Wagner Die Walküre to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2011 by Guy Cassiers at Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Stars Simon O’Neill, John Tomlinson, Vitalij Kowaljow, Waltraud Meier, Nina Stemme, Ekaterina Gubanova, Danielle Halbwachs, Carola Höhn, Ivonne Fuchs, Anaik Morel, Susan Foster, Leann Sandel-Pantaleo, Nicole Piccolomini, Simone Schröder, Guro Schia, and Vebjørn Sundby. Set design by Guy Cassiers and Enrico Bagnoli; lighting by Enrico Bagnoli; costume design by Tim van Steenbergen; choreography by Csilla Lakatos; dramaturgy by Michael Philip Steinberg and Erwin Jans; video design by Arjen Klerkx and Kurt D’Haeseleer. Sung in German. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. It appears this NHK title is currently being marketed only in Japan, but this later Arthaus Die Walküre seems to be from the same production, though not the same performance. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Das Rheingold. Directed 2010 by Guy Cassiers at Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Stars Stars René Pape (Wotan), Jan Buchwald (Donner), Marco Jentzsch (Froh), Stephan Rügamer (Loge), Joannes Martin Kränzle (Alberich), Wolfgang Ablinger-Speerhacke (Mime), Kwangchul Youn (Fasolt), Timo Riihonen (Fafner), Doris Soffel (Fricka), Anna Samuil (Freia), Anna Larsson (Erda), Aga Mikolaj (Woglinde), Maria Gortsevskaya (Wellgunde), and Marina Prudenskaya (Flosshilde). Daniel Barenboim conducts the Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala and the Dancers of the Eastman Ballet Company Antwerp. Sets designed by Guy Cassiers and Enrico Bagnoli; lighting by Enrico Bagnoli; costume design by Tim van Steenbergen; choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui; video designs by Arjen Klerkx and Kurt D'Haeseleer. Directed for TV by Emanuele Garofalo. Sung in German. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRichard Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle directed by Robert Lepage from 2010 through 2012 at the Metropolitan Opera. This is a box set of 5 Blu-ray discs, containing the entirety of the Ring cycle. As of 2013, the 4 operas and the stand-alone documentary extra are available individually as well. Released 2012, the opera discs have 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreWagner Die Walküre opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2011 by Robert Lepage at the Metropolitan Opera. Stars Jonas Kaufmann (Siegmund), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde), Hans-Peter König (Hunding), Bryn Terfel (Wotan), Deborah Voigt (Brünnhilde), Stephanie Blythe (Fricka), Kelly Cae Hogan (Gerhilde), Molly Fillmore (Helmwige), Marjorie Elinor Dix (Waltraute), Mary Phillips (Schwertleite), Wendy Bryn Harmer (Ortlinde), Eve Giglotti (Siegrune), Mary Ann McCormick (Grimgerde), and Lindsay Ammann (Rossweiße). James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Associate Direction by Neilson Vignola; set design by Carl Fillion; costume design by François St.-Aubin; lighting design by Etienne Boucher; video image art by Boris Firquet in collaboration with Ex Machina. Sung in German. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreWagner Die Walküre opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2007 by Carlus Padrissa and La Fura dels Baus at the Calatrava opera house Palau de las Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia. Stars Peter Seiffert (Siegmund), Matti Salminen (Hunding), Juha Uusitalo (Wotan), Petra Maria Schnitzer (Sieglinde), Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), Anna Larsson (Fricka), Bernadette Flaitz (Gerhilde), Helen Huse Ralston (Ortlinde), Pilar Vázquez (Waltraute), Christa Mayer (Schwertleite), Eugenia Bethencourt (Helmwige), Heike Grötzinger (Siegrune), Manuela Bress (Grimgerde), and Hannah Esther Minutillo (Roßweiße). Zubin Mehta conducts the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. Video creator was Franc Aleu; staging and acting coordination by Valentina Carrasco; set design by Roland Olbeter; costume design by Chu Uroz; lighting design by Peter Van Praet. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini and Davide Mancini. Sung in German. Released 2009, disc has 7.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+
