Verdi Luisa Miller opera to a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano. Directed 2007 by Denis Krief at the Teatro Regio di Parma Verdi Festival. Stars Giorgio Surian (Il Conte di Walter), Marcelo Álvarez (Rodolfo), Francesca Franci (Federica), Rafał Siwek (Wurm), Leo Nucci (Miller), Fiorenza Cedolins (Luisa), Katarina Nikolic (Laura), and Angelo Villari (Un Contadino). Donato Renzetti conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma (Chorus Master Martino Faggiani). Sets, costumes, and lighting by Denis Krief; video direction by Andrea Dorigo. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreHandel Admeto opera to libretto by Nicola Haym or Paolo Antonio Rolli. Directed 2009 by Doris Dörrie as part of the Internationale Handel-Festspiele at the Deutsches Theatre, Göttingen. Singing stars are Tim Mead, Marie Arnet, William Berger, Andrew Radley, David Bates, Kirsten Blaise, and Wolf Matthias Friedrich. Dancing by Tadashi Endo and members of the Mamu Dance Theatre. Nicholas McGegan conducts the Göttingen Festival Orchestra. Set and costume design by Bernd Lepel; lighting by Linus Fellbom; video direction by Agnes Méth; choreography by Tadashi Endo. Released in 2010, this disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Grade: F+
Read More💓 Mozart Così fan tutte opera to libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Directed 2006 by Nicholas Hytner at Glyndebourne. Stars Miah Persson (Fiordiligi), Anke Vondung (Dorabella), Topi Lehtipuu (Ferrando), Luca Pisaroni (Guglielmo), Nicolas Rivenq (Don Alfonso), and Ainhoa Garmendia (Despina). Iván Fisher conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Leader Margaret Faultless) and the Glyndebourne Chorus (Chorus Master Thomas Blunt). Pianoforte continuo: Jonathan Hinden; cello continuo: Sebastian Comberti. Designs by Vicki Mortimer; lighting by Paule Constable; TV direction by Francesca Kemp; produced by Tricia Petri-Clark and Hans Petri. Released 2009, disc has 5.0 Dolby TrueHD sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreMozart Così fan tutte opera to libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Directed 2009 by Claus Guth at Salzburg Festival (Haus für Mozart). Stars Miah Persson (Fiordiligi), Isabel Leonard (Dorabella), Florian Boesch (Guglielmo), Topi Lehtipuu (Ferrando), Patricia Petibon (Despina), and Bo Skovhus (Don Alfonso). Adam Fischer conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker and Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Thomas Lang). Stage design by Christian Schmidt; costumes by Anna Sofie Tuma; lighting by Olaf Winter; dramatic advice by Andri Hardmeier; video by Alexander Buresch and Kai Ehlers; choreography by Ramses Sigl; TV direction by Brian Large. Released 2010, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B
Read MoreMozart Così fan tutte opera to libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Directed 2009 by Sven-Eric Bechtolf at the Zurich Opera House. Stars Malin Hartelius (Fiordiligi), Anna Bonitatibus (Dorabella), Martina Janková (Despina), Javier Camarena (Ferrando), Ruben Drole (Guglielmo), and Oliver Widmer (Don Alfonso). Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Zurich Opera House Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master: Ernst Raffelsberger). Set designs by Rolf Glittenberg; costume designs by Marianne Glittenberg; lighting by Jürgen Hoffman; TV direction by Felix Breisach. Released 2010, disc has dts-HD Master Audio 7.1 sound. Grade: B
Read MoreMozart Die Entführung aus dem Serail opera to libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie (from Christoph Friedrich Bretzner). Directed 2010 by Christof Loy at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. Stars Diana Damrau, Olga Peretyatko, Christoph Strehl, Norbert Ernst, Franz-Josef Selig, and Christoph Quest (spoken role). Ivor Bolton conducts the Symphony Orchestra (Concert Master Kai Gleusteen) and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Chorus Master José Luis Basso). Set and costume design by Herbert Murauer; lighting design by Olaf Winter; video direction by Pietro d'Agostino. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreThe Verdi Opera Selection box set. This box set contains three titles released individually by Arthaus Musik: La Traviata, Simon Boccanegra, and Aida. We have previously put up basic information for all these titles and have graded one, La Traviata, which we gave a B+. All indications are that the other two titles are perfectly decent. We can think of no reasons for Arthaus Musik to package these three titles together other than to offer a discounted price. For example: the box set is available for €43.00. To purchase all three titles indivdually would total €127.00)
