Puccini Madama Butterfly opera to libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier at the Royal Opera House in 2017. Stars Ermonela Jaho (Cio-Cio San), Marcelo Puente (Pinkerton), Scott Hendricks (Sharpless), Carlo Bosi (Goro), Elizabeth DeShong (Suzuki), Jeremy White (Bonze), Emily Edmonds (Kate Pinkerton), Gyula Nagy (Imperial Commissioner), and Yuriy Yurchuk (Prince Yamadori). Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Master William Spaulding; Co-Concert Master Sergey Levitin). Set design by Christian Fenouillat; costume design by Agostino Cavalca; lighting design by Christophe Forey; directed for video by Matthew Woodward. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreVerdi I Lombardi alla prima crociata opera to a libretto by Temistocle Solera. Directed 2018 by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera at the Teatro Regio Torino. Stars Giuseppe Gipali (Arvino), Alex Esposito (Pagano), Lavinia Bini (Viclinda), Angela Meade (Giselda), Antonio Di Matteo (Pirro), Joshua Sanders (Prior of Milan), Giuseppe Capoferri (Acciano), Francesco Meli (Oronte), and Alexandra Zabala (Sofia). Michele Mariotti conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Regio Torino (Chorus Master Andrea Secchi). Set design by Jean-Guy Lecat, costume design by Fernand Ruiz, light design by Franco Marri; assistant direction by Gianni Santucci; recorded by Rino Trasi and Giuseppe Famularo; directed for video by Matteo Ricchetti and Adriano Figari. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBellini Norma opera to libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2018 by Sir David McVicar at the Metropolitan Opera. Stars Matthew Rose (Oroveso), Joseph Calleja (Pollione), Adam Diegel (Flavio), Sondra Radvanovsky (Norma), Joyce DiDonato (Adalgisa), Michelle Bradley (Clotilde), and Christopher Reynolds and John Reynolds (Norma’s Children). Carlo Rizzi conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo). Set design by Robert Jones; costume design by Moritz Junge; lighting design by Paule Constable; movement direction by Leah Hausman; directed for TV by Gary Halvorson. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRossini: Two Classic Operas Box Set released 2018. Below are the discs. Both titles have been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:
La Cenerentola. 2005. Grade: A
Il barbiere di Siviglia. 2016. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Così fan tutte opera and dance program to libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Directed 2017 by choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker at the Opéra national de Paris. Singing stars are Jacquelyn Wagner (Fiordiligi), Michèle Losier (Dorabella), Frédéric Antoun (Ferrando), Philippe Sly (Guglielmo), Paulo Szot (Don Alfonso), and Ginger Costa-Jackson (Despina). The corresponding dancing stars are Cynthia Loemij (Fiordiligi), Samantha Van Wissen (Dorabella), Julien Monty (Ferrando), Michaël Pomero (Guglielmo), Boštjan Antončič (Don Alfonso), and Marie Goudot (Despina), supported by other dancers of de Keersmaeker's Rosas dance company. Philippe Jordan conducts the Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Alessandro di Stefano). Set and lighting design by Jan Versweyveld; costume design by An D'Huys; choreography by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker; dramaturgy by Jan Vandenhouwe. Directed for TV by Louise Narboni. Sung in Italian. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C-
Così fan tutte is my favorite opera. I wish someone would hire me to translate the libretto into English. I would call it So Do They All with the tagline (“It’s in the nature of women to love, and in the nature of men to lie.”) Ponte’s title has more punch because it blames everything on the two sisters, but my title would support Mozart
