KIRI te KANAWA
I Could Have Danced all Night (Concert & Portrait) Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano) / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, John Hopkins / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Stephen Barlow [ Arthaus DVD / DVD - released 1/Oct/2015 ] The Portrait Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's story has all the best elements of an operatic fairytale. Coming from a part-Maori background she went on to become one of the world's most famous opera stars. In this exciting portrait, Kiri Te Kanawa talks about... |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV / ALEXANDER BORODIN / PYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY
Prokofiev: Betrothal in a Monastery / Borodin: Prince Igor / Tchaikovsky: Mazeppa (complete operas recorded 1996-1998)) Kirov Opera & Ballet / Anna Netrebko, Larissa Diadkova, Nikolai Putilin, Galina Gorchakova, Sergei Aleksashkin / Valery Gergiev [ EuroArts DVD / DVD Box Set - released 5/Jan/2006 ] Three prestigious Kirov Opera recordings with Valery Gergiev, produced 1996 and 1998 by EuroArts Music, are re-released in a new compelling edition: Tchaikovsky: Mazeppa, Borodin: Prince Igor and Prokofiev: Betrothal in a Monastery. |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Equivoco stravagante (Complete Opera recorded in 2018) Königliches Kurtheater, Bad Wildbad / Antonella Colaianni, Giulio Mastrototaro, Emmanuel Franco, Patrick Kabongo / José Miguel Pérez-Sierra (cond) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 10/Oct/2021 ] No opera has been performed at Rossini in Wildbad as often as L'equivoco stravagante, so it was the perfect choice for the festival's 30th anniversary in 2018. |
ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorak: Rusalka (complete opera recorded in 2010) Bayerische Staatsoper / Kristine Opolais, Klaus Florian Vogt, Gunther Groissbock, Janina Baechle, Nadia Krasteva / Tomáš Hanus (cond) [ C Major DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "The soprano Kristine Opolais is a revelation in the title role and the music outstanding under Tomas Hanus's baton." (The Times) |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
L'Orfeo (Complete opera filmed in 1997) Muziektheater Amsterdam / John Mark Ainsley, Juanita Lascarro, Michael Chance, Brigitte Balleys / Tragicomedia, Stephen Stubbs [ Opus Arte Essential Opera Collection DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Oct/2013 ] "Simply the most compelling account of L'Orfeo yet produced...John Mark Ainsley is simply superb as Orfeo…" BBC Music Magazine |
VINCENZO BELLINI
Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi (complete opera recorded in 2015) La Fenice / Jessica Pratt, Sonia Ganassi, Rubén Amoretti, Shalva Mukeria / Shalva Mukeria (cond) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 13/May/2022 ] "I can tell you that from the first to the fourth performance, which was on Sunday, enthusiasm reached, or perhaps surpassed, the levels of Il Pirata and La Straniera in Milan" Bellini in a letter to a friend |
ALBAN BERG
Berg: Lulu (complete opera recorded in 2012) La Monnaie, Brussels / Barbara Hannigan (Lulu), Natascha Petrinsky, Tom Randle, Dietrich Henschel / Paul Daniel (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Aug/2014 ] "It's a comparatively rare occurrence to encounter a performance on the opera stage that has such a magnetic visual and physical impact as Barbara Hannigan's portrayal of Berg's tragic heroine." (Gramophone Award Nomination 2015 - Opera) |
WAGNER
Parsifal (complete opera recorded in 2011) La Monnaie de Munt / Andrew Richards, Anna Larsson, Jan-Hendrik Rooterin, Thomas Johannes Maye / Hartmut Haenchen (conductor) [ Bel Air Classiques DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Feb/2015 ] "Richards and Larsson make memorable role debuts, the tenor offering unfailingly fresh, firm and powerful tone...[Larsson's] singing in the seduction has true allure." (International Record Review) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: La finta giardiniera (complete opera recorded in 2018) La Scala / Krešimir Špicer, Julie Martin du Theil, Bernard Richter / Diego Fasolis (cond) [ Naxos DVD / 2 DVD - released 9/Jul/2021 ] On 13 January La finta giardiniera, a dramma giocoso, was premiered at the Salvatortheater in Munich, then on 23 April the serenata Il re pastore was staged at the archbishop's palace in Salzburg. |
PERGOLESI
