GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata [complete opera recorded in 2012] BLU-RAY Opera Australia / Emma Matthews, Gianluca Terranova, Jonathan Summers / Brian Castles-Onion (cond) [ Opus Arte Opera Australia Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2017 ] "Emma Matthews's Violetta is exuberant and breathtakingly accurate...she has nothing to fear from close scrutiny and amid what must have been considerable challenges she feels free enough to wow the audience." Gramophone |
FRANCESCO CAVALLI
Cavalli: Ercole Amante (complete opera recorded in 2019) BLU-RAY Opera Comique / Nahuel di Pierro, Anna Bonitatibus (mezzo-soprano), Giuseppina Bridelli, Francesca Aspromonte / Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon [ Naxos Unitel Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Feb/2021 ] A sumptuous Baroque spectacle, conceived on a vast scale in this lavish production by directors Valerie Lesort and Christian Hecq. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Xerxes [Serse] (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Opera Frankfurt / Gaëlle Arquez, Elizabeth Sutphen, Lawrence Zazzo, Louise Alder / Constantinos Carydis (cond) [ C Major Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 18/Sep/2018 ] Xerxes is one of Handel's latest and most frequently performed operas, famous for its marvelous opening aria 'Ombra mai fu'. At the centre of the confusing tragicomedy, very loosely based upon the life of Xerxes I of Persia, is a powerful and... |
JONATHAN DOVE
Dove: The Adventures of Pinocchio (Complete opera recorded in 2008) BLU-RAY Opera North / Victoria Simmonds, Jonathan Summers, Mary Plazas, Rebecca Bottone / David Parry, conductor [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Apr/2009 ] "Plaudits should also go to the chorus, whose scenes are always visually and sonically spectacular, while the stunning surround sound of the DVD capturing every detail of Opera North's bold undertaking." (BBC Music Five Stars) |
JEAN CASSANEA de MONDONVILLE
Mondonville: Titon et l'Aurore (complete opera recorded in 2021) BLU-RAY Opéra Comique / Reinoud van Mechelen, Gwendoline Blondeel, Emmanuelle de Negri, Marc Mauillon / Les Arts Florissants, William Christie [ Naxos FRA Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 3/Dec/2021 ] Recorded at the Opéra Comique, Paris, France, 18-19 January 2021 |
HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (complete opera recorded in 2008) Blu-ray Opéra Comique / Malena Ernman, Christopher Maltman, Judith van Wanroij, Hilary Summers / Les Arts Florissants William Christie [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 21/Jan/2022 ] Recorded at the Opéra Comique, Paris, France, 7 and 9 December 2008 |
REYNALDO HAHN
Hahn: Ciboulette (Complete Operetta recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY Opéra Comique, Paris / Julie Fuchs, Jean-François Lapointe, Julien Behr, Eva Ganizate / Accentus Chamber Choir / Laurence Equilbey (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 10/Oct/2021 ] Even if Ciboulette, with its fresh and spruce title, depicts the dawning of sentiments between two young people - the urban aristocrat and the little farm girl - it was written by an experienced and scrupulous composer of almost 50 years of age. |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo (Complete Opera recorded in June 2021) Blu-ray Opéra Comique, Paris / Luciana Mancini, Marc Mauillon, Sara Mingardo / A Capella Reial de Catalunya, Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 9/Sep/2022 ] Monteverdi's L'Orfeo was premiered in 1607 and is the oldest opera still performed today. The narrative is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus who, armed only with the weapons of music and love, descends into Hades. |
JEAN PHILIPPE RAMEAU
Rameau; Hippolyte et Aricie (complete opera recorded in 2020) BLU-RAY Opéra Comique / Reinoud van Mechelen, Elsa Benoit, Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo, Séraphine Cotrez / Raphaël Pichon (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 19/Nov/2021 ] Recorded at the Opéra Comique, Paris, France, 12 and 14 November 2020 |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Chiara E Serafina (complete opera recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Orchestra Gli Originali / Pietro Spagnoli, Matías Moncada, Fan Zhou, Greta Dover / Sesto Quatrini (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 16/Feb/2024 ] Despite the triumphant reception of his first opera, Gaetano Donizetti was young and inexperienced when he was commissioned to write Chiara e Serafina in 1822 for La Scala. Composed in haste, it was met with disapproval at its premiere and... |
SHOSTAKOVICH / JOPLIN / BRIAN ELIAS
