Verdi wanted his seventh opera to be passionate, fiery and action-packed, and he wanted a real prima donna at the center of it.

He found the ideal subject in Joan of Arc, probably one of the most famous female figures in world history. At its premiere in 1845, the new opera was frenetically acclaimed by the audience and further successful performances followed, before the work was overshadowed by Verdi's later, even more famous operas. It is high time to bring it back to the stage, where it can prove its undeniable qualities!