What's the secret to a show that premiered in 1983 continuing to be a success four decades later? Stage director Mario Gas doesn't have the magic formula, but he believes it has something to do with "creating a slice-of-life comedy that offers a lot of stagecraft, but isn't just pure entertainment." He's the mastermind behind the production of The elisir of loveDonizetti's opera, which the Gran Teatre del Liceu is hosting again this season, after years of captivating audiences time and again. With Venezuelan maestro Diego Matheuz conducting, the production will feature a cast of top-tier performers, headlined by sopranos Pretty Yende, Serena Sáenz, and Marina Monzó, and tenors Javier Camarena, Michael Spyres, and Filipe Manu. The elisir of love It premieres this Saturday—in an evening that will coincide with the lighting of the Liceu's Christmas lights—and will run until December 15.

A great night of opera at the Torroella de Montgrí Festival. Catalan soprano Serena Sáenz, accompanied by the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, delivered an evening of pyrotechnics and high-flying vocal virtuosity on the Espai Ter stage. In her debut at the Empordà festival, the young Barcelona singer, who has already made a name for himself on the international opera scene, captivated the public on the eve of the Virgen de Agost with a sublime display of operatic fragments from the 18th and 19th centuries.

With every reason and ample means, Barcelona-born soprano Serena Sáenz is one of our most international singers, with a well-developed future within a well-established and grounded present. She has demonstrated this here and abroad, with a versatility and stylistic flexibility that are the fruit of her talent, her rigorous work, and her innate musical intelligence.