 In 1996, he opened the season in the Arena of Verona with "Carmen", followed by a concert in Tel Aviv which celebrated the 3000-year anniversary of Jerusalem (the soloists were Deborah Voigt, Agnes Baltsa, Roberto Alagna, Leo Nucci and Ferruccio Furlanetto).In September of that year he led a new production of "Othello" in Cyprus with the participation of Katia Ricciarelli, Giuseppe Giacomini and Renato Bruson and directed by Michael Hampe.In the fall of 1996 he opened with "Madama Butterfly" at the Teatro Comunale in Florence and then to San Carlo in Naples with "Tosca", with Luciano Pavarotti.