GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Ciro in Babilonia (complete opera recorded live August 2012) BLU-RAY Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro / Ewa Podles, Jessica Pratt, Michael Spyres, Mirco Palazzi / Will Crutchfield (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Oct/2013 ] "There are few better exponents of this genre of Rossini trouser roles, and this one in particular, than Ewa Podles. Formidable in her vocal range, she makes more than a cardboard character out of the part with outstanding acting and singing"MusicWeb |
ADOLPHE-CHARLES ADAM
Adam: Giselle (Complete ballet recorded in 2006) BLU-RAY The Royal Ballet / Alina Cojocaru / Johan Kobborg / Marianela Nunez / Martin Harvey / Boris Gruzin (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jun/2009 ] BLU-RAY - 'Cojocaru's interpretation, everyone seems to agree, is one of the greatest of all time, and she continues to refine it with every performance' The Observer |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Acis and Galatea (complete opera recorded April 2009) BLU-RAY The Royal Opera & Ballet / Danielle de Niese, Charles Workman, Matthew Rose, Paul Agnew / Christopher Hogwood (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Sep/2016 ] "An evening of exquisite sensual pleasure." The Telegraph |
PROKOFIEV
Romeo & Juliet (complete ballet recorded at Covent Garden in 2012) BLU-RAY Royal Ballet / Federico Bonelli, Lauren Cuthbertson, Alexander Campbell, Bennet Gartside / Barry Wordsworth (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Mar/2013 ] G: Given its premiere by The Royal Ballet in 1965 with Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn dancing the title roles, Kenneth MacMillan's first full-evening ballet has become a signature work for the Company, enjoying great popularity around the world. |
LIEBERMANN / DEBUSSY / TCHAIKOVSKY / BIZET
Viscera, Carmen, Afternoon of a Faun & Tchaikovsky pas de deux (live at the Royal Opera House, October 2015) BLU-RAY Royal Ballet / Marianela Nuñez, Carlos Acosta, Federico Bonelli & Matthew Golding, Sarah Lamb & Vadim Muntagirov / Emmanuel Plasson, Martin Yates (con [ BBC / Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Aug/2016 ] Carlos Acosta focuses on the dramatic essentials of love, jealousy and revenge in his new production of Carmen. As well as choreographing the production, Acosta dances a lead role. Liam Scarlett has used Lowell Liebermann's thrilling Piano... |
ADOLPHE ADAM
Giselle (complete ballet recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY Royal Ballet / Natalia Osipova, Carlos Acosta / Boris Gruzin (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Oct/2014 ] "Natalia Osipova [is] a dancer of superlative technique and of incredible grace and refinement in every motion and gesture. The conducting and orchestral playing are secure…and are co-ordinated to the stage action with exceptional precision." Fanfare |
JOHN LANCHBERY
The Tales of Beatrix Potter (choreographer by Frederick Ashton) [recorded 2007] BLU-RAY The Royal Ballet / Victoria Hewitt, Ricardo Cervera, Jonathan Howells / Paul Myrphy (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "Delightful. Witty. Adorable. Charming. Mischievously clever. All excellent adjectives for describing this justly famous Frederick Ashton-John Lanchbery collaboration." (American Record Guide) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Aida (recorded live Covent Garden in 2022) BLU-RAY Royal Opera / Elena Stikhina, Francesco Meli, Agnieszka Rehlis, Ludovic Tézier / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 28/Jun/2024 ] Love and duty collide and nations clash in Verdi's political drama, starring Elena Stikhina. In this new production, director Robert Carsen situates Verdi's large-scale drama within a contemporary world, framing its power struggles and toxic... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Madama Butterfly (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Royal Opera / Ermonela Jaho, Marcelo Puente, Scott Hendricks, Carlo Bosi / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 5/Dec/2018 ] Puccini's Japanese tragedy Madama Butterfly is given a ravishing production by The Royal Opera. Its alluring imagery of Japan from the 19th-century European Imagination heightens the intense clash of East and West. When the American naval officer... |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Les Troyens (complete opera recorded in 2012) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House, Bryan Hymel, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Eva-Maria Westbroek / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Nov/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Rigoletto (Complete Opera recorded in 2021) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Carlos Alvarez, Liparit Avetisyan, Lisette Oropesa / Antonio Pappano [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 31/Mar/2023 ] "Antonio Pappano's conducting is masterly, offering one of the best accounts available." BBC Music |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Il Trovatore (complete opera recorded in 2002) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Jose Cura / Dmitri Hvorostovsky / Veronica Villarroel / Yvonne Naef / Carlo Rizzi (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Dec/2008 ] "Elijah Moshinsky's production is surely as lively and moving as Verdi's intricate masterpiece deserves. Jose Cura sizzles. Dimitri Hvorostovsky is everything one could want to see and hear in a Verdi baritone." (San Francisco Chronicle) |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Theodora (complete opera recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Joyce DiDonato, Julia Bullock, Jakub Jozef Orlinnski / Harry Bicket (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jun/2009 ] Julia Bullock, Joyce DiDonato and Jakub Jozef Orlinski star in Katie Mitchell's thrilling new production of Handel's Theodora in an alternative modern-day reality, Theodora, a religious fundamentalist, plots for the resistance against the Roman... |
DELIBES
Sylvia (complete ballet recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 2005) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Darcey Bussell, Roberto Bolle, Thiago Soares, Martin Harvey / Graham Bond, conductor [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Jan/2010 ] "This DVD… shows the Royal Ballet at the top of its…form. …makes an imperious huntress and a commanding Bacchante" (BBC Music) |
HENRY PURCELL
Dido and Aeneas (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Sarah Connolly, Lucas Meachem, Lucy Crowe, Sara Fulgoni / Christopher Hogwood (cond) [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Jan/2010 ] G - 'Dido is perfectly integrated, and the expressively stylised movements that McGregor has devised for the singers make a fascinating contrast to the gyrations of the corps de ballet.' The Telegraph |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart Operas Box Set: Don Giovanni / Die Zauberflöte / Le nozze di Figaro [complete operas recorded 2003-2008] BLU-RAY Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Simon Keenlyside, Kyle Ketelsen, Miah Persson, Joyce DiDonato, Dorothea Röschmann, Erwin Schrott, etc [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / 5 Blu-ray Box Set - released 20/Nov/2014 ] Containing three of Mozart's best-known and loved operas, this 5-disc box set features outstanding Royal Opera House productions and a raft of world-class artists, available at mid-price for the very first time. |
MASCAGNI / LEONCAVALLO
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana / Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (complete operas recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House / Dimitri Platanias, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Carmen Giannattasio, Eva-Maria Westbroek / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 24/Sep/2016 ] These two short Italian operas are brought together in a new staging by award-winning director Damiano Michieletto, who sets both operas in a poverty stricken village in 1980s southern Italy, where the Mafia has a hold. The Royal Opera's Music... |
TURNAGE
Anna Nicole (complete opera recorded in 2011) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House / Eva-Maria Westbroek, Alan Oke, Gerald Finley / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "The six camera operators get in close enough for us all to appreciate the visual brilliance of Richard Jones's direction and Miriam Buether's colourfully absurd sets. Better yet, the cameras offer extra chances for the Dutch soprano Eva-Maria... |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Guillaume Tell [William Tell] (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House / Gerald Finley, Malin Byström, John Osborn, Sofia Fomina, Nicolas Courjal / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte / BBC Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 15/Aug/2017 ] Rossini's final opera helped to lay the foundations of the genre of French grand opéra that dominated European stages throughout the mid-19th century. The opera's theme is liberty, as exemplified in the struggle against Austrian occupation led by the... |
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE
The Minotaur (complete opera recorded in 2008) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House / John Tomlinson, Johan Reuter, Christine Rice, Andrew Watts / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 30/Nov/2015 ] "The filming reinforces the strengths of Stephen Langridge's tightly controlled, potently expressive production in an economical yet atmospheric setting, with the whole ensemble totally engaged in the drama's dark enterprise." (Gramophone) |