Pergolesi: Lo frate 'nnamorato (Complete opera recorded in 1989) La Scala Opera / Alessandro Corbelli / Nuccia Focile / Amelia Felle / Riccardo Muti (conductor) [ Opus Arte La Scala Collection DVD / DVD - released 23/Jul/2004 ] G :- "…delivered with a polish that makes almost every moment a delight." (BBC Music) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Giovanna d'Arco (complete opera recorded in 2017) La Scala Opera / Anna Netrebko, Francesco Meli, Carlos Álvarez, Michele Mauro / Riccardo Chailly (cond) [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 28/Sep/2018 ] "Anna Netrebko as Giovanna is simply a force of nature. Across her huge vocal range and the role's giant proportions, her tone remains powerful and her charisma sweeps all before it." BBC Music |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Olivo e Pasquale (complete opera recorded in 2016) La Scala Opera / Bruno Taddia, Filippo Morace, Laura Giordano, Pietro Adaini / Federico Maria Sardelli (cond) [ Dynamic DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Jul/2017 ] "Donizetti enthusiasts will find this recording to be a lively and enjoyable performance of a virtually unknown work from the Master's second tier. These are rare, and should be celebrated and cherished." MusicWeb |
W. A. MOZART
Le Nozze di Figaro [The Marriage of Figaro] (complete recorded in 2006) La Scala Opera / Diana Damrau, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Pietro Spagnoli, Marcella Orsatti Talamanca / Gérard Korsten (cond) [ Arthaus Legendary Performances DVD / DVD - released 1/Jul/2016 ] "The availability on (Blu-ray) of any production by Giorgio Strehler, even one recorded many years after it was new, is automatically a major event. But this film - a 2006 revival of Strehler's Le Nozze di Figaro from 1980 - is much more than a... |
ROSSINI
Guglielmo Tell [William Tell] (complete opera recorded in 1988) La Scala Opera / Giorgio Zancanaro / Chris Merritt / Giorgio Surjan / Cheryl Studer / Riccardo Muti (cond) [ Opus Arte / Rai Trade / La Scala Collection DVD / 2 DVD - released 4/May/2004 ] G :- Riccardo Muti conducts a fine cast led by Giorgio Zancanaro in the title role of Rossini's towering and opulent last opera with the Corps de Ballet, Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro alla Scala. Sung in Italian |
ROSSINI
La donna del lago (complete opera recorded in 1992) La Scala Opera / Rockwell Blake / Giorgio Surjan / Chris Merritt / June Anderson / Riccardo Muti (cond) [ Opus Arte / Rai Trade / La Scala Collection DVD / DVD - released 16/Dec/2004 ] G :- "Mature Rossini at his best and most demanding. I recommend it to enthusiasts of the opera seria now slowly gaining a foothold in the repertoire" - MusicWeb Feb 2005 |
PHILIP GLASS
Spuren der verirrten [The Lost] (complete opera recorded in 2013) Landestheater Linz Upper Austrian State Theatre / Martin Achrainer, Bram de Beul, Keren Robertson / Dennis Russell Davies (cond) [ Orange Mountain Music DVD / DVD - released 15/Sep/2014 ] Spuren der Verirrten, translated here as The Lost, but in German Traces of the Lost, is a German-language opera by Philip Glass on a text adapted from a play by the experimental Austrian writer Peter Handke. Recorded here is the work's premiere... |
PHILIP GLASS
Kepler (complete opera recorded in 2009) Landestheater Linz Upper Austrian State Theatre / Martin Achrainer, Cassandra McConnell, Keren Robertson / Dennis Russell Davies (cond) [ Orange Mountain Music DVD / DVD - released 10/Feb/2011 ] A portrait opera on the life of German mathmatician, astronomer, and astrologer, and a key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution. |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Cherevichki (The Slippers) (complete opera recorded in 2009) Larissa Diadkova / Maxim Mikhailov / Vladimir Matorin / Olga Guryakova / Vsevolod Grivnov / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Alexander Polianichko [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection DVD / DVD - released 19/Dec/2010 ] |
MARTIN Y SOLER
Soler: L'arbore di Diana (complete opera) Laura Aikin / Michael Maniaci / Ainhoa Gramendia / Steve Davislim / Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona / Harry Bicket [ Dynamic DVD / DVD - released 24/Feb/2011 ] "Laura Aikin is a slow-burn Diana: reserved and beautifully haughty in tone in the first act; silky and warm as the waves of love begin to lap over her in the second...there's terrific unanimity between voices and orchestra throughout. Indeed, the... |
HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: King Arthur (complete opera recorded in 2009) Ana Maria Labin, Chantal Santon-Jeffrey, Melodie Ruvio / Le Concert Spirituel / Herve Niquet [ Glossa DVD / DVD - released 16/Mar/2010 ] G - "Directed by French comedy duo Corinne and Gilles Benizio… conductor Hervé Niquet's knockabout rewrite of King Arthur is as much a tribute to Monty Python as it is to Henry Purcell. Purists beware." (BBC Music) |