GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata (complete opera Live from the Arena di Verona, 2011] BLU-RAY Arena Di Verona / Ermonela Jaho, Francesco Demuro & Vladimir Stoyanov / Julian Kovatchev (conductor) [ Arthaus Musik BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Mar/2017 ] La Traviata is not only one of Giuseppe Verdi's best known works but ranks among the most popular operas of all times. Based on the novel and play La Dame aux camélias by Alexander Dumas (fi ls), the tragic story of the terminally ill courtesan... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Aida (complete opera recorded in 2012) BLU-RAY + BLU-RAY 3D Arena di Verona / Hui He, Marco Berti, Andrea Ulbrich, Ambrogio Maestri / Daniel Oren (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray Disc - released 25/Nov/2015 ] "It's straightforward, recalling Edwardian toy theatre...And the spectacle isn't overdone...Ulbrich is a fiery Amneris. But it's the Ethiopians who carry the day, with Maestri's thundering Amonasro and, above all, Chinese soprano Hui He's Aida, vocal |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Il Trovatore (complete opera) BLU-RAY Arena di Verona / Luca Salsi, Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov, Dolora Zajick, Riccardo Fassi / Pier Giorgio Morandi (cond) [ C Major Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray - released 22/May/2020 ] It's an event that draws many thousands of music lovers to one of the most beautiful cities in the world every summer: the opera season at the ancient Arena di Verona. The 2,000-year-old roman amphiteatre with its gigantic stage dimensions. |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (complete opera recorded in 2012) BLU-RAY Baden-Baden Festspielhaus / Miah Persson, Rolando Villazon, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Roman Trekel / Pablo Heras-Casado (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Oct/2014 ] "Villazon's Nemorino...comes across as individual, hyperactive, zany, but also a bit petulant and unlovable...Persson exudes easy-going charm...[d'Arcangelo] sings with fine, Italianate comic energy." (Gramophone) |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Tosca (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Baden-Baden Opera / Kristine Opolais, Marcelo Álvarez Mario, Marco Vratogna, Alexander Tsymbalyuk / Sir Simon Rattle [ EuroArts Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Sep/2018 ] "Rattle and his orchestra add both depth and gloss: to hear the shimmer of the Berlin strings in the eerie dwells of the Te Deum is enough to absolve the conductor of his reverential tempos" Gramophone |
STRAVINSKY / FAURE / TCHAIKOVSKY
Jewels [ballet by George Balanchine] (recorded in 2005) BLU-RAY Ballet de L'Opera National de Paris / Aurelie Dupont, Marie-Agnes Gillot, Agnes Letestu, Clairemarie Osta [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Dec/2008 ] DVD Blu-Ray - Jewels, a work first performed by the New York City Ballet in 1967. This alluring, abstract ballet, a triptych in which each piece sparkles with the brilliance of a precious stone, is a lyric tribute to women and to the capital cities... |
ADOLPHE ADAM
Adam: Le Corsaire (complete ballet recorded May 2013) BLU-RAY Ballet du Capitole / Maria Gutierrez, Davit Galstyan, Takafumi Watanabe / David Coleman (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Dec/2008 ] "for anyone wanting to watch expertly and beautifully filmed performances by a very accomplished company of dancers - this innovative account from Toulouse could hardly be bettered." (MusicWeb) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: La Favorite [complete opera recorded in 2016] BLU-RAY Bavarian State Opera / Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecień, Elina Garanca, Mika Kares / Karel Mark Chichon (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Sep/2017 ] The premiere of the French version of Gaetano Donizetti's La Favorite at the Bayerische Staatsoper on 23 October 2016 was a memorable event and this is why: • star mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanca gave her acclaimed theatrical role debut as Léonor de... |
FRANCIS POULENC
Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites (complete opera recorded in 2010) Bayerische Staatsoper / Alain Vernhes, Susan Gritton, Bernard Richter / Kent Nagano (conductor) [ Bel Air Classiques BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 11/Jun/2011 ] "Tcherniakov's production is probably the most physically active Dialogues ever staged. Everyone is seemingly in constant motion...Sylvie Brunet is a memorably formidable and pitiable Croissy...Helen Guilmette's Constance, lively but never cloying or |
ARRIGO BOITO
Boito: Mefistofele (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Bayerische Staatsoper München / René Pape, Joseph Calleja, Kristine Opolais, Karine Babajanyan / Omer Meir Wellber (cond) [ C Major Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Dec/2016 ] Making his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper, director Roland Schwab (a protégé of the legendary Ruth Berghaus) plays devil's advocate by setting the opera in a nightmarish atmosphere. |
ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorak: Rusalka (complete opera recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Bavarian State Opera / Kristne Opolais; Klaus Florian Vogt; Nadia Krasteva; Günther Groissböck; Janina Baechle / Tomà Hanus (cond) [ C Major / Unitel Classics Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 28/Sep/2016 ] "Kristine Opolais is simply splendid as Rusalka. She can both sing and act, and she is a beautiful woman besides. Her Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém is splendidly sung and her dramatic skills throughout the opera are arresting" (ClassicalNet) |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Lohengrin (complete opera recorded at the Bayreuth Festival, August 2011 BLU-RAY Bayreuth Festival / Klaus Florian Vogt, Annette Dasch, Petra Lang, Jukka Rasilainen / Andris Nelsons (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2017 ] Hans Neuenfels's striking new production of Wagner's fairytale opera gives this medieval story of doomed love and sorcery the Bayreuth treatment. As controversial as it is stimulating, this production was the talk of the 2011 Festival, and showcases... |
WAGNER
Der fliegende Holländer [The Flying Dutchman] (Complete opera recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY Bayreuth Festival / Samuel Youn, Franz-Josef Selig, Ricarda Merbeth / Christian Thielemann (conductor) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Aug/2014 ] 2013's revival of Jan Philipp Gloger's controversial 2012 production was greeted (as so often in Bayreuth) with huge acclaim. He translates the tale of the Dutchman, whose travails can only be redeemed through the unconditional love of a woman... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Parsifal (complete opera recorded in 2023) BLU-RAY Bayreuther Festspiele / Andreas Schager, Elīna Garanča, Georg Zeppenfeld, Derek Welton / Pablo Heras-Casado (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray - released 11/Oct/2024 ] The acclaimed new production of Wagner's final opera "Parsifal" is "a musical godsend" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). The successful partnership between Deutsche Grammophon and the Bayreuth Festival continues, and what was started with the 2015... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Tannhäuser (complete opera recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY Bayreuther Festspiele / Torsten Kerl, Camilla Nylund, Markus Eiche, Michelle Breedt / Axel Kobe (conductor) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Sep/2015 ] "Camilla Nylund's Elisabeth has a range of novel emotions to convey, including humour and sexual interest...Question marks begin with the staging" Gramophone |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Enrico di Borgogna (complete opera recorded in 2018) BLU-RAY Bergamo, Teatro Sociale / Anna Bonitatibus, Sonia Ganassi, Francesco Castoro / Alexandro de Marchi (conductor) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Jan/2020 ] "This early Donizetti work shows the composer's potential. It is delightfully realised via costume and staging, along with excellent solo and choral contributions." MusicWeb April 2020 |
ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY
Zemlinsky: Der Zwerg (complete opera recorded in 2019) BLU-RAY Berlin Deutsche / Elena Tsallagova. Emily Magee, Philipp Jekal, Flurina Stucki / Donald Runnicles (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 20/May/2020 ] Based on Oscar Wilde's story The Birthday of the Infanta, Zemlinsky's single-act opera Der Zwerg is the tragic tale of a dwarf who is presented at court, falls in love with the beautiful Donna Clara, but is ultimately forced to see himself as others... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Das Rheingold (complete opera recorded in 2021) BLU-RAY Berlin Opera / Derek Welton, Tobias Kehrer, Thomas Blondelle, Markus Blondelle / Sir Donald Runnicles (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 16/Feb/2024 ] As early as 1851, Wagner wrote, 'I propose to produce my myth in three complete dramas, preceded by a lengthy Prelude.' The Prelude was Das Rheingold ('The Rhine Gold') the preliminary evening of Wagner's epic tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen ('The... |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss: Die Liebe der Danae, Op. 83 (complete opera recorded in 2011) BLU-RAY Berlin Opera / Manuela Uhl, Mark Delavan, Matthias Klink, Thomas Blondelle / Andrew Litton (cond) [ Arthaus Musik BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2016 ] "fine dynamic control (here is one heroic baritone who really can sing intimately), expansive personality and fabulously clear and meaningful textual projection...the orchestra revel in the score under Andrew Litton." (International Record Review) |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Gotterdammerung (complete opera recorded in 2021) BLU-RAY Berlin Opera / Nina Stemme, Clay Hilley, Thomas Lehmann, Aile Asszonyi / Sir Donald Runnicles (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray - released 17/May/2024 ] Götterdämmerung ('Twilight of the Gods') is the final opera of Wagner's epic tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen ('The Ring of the Nibelung') in which his visionary masterpiece reaches its cataclysmic conclusion. Betrayal and death, murder and remorse,... |