All Palermo wonders: why is the foreign governor of occupied Sicily, Guy de Montfort, so stuck on the freedom-fighting local firebrand Henri? Because he’s Henri’s dad, that’s why. Not that Henri has a clue. Twenty years earlier, Montfort abducted and raped Henri’s mother, who escaped and brought her boy up to hate him. Now, to everyone’s astonishment, Montfort is giving this hostile, fatherless nobody the run of the palace. In a rare London revival, Verdi’s first grand opéra in the epic French style fields a powerhouse cast led by Quinn Kelsey as Montfort, SeokJong Baek as Henri, and Marina Rebeka as Hélène, an indomitable Austrian duchess with fish of her own to fry. The impressive production by Kasper Holten dates to his tenure as director of opera for the Royal Opera House. Speranza Scappucci, the company’s newly appointed principal guest conductor and a Verdian of authority, takes the podium. —Matthew Gurewitsch