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GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia (recorded live Covent Garden in 1980) Royal Opera House / Joan Sutherland, Alfredo Kraus, Anne Howells, Stafford Dean / Richard Bonynge (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 15/Jul/2017 ] "Fleet, if not polished...Sutherland tackles the title role with her usual attributes of a voice of considerable size, extention and pinpoint agility, no acting skills but a grand presence" Opera Now |
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UMBERTO GIORDANO
Giordano: Andrea Chénier (complete opera recorded in 2015) Royal Opera House / Jonas Kaufmann, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Željko Lučić, Denyce Graves / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Warner Classics DVD / DVD - released 16/Sep/2015 ] "Kaufmann is performing the title role for the first time, and it's hard to imagine him bettered. His striking looks make him very much the Romantic and romanticised outsider of Giordano's vision. His voice, with its dark, liquid tone, soars through... |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Stiffelio (recorded live Covent Garden in 1993) Royal Opera House / Jose Carreras, Catherine Malfitano, Gregory Yurisch / Edward Downes (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 10/Sep/2011 ] "Elijah Moshinsky's handsome Stiffelio was one of Covent Garden's greatest triumphs under a previous regime. José Carreras and Catherine Malfitano lead a fine cast." (BBC Music) |
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GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia [The Barber of Seville] (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House / Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Florez, Pietro Spagnoli, Ferruccio Furlanetto / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Erato / Warner Classics Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Nov/2015 ] "The Royal Opera's cheerful and colourful new production of Rossini's most popular work is a copper- bottomed hit." The Daily Telegraph |
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VERDI
Les vêpres siciliennes (complete opera recorded in 2013) Royal Opera House / Lianna Haroutounian, Bryan Hymel, Erwin Schrott, Michael Volle / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Warner Classics / Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 25/Mar/2015 ] "Pappano gets huge power and tension from the ensemble, and paces the long evening to perfection...sound and balance are good, and the filming has a real sense of the style of the show." (Gramophone) |
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PUCCINI
Turandot (Complete opera recorded in 2013) Royal Opera / Lise Lindstrom, Marco Berti, Eri Nakamura, Raymond Aceto / Henrik Nánási (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 31/Mar/2014 ] "Long one of my favourite productions of anything...Serban struck a healthy blow against the ultra-ornate Zeffirellian approach with a look that's often as dark as the heart of the opera's Chinese fairy-tale princes" (Gramophone) |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Il Trittico (complete operas recorded live in 2011) Royal Opera House / Lucio Gallo, Aleksandrs Anton, Ermonela Jaho, Ekaterina Siurina / Antonio Pappano [ Opus Arte DVD / 3 DVD - released 20/Jan/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2013: Opera |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Salome (complete opera recorded in 1992) Royal Opera House / Maria Ewing, Michael Devlin, Kenneth Riegel, Gillian Knight / Edward Downes [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 25/Nov/2015 ] "Maria Ewing is the magnetic anti-heroine in this rather stagey production by her former husband, Peter Hall. With solid support from the other principals and conductor Edward Downes, the result is worthy rather than gripping." (BBC Music) |
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VERDI
Don Carlo (complete opera recorded in 2008) Royal Opera House / Marina Poplavskaya, Simon Keenlyside, Rolando Villazón, Ferruccio Furlanetto / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Warner Classics DVD / DVD - released 1/May/2016 ] National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner's new staging of Verdi's grandest - and arguably greatest - opera, Don Carlo, was the highlight of the 2007/2008 Royal Opera House season. This new production marked Rolando Villazón's much anticipated,... |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Salome (complete opera recorded in 2008) Royal Opera House / Nadja Michael, Thomas Moser, Michaela Schuster / Philippe Jordan (cond) [ BBC / Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Dec/2008 ] "One of the most hotly anticipated, controversial and downright exciting opera productions of this year arrives quickly onto DVD. David McVicar, one