Philadelphia is Italian opera central this week with Soprano Angela Meade headlining AVA’s Operatic Masterpieces concert version of Bellini’s Norma and internationally renowned tenor Juan Diego Florez singing Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore in front of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Bellini is also the subject of Golden Age by Terrence McNally, a backstage romp at the 1835 Paris premiere of his final opera, Il Puritani which is premiering at the Philadelphia Theater Company

Florez will be joining rock star Sting and the Philadelphia Orchestra for the Academy of Music’s 153 Anniversary gala concert. Whether Sting will be able to sustain his notes as long as his fabled orgasm will not be on the program, but there is no doubt that Meade and Florez will leave everyone breathless with their control.