Verdi I due Foscari opera to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Directed 2019 by Leo Muscato at the Teatro Regio di Parma. Stars Vladimir Stoyanov (Francesco Foscari), Stefan Pop (Jacopo Foscari), Maria Katzarava (Lucrezia Contarini), Giacomo Prestia (Jacopo Loredano), Francesco Marsiglia (Barbarigo), Erica Wenmeng Gu (Pisana), Vasyl Solodkyy (Attendant of the Council of Ten), and Gianni De Angelis (Servant of the Doge). Paolo Arrivabeni conducts the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, the Orchestra Giovanile della Via Emilia, and the Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma (Chorus Master Martino Faggiani). Set design by Andrea Belli; costume design by Silvia Aymonino; lighting design by Alessandro Verazzi. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti and Adriano Figari. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBeethoven Leonore opera to libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner. (This is the 1805 version of “Leonore/Fildelio.”) Performed 2020 by Opera Lafayette as directed by Oriol Tomas at the Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College, New York. Stars Nathalie Paulin (Leonore/Fidelio), Jean-Michel Richer (Florestan), Stephen Hegedus (Rocco), Pascale Beaudin (Marzelline), Matthew Scollin (Pizarro), Keven Geddes (Jaquino), and Alexandre Sylvestre (Don Fernando). Ryan Brown conducts the Opera Lafayette Orchestra and Chorus. Set and costume design by Laurence Mongeau; lighting design by Rob Siler; hair and make-up design by Georgiana Eberhard; sound engineering by Marlan Barry. Directed for TV by Jason Starr. Sung in German. Released 2021, disc has PCM stereo sound only. Grade: NA
We usually don’t cover operas that are recorded in stereo sound only. But we make an exception because this fills in a gap in our coverage of Beethoven’s Leonore/Fidelio opera adventures. There are 3 versions of what we call “Leonore/Fidelio,” and this 1805 effort was the earliest of them. It’s offered here by the highly respected and specialized Opera Lafayette, which focuses mostly on French Baroque works. One of those French operas, Léonore; ou, L'amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, was the inspiration for Beethoven to do a German language version, and this was Beethoven’s first stab at it. Today the 1805 version is mostly ignored, but some experts say it’s better than Beethoven’s later revisions in 1806 and 1814.
Read MoreVerdi Falstaff opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2019 by Laurent Pelly at the Teatro Real, Madrid. Stars Roberto De Candia (Sir John Falstaff), Joel Prieto (Fenton), Christophe Mortagne (Dr. Caius), Mikeldi Atxalandabaso (Bardolfo), Valeriano Lanchas (Pistola), Rebecca Evans (Mrs. Alice Ford), Simone Piazzola (Ford), Ruth Iniesta (Nannetta), Daniela Barcellona (Mistress Quickly), and Maite Beaumont (Mrs. Meg Page). Danielle Rustioni conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Real (Chorus Master Andrés Máspero). Set design by Barbara de Limburg; costume design by Laurent Pelly; lighting design by Joël Adam; musical assistant director was Alessandro Poleggi; assistants to the stage director were Christian Räth and Barbara Lluch; sets and costume assistant was Anuschka Braun. Directed for TV by Stéphane Lebard; produced by François Duplat and Xavier Dubois. Sung in Italian. Released in 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreThomas Larcher Das Jagdgewehr (“The Hunting Gun”) opera to a libretto by Friederike Gösweiner after the novel Ryōjū by Yasushi Inoue. Directed 2018 by Karl Markovics at the Brergenz Festival. Stars Sarah Aristidou (Shoko), Giulia Peri (Midori), Olivia Vermeulen (Saiko), Robin Tritscher (The Poet), and Andrè Schuen (Josuke Misugi). Michael Boder conducts the Ensemble Modern and the Schola Heidelberg (Chorus Master Walter Nussbaum). Set and costume design by Katharina Wöppermann; lighting design by Bernd Purkrabek; sound design by Norbert Ommer; dramatic advisor was Olaf A. Shmitt. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Der Fliegende Holländer opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2019 by Paul Curran at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Thomas Gazheli (The Dutchman), Marjorie Owens (Senta), Mikhail Petrenko (Daland), Berhnard Berchtold (Erik), Annette Jahns (Mary), and Timothy Oliver (Daland’s Steerman). Fabio Luisi conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Coro Ars Lyrica (Chorus Masters Lorenzo Fratini and Marco Bargagna). Set design by Saverio Santoliquido; costume design by Gabriella Ingram; lighting design by David Martin Jacques; video design by Otto Driscoll. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreGaspare Spontini Fernand Cortez, ou la Conquête du Mexique (“Hernán Cortés, or The Conquest of Mexico”) opera to a libretto by Étienne de Jouy and Joseph-Alphonse d’Esménard. Directed 2019 by Cecilia Ligorio at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Dario Schmunck (Fernand Cortez), Luca Lombardo (Télasco), David Ferri Durà (Alvar), André Courville (Le Grand Prètre des Mexicains), Gianluca Margheri (Moralez), Lisandro Guinis (Un Officier Espagnol), David Ciarrocchi and Nicolò Ayroldi (Deux Prisonniers Espagnols), Leonardo Melani (Un Officier Mexicain), Davide Siega (Un Marin), Alexia Voulgaridou (Amazily), and Silvia Capra and Delia Palmieri (Deux Femmes de la Suite d’Amazily). Also stars dancers from Compagnia Nuovo BallettO di ToscanA (Artistic Director Cristina Bozzolini) Jean-Luc Tingaud conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set design by Massimo Checchetto and Alessia Colosso; costume design by Vera Pierantoni Giua; lighting design by Maria Domènech Gimenez; choreography by Alessio Maria Romano. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in French. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: NA
Read MorePurcell King Arthur opera to libretto by John Dryden. Directed 2017 by Sven-Eric Bechtolf and Julian Crouch at the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater, Berlin. Stars actors Michael Rotschopf (Arthur), Max Urlacher (Oswald), Axel Wandtke (Conon), Hans-Michael Rehberg (Merlin), Oliver Stokowski (Osmond), Tom Radisch (Grimbald), Steffen Schortie Scheumann (Aurelius), Meike Droste (Emmeline), and Sigrid Maria Schnückel (Matilda). Stars sopranos Anett Fritsch and Robin Johannsen, countertenor Benno Schachtner, tenors Mark MIlhofer and Stephan Rügamer, and baritones Arttu Kataja and Johannes Weisser. Also stars Dancers of the skills ensemble. René Jacobs conducts the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and the Choir of the Staatsoper Under den Linden (Chorus Master Martin Wright). Set design by Julian Crouch; choreography by Gail Skrela; costume design by Kevin Pollard; lighting design by Olaf Freese; video design by Joshua Higgason; dramaturgy by Detlef Giese. Directed for TV by Andy Sommer; produced by François Duplat. Sung in English with German dialogue. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Idomeneo opera to a libretto by Gianbattista Varesco. Directed 2019 by Robert Carsen at the Teatro Real, Madrid. Stars Eric Cutler (Idomeno), David Portillo (Idamante), Anett Fritsch (Ilia), Eleonora Buratto (Elettra), Benjamin Hulett (Arbace), Oliver Johnston (High Priest of Neptune), and Alexander Tsymbalyuk (The Voice of Neptune). Ivor Bolton conducts the Teatro Real Chorus and Orchestra (Chorus Master Andrés Máspero). Stage design by Robert Carsen and Luis F. Carvalho; costume design by Luis F. Carvalho; lighting design by Robert Carsen and Peter van Praet; choreography by Marco Berriel; video design by Will Duke. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRespighi La bella dormente nel bosco (The Sleeping Beauty in English) opera to a libretto by Gian Bistolfi after the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. Directed 2017 by Leo Muscato at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. Stars Veta Pilipenko (La Regina/The Queen, La Vecchietta/The Old Lady, La Rana/The Frog); Angela Nisi (La Principessa/The Princess); Antonio Gandía (Il Principe Aprile/The Prince April); Vincenzo Taormina (Il Re/The King, L’Ambasciatore/The Ambassador); Shoushik Barsoumian (La Fata Azzurra/The Blue Fairy); Lara Rotili (La Fata Verde/The Green Fairy, Il Gatto/The Cat, La Duchessa/The Duchess, Il Cuculo/The Cuckoo); Claudia Urru (Il Fuso/The Spindle, L’Usignolo/The Nightingale); Enrico Zarra (Mister Dollar, Il Buffone/The Jester); Nicola Ebau (Un Boscaiuolo/A Lumberjack), and Niccola Ebau, Francesco Leone, Marco Puggioni, and Enrico Zara (I quaddri Medici/The Four Doctors).
