GEORGE GERSHWIN
Porgy and Bess (Complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY San Francisco Opera / Eric Owens, Laquita Mitchell, Chauncey Packer, Lester Lynch, Angel Blue / John DeMain (conductor) [ EuroArts San Francisco Opera Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Apr/2014 ] "Triumphant! A top-notch, sold-out Porgy and Bess." San Francisco Examiner This is the first live recording of The Gershwins'®Porgy and Bessâ„ on DVD! George Gershwin miraculously melded classical idioms, jazz, blues and spirituals in this... |
GEORGE GERSHWIN
Show Boat (Complete musical recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY San Francisco Opera / Heidi Stober, Michael Todd Simpson, Kirsten Wyatt, John Bolton / John DeMain (conductor) [ EuroArts San Francisco Opera Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2015 ] "A triumph-a stylish, fast-paced and colorful show that had the capacity audience on its feet, cheering loud and long" (Chicago Classical Review) |
ARRIGO BOITO
Boito: Mefistofele (Complete opera recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY San Francisco Opera / Ildar Abdrazakov, Ramón Vargas, Patricia Racette, Erin Johnson / Nicola Luisotti (conductor) [ EuroArts San Francisco Opera BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Jul/2016 ] Boito's resplendent retelling of Goethe's Faust, a monumental work of "choral grandeur and melodic richness" (The New York Times) in one of the most impressive productions ever seen at the War Memorial Opera House. The cast includes Ramón Vargas,... |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: Orlando Furioso (complete opera recorded in 1989) BLU-RAY San Francisco Opera / Marilyn Horne, Susan Patterson, Jeffrey Gall, William Matteuzzi / Randall Behr (cond) [ Arthaus Legendary Performances Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 15/Feb/2019 ] Pier Luigi Pizzi's 1979 production of Orlando furioso in Verona marked the beginning of contemporary international interest in Antonio Vivaldi's operas. Ten years later the same director once more produced this work at the San Francisco Opera. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Alcina / Tamerlano (complete operas recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Sandrine Piau, Maite Beaumont, Christophe Dumaux, Jeremy Ovenden, Sophie Karthauser, Ann Hallenberg / Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset (conduct [ Alpha BLU-RAY / 2 Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Feb/2017 ] "This is essential viewing for those who take Handel as a dramatist seriously." Gramophone DVD of the Month January 2017 |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Walkure (complete opera recorded in 2011) Sofia Opera / Martin Iliev, Tsvetana Bandalovska, Nikolay Petrov, Bayasgalan Dashnyam / Pavel Baleff (cond) [ Dynamic / Blu-ray - released 18/Jun/2021 ] Die Walküre is the second part of Der Ring des Nibelungen and has remained the most popular of the tetralogy of operas. |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Le Comte Ory (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Malmo Opera / Leonardo Ferrando, Erika Miklósa, Daniela Pini, Lars Arvidson, Igor Bakan / Tobias Ringborg (cond) [ Decca Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2018 ] Le Comte Ory is the last of Rossini's comic operas, making full use of the libretto's farcical disguises and humour in one of his most colourfully orchestrated scores. |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann [The Tales of Hoffmann] (complete opera recorded in 2021) (Blu-ray) Staatsoper Opera / Benjamin Bernheim, Olga Peretyatko, Angela Brower, Luca Pisaroni / Kent Nagano (con) [ EuroArts Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 25/Feb/2022 ] "Nagano sweeps it all along with sensuality and verve; the Hamburg orchestra is on colourful form and for a staging that is (essentially) a piece of glorious escapism, it leaves you with a surprising amount to ponder." Gramophone Magazine April 2022 |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Lohengrin (complete opera recorded in 2018) BLU-RAY Staatsoper Stuttgart / Michaël König, Simone Schneider, Martin Gantner, Okka von der Damerau / Cornelius Meister [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 20/Nov/2020 ] What are heroes made of and why do our societies need them so badly ? At the Staatsoper Stuttgart, stage director Árpád Schilling tries to answer this mythological, political and existential question, lying at the core of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin.... |
HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: King Arthur (complete opera recorded in 2017, Sung in English with German dialogue) BLU-RAY Staatsoper unter den Linden / Anett Fritsch, Robin Johannsen, Benno Schachtner / Berlin Akademie für Alte Musik, René Jacobs [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/May/2020 ] The collaboration of the poet John Dryden and Henry Purcell marked a conspicuous leap forward for English opera. Their greatest project, King Arthur, is a five-act dramatick opera, the text of which had its origins in a patriotic musical play Dryden... |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, R: Der Rosenkavalier (complete opera recorded in Tokyo in 2007) BLU-RAY Staatsopernchor Dresden / Kurt Rydl, Anke Vondung, Anne Schwanewilms, Elisabeth Wilke/ Fabio Luisi (cond) [ EuroArts Medici Arts Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Sep/2011 ] "This Dresden Rosenkavalier captured on tour in Japan has to be seen for Anne Schwanewilms's Marschallin, one of the most consummate operatic performances I've ever seen" (BBC Music) |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: La Pericole (Complete Operetta recorded in 2022) {Blu-ray) Stephanie D'Oustrac, Philippe Talbot, Tassis Christoyannis, Eric Huchet / Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Julien Leroy [ Naxos BLU-RAY / Blu-ray - released 10/Feb/2023 ] La Perricholi - in reality, Micaela Villegas - was Lima's leading theatrical l lady in the 1770s when Peru was a Spanish colony. Her life was fictionalised in a one-act play by Prosper Mérimée and a libretto was fashioned on which Offenbach created... |
VINCENZO BELLINI
Bellini: I Puritani (complete opera recorded in 2018) BLU-RAY Stuttgart Opera / Ana Durlovski, René Barbera, Roland Bracht, Diana Haller / Manlio Benzi, conductor [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Oct/2019 ] "Barbera sings Arturo with a mellow beauty of tone that has surely never been matched in the 21st century, enhanced by expressive diction, the smoothest of legatos and a rare ease in the vocal stratosphere." Opera |
VERDI
Verdi: Aida (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Tatiana Serjan / Iano Tamar / Rubens Pelizzari / Iain Paterson / Vienna Symphonic Orchestra / Carlo Rizzi [ C Major Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Oct/2010 ] In this production from 2009 stage director Graham Vick and set designer Paul Brown conjure up an "open-air spectacle of superlatives" (Die Zeit). Photos of the stage went to all over the world. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Aida (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Kristin Lewis, Fabio Sartori, Anita Rachvelishvili, George Gagnidze / Zubin Mehta (cond) [ C Major Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 22/Aug/2016 ] STAGED BY: Peter Stein Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece Aida at La Scala in Milan is an experience in itself. Consequently, this new production is an event barely to be surpassed, especially when played before La Scala's notoriously critical audience.... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Siegfried (complete opera recorded in 2012) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Lance Ryan, Peter Bronder, Terje Stensvold, Johannes Martin Kränzle / Daniel Barenboim [ Arthaus Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2017 ] "Stensvold (Wanderer) sings with perfectly centred tone, terrific staying power and command of broad legato phrases...Surprisingly, though, it's Alberich here who possesses the more beautiful voice: baritone Johannes Martin Kranzle." (IRR) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, K620 [The Magic Flute] (complete opera recorded in 2016) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Martin Summer, Yasmin Özkan, Martin Piskorski, Fatma Said, Till von Orlowski / Ádám Fischer (cond) [ C Major Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/May/2017 ] Accompanied by a luxurious team of professionals, consisting of the renowned stage director Peter Stein, stage designer Ferdinand Wöger and conductor Ádám Fischer, Teatro alla Scala presents Mozart's Zauberflöte. In this production, orchestra,... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Turandot (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Nina Stemme, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Maria Agresta, Alexander Tsymbaluk / Riccardo Chailly(cond) [ Decca Music Group Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/May/2017 ] "A firm recommendation for this eminently watchable offering from the theatre of the opera's premiere." Gramophone Blu-ray of the Month April 2017 |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Walkure (complete opera recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Simon O'Neill, John Tomlinson, Vitalij Kowaljow, Waltraud Meier / Daniel Barenboim (cond) [ Arthaus Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2017 ] "Gubanova is a steely, imperious Fricka. Best of all, though, is Nina Stemme's Brunnhilde. It's a radiant performance, occasionally effortful, but Stemme's golden tone stands the pressure." (BBC Music) |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Turandot (complete opera recorded in 2012) BLU-RAY Teatro Carlo Felice / Daniela Dessi, Massimo La Guardia, Mario Malagnini, Ramaz Chikviladze / Donato Renzetti (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2017 ] Turandot, one of Puccini's most powerful and original operas, is a favourite with audiences. Musically, it is one of the composer's most modern and innovative scores, and also a work that calls for sumptuous sets and dramatic costumes. |