Three Ballets - Concerto / Elite Syncopations / The Judas Tree (recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Royal Ballet / Sarah Lamb, Carlos Acosta, Yuhur Choe, Stephen McRae, Leanne Benjamin / Robert Clark, Dominic Grier, Barry Wordsworth (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray Royal Opera House Collection / Blu-ray Disc - released 19/Dec/2010 ] "There has never been a choreographer that I can think of who could produce three such contrasting works, and you sit watching in wonderment at the fertile imaginings of his mind. " Telegraph |
WAGNER
Götterdämmerung (complete opera recorded in Valencia, 2009) BLU-RAY Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia / Juha Uusitalo / John Daszak / Matti Salminen / Anna Larsson / Zubin Mehta (cond) [ C Major Blu-Ray / 2 Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Mar/2010 ] In this production "the visual codes of the digital era become elemental and dazzlingly employed means of narration" (Opernwelt). |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Otello (complete opera recorded in October 2013) BLU-RAY Palazzo Ducale di Venezia / Gregory Kunde, Carmela Remigio, Lucio Gallo, Elisabetta Martorana / Myung-Whun Chung (cond) [ C Major Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2017 ] Directed by Francesco Micheli, this special outdoor "event production" of the Gran Teatro La Fenice supports the claim that "Venice is asserting itself more than ever on a global scale as one of the great capitals of music" (GB Opera). |
BRUNO MANTOVANI
Mantovani: Siddharta (complete ballet recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera Ballet / Nicolas Le Riche, Aurélie Dupont, Stéphane Bullion / Michail Jurowski (cond) [ Arthaus Elegance Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Oct/2016 ] "Preljocaj's own long-term quest has been to harness the earthly, physical nature of dance to its metaphysical possibilities, and in these and similar passages he succeeds magisterially." (The Observer) |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: Iolanta / The Nutcracker (complete opera & ballet recorded in 2016) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera & Ballet / Sonya Yoncheva, Arnold Rutkowski, Alexander Tsymbalyuk / Alain Altinoglu (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Nov/2018 ] In March 2016 Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov created a revolutionary production for the Palais Garnier in Paris - the bringing together of Tchaikovsky's opera Iolanta and ballet The Nutcracker, which was to become one of the key events of... |
CHARLES GOUNOD
Gounod: Mireille (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera / Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo, Franck Ferrari / Marc Minkowski (conductor) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 11/Jun/2021 ] "Marc Minkowski leads the Parisian forces with lightness and grace while the Provençale rhythms spring to life in his hands. The opera's Prelude is a masterpiece of orchestral tone painting, as brilliantly sun-drenched as are Van Gogh's haystacks" MW |
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera / Aida Garifullina, Yuriy Mynenko, Martina Serafin, Maxim Paster / Dmitri Tcherniakov (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 28/May/2021 ] "Tatarnikov is sensitive to the score's brilliant colours and vividly imagined textures, drawing on the fine playing of the Paris Opera Orchestra and the enthusiastic engagement - both vocal and dramatic - of the chorus." BBC Music Five Stars |
W. A. MOZART
La Clemenza di Tito (complete opera recorded in 2005) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera / Susan Graham / Hannah Esther Minutillo / Catherine Naglestad / Ekaterina Siurina / Christoph Pregardien / Sylvain Cambreling [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 27/Oct/2010 ] "An evening of overwhelming beauty." Le Monde |
CHOPIN
La Dame aux Camelias (Complete ballet recorded in 2008) BLU-RAY Paris Opera Ballet / Agnes Letestu / Stephane Bullion / Michael Denard / Dorothee Gilbert / Michael Schmidtsdorff [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / 2 Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Jun/2009 ] DVD Blu-Ray - "A full length ballet which does justice to the Dumas novel on which La traviata is more loosely based. John Neumeier's poetic choreography is blessed with Agnès Letestu's Marguerite." (BBC Music) |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Swan Lake (Complete ballet recorded in 2005) BLU-RAY Paris Opera Ballet / Agnes Letestu / Jose Martinez / Karl Paquette / Vello Pahn (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jun/2008 ] DVD Blu-Ray - "Nureyev has adjusted the already-impressive lines of swans in the older version into spectacular geometric shapes. There seem to be more swans than any production of the ballet I had previously seen." (Four Stars AudAud.com) |