Read MoreAlban Berg Wozzeck opera to libretto by the composer after Woyzeck by Georg Büchner. Directed 2017 by Krzysztof Warlikowski at the Dutch National Opera. Stars Christopher Maltman (Wozzeck), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Marie), Frank van Aken (Drum Major), Marcel Beekman (Captain/Madman), Sir Willard White (Doctor), Jason Bridges (Andres), Ursula Hesse von den Steinen (Margret), Scott Wilde (First Apprentice), Morschi Franz (Second Apprentice), Jacob Jutte (Marie’s Son), and Richard Prada (A Soldier). Matt Albrecht conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chorus of the Dutch National Opera (Chorus Master Ching-Lien Wu), and the New Amsterdam Children’s Choir (Chorus Master Eline Welle). Set and costume design by Małgorzata Szczęśniak; lighting design by Felice Ross; video design by Denis Guéguin; choreography by Claude Bardouil; dramaturgy by Christian Longchamp. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in German. Released 2018, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Le nozze di Figaro opera to libretto by Lorenza da Ponte. Directed 2015 by Jürgen Flimm (with Gudrun Hartmann) at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden im Schiller Theater. Stars Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Count Almaviva), Dorothea Röschmann (Countess Almaviva), Anna Prohaska (Susanna), Lauri Vasar (Figaro), Mariane Crebassa (Cherubino), Katharina Kammerloher (Marcellina), Florian Hoffmann (Basilio), Peter Maus (Don Curzio), Otto Katzameier (Bartolo), Olaf Bär (Antonio), and Sónia Grané (Barbarina). Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Frank Flade). Sets by Magdelena Gut; costumes by Ursala Kudrna; choreography by Catharina Lühr; lighting by Olaf Freese; dramaturgy by Detlef Giese. Directed for TV by Hannes Rossacher; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2017, has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreManuel de Falla La vida breve opera to a libretto by Carlos Fernández-Shaw. Directed 2011 by Giancarlo del Monaco at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia. Stars Cristina Gallardo-Domâs (Salud), Jorge de León (Paco), María Luisa Corbacho (La abuela), Felipe Bou (El tío Sarvaor), Sandra Ferrández (Carmela/1st and 3rd street-seller), Natalia Lunar (2nd street-seller), Isaac Galán (Manuel), and Antonio Lozano (Voice in the forge/Distant voice/Voice of a street-seller). Features flamenco performers Esperanza Fernández and Juan Carlos Gómez Pastor. Also features dancers Alberto Ferrero, Alejandra Garcia, Sara Gil, Yolanda López, Iván Martin, Antonio Martínez, Lara Pla, Carolina Pozuelo, Alexis Maximiliano Rebman, and Cristhian Sandvoal. Also features mimes Juan José Dalmau and Zvonimir Ostoic. Lorin Maazel conducts the Orchestra de la Comunitat Valenciana and the Cor de la Comunitat Valenciana (Chorus Master Francesc Perales). Set design by Giancarlo del Monaco; costume design by Jesús Ruiz; lighting design by Wolfgang von Zoubeck; choreography by Goyo Montero. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Spanish. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-
Although the music to La vida breve is fairly well-known, the short, one-dimensional opera is rarely produced. The center of attention is the Gypsy girl Salud
Read MoreMauricio Sotelo El público (The Audience) opera to a libreto by Andrès Albáñez based on a play by Fredrico García Lorca. Directed 2015 by Robert Castro. Stars José Antonio Lópes (Director (Enrique) / Vine Leaves Figure), Thomas Tatzl (First Man (Gonzalo))/Bells Figure/Red Nude), Arcángel (First Horse), Jesús Méndez (Second Horse), Rubén Olmo (Third Horse), Josep Miquel Ramón (Second Man/First White Horse/Centurion), Antonio Lozano (Third Man/Black Horse/Idiot Shepherd), Gun-Brit Barkmin (Helen/Lady), Erin Caves (Emperor/Magician), Isabella Gaudí (Juliet/Boy), José San Antonio (Manservant/Male Nurse), Harold Torres and Antonio Magno (Two Students), Haizam Fathy (Pierrot Costume and Shadow), Leonardo Tremaschi (Ballerina Costume and Shadow), Carlos Rodas (Pajamas Costume and Shadow), and Daniel Kone & Samuel Echardour (Two Elves). Pablo Heras-Canado conducts the Klangforum Wien and the Coro Titular of the Teatro Real (Andrés Máspero Chorus Master). Special instrumental guests are guitar soloist Cañizares and percussionist Agustín Daissera. Sets by Alexander Polzin; costumes by Wojciech Dziedzic; lighting by Urs Schönebaum; choreography by Darrel Grand Moultrie. Directed for TV by Jérémie Cuvillier; produced by François Duplat and Xavier Dubois. Sung in Spanish. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B- with the ‽ designation.
Lorca (1898 to 1936), perhaps Spain's most celebrated 20th century poet and dramatist, was from wealthy, conservative roots. But he was also gay. So he fell in with the Spanish avant-garde and surrealists who gave him a platform to criticize bourgeois conventions. In 1936 he was murdered, it seems, by a Falangist death squad.
