GEORGIA SMITH, [Paris International Herald Tribune, 8 November 2005]

In London on Nov. 6, the Theater Royal Drury Lane will present a concert version of "Il Diluvio Universale," by Gaetano Donizetti. You might recognize the name Donizetti. But what is that title?

It's "The Universal Flood," one of many Donizetti operas that no one performs anymore. It renders the story of Noah with a melodramatic armory of clashing tribes, pagan curses, betrayal, passion and, of course, rain. Plus florid singing: trills and cadenzas, roller-coaster scales and breathtaking high and low notes.