19-30 May. Directed by South Africa's William Kentridge

This is certain to be a popular choice for all Rome opera goers in this production of Berg's opera directed by William Kentridge, a co-production with three top international opera companies, The Metropolitan New York, the English National Theatre and the Nationale Opera Amsterdam. Kentridge's direction and staging has had highly favourable reviews wherever the opera has been performed in the last year.

Kentridge, whose ink drawings are used in projections and animated drawings, sets the scene of this difficult opera in the period it was created in the late 1920s early 1930s.

Alan Berg died before completing the last two acts and it was first performed incomplete in 1937 and then for the next 40 years, until the death of Berg's wife 1976. It was finally finished by Friedrich Cerha, Austrian composer and conductor who had been working on it since the early 1960s.

The complete version was premiered in 1979 at the Paris Opera conducted by Pierre Boulez. Alejo Perez is conducting with Agnette Eichenholz (Sweden) and Disella Lárusdóttir (Iceland) who makes her European debut in the title role. Teatro dell' Opera di Roma, Piazza Beniamino Gigli 7, www.operaroma.it.