STRAVINSKY / MOZART / BIZET / WAGNER / PUCCINI / BRITTEN / etc
Glorious Glyndebourne: (excerpts from various operas recorded at Glyndebourne) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Miah Persson, Topi Lehtipuu, Matthew Rose, Anne Sofie von Otter, Danielle de Niese, John Mark Ainsley, etc [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/May/2014 ] An exuberant brainchild of John Christie, Glyndebourne Festival Opera launched in 1934 with a production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Since then, Glyndebourne has become a byword for excellence, bringing together the finest operatic musicians... |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Poliuto (complete opera recorded in 2016) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Michael Fabiano, Ana Maria Martinez, Igor Golovatenko, Matthew Rose / Enrique Mazzola (conductor) [ Opus Arte / Rai Trade Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 22/Aug/2016 ] Glyndebourne has brought to light a long-overlooked winner in Donizetti's Poliuto, delivering 'a superb musical performance' (The Telegraph) offering 'lucent accounts of the principal roles and an incandescent London Philharmonic Orchestra, under... |
JOHANN STRAUSS 11
Die Fledermaus (complete operetta recorded in 2003) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Pamela Armstrong / Thomas Allen / Ragnar Ulfung / Hakan Hagegard / Vladimir Jurowski (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jul/2008 ] DVD Blu-Ray - 'Vladimir Jurowski gives the bottle a good shake before popping his first cork with the overture. The London Philharmonic are on their toes… The pace is racy, the articulation brilliant, the Viennesisms deftly in place, the waltz fruity... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (complete opera recorded in 2007) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Robert Gambill, Nina Stemme, Katarina Karnéus, Bo Skovhus / Jirí Belohlavek (cond) [ Opus Arte / BBC Blu-Ray / 2 Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "A performance realised to Glyndebourne's highest standards - the chorus and stage brass are Bayreuth-level, the casting immaculate (they can all really sing these parts) and Belohlávek's conducting balanced with a Goodall-like attention to the... |
HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: The Fairy Queen (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Sally Dexter, Joseph Millson, Desmond Barrit, Desmond Barrit, Susannah Wise / William Christie, conductor [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Apr/2010 ] "Jonathan Kent's joyous Glyndebourne production burst[s] with opulent stagecraft...Kent is abetted by William Christie in the pit, a man of the theatre down to his gainfully-employed fingertips...Altogether a riotously funny, ravishingly intelligent |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K384 (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Sally Matthews, Edgaras Montvidas, Tobias Kehrer / Robin Ticciati (conductor) [ Opus Arte / Rai Trade Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 22/Aug/2016 ] Director David McVicar's original-period vision for this Mozartian gem allows its genius to speak for itself, offering a 'mesmerising, sensitive … outstanding' portrayal of Enlightenment-era fascination with the East that is both 'exquisitely acted... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro [The Marriage of Figaro] (complete opera recorded in 2012) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Sally Matthews, Vito Priante, Audun Iversen, Lydia Teuscher, Isabel Leonard / Robin Ticciati (conductor) [ Opus Arte / Rai Trade Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jun/2016 ] "Ticciati paces almost everything superbly, with good, flowing speeds for the letter duet and 'Deh Vieni'. There are no weak links in the predominantly young cast...Matthews as the Countess is outstanding." (Gramophone) |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Ariadne auf Naxos (Complete opera recorded in March 2013) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Soile Isokoski, Kate Lindsey, Laura Claycomb, Sergey Skorokhodov, Thomas Allen / Vladimir Jurowski (conductor) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Aug/2014 ] "Ariadne and Bacchus have rarely been so 'absolutely human'. Soile Isokoski's suicidal patient rings truer than any heroine I've ever seen - and perhaps this is the role's most luminously sung performance...Skorokhodov, as a wounded airman, has lungs |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel Box Set: Rinaldo / Saul / Giulio Cesare (Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, 2005-2015) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Sonia Prina, Anett Fritsch, Sarah Connolly, Danielle de Niese, Christopher Purves, Iestyn Davies / Orchestra of the Age of Enligh [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / 3 Blu-ray Box Set - released 20/Mar/2017 ] "Dantone conducts a strongly characterised performance founded on the alert playing of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment." (BBC Music on Rinaldo) |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: Béatrice et Bénédict (complete opera recorded in 2016) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Stéphanie d'Oustrac, Paul Appleby, Philippe Sly, Sophie Karthäuser, Lionel