I would have agreed that is, before Tuesday night, when Riccardo Muti, making his absurdly overdue Metropolitan Opera debut, conducted “Attila” in a Met premiere production by the noted director Pierre Audi.

They'll be conducted by Andrea Battistoni.“Attila” was the ninth of Verdi’s 28 operas, an early work, coming right before “Macbeth.” Most opera buffs, if they know “Attila” at all, would rank it pretty far down the list. Ukrainian bass Taras Berezhansky stars as Attila alongside Australian opera star Natalie Aroyan as Odabella, Diego Torres as Foresto and Marco Vratogna as the Roman general, Ezio. This production, designed by Giò Forma with costumes by Gianluca Falaschi, relocates the action to fascist Italy during the 1930s, with opulent sets and the use of projections along with two live horses.

Feisty Odabella already has a plan to kill the Hun: he is transfixed by her beauty and courage, and has foolishly let down his guard. Attila will not negotiate, so Ezio plots Attila’s downfall with Foresto, a young knight whose fiancée, Odabella, is among Attila’s slaves. Ezio, a Roman general, offers Italy’s empires in exchange for his country’s freedom.

The plot concerns Attila the Hun’s invasion of Italy in the 5th century. Postponed two years due to Covid, this production directed by Davide Livermore is an Opera Australia co-production with the famous La Scala opera in Italy and was a tremendous success at its Milan premiere. This early Verdi opera, which premiered when the composer was just 32 years old in 1846, is about that Attila, and this is the first time it's being performed in Australia.

Verdi opera fifth century