From Verdi’s Aida and Otello to the one-Act verismo operas ‘Cav and Pag’, we trace the development of Italian opera during the last 30 years of the C19th. Puccini emerges as the successor to Verdi, with his Manon Lescaut and La Boheme. Ian France (Cumbria www.highamhall.com/ian-france) Residential: £250 Non-residential: £180