Opera Rara Information

Rewriting Operatic History: Lost and Forgotten Operas Restored Artistic Director: Carlo Rizzi Honorary Patron: Renée Fleming Artist Ambassadors: Ermonela Jaho & Michael Spyres ** Opera Rara’s mission is to restore, record, perform and promote the lost operatic heritage of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Opera Rara is a unique combination of opera charity, recording label and live operatic archaeologist. We search for neglected operatic masterpieces and restore them to life for contemporary audiences to enjoy. Working with the best singers, conductors, orchestras and musicologists, we are at the cutting edge of the opera world, leading the expansion of the repertoire and encouraging other opera companies to explore new and unknown rediscoveries. 2020 marked Opera Rara’s 50th anniversary: half a century of ground-breaking work. Our artistic success has been recognised through major awards, in the last decade alone at the International Opera Awards (Best Opera Recording) for Mercadante's Il proscritto (2023), Rossini’s Semiramide (2019), Donizetti’s Les Martyrs (2016) and Offenbach’s Fantasio (2015); International Classical Music Awards for Semiramide (Best Opera, 2019) and for Ermonela Jaho’s debut recital album Anima Rara (Best Vocal Music Recording, 2021); OPUS KLASSIK Awards (Best Recording) for Offenbach's La Princesse de Trébizonde (2024) and Semiramide (2019), and at the OPER! Awards (Best Recording) for La Princesse de Trébizonde (2024) and Donizetti’s L’Ange de Nisida (2019). In October 2024, Opera Rara was named Gramophone's Label of the Year.