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. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 2009) Teodor Ilincai / Hibla Gerzmava / Gabriele Viviani / Inna Dukach / Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra / Andris Nelsons [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Aug/2010 ] "In every sense this Boheme glows...Teodor Ilincai is a splendid Rodolfo...radiating Italian lyricism and boyish good nature. Hibla Gerzmava is a gorgeous Mimi...Inna Dukach is a splendid Musetta...On DVD it looks and sounds wonderful - but on... |
ANNA AKHMATOVA
Anna Akhmatova: Three Works Terence ONeill-Joyce (narrator) wih Alexander Ivashkin (cello) [ Ode Records / CD - released 9/Jun/2008 ] For the people of Russia Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) is a legend. She was one of the Great Russian poets, a real link between the culture of the so called Silver Age (1900-1914) - and the Soviet era. During the Soviet Era her books were almost... |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia [The Barber of Seville] complete studio recording of the opera recorded in 1972 Teresa Berganza, Luigi Alva, Hermann Prey, Enzo Dara / Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon 2 CD + Blu-ray Audio + DVD / 4 CD/DVD Box Set - released 17/Mar/2023 ] The hardcover edition of Claudio Abbado's legendary recording of Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville is out of print and now available in a new packaged set: 2 CD + BD audio (24bit/96kHz) + DVD video box set. |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: La Cenerentola [Cinderella] (complete opera recorded in 1972) Teresa Berganza, Luigi Alva, Renato Capecchi, Paolo Montarsolo / Scottish Opera Chorus / London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon Opera House / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2013 ] "One of the great classic opera recordings of a work that balances farce with touching romance." (BBC Music) |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Don Giovanni (complete opera with full libretto) Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming, Ann Murray, Michele Pertusi / London Philhmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca / 3 CD Box Set - released 2/Feb/1997 ] "It is as finely disciplined as any other Solti performance, the orchestral playing is excellent, and the rhythms are crisp, strong and tautly held. There is a sense of spaciousness to the direction that is unusual these days...But there is certainly... |
HILDEGARD von BINGEN / PALESTRINA / LOTTI / WEELKES / BYRD / ANONYMOUS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Renaissance en Provence - Traditional Music of Southern France The Terra Nova Consort [ Dorian Recordings / CD - released 1/Jun/1999 ] Renaissance en Provence marks the debut of the Terra Nova Consort on Dorian, following its success in the label's first recording competition. Founded in 1988 and long associated with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, this early music ensemble... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schubert: Piano Sonatas D960, D459 & D840 (with works by Brahms, Chopin, Faure & Debussy) Tessa Birnie (piano) [ ABC Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2008 ] ABC Classics launches its new Australian Masters series with a 3-CD collection featuring Tessa Birnie's legendary interpretation of Schubert's B-flat major Piano Sonata and ground-breaking performance of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. |
EDWIN CARR / LARRY PRUDEN / ANTHONY RITCHIE / JOHN ELMSLY / etc
La Belle Alliance Tessa Petersen (violin) John van Buskirk (piano) [ Ode Records / CD - released 1/Jul/2012 ] La Belle Alliance is an instrumental duo featuring New Zealand violinist Tessa Petersen and American pianist John Van Buskirk. |
JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Cendrillon (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Theater Freiburg / Kim-Lillian Strebel, Anja Jung, Anat Czarny / Fabrice Bollon (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 18/Sep/2018 ] Massenet's opera Cendrillon has enjoyed enduring popularity on stage and in recordings, but there are surprisingly few Blu-ray releases of this enchanting work. |
JOHANN JOHANNSSON
Jóhannsson: Drone Mass (LP) Theatre of Voices, American Contemporary Music Ensemble, Paul Hillier [ Deutsche Grammophon / LP - released 20/May/2022 ] The previously unrecorded Drone Mass was described by its composer, the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, as "a contemporary oratorio". Written for voices, string quartet and electronics, it was commissioned and premiered by the American Contemporary Music... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The Christmas Story Theatre of Voices / Ars Nova Copenhagen / Paul Hillier [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 19/Sep/2011 ] Inspired by the much-loved service of 'Nine Lessons and Carols' given every Christmas Eve, this recording presents the Nativity story told through plainchant, motets, 17th Century dialogues and traditional folk carols. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Lucio Silla (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Theatro Real / Kurt Streit (Silla), Patricia Petibon, Silvia Tro Santafé, Inga Kalna / Ivor Bolton (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Nov/2018 ] "But the vocal laurels, and the principal reason for recommending this recording, belong to Patricia Petibon who tears into Giunia's arias as if her really depended on it." BBC MusicBBC Music Magazine October 2018 Opera Choice |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Messiah [Highlights] Thomas Drew (treble) Patrizia Kwella (soprano) Margaret Cable (alto) William Kendall (tenor) / Winchester Cathedral Choir, Martin Neary [ ASV Quicksilver / CD - released 1/Jul/1987 ] Before the first performance Handel made numerous revisions to his manuscript score, in part to match the forces available for the 1742 Dublin premiere; it is probable that his work was not performed as originally conceived in his lifetime. Between... |
BRIDGE . STANFORD / IVES / ROREM / BERNSTEIN / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: To The Soul: Thomas Hampson Sings The Poetry Of Walt Whitman Thomas Hampson (baritone) Craig Rutenbery (piano) [ EMI Classics / CD - released 1/Aug/1996 ] "The performances throughout are exceptionally fine, intimately and subtly expressive but opening out nobly to expressions of passionate idealism." Gramophone |
BRIDGE / STANFORD / IVES / ROREM / BERNSTEIN / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: To The Soul: Thomas Hampson Sings The Poetry Of Walt Whitman Thomas Hampson (baritone) Craig Rutenbery (piano) [ EMI Classics / CD - released 1/Aug/1997 ] TO THE SOUL is a collection centered on a poet rather than a composer. Walt Whitman's words have inspired over a thousand song settings, whose range is suggested here. |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Complete Schubert Edition: Schubert and the Classics Thomas Hampson (baritone) Graham Johnson (piano) [ Hyperion Schubert Edition Vol 14 / CD - released 31/Jan/2008 ] 'The readings, with Johnson's piano at its probing best, are constantly enlightening and carry the absorbed listener into a rarefied world of word and music. The disc lasts an incredible 80 minutes, but the time flies by in such perceptive company'... |