Read MoreWagner Die Walküre to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2018 by Keith Warner at Royal Opera House. Stars Stuart Skelton (Siegmund), Emily Magee (Sieglinde), Ain Anger (Hunding), John Lundgren (Wotan), Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde), and Sarah Connolly (Fricka). Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Vasko Vassilev). Set design by Stefanos Lazaridis; costume design by Marie-Jeanne Lecca; lighting design by Wolfgang Göbbel; video design by Mic Pool and Dick Straker; movement direction by Michael Barry. Directed for TV by Jonathan Haswell. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has and 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Le nozze di Figaro opera to libretto by Lorenza da Ponte. Directed 2014 by Felix Breisach at the Theater an der Wien. Stars Bo Skovhus (Conte di Almaviva); Christine Schäfer (Contessa di Almaviva); Mari Eriksmoen (Susanna); Andrè Schuen (Figaro); Elisabeth Kulman (Cherubino); Ildikó Raimondi (Marcellina); Peter Kálmán (Bartolo/Antonio); Mauro Peter (Basilio/Don Curzio); and Christina Gansch (Barbarina). Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the Concentus Musicus Wien and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus Master Erwin Ortner). Staging and costumes by Doris Maria Aigner; scenic arrangement by Felix Breisach. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Sung in Italian. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
This video was made 6 years ago—a bad sign. There’s no director because this is an un-staged concert production of the opera. The package does credit Felix Breisach for “scenic arrangement.” That means, I think, that
Read MoreVerdi Nabucco opera to a libretto by Temistocle Solera. Directed 2019 by Stefano Ricci at the Teatro Regio di Parma. Stars Amartuvshin Enkhbat (Nabucco), Ivan Magri (Ismaele), Michele Pertusi (Zaccaria), Saioa Hernández (Abigaille), Annalisa Stroppa (Fenena), Gianluca Breda (High Priest of Baal), Manuel Pierattelli (Abdallo), and Elisabetta Zizzo (Anna). Francesco Ivan Ciampa conducts the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, the Orchestra Giovanelle della Via Emilia, and the Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma (Chorus Master Martino Faggiani). Set design by Nicolas Bovey; costume design by Gianluca Sbicca; light design by Alessandro Carletti; choreography by Marta Bevilacqua. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti and Adriano Figari. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Così fan tutte opera to libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Directed 2010 by Jonathan Miller at the Royal Opera House. Stars Pavlov Breslik (Ferrando), Stéphane Degout (Guglielmo), Thomas Allen (Don Alfonso), Maria Bengtsson (Fiordiligi), Jurgita Adamonyté (Dorabella), and Rebecca Evans (Despina). Thomas Hengelbrock conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Co-Concert Master Sergey Levitin; Fortepiano Continuo Christopher Wilis) and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Director Renato Balsadonna; Chorus Director for this Revival Stephen Westrop). Set design by Jonathan Miller with Tim Blazdell, Andrew Jameson, Colin Maxwell, Catherine Smith, and Anthony Waterman; costume design by Sabine Lemaïtre in collaboration with Jonathan Miler; lighting design by Jonathan Miller and John Charlton. Directed for TV by Robin Lough. Sung in Italian. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
This title, released in 2021, was recorded in 2010, so it’s an old-timer. In fact, it was an old-timer near the end of the line in 2010! This production harks back all the way to 1995 . . .
Read MoreOffenbach Les Contes d'Hoffmann opera to a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. Directed 2018 by Tobias Kratzner. Stars Nina Minasyan (Olympia), Ermonela Jaho (Antonia), Christine Rice (Giulietta), Irene Roberts (La Muse), Eva Kroon (La Voix de la Tombe), John Osborn (Hoffmann), Erwin Schrott (Lindorf/Coppelius/Le docteur Miracle/Le captaine Dapertutto), Rodolphe Briand (Spalanzani), Paul Gay (Crespel/Maître Luther), François Lis (Peter Schlémil), Sunnyboy Dladla (Andrès/Cochenille/Frantz/Pittichinaccio), Mark Omvlee (Nathanaël), Frederik Bergman (Hermann), Alexander de Jong (Wilhelm), and Peter Arink (Le captaine des Sbires). Carlo Rizzi conducts the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dutch National Opera Chorus (Chorus Master Ching-Lien Wu). Set and costume design by Rainer Sellmaier; lighting design by Bernd Purkrabek; dramaturgy by Klaus Bertisch. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRuggero Leoncavallo Pagliacci opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2019 by Luigi Di Gangi and Ugo Giacomazzi at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Vlaeria Sape (Nedda/Colombina); Angelo Villari (Canio/Pagliaccio); Devid Cecconi (Tonio/Taddeo); Matteo Mezzaro (Peppe/Arlecchino); Leon Kim (Silvio); Vito Luciano Roberti (A villager); Leonardo Melani (A villager); and Elena Barsotti, Gaia Mazzeranghi, Erika Melli, Jane Tayar, Paolo Arcangeli, Cristiano Colangelo, Pierangelo Preziosa, and Davide Reiminucci (Extras). Valerio Galli conducts the Orchestra, Coro e Coro delle voci blanche del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set design by Federica Parolini; costume design by Agnese Rabatti; lighting design by Luigi Biondi. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
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