It is a fact probably known to just a few people today that it was an Italian composer who took a chapter of German history from the early 19th century as the setting for an opera, calling it „Germania“ (= Germany). The opera tells the story of a private tragedy against the background of the German rebellion against Napoleon’s occupational forces. Such clashes eventually led up to the Battle of Nations at Leipzig in 1813. In its series of DVDs of forgotten operas, Capriccio now presents the first performance of the opera „Germania“ in Germany staged since 1908. Kirsten Harms presented a sensational new production of this work at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2006.

Andrei Serban’s spectacular and thrilling 1984 production of Puccini’s final and grandest opera has long been a classic at the Royal Opera House. First filmed for BBC TV in the 80s, this new recording – of its fifteenth revival – is in stunning HD and makes this famous production available for the first time on DVD and Blu-ray.