of the most in-demand opera directors at work today, produces a visceral, exciting realisation of... |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (complete opera recorded in 2010) Royal Opera House / Placido Domingo, Marina Poplavskaya, Joseph Calleja / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ EMI / Warner DVD / 2 DVD - released 10/Feb/2011 ] "No vocal Tarnhelm has suddenly magicked a different-sounding timbre for this voice: here is, simply, Domingo singing - and evidently enjoying singing - a part that's lower down. What we might here cheekily call the supporting cast are strong"... |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (recorded live Covent Garden in 1975) Royal Opera House / Placido Domingo, Piero Cappuccilli, Katia Ricciarelli, Elizabeth Bainbridge / Claudio Abbado (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 15/Jul/2017 ] [Domingo] is enjoying himself as a devil-may-care ruler with a twinkle in both eye and voice...[Cappuccilli] offers a masterclass in what we really mean by 'Verdi baritone'." Gramophone Magazine |
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SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 (complete ballet recorded in 2010) Royal Opera House / Sergei Polunin, Will Kemp, Kilian Smith, Charlotte Edmonds / The Royal Ballet School & Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Paul Murphy [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 25/Nov/2014 ] "...Matthew Hart's Peter and the Wolf is one of the most beguiling children's ballets around." The Telegraph |
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TCHAIKOVSKY
Eugene Onegin (complete opera recorded in 2013) Royal Opera House / Simon Keenlyside, Krassimira Stoyanova, Peter Rose / Robin Ticciati (cond) [ Opus Arte / BBC DVD / DVD - released 20/Oct/2013 ] Gramophone Magazine DVD of the Month - December 2013 |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Macbeth (complete opera recorded in 2011) Royal Opera House / Simon Keenlyside, Liudmyla Monastryrska, Raymond Aceto / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte / BBC DVD / DVD - released 20/Apr/2012 ] "Lloyd's Covent Garden staging of Verdi's opera has a good deal going for it; there's plenty of atmosphere in Anthony Ward's aptly dark-toned sets...Keenlyside sings the title role with imagination and insight" (BBC Music) |
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Gloriana (complete opera recorded in June 2013) Royal Opera House / Susan Bullock, Toby Spence, Patricia Bardon, Mark Stone, Kate Royal / Paul Daniel (conductor) [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection DVD / DVD - released 25/Nov/2013 ] Central to the Royal Opera's centenary celebrations marking the birth of Benjamin Britten was Richard Jones's witty and insightful new production of the royal operatic pageant that Britten wrote to honour the Coronation, exploring the late life, love... |
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TCHAIKOVSKY
Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66 (complete ballet recorded in 1994) Royal Opera House / Viviana Durante, Zoltán Solymosi, Anthony Dowell, Benazir Hussein / Barry Wordsworth (cond) [ BBC / Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Sep/2009 ] G - 'Viviana Durante is outstanding as Aurora. Radiant and youthful, she dances with an ease and naturalness that is enchanting.' Evening Standard |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Turandot, Tosca, La Boheme (Complete operas recorded 2001 - 2013) Royal Opera / Lise Lindstrom, Marco Berti, Eri Nakamura, Raymond Aceto, Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann, Bryn Terfel, etc / Various conductors [ Opus Arte DVD / 3 DVD Box Set - released 20/Nov/2015 ] Three magnificent Royal Opera productions of three of Puccini's greatest operas. Featuring a host of international opera stars, this collection is brimming with the drama and sumptuous music that have made Puccini a household name. |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (recorded live Covent Garden in 2018) Royal Opera / Michael Fabiano (Rodolfo), Nicole Car, Mariusz Kwiecien, Nadine Sierra, Florian Sempey / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Sep/2018 ] A penniless poet, a young seamstress, and a lost key: Puccini's passionate opera tells the story of a captivating romance set against the background of 19th-century Paris. The luscious score, with its soaring melodies and rich orchestration, brings... |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte (complete opera recorded in 2010) The Royal Opera / Pavol Breslik, Stephane Degout, Thomas Allen, Rebecca Evans / Thomas Hengelbrock (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Sep/2021 ] "It's a wry take on the opera, Miller emphasising that the plot is not so much about testing the fiancées' faithfulness, but an adventure in self-discovery" Gramophone |