week. This is the LA Opera production of Il Barbiere, in gleaming black and white - looks good in photos. Nathan Gunn and Juan Diego Florez as well. The photo comes from a 1913 Russian production.