The V&A exhibition “Opera: Passion, Power and Politics”

Dimitri Shostakovich's avant-garde work “Lady Macbeth of the Mzensk District” (St. Petersburg, 1934) is showcased impressively

The original score of the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, “Va, pensiero” from Verdi's “Nabucco” in front of art photographs by Matthias Schaller of opera houses from all over Italy

Draft of part of Cherubino’s Act I aria ‘Non so più, cosa son’ (K492, no. 6), Wolfgang A. Mozart (1756-1791), Autograph score, 1786, British Library, Zweig MS 57

Impressions from the exhibition “Opera: Passion, Power and Politics” at London’s V&A Museum

One room of the exhibition is dedicated to Georg Friedrich Handel's “Rinaldo” (London, 1711)

Ensemble in 'Spaceship' at the dress rehearsal of Einstein on the Beach, Philip Glass in collaboration Robert Wilson, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, Oct. 10, 2013

Giuseppe Verdi's “Nabucco” (Milan, 1842) is particularly well documented in the Ricordi Archives; several items here are on loan from Bertelsmann

Bertelsmann provided exhibits from the Ricordi archive for the “Nabucco” room of the spectacular opera exhibition at the V&A

Nadja Michael as Salome, Royal Opera House, London, 2008, ROH (Photo by Robbie Jack/Corbis via Getty Images)

Music in the Tuileries Garden, Edouard Manet (1832-83), Oil on canvas, 1861–62, National Gallery NG3260

Eva Gonzalès (1849–83), Oil on canvas, c.1874, Paris, Musée d'Orsay, gift of Jean Guérard, 1927

Impressions from the exhibition “Opera: Passion, Power and Politics” at London’s V&A Museum

Richard Wagner's “Tannhauser” (Paris, 1861) is one of the defining works in opera history that the V&A is presenting to visitors

V&A Museum

Giuseppe Verdi's “Nabucco” (Milan, 1842) is particularly well documented in the Ricordi Archives; several items here are on loan from Bertelsmann

“Milano”, from the series “Fratelli d’Italia” (2005-2016), Matthias Schaller

Exhibits in the room dedicated to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's “Le nozze di Figaro” (Vienna, 1786) include a piano on which Mozart once played

George Frideric Handel, Louis Francois Roubiliac (1702-62), Terracotta, pre 1738, The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, M.3-1922

Barbara Hannigan in Written on Skin. Director: Katie Mitchell, designer: Vicki Mortimer

“L'incoronazione di Poppea” by Claudio Monteverdi (Venice, 1642) is considered to be the first public opera

V&A Museum

The Viola da Gamba Musician (Gambenspielerin), Bernardo Strozzi (1581–1644), Oil on canvas, 1630-40, Gemaldegalerie, Dresden, Germany

Shostakovich's First Symphony, 1935 (oil on canvas), Filonov, Pavel Nikolaevich (1883-1941)