Read MoreWagner Die Walküre opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2010 by Tankred Dorst, with assistance by Ursula Ehler, at the Bayreuth Festival. Stars Johan Botha (Siegmund), Kwangchul Youn (Hunding), Albert Dohmen (Wotan), Edith Haller (Sieglinde), Linda Watson (Brünnhilde), Mihoko Fujimura (Fricke), Sonja Mühleck (Gerhilde), Anna Gabler (Ortlinde), Martina Dike (Waltraute), Simone Schröder (Schwertleite), Miriam Gordon-Stewart (Helmwige), Wilke te Brummelstroete (Siegrune), Annette Küttenbaum (Grimgerde), and Alexandra Petersamer (Roßweiße). Christian Thielemann conducts the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. Set design by Frank Philipp Schlößmann; costume design by Bernd Ernst Skodzig; lighting design by Ulrich Niepel; dramaturgy by Norbert Abels; music supervision by Christoph Ulrich Meier. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Sung in German. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+
Read MoreWagner Die Walküre to libretto by the composer. Directed 2007 by Stéphane Braunschweig at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Stars Robert Gambill (Siegmund), Mikhail Petrenko (Hunding), Sir Willard White (Wotan), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde), Eva Johansson (Brünnhilde), Lilli Paasikivi (Fricka), Joanna Porackova (Gerhilde), Elaine McKrill (Ortlinde), Julianne Young (Waltraute), Andrea Baker (Schwertleite), Erika Sunnegårdh (Helmwige), Heike Grötzinger (Siegrunde), Eva Vogel (Grimgerde), and Anette Bod (Rossweisse). Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker. Stage design by Stéphane Braunschweig; costume design by Thibault Vancraenenbroeck; lighting design by Marion Hewlett. Directed for TV by Don Kent. Sung in German. Released 2008, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D+
Read MoreWagner Die Walküre to libretto by the composer. Directed 2008 by Michael Schulz at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar. Stars Erin Caves (Siegmund), Hidekazu Tsumaya (Hunding), Renatus Mészár (Wotan), Kirsten Blanck (Sieglinde), Catherine Foster (Brünnhilde), Christine Hansmann (Fricka), Silona Michel (Helmwige), Susann Günther-Dissmeier (Gerhilde), Joana Caspar (Ortlinde), Marie-Helen Joël (Waltraute), Carola Guber (Sigrune), Christiane Bassek (Roßweiße), Kerstin Quandt (Grimgerde), Nadine Weissmenn (Schwertleite), Erika Krämer (Grane), Elisabeth Anetseder-Meyer (Freia as Harpist), Lars Creuzburg (Donner), and Steffen Bärtl (Froh/Loge). Carl St. Clair conducts the Staatskapelle Weimar. Set design by Dirk Becker; costume design by Renée Listerdal; dramaturgy by Wolfgang Willaschek. Directed for TV by Brooks Riley. Sung in German. Released 2009, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C-
Read MoreGiacomo Puccini La Bohème opera to libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Staged 2012 by Damiano Michieletto at the Salzburg Festival. Stars Anna Netrebko (Mimi), Nino Machaidze (Musetta), Piotr Beczala (Rodolfo), Massimo Cavalletti (Marcello), Alessio Ardunini (Schaunard), Carlo Colombara (Colline), Davide Fersini (Benoît), Peter Kálmán (Alcindoro), Paul Schweinester, Steven Forster, Liviu Gheorghe Burz, Michael Wilder, and Martin Müller. Daniele Gatti conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master: Ernst Raffelsberger), the Salzburger Festspiele und Theater Kinderchor (Chorus Master; Wolfgang Götz), and members of the Angelika Prokopp Sommerakademie of the Wiener Philharmoniker (stage music). Set design by Paolo Fantin; costumes by Carla Teti; lighting by Martin Gebhardt; dramatic advice by Kathrin Brunner; choreography by Nikolaos Lagousakos; directed for TV by Brian Large. Released 2012, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C