Lhote / Antonello Manacorda (cond) [ Opus Arte / BBC Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 15/Aug/2017 ] "This is Pellyland, a deeply satisfying comic world with its own style conjured up for Glyndebourne by one of the most assured opera directors at work today" Five Stars BBC Music Opera Choice Sept 2017 |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata (complete opera recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Venera Gimadieva, Michael Fabiano, Tassis Christoyannis, Emanuele D'Aguanno, Magdalena Molendowska / Mark Elder (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Sep/2015 ] Verdi's tragic masterpiece is elegantly updated by director Tom Cairns in this 'fresh and thrillingly unfamiliar' (Independent) Glyndebourne production, in which Violetta's death is cast as an idée fixe, creating a liberating framework that is well... |
LIGETI
Le Grand Macabre (complete opera recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Gran Teatre del Liceu / Chris Merritt, Ines Moraleda, Ana Puche / Michael Boder (cond) [ Arthaus Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Oct/2012 ] Barcelona's Grand Teatre del Liceu presents György Ligeti's sole opera "Le grand macabre" in a stunningly imaginative and highly theatrical production by La Fura dels Baus. |
ROSSINI
La Gazzetta (complete opera recorded in 2005) BLU-RAY Gran Teatre del Liceu / Cinzia Forte / Bruno Pratico / Charles Workman / Pietro Spagnoli / Maurizio Barbacini (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Feb/2012 ] '…ironic and sensual, friendly but with a light taste of satire, La Gazzetta by Rossini has been reborn in this production that has the distinctive stamp of Fo, who has been able to handle with strength the Rossinian chaos without neglecting - and... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Rigoletto (complete opera recorded in 2004) BLU-RAY Gran Teatre Del Liceu / Marcelo Álvarez, Carlos Álvarez , Inva Mula, Julian Konstantinov, Nino Surguladze / Jesus-Lopez Cobos (cond) [ Arthaus Legendary Performances BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2017 ] Sound Format: PCM Stereo Picture Format: 16:9 | Original Language: IT Subtitles: IT, GB, DE, FR, ES, Catalan | Running Time: 130 mins Resolution: 1080i High Definition (Upscale) Blu-ray Disc 25 GB (Single Layer) | FSK: 0 |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Tannhäuser (complete opera recorded in 2008) BLU-RAY Gran Teatre del Liceu / Peter Seiffert, Petra Maria Schnitzer, Béatrice Uria-Monzon, Günther Groissböck, Markus Eiche / Sebastian Weigle (cond) [ C Major / Unitel Classics Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2017 ] "Peter Seiffert sings powerfully and expressively as Tannhauser, and Petra Maria a bit too powerfully as Elisabeth. The orchestra, under Sebastian Weigle, gives a strong account of the score" (BBC Music) |
VINCENZO BELLINI
Bellini: Norma (Complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Gran Teatre del Liceu / Sondra Radvanovsky, Gregory Kunde, Ekaterina Gubanova, Raymond Aceto / Renato Palumbo (cond) [ C Major Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Oct/2016 ] Radvanovsky's performance as Norma has been the fixed point of Newbury's staging. British Opera magazine described her as "fearless in scaling the heights of this bel canto challenge. Her range of colours, were wondrous and energizing." |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini (complete opera recorded in 2007) BLU-RAY Grobes festspielhaus, Salzburg / Burkhard Fritz, Maija Kovalevska, Laurent Naouri, Brindley Sherratt / Valery Gergiev (cond) [ Naxos Unitel Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2010 ] The high-calibre cast, headed by Burkhard Fritz as the temperamental Renaissance artist and the 26-year-old Latvian soprano Maija Kovalevska as Teresa, the woman with whom he tries to elope, is conducted by Valery Gergiev who "pulled out all the... |
PIERRE GAVEAUX
Gaveaux: Leonore (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Opera Lafayette / Kimy McLaren, Pascale Beaudin, Jean-Michel Richer, Keven Geddes / Ryan Brown (cond) [ Naxos Unitel Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Apr/2019 ] "The orchestra under Ryan Brown play with spirit. This is an enterprising and rewarding production, well worth 82 minutes of your time." Gramophone |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: La Belle Helène (complete operaetta sung in French recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY Hamburg State Opera / Jennifer Larmore, Jun-Sang Han, Peter Galliard, Viktor Rud, Rebecca Jo Loeb / Gerrit Priessnitz (cond) [ C Major Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Sep/2015 ] Staged by Renaud Doucet Jacques Offenbach's La Belle Hélène has always been one of its composer's most successful works. Its first performance in Paris was quickly followed by productions in Vienna, Berlin, London, Milan and New York. A satire of... |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea (complete opera) BLU-RAY Hana Blažiková, Kangmin Justin Kim, Carlo Vistoli, Gianluca Buratto, Lucile Richardot / Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardine [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 22/Apr/2022 ] "A crowning glory, you might say, to Gardiner's half century association with Monteverdi" (The Times Five Stars) |