JOHN ADAMS
Nixon in China (complete opera) Robert Orth, Maria Kanyova, Thomas Hammons, Marc Heller, Tracy Dahl / Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop [ Naxos Opera / 3 CD Box Set - released 10/Nov/2009 ] MARBECKS STAFF PICK: CD OF THE YEAR 2009 - "(Alsop) leads the score with grand sweep and understanding, and her Colorado forces bring out its colors vividly; moreover, she inspires her cast to sing as if they're having a great time with this... |
GABRIEL URBAIN FAURE
Fauré - Poulenc: Works for Piano & Orchestra Romain Descharmes (piano), Malmö Opera Orchestra, Michael Halász [ Naxos / CD - released 11/Oct/2024 ] There are fruitful contrasts in the works for piano and orchestra of these two French composers. Gabriel Fauré's Ballade in F sharp major is graceful and serene but ends with a Lisztian flourish, whereas his neglected Fantaisie, though modestly... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Forza Del Destino (complete) Stella Roman, Frederic Jagel, Lawrence Tibbett, Ezio Pinza / Metriopolitan Opera, Bruno Walter [ Naxos Immortal Performances / 3 CD ] Radio Broadcast January 1943 |
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK
Gluck: Alceste (complete opera recorded in 1941) with commentary introductions Rose Bampton, René Maison, Leonard Warren / New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Ettore Panizza [ Naxos Immortal Performances / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Aug/2011 ] Radio broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera, March 1941. |
WILLIAM VINCENT WALLACE
Opera Fantasies and Paraphrases Rosemary Tuck (piano) / Richard Bonynge (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Oct/2011 ] As an internationally admired opera composer, William Vincent Wallace was perfectly placed to provide brilliant fantasies and paraphrases from the operatic repertoire, refashioned for the domestic piano market. Most in this selection date from... |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il Barbiere Di Siviglia [The barber of Seville] (complete opera) Roberto Servile, Sonia Ganassi, Ramon Vargas / Hungarian Radio Chorus / Failoni Chamber orchestra / Will Humburg [ Naxos Opera Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Oct/2009 ] Radio 3: Building a Library Budget Choice - December 2001 |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: L'Occasione fa il ladro (complete opera recorded in 2017) Rossini in Wildbad / Patrick Kabongo, Vera Talerko, Kenneth Tarver, Lorenzo Regazzo / Virtuosi Brunensis, Antonino Foglian [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 3/Dec/2021 ] Recorded at the Köngliches Kurtheater, Bad Wildbad, Germany, 13 and 22 July 2017 |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: L'Occasione fa il ladro (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Rossini in Wildbad / Patrick Kabongo, Vera Talerko, Kenneth Tarver, Lorenzo Regazzo / Virtuosi Brunensis, Antonino Foglian [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 3/Dec/2021 ] Recorded at the Köngliches Kurtheater, Bad Wildbad, Germany, 13 and 22 July 2017 |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Don Carlos (Highlights) Jaakko Ryhanen, Lars Cleveman / Royal Swedish Opera Chorus / Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra / Hold-Garrido Alberto [ Naxos / CD - released 8/Aug/2006 ] The version here sung in Italian by the Royal Swedish Opera thus largely conforms to the Modena version of 1886 with the addition of certain important components of the 1867 Paris version |
MICHAEL WILLIAM BALFE
Satanella (or 'The Power of Love') (complete opera) Sally Silver, Catherine Carby, Christine Tocci, Elizabeth Sikora, Kang Wang / Victorian Opera Orchestra & John Powell Singers, Richard Bonynge [ Naxos Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2016 ] Satanella was Michael William Balfe's 23rd opera, first presented at Covent Garden in 1858 to much acclaim. It remained in the repertoire for over 60 years, touring to Sydney, New York and Philadelphia. A hybrid of classical opera with a sprinkling... |
WILLIAM WALLACE
Lurline (complete opera) Sally Silver, Paul Ferris, Fiona Janes, Keith Lewis / Victorian Opera Chorus & Orchestra / Richard Bonynge (Conductor) [ Naxos Opera / 2 CD - released 20/Jun/2010 ] Stylistically a German opera much indebted to Weber and Mendelssohn, with a passing knowledge of Wagner. That is then diluted to make it a pleasingly melodic opera and forerunner of the Gilbert and Sullivan era. |
