Although still only 41, the conductor Pietro Rizzo has already performed close to 50 different opera titles around the world, and he's now back in Japan with Giuseppe Verdi's "Don Carlo" — his third production for the New National Theatre, Tokyo.

According to this young Italian veteran, Verdi's powerful Romantic masterpiece from 1867 is a work not many companies can successfully mount, since, as he told The Japan Times recently, "It is quite a complicated production, requiring six quality opera singers plus extra orchestra members. However, every single song is a hit."

Among the "quality" voices this time are renowned Spanish tenor Sergio Escobar (as Don Carlo), the acclaimed Italian soprano Serena Farnocchia (Elisabetta di Valois) and Japanese veteran Hidekazu Tsumaya as the feared Grande Inquisitore.