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Though often pegged as a composer of comic operas only, many of Rossini's finest achievements can be found in his series of nine serious dramas, the last of which was the dark, pioneering opera Zelmira.

Late in his career, Giuseppe Verdi hit a dry patch until friends suggested he try transforming Shakespeare's Othello into an opera. The result, Otello, turned out to be one of the best operas ever written.

Set against the frantic backdrop of the French Revolution, Respighi's Marie Victoire was slated for a 1915 premiere, but it never happened. Like his popular Pines of Rome, Respighi uses the orchestra like a jumbo box of crayons to create an explosion of color.

Verdi's opera showcases the city of Venice's complex and lethal political history in a dramatic version of the life of 15th-century doge Francesco Foscari.

Tenzin Chopak has been one of the more prolific members of the Ithaca music scene over the past decade. Both as a solo artist and as the frontman for Rockwood Ferry (in its many incarnations), Chopak has proven to be a compelling lyricist, talented guitarist, and powerful vocalist on the five albums he has released since 2013 as well as countless live performances.

From frustrated newlyweds who don't know what to do with each other, to an arranged marriage of inconvenience, this double bill from Ireland's Wexford Festival features the little-heard short operas The Marriage contract by Rossini and An Insufficient Education by Chabrier.

Rossini's tragic retelling of Shakespeare's classic seldom gets its due in today's theaters. Otello may have been eclipsed not just by Verdi's version of the story decades later, but also by two of Rossini's own works which premiered about the same time: The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola.

After Dvorak, Smetana and Janacek, Bohuslav Martinu continued the long and distinguished line of Czech opera composers. Characters both sacred and profane struggle for supremacy in Martinu's unique stage drama, inspired by the medieval tradition of mystery and miracle Plays.

Sequels in opera are rare. But in the 1770s, Christoph Willibald Gluck composed a pair of successful dramas that highlighted the hair-raising adventures of the young Iphigenia. She barely escapes death in one opera and nearly commits murder in another.

Verdi's Il Trovatore remains one of the most popular operas of all time, but it walks a fine line between tragedy and farce. Find out who threw which baby into the fire in this production from the Maggio Musicale in Florence, Italy.