CARL ORFF
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Orff: Carmina Burana Sylvia Greenberg, James Bowman, Stephen Roberts / RSO Berlin und Chor, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca / CD - released 2/Feb/1984 ] "...in recognition of the stunning range and brilliance of the Decca recording as presented on CD with bass drum at the very start shatteringly real-sounding in its specific focus." Gramophone |
W. A. MOZART
Sir Colin Davis conducts Mozart Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sir Colin Davisa, The Orchestra of St. Luke's, Sir Colin Davis [ Sony / RCA Classical Masters / 4 CD Box Set - released 10/Dec/2021 ] "Twelve of Mozart scintillating Overtures are given superlative performances with the justly famous Staatskapelle of Dresden conducted with great panache by Colin Davis on this marvellous CD." classical-music.com |
JOHN IRELAND / YORK BOWEN / WILLIAM ALWYN / ERIC COATES / JAMES FRANCIS BROWN
British Violin Sonatas Vol.3 Tasmin Little (violin) Piers Lane (piano) [ Chandos / CD - released 1/May/2020 ] "The performers respond to both aspects of [Bowen's] music with muscular virtuosity and affection." BBC Music Award WINNER 2021 - Chamber |
EDMUND RUBBRA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rubbra: Violin Concerto / Viola Concerto Tasmin Little (violin), Rivka Golani (viola) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley [ Conifer Classics / CD - released 3/Oct/1994 ] "The recording has presence and there is ideal balance between orchestra and soloists, a tribute to one of the great British conductors, Vernon Handley, and his engineers." Review |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Peter Grimes (complete opera recorded in 2012) BLU-RAY Teatre alla Scala / John Graham-Hall, Susan Gritton, Christopher Purves, Felicity Palmer / Robin Ticciati (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / DVD - released 31/Jul/2013 ] "Gritton's Ellen is remarkable...[Graham-Hall ] lives his role - earnest, lonely, impulsive, with a desperate desire for acceptance...Ticciati is in full control from the start" Gramophone DVD of the month July 2013 |
PROKOFIEV / TCHAIKOVSKY / MINKUS / MOZART
Ballets: Romeo & Juliet / The Sleeping Beauty / Don Quixote / Le Corsaire / The Lovers' Garden (Blu-ray) Teatro Alla Scala Ballet, with Natalia Osipova, Leonid Sarafanov, Nicoletta Manni, Roberto Bolle, Misty Copeland, etc [ C Major Blu-ray / 5 Blu-ray Box Set - released 12/Nov/2021 ] Five outstanding ballets from the legendary Teatro Alla Scala. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI / W. A. MOZART
Operas - Aida / I Due Foscari / Die Zauberflote / Le Nozze di Figaro / Die Entfuhrung] (complete operas recorded 2015 - 2019) Teatro alla Scala / Anita Rachvelishvili, George Gagnidze, Placido Domingo, Anna Pirozzi, Martin Summer, Yasmin Ozkan, Carlos Alvarez, Diana Damaru [ C Major DVD / 8 Blu-ray Box Set - released 20/Aug/2021 ] FIVE OUTSTANDING OPERAS FROM THE LEGENDARY TEATRO ALLA SCALA: ON BLU-RAY |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: La Cenerentola (complete opera.recorded in 1981) Teatro alla Scala / Frederica von Stade, Margherita Guglielmi, Laura Zannini, Francisco Araiza, Claudio Desderi, Paolo Montarsolo / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / Unitel DVD / DVD - released 8/Nov/2005 ] Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's staging of this classic fairy tale, originally created for the San Francisco Opera in 1969, has been one of the most successful opera stagings of the 20th century |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (Complete opera directed by Franco Zeffirelli in 1965) Teatro alla Scala Opera / Mirella Freni / Adriane Martino / Gianni Raimondi / Herbert von Karajan (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon / Unitel DVD / DVD - released 15/Jun/2006 ] "A Bohème you can believe in." (The New York Times) |
GIOACCHINIO ROSSINI
Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri [An Italian in Algeries] (complete opera recorded in 2013) Teatro Comunale di Bologna / Anna Goryachova, Alex Esposito, Yijie Shi & Mario Cassi / José Ramón Encinar [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Aug/2014 ] Pesaro's new offering in 2013 was an off-the-wall production of Rossini's popular comedy, 'The Italian Girl in Algiers', presented as a Swinging Sixties, James Bond adventure, set in the desert oil fields of the North African coast. Davide... |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: Guillaume Tell [William Tell] (complete opera recorded in 2013) Teatro Comunale di Bologna / Nicola Alaima, Marina Rebeka, Juan Diego Flórez, Amanda Forsythe / Michele Mariotti (cond) [ Decca Music Group DVD / 2 DVD - released 15/Apr/2015 ] At last the undisputed Rossini tenor par excellence, Juan Diego Florez makes his debut in the hugely demanding role of Arnold in 'Guillaume Tell' and "masters his part with seemingly effortless perfection" (Die Presse). |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: Matilde di Shabran (complete opera recorded in 2012) Teatro Comunale di Bologno / Juan Diego Florez, Anna Goryachova, Olga Peretyatko / Michele Mariotti (cond) [ Decca DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Sep/2013 ] The opera that few tenors dare sing and which Flórez has made his own throughout his career. |