Read MoreVerdi Macbeth opera to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Directed 2017 by Emma Dante at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo. Stars Roberto Frontali (Macbeth), Marko Mimica (Banco), Anna Pirozzi (Lady Macbeth), Federica Alfano (Dama di Lady Macbeth), Vincenzo Costanzo (Macduff), Manuel Pierattelli (Malcolm), Nicolò Ceriani (Doctor), Antonio Barbagallo (Servant), Francesco Cusumano (Duncano), Nunziatina Lo Presti (Fleanzio), and Actors of the Emma Dante Company and Students of the School of Performing Arts at the Teatro Biondo, Palermo. Gabriele Ferro conducts the Orchestra, Coro e Corpo di ballo del Teatro Massimo. Set design by Carmine Maringola; costume design by Vanessa Sannino; choreography by Manuela Lo Sicco; lighting design by Cristian Zucaro. Directed for film by Matteo Ricchetti. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBritten Death in Venice opera to a libretto by Myfanwy Piper. Directed 2014 by Willy Decker at the Teatro Real. Stars John Daszak (Gustav von Aschenbach), Leigh Melrose (The Traveller/Elderly Fop/Old Gondolier/Hotel Manager/Hotel Barber/Leader of the Players/Voice of Dionysus), Tomasz Borczyk (Tadzio), Anthony Roth Costanzo (The Voice of Apollo), Duncan Rock (English Clerk/Venice Guide), Itxaro Mentxaka (Cadging), Vicente Ombuena (Concierge), Antonio Lozano (Crystal Merchant), Damián del Castillo (Waiter), Nuria García Arrés (Vendedora de Encaje), and Ruth Iniesta (Strawberry Seller/Newspaper Seller). Alejo Pérez conducts the Teatro Real Chorus and Orchestra (Chorus Master Andrés Máspero). Set design by Wolfgang Gussmann; costume design by Wolfgang Gussmann and Susana Mendoza; lighting design by Hans Toelstede; choreography by Athol Farmer; dramaturge by Klaus Bertisch. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreDonizetti La Favorite opera to a libretto by Alphonse Royer, Gustave Vaëz, and Eugène Scribe. Directed by Ariel García-Valdés with co-director Derek Gimpel at the Gran Teatre del Liceu di Barcellona. Stars Veronica Simeoni (Léonor de Guzman), Celso Albelo (Fernand), Mattia Olivieri (Alphonse XI, King of Castile), Ugo Guagliardo (Balthazar), Manuel Amati (Don Gaspar), Francesca Longari (Inès), Leonardo Sgroi (Un Seigneur), and extras Paolo Arcangeli, Cristiano Colangelo, Domenico Nuovo, and Pierangelo Prziosa. Fabio Luisi conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set and costume design by Jean-Pierre Vergier; lighting design by Dominique Borrini. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti. Sound recorded by Rino Trasi. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MorePuccini Madama Butterfly opera to libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier at the Royal Opera House in 2017. Stars Ermonela Jaho (Cio-Cio San), Marcelo Puente (Pinkerton), Scott Hendricks (Sharpless), Carlo Bosi (Goro), Elizabeth DeShong (Suzuki), Jeremy White (Bonze), Emily Edmonds (Kate Pinkerton), Gyula Nagy (Imperial Commissioner), and Yuriy Yurchuk (Prince Yamadori). Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Master William Spaulding; Co-Concert Master Sergey Levitin). Set design by Christian Fenouillat; costume design by Agostino Cavalca; lighting design by Christophe Forey; directed for video by Matthew Woodward. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreHandel Xerxes opera to a libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz (Serse in Italian). Directed 2017 by Tilmann Köhler at the Frankfurt Opera. Stars Gaëlle Arquez (Xerxes), Lawrence Zazzo (Arsamene), Elizabeth Sutphen (Romilda), Louise Alder (Atalanta), Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Amastre), Brandon Cedel (Ariodate), and Thomas Faulkner (Elviro). Constantinos Carydis conducts the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumorchester and the Vocalensemble Frankfurt. Set design by Karoly Risz; costume design by Susanne Uhl; lighting design by Joachim Klein; live video by Marlene Blumert; dramatic advisor was Zsolt Horpácsy. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBenjamin Britten Billy Budd opera to a libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier. Directed by Deborah Warner at the Teatro Real. Stars Jacques Imbrailo (Billy Budd), Toby Spence (Edward Fairfax Vere), Brindley Sherratt (John Claggart), Thomas Oliemans (Mr. Redburn), David Soar (Mr. Flint), Torben Jürgens (Lieutenant Ratcliffe), Christopher Gillet (Red Whiskers), Duncan Rock (Donald), Clive Bayley (Dansker), Sam Furness (Novice), Francisco Vas (Squeak), Manel Esteve (Bosun), Gerardo Bullón (First Mate), Tomeu Bibiloni (Second Mate), Borja Quiza (The Novice's Friend), Jordi Casanova (Maintop), and Isaac Galán (Arthur Jones). Ivor Bolton conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Real de Madrid (Chorus Master Andrés Máspero). Stage design by Michael Levine; costume design by Chloe Obolensky; lighting design by Jean Kalman. Directed for TV by Jérémie Cuvillier. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
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