LEOS JANACEK
Janacek: The Cunning Little Vixen (complete opera) (with Fabrice Bollon: Twelve Lilies for Leoš) Samantha Gaul (sop) Michael Borth (bar) Irina Jae-Eun Park (sop) / Cantus Juvenum Karlsruhe, Members of the Opernchor des Theater Freiburg [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 7/Jul/2023 ] Fabrice Bollon's Janáček project was developed during the COVID lockdown when the use of large orchestras was forbidden. Bollon wrote a version of The Cunning Little Vixen for twelve instruments - not a reduction but an imaginative recreation... |
CHERUBINI
Symphony in D major / Opera Overtures Sanremo Symphony Orchestra / Piero Bellugi [ Naxos / CD - released 15/May/2007 ] "The Naxos engineers have provided a clear and well balanced sound quality with decent enough annotation that provides all the basic information. Much attention has been lavished on this performance of Cherubini's Symphony in D major and it becomes... |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra (complete opera recorded in 2021) Serena Farnocchia, Patrick Kabongo, Mert Süngü, Veronica Marini / Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Antonino Fogliani [ Naxos Opera / 2 CD - released 16/Feb/2024 ] Rossini's rarely performed Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra was his first opera for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. With the composer showcasing and indeed recycling some of his best music, it was an enormous success and allowed him to become... |
GIOACCHINIO ROSSINI
Rossini: Ermione (complete opera) Serena Farnocchia (soprano) Aurora Faggioli (mezzo-soprano) . Moisés Marín (tenor) / Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra, Antonino Fogliani [ Naxos / 2 CD Box Set - released 21/Jun/2024 ] Numerous myths surround the supposed failure of Ermione, and while Rossini himself feared the subject might be 'overly tragic', he was clearly fond of the work, keeping its manuscript until his death. Ermione is set in the aftermath of the Trojan... |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Maria Stuarda (complete opera recorded in 2007) Sferisterio Opera Festival / Laura Polverelli / Maria Pia Piscitelli / Giovanna Lanza / Riccardo Frizza (cond) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 1/Jul/2009 ] "Mezzo-soprano Laura Polverelli... reveals impressive depths of dramatic vocal resource and a wide variety of tonal expression and colour, ideal in a good bel-cantist" (MusicWeb) |
ROSSINI
L'Inganno felice (Complete opera) Simon Bailey / Lorenzo Regazzo / Marco Vinco / Czech Chamber Soloists, Brno / Alberto Zedda [ Naxos Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] Rossini's 'rescue opera' L'inganno felice (The Happy Deception) won immediate contemporary popularity after its first performance in 1812. One of the composer's most inventive and sparkling scores, with soprano, tenor and bass arias of great beauty,... |
JOHANN SIMON MAYR
Mayr: Alfredo il Grande (complete opera) Marie-Luise fressen (mezzo) Markus Schafer (tenor) / Simon Mayr Chorus, Members of the Bavarian State Opera Chorus, Concerto de Bassus, Franz Hauk [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 18/Feb/2022 ] Medieval England exerted a strong influence on Johann Simon Mayr, especially during his final proto-Romantic period. Alfredo il Grande was to be one of his last operas, with a narrative that takes us to a land under threat of war with the Vikings. |
JOSEPH MARTIN KRAUS
Aeneas in Carthage (orchestra excerpts from the opera) Sinfonia Finlandia / Patrick Gallois [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Feb/2010 ] "This is an absolutely wonderful recording of some amazing 18th century incidental music. First-rate engineering completes the picture. Don't miss this." (10 / 10 ClassicsToday) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Messa di Gloria and Credo in D major (with works by Johann Simon Mayr) Siri Karoline Thornhill, Marie-Sophie Pollak, Marie-Sande Papenmeyer, Mark Adler / Bavarian State Opera Chorus & Concerto de Bassus, Franz Hauk [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Dec/2016 ] While the German tradition observes a strict distinction between sacred and secular styles, the 19th-century Italian Mass can feel more akin to attending an operatic performance. Donizetti's church music, consisting of at least a hundred items, has... |