One of the very few contemporary operas being staged in Italy, Mosca's work incorporates Shakespearean tragedies and comedies set in the Veneto, namely 'Othello', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'The Merchant of Venice' and 'Two Gentlemen of Verona'. Shakespeare himself appears as a character in the opera, along with characters from Goldini's plays and Mozart's Despina. This recording, commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice, celebrates the 300th anniversary of Venetian playwright and librettist Carlo Goldini. Pierluigi Melega's libretto is written in English, a language which offers greater opportunity for plays on words and whose rhythmic nature better suits Mosca's music.

Andris Nelsons conducts the Lucerne Festival Opera in this performance of Brahms' works, recorded in August 2014. The works featured are: 'Serenade No. 2 in A Major', 'Alto Rhapsody' and 'Symphony No. 2 in D Major'.

Based on the true story of Adriana Lecouvreur, an 18th-century actress at the Comedie Francaise, this is Cilea's four-act opera of love and jealousy, first performed in 1902.