Read MoreRossini Demetrio e Polibio opera to a libretto by Vincenzina Viganò-Mombelli. Directed 2010 by Davide Livermore at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. Stars María José Moreno, Victoria Zaytseva, Yijie Shi, and Mirco Palazzi. Corrado Rovaris conducts the Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini and the Prague Chamber Choir (Chorus Master Lubomír Mátl). Stage and costume design by the Accademia di Belle Arti di Urbino; lighting by Nicolas Bovey; répétiteur and piano by Gianni Fabbrini; cello continuo by Andrea Agostinelli; Alessandre Premoli assisted in direction; special effects by Alexandra. Released 2012. Grade: NA
Read MoreHandel Deidamia opera to a libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli. Directed 2012 by David Alden at the De Nederlandse Opera. Stars Sally Matthews (Deidamia), Veronica Cangemi (Nerea), Olga Pasichnyk (Achille), Silvia Tro Santafé (Ulisse), Andrew Foster-Williams (Finice), Umberto Chiummo (Licomede), and Jan-Willem Schaafsma (Nestore). Ivor Bolton conducts Concerto Köln. Set design by Paul Steinberg; costume design by Constance Hoffman; lighting design by Adam Silverman; choreography by Jonathan Lunn; TV direction by Joost Honselaar. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRossini Mosè in Egitto opera to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. Directed 2011 by Graham Vick at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. Stars Riccardo Zanellato, Alex Esposito, Olga Senderskaya, Dmitry Korchak, Sonia Ganassi, Yijie Shi, Enea Scala, and Chiara Amarù. Roberto Abbado conducts the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set and costume design by Stuart Nunn; lighting design by Giuseppe di Iorio; video direction by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2012. Grade: B+
Read MoreWagner Götterdämmerung opera. Directed 2012 by Robert Lepage. Stars Maria Radner (First Norn), Elizabeth Bishop (Second Norn), Heidi Melton (Third Norn), Deborah Voigt (Brünnhilde), Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried), Iain Paterson (Gunther), Hans-Peter König (Hagen), Wendy Bryn Harper (Gutrune), Waltraud Meier (Waltraute), Eric Owens (Alberich), Erin Morley (Woglinde), Jennifer Johnson Cano (Wellgunde), and Tamara Mumford (Floßhilde). Fabio Luisi conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo). Associate Direction by Neilson Vignola; set design by Carl Fillion; costume design by François St.-Aubin; lighting design by Etienne Boucher; video image art by Lionel Arnould in collaboration with Ex Machina. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreWagner Das Rheingold. Directed 2010 by Robert Lepage. Stars Lisette Oropesa (Woglinde), Jennifer Johnson (Wellgunde), Tamara Mumford (Flosshilde), Eric Owens (Alberich), Stephanie Blythe (Fricka), Bryn Terfel (Wotan), Wendy Bryn Harmer (Freia), Franz-Josef Selig (Fasalt), Hans-Peter König (Fafner), Adam Diegel (Froh), Dwayne Croft (Donner), Richard Croft (Loge), Gerhard Siegel (Mime), and Patricia Bardon (Erda). James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Associate Direction by Neilson Vignola; set design by Carl Fillion; costume design by François St.-Aubin; lighting design by Etienne Boucher; video image art by Boris Firquet in collaboration with Ex Machina. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreWagner Siegfried opera. Directed 2011 by Robert Lepage. Stars Gerhard Siegel (Mime), Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried), Bryn Terfel (The Wanderer), Eric Owens (Alberich), Hans-Peter König (Fafner), Mojca Erdmann (The Forest Bird), Patricia Bardon (Erda), and Deborah Voigt (Brünnhilde). Fabio Luisi conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Associate Direction by Neilson Vignola; set design by Carl Fillion; costume design by François St.-Aubin; lighting design by Etienne Boucher; video image art by Pedro Pires in collaboration with Ex Machina. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
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