Downes' first experience of conducting the music of Verdi came when Rafael Kubelík withdrew from a Covent Garden "Otello" and Downes led the opera with no rehearsal. He felt on home ground, and then championed Verdi revivals in England. He conducted 25 of Verdi's 28 operas, and devised the idea to perform all of them in time for the 2001 centenary of the composer's death. With Paul Findlay, Downes planned a Verdi festival for the Royal Opera House which would cover all Verdi's operas from 1995 to 2001, performing four each year, starting each five-week festival with a large, grand work, then a revival of a repertoire piece then rarities. The plans included using variant arias and ballets.