The fifth volume in Opera Rara’s Il Salotto series explores the musical world of London and Milan. More Info

Throughout 19th-century Europe the drawing-rooms of fashionable hostesses (or occasionally, like Rossini, hosts) rang to the sound of high-quality music-making, especially when the performers, in the very best houses, were the great singers of the day. More Info

Throughout 19th-century Europe, one of the most important institutions of social and artistic life was the salon. Here Opera Rara presents the music enjoyed by Europeans at home nearly 200 years ago. These eight songs and four duets by Mercadante truly rival the more familiar Serate Musicale by Rossini. More Info

One of the most inspired of Opera Rara’s recent initiatives has been a series exploring the more intimate world of the salon (salotto, in Italian) and the music written for this most sophisticated of social environments. More Info

Ora divina is the ninth volume of Opera Rara’s acclaimed Il Salotto series and is an extraordinary collection of passionate songs. More Info

The life of Pauline Viardot was truly extraordinary. One of the greatest prima donnas and influential musical figures of the 19th century, she was born in Paris, daughter of Spanish tenor Manuel Garcia and sister of the legendary singer Maria Malibran. More Info