TCHAIKOVSKY / ADAM / DELIBES / VERDI / MOZART / PUCCINI / etc
An Evening with the Royal Ballet & Royal Opera The Royal Opera & Ballet / Carlos Acosta, Alina Cojocaru, Marianela Nunez, Darcey Bussell, Miah Persson, Jonas Kaufmann, Sarah Connolly, Diana Damrau [ Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD Box Set - released 13/Mar/2018 ] Take a seat in the stalls at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for an unforgettable evening of ballet and opera highlights performed by world-renowned stars of The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet past and present. This special two-DVD set... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata (recorded live Covent Garden in 2019) Royal Opera / Ermonela Jaho, Charles Castronovo, Placido Domingo / Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Antonello Manacorda [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 10/Sep/2019 ] Verdi based La traviata on Alexandre Dumas fils's novel and play La Dame aux camélias, inspired by the life and death of the real Parisian courtesan Marie Duplessis. One of the most popular of all operas, the 2018/2019 season featured 151 productions... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: The Da Ponte Operas [The Marriage of Figaro / Don Giovanni / Cosi fan Tutte] (complete operas recorded in 2006 - 2016) The Royal Opera / Erwin Schrott, Miah Persson, Gerald Finley, Dorothea Roschmann, Jonathan Veira, Philip Langridge, Mariusz Kwiecien, etc [ OPUS ARTE DVD / 4 DVD Box Set - released 1/Sep/2018 ] "…so accomplished a cast, in which Gerald Finley's Count, Miah Persson's Susanna and Rinat Shaham's Cherubino stand out as ideal." (BBC Music on The Marriage Of Figaro) |
W. A. MOZART
Mitridate, re di Ponto (recorded live Covent Garden in 1993) Royal Opera House / Bruce Ford, Jochen Kowalski, Ann Murray, Luba Orgonasova / Paul Daniel (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 10/Feb/2012 ] |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: Les Troyens (complete opera recorded in 2012) Royal Opera House, Bryan Hymel, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Eva-Maria Westbroek / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Nov/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
MEYERBEER
Robert Le Diable (complete opera recorded in 2012) Royal Opera House / Bryan Hymel, Patrizia Ciofi, John Relyea, Marina Poplavskaya / Daniel Oren (conductor) [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Aug/2013 ] A grand opera that dominated the stages of Europe for most of the 19th century, Robert le diable is a masterpiece. Director Laurent Pelly breathes new life into Giacomo Meyerbeer's great spectacle and audaciously entertaining moral fable, in this... |
VERDI
Aida (recorded live Covent Garden in 1994) Royal Opera House / Cheryl Studer / Luciana d'Intino / Dennis O'Neill / Edward Downes (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "[Sir Edward Downes'] command of the score's structure, its curious blend of delicacy and bombast, of classical propriety and romantic excess, is complete and he drew superbly disciplined playing from the pit and lusty singing from the augmented... |
GEORGE BENJAMIN
Written on Skin (complete opera recorded in 2013) Royal Opera House / Christopher Purves, Barbara Hannigan, Bejun Mehta, Victoria Simmonds / George Benjamin (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Aug/2014 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD WINNER 2014 - Contemporary |
ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK
Hansel und Gretel (complete opera recorded in 2008) Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Angelika Kirchschlager / Diana Damrau / Elizabeth Connell / Thomas Allen / Colin Davis, conductor [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Jan/2012 ] 'Angelika Kirchschlager's tousled, boyish Hänsel and Diana Damrau's Gretel are dramatically convincing and vocally superb, while their parents, excellently sung and played by Elizabeth Connell and Thomas Allen, earn our sympathy as well as our... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi Box Set: Il Trovatore / Rigoletto / Falstaff (complete operas) Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Jose Cura, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Bryn Terfel, Roberto Frontali, Kenneth Tarver, Christine Schäfer, etc [ Opus Arte DVD / 3 DVD Box Set - released 20/Apr/2012 ] "[On Rigoletto] With Christine Schäfer as a matchless Gilda and Edward Downes, the finest Verdian of the age, conducting, it's a production that rages at the cruelty of the world." (BBC Music) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Don Giovanni (complete opera recorded in 2014) Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Mariusz Kwiecien, Alex Esposito, Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Véronique Gens , Antonio Poli / Nicola Luisotti (cond [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Sep/2014 ] "anyone who misses Mariusz Kwiecien's performance here will regret it...never have I seen a final scene so aggressively personal, so mad, so viciously without repentance" (International Record Review) |
HENRY PURCELL
Dido and Aeneas (complete opera recorded in 2009) Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Sarah Connolly, Lucas Meachem, Lucy Crowe, Sara Fulgoni / Christopher Hogwood (cond) [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection DVD / DVD - released 20/Dec/2009 ] G - 'Dido is perfectly integrated, and the expressively stylised movements that McGregor has devised for the singers make a fascinating contrast to the gyrations of the corps de ballet. …The casts were excellent.' The Telegraph |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) (complete opera recorded in 2003) Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Simon Keenlyside / Dorothea Roschmann / Will Hartmann / Diana Damrau / Franz-Josef Selig / Sir Colin Davis (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 24/Oct/2003 ] G :- "This production by David McVicar has been rightly lauded, and with such a cast of singers and sound quality to match, I urge you to take advantage of a first-rate venture." -CLASSICWEB |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Don Giovanni (complete opera recorded in 2008) Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Simon Keenlyside / Kyle Ketelsen / Miah Persson / Ramon Vargas / Joyce DiDonato / Charles Mackerras (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 10/Jun/2009 ] G - "…as flames rage over the opening cast credits, Sir Charles Mackerras conducts an incandescent Overture which kindles the brilliance, clarity and indefatigable energy of his music direction throughout." (BBC Music) |
MARTIN YATES
Yates: Elizabeth (complete ballet recorded in 2016) Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Zenaida Yanowsky, Carlos Acosta, with Raphael Wallfisch (cello), David Kempster (baritone) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Dec/2016 ] Opulent and intimate, this enchanting chamber piece combines dance, text and music in a fascinating exploration of the life and loves of Queen Elizabeth I. Choreographer Will Tuckett and playwright and librettist Alasdair Middleton co-direct this... |
TURNAGE
Anna Nicole (complete opera recorded in 2011) Royal Opera House / Eva-Maria Westbroek, Alan Oke, Gerald Finley / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection DVD / DVD - released 20/Aug/2011 ] "...It's a tremendous show...shocking it isn't; stunning it is!" The Independent |
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 |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La fanciulla del West (complete opera recorded in 2013) Vienna State Opera / Jonas Kaufmann, Nina Stemme, Tomasz Konieczny / Franz Welser-Most (cond) [ Sony Classical DVD / DVD - released 10/Mar/2016 ] 'Their singing is magnificent' BBC Music Magazine - Opera Choice - March 2016 |
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) |
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) |