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI
Pergolesi: Adriano in Siria (Complete opera recorded live in 2011) BLU-RAY Teatro Comunale Pergolesi / Marina Comparato, Lucia Cirillo, Annamaria Dell'Oste / Ottavio Dantone (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Apr/2012 ] "Top marks go to conductor and director for giving the music space to breathe. The vocal cast is almost uniformly brilliant. Dell'Oste is in a class of her own: she turns coloratura into eloquent, heart-rending declarations" (BBC Music) |
ENNIO PORRINO
Porrino: I Shardana (Complete opera recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY Teatro Lirico di Cagliari / Manrico Signorini, Angelo Villari, Gianpiero Ruggeri, Domenico Balzani / Anthony Bramall (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2015 ] Porrino's drama mirrors a period in archaeology when Nuragic Sardinia was discussed even in non-specialist circles, with the island's bronze statuettes and megaliths recalling a primeval society at the origins of European civilization. |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Semiramide (Complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Vlaamse Opera Antwerpi / Myrtò Papatanasiu, Ann Hallenberg, Josef Wagner, Robert McPherson, Igor Bakan / Alberto Zedda (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 11/May/2016 ] "The singer's unfailing musicality and sincerity offer much pleasure..Zedda's speeds are well judged." (International Record Review) |
PHILIP GLASS
Glass: The Perfect American (complete opera recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY Teatro Real / David Pittsinger, Donald Kaasch, Christopher Purves, Janis Kelly / Dennis Russell Davies (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Oct/2013 ] "The dark tone is set from the beginning...Purves impresses conveys the complex and ultimately flawed character of Walt...Opus Arte's production is excellent...and brings The Perfect American - such as it is - very vividly to life." Gramophone |
LEOS JANACEK
Janacek: Jenufa (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Teatro Real Madrid / Amanda Roocroft, Deborah Polaski, Nikolai Schukoff / Ivor Bolton (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Aug/2011 ] "Something in the composer's writing brings out the best in [Roocroft's] creamy voice and committed acting, and here she's superb as a young woman who forgives her stepmother for committing a terrible crime." (ClassicFM) |
PIETRO MASCAGNI / RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana / Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (complete operas recorded in 2007) BLU-RAY Teatro Real / Violeta Urmana / Vincenzo La Scola / Vladimir Galouzine / Maria Bayo/ Carlo Guelfi / Jesus Lopez-Cobos (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 2/Feb/2009 ] Blu-Ray - "The performances are uniformly superb; especially Violeta Urmana's Santuzza and Vladimir Galouzine's Canio, especially in the aria Vesti La Giubba, where he almost brings down the house. Very highly recommended!" (AudAud.com) |
JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Thais (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Teatro Regio Torino / Barbara Frittoli, Lado Ateneli, Alessandro Liberatore / Gianandrea Noseda (cond) [ Arthaus Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Oct/2012 ] "Ataneli gives a strong performance but the highly stylised nature of the staging doesn't allow for much subtlety of expression. Gianandrea Noseda conducts with... sensitivity for Massenet's style" (Gramophone) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Il Borgomastro di Saardam (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Teatro Sociale di Bergamo / Giorgio Caoduro, Juan Francisco Gatell, Andrea Concetti, Irina Dubrovskaya / Roberto Rizzi Brignoli (conductor) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jul/2015 ] Having fallen into oblivion following performances in 1839, this attractive, rare opera buffa was revived in 1973 in the Dutch city of Zaanstad (the Saardam of the libretto). It's staged on this recording at Bergamo's Teatro Sociale. |