Read MoreGiovanni Battista Pergolesi La Salustia opera after an anonymous adaptation of Apostolo Zeno's Alessandro Severo. Directed 2011 by Juliette Deschamps at the Teatro G.B. Pergolesi, Jesi, as part of the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini Music Festival. Stars Vittorio Prato (Marziano), Serena Malfi (Salustia), Laura Polverell (Giulia), Florin Cezar Ouatu (Alessandro), Giacinta Nicotra (Albina), and Maria Hinojosa Montenegro (Claudio). Corrado Rovaris conducts the Accademia Barocca de I Virtuosi Italiani. Sets by Benito Leonori; costumes by Vanessa Sannino, lighting by Alessandro Carsetti; directed for TV by Tiziano Manchini. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRichard Strauss Elektra opera to a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Original stage production by Herbert Wernicke (died 2002) as restaged 2010 by Bettina Göschl at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Stars Linda Watson (Elektra), Jane Henschel (Klytämnestra), Manuela Uhl (Chrysothemis), René Kollo (Aegisth), Albert Dohmen (Orest), Andreas Hörl (Orest''s Tutor), Jörg Schneider (Young Servant), Carsten Sabrowski (Old Servent), Irmgard Vilsmaier (Overseer), Constance Heller, Nina Amon, Hermine Haselböck, Katrin Adel, Bernarda Bobro (Maidservants), Iwona Sakowicz (Trainbearer), and Catherine Veillerobe (Confidante). Christian Thielemann conducts the Münchner Philharmoniker with the Philharmonia Chor Wien (Chorus Master Walter Zeh). Stage adaptation by Frank Kuhlmann and Christoph Lettow; costumes by Dorothee Melzer; lighting by Felix Kirchhofer and Christian Kass; video direction by Andreas Morell. Released 2010, has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreVerdi Alzira opera to a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano. This is considered Verdi’s least performed opera. For the Tutto Verdi project, C Major presents this concert staging in lieu of an actual performance. Andreas Leisner provided the scenic concept for the concert in 2012 at the Grand Hotel Dobbiaco, Italy as part of the Alto Adige Festival. Stars Junko Saito (Alzira), Francesco Facini (Alvaro), Thomas Gazheli (Gusmano), Joshua Lindsay (Ovando), Ferdinand von Bothmer (Zamoro), Yasushi Hirano (Ataliba), Anna Lucia Nardi (Zuma), and Joe Tsuchizaki (Otumbo). Gustav Kuhn conducts the Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento & the Istituto Corale ed Orchestrale di Dobbiaco (Chorus Master Marco Medved). Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreVerdi I masnadieri opera to a libretto by Andrea Maffei. Directed 2012 by Gabriele Lavia at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Stars Giacomo Prestia, Aquiles Machado, Artur Ruciński, Lucrecia Garcia, Walter Omaggio, Dario Russo, and Massimiliano Chiarolla. Nicola Luisotti conducts the San Carlo Theater Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Salvatore Caputo). Set design by Alessandro Camera; costume design by Andrea Viotti; lighting design by Carlo Netti; directed for video by Annalisa Buttò. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRossini Adelaide di Borgogna opera to a libretto by Giovanni Federico Schmidt. Directed 2011 by Pier’ Alli at the Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro. Stars Daniela Barcellona (Ottone), Jessica Pratt (Adelaide), Bogdan Mihai (Adelberto), Nicola Ulivieri (Berengario), Jeannette Fischer (Eurice), Francesca Pierpaoli (Iroldo), and Clemente Antonio Daliotti (Ernesto). Dmitri Jurowski conducts the Orchestra and Coro de Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Piano continuo by Sabrina Avantario; cello continuo by Sara Nanni. Set, costumes, and lighting by Pier’ Alli; video projections by Unità C1. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreGluck Iphigénie en Aulide opera to a libretto by Leblanc du Roullet and Iphigénie en Tauride opera to a libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard. Directed 2011 by Pierre Audi at De Nederlandse Opera, the two related operas are presented as a double feature:
1. Iphigénie en Aulide stars Véronique Gens (Iphigénie), Salomé Haller (Diane), Nicolas Testé (Agamemnon), Anne Sofie von Otter (Clytemnestre), Frédéric Antoun (Achille), Martijn Cornet (Patrocle), Christian Helmer (Calchas), and Laurent Alvaro (Arcas).
2. Iphigénie en Tauride stars Mireille Delunsch (Iphigénie), Laurent Alvaro (Thoas), Jean-François Lapointe (Oreste), Yann Beuron (Pylade), and Salomé Haller (Diane).
Marc Minkowski conducts Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble & Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera (Chorus Director Martin Wright). Sets by Michael Simon; costumes by Anna Eiermann, lighting by Jean Kalman; dramaturgy by Klaus Bertisch; directed for TV by Misjel Vermeiren. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MorePuccini Turandot opera to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Directed 2012 by Graeme Murphy at the Melbourne Arts Centre. Stars Susan Foster, Rosario La Spina, Hyeseoung Kwon, Jud Arthur, Shane Lowrencev, Andrew Moran, Graeme Macfarlane, David Corcoran, and Benjamin Rasheed. Andrea Licata conducts the Orchestra Victoria, the Opera Australia Chorus, and the Opera Australia Children’s Chorus. Choreography by Graeme Murphy; set and costume designs by Kristian Fredrikson; lighting by John Drummond Montgomery; audio direction by Tony David Gray. Directed for TV by Cameron Kirkpatrick; Chris Yates was Production Executive; Sam Russell was Producer. Sung in Italian. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A
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