JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann [The Tales of Hoffmann] (compete opera recorded in 2016) The Royal Opera / Vittorio Grigolo, Kate Lindsey, Thomas Hampson, Christine Rice, Sonya Yoncheva / Evelino Pidò (cond) [ Sony Classical DVD / 2 DVD - released 10/Jul/2017 ] "Vittorio Grigolo acts with terrific fervour as both the drunken wreck of the exordia and the ingenuous patsy of the central episodes, making the conflicted character deeply sympathetic if faintly risible." Telegraph |
HANDEL
Deidamia (complete opera recorded in 2012) Sally Matthews, Veronica Cangemi, Olga Pasichnyk / Concerto Köln, Ivor Bolton (conductor) & David Alden (director) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 2/Feb/2013 ] "Sally Matthews is perfect as Deidamia: saucy in 'Nasconde l'usignol', heartfelt in 'M'hai resa infelice'...Ivor Bolton conducts with passion: splendid sforzandos in another intense aria, 'Se il timore'." (Gramophone) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Don Carlo (complete opera recorded in 2013) Salzburg Festival / Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Harteros, Matti Salminen, Thomas Hampson / Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Antonio Pappano [ Sony DVD / 2 DVD - released 15/Sep/2014 ] Giuseppe Verdi's late opera Don Carlo delivers all the big topics while Ferdinand Wögerbauer's ultra-simple décor provides a spartan counterpoint to the dramatic action. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Così fan tutte, K588 (complete opera recorded in 2013) Salzburg Festival / Malin Hartelius, Luca Pisaroni, Marie-Claude Chappuis, Martin Mitterrutzner, Gerald Finley / Christoph Eschenbach (cond) [ EuroArts DVD / 2 DVD - released 18/Feb/2018 ] "It is all beautifully performed by a convincingly young-looking cast. Malin Hartelius sings a ravishing 'Per pietà'…Martin Mitterrutzner's free, easy tenor is just right for the high-lying part of Ferrando" Gramophone |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Die Frau ohne Schatten (complete opera recorded in 2011) Salzburg Festival / Stephen Gould, Anne Schwanewilms, Michaela Schuster / Christian Thielemann (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Apr/2012 ] Already brimming with symbols and transformations, the epic fairytale recounted by Strauss and his librettist Hofmannsthal in Die Frau ohne Schatten acquires a further allegorical dimension in Christoph Loy's inventive production for the Salzburg... |
JACK HEGGIE / GEORGE GERSHWIN / JEROME KERN
Amercian Operas: Moby-Dick / Porgy and Bess / Showboat (recorded 2009 - 2014) San Francisco Opera / Eric Owens, Laquita Mitchell, Jay Hunter Morris, Jonathan Lemalu, Bill Irwin, Patricia Racette / John DeMain, Patrick Summers [ EuroArts San Francisco Opera DVD / 6 DVD Box Set - released 22/Sep/2016 ] "Zambello's production for San Francisco is drenched in detail and fine to look at. Catfish Row springs to life in all its tawdry glory...At the heart of the work is Eric Owen's Porgy, thankfully a subtle and superbly vocalised assumption." Opera Now |
ARRIGO BOITO
Boito: Mefistofele (Complete opera recorded in 2013) San Francisco Opera / Ildar Abdrazakov, Ramón Vargas, Patricia Racette, Erin Johnson / Nicola Luisotti (conductor) [ EuroArts San Francisco Opera DVD / DVD - released 10/Aug/2016 ] "Luisotti revels in the grander possibilities of the score, as well as shining a torch on its finer detail and conscientious craftsmanship." (BBC Music) |
JAKE HEGGIE
Heggie: Moby-Dick (Complete opera recorded in 2012) San Francisco Opera / Jay Hunter Morris, Stephen Costello, Jonathan Lemalu / Patrick Summers (conductor) [ EuroArts San Francisco Opera DVD / 2 DVD - released 10/Apr/2014 ] "Achingly beautiful, magnificently sung and gorgeously staged ... the audience responded with an eight-minutestanding ovation" (Associated Press). |
HAMMERSTEIN & KERN
Show Boat San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus [ EuroArts DVD / 2 DVD - released 29/Sep/2017 ] Hammerstein and Kern's Show Boat is a true classic of American musical theater - a tale of life on the Mississippi from the 1880s to the 1920s is both a poignant love story and a powerful reminder of the bitter legacy of racism. "A triumph-a... |
DONIZETTI / BELLINI
Bel Canto Operas: Lucrezia Borgia / I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Complete operas recorded 2011/12) San Francisco Opera / Renée Fleming, Michael Fabiano, Elizabeth DeShong, Joyce DiDonato, Nicole Cabell / Riccardo Frizza (conductor) [ EuroArts San Francisco Opera DVD / 4 DVD Box Set - released 1/Oct/2016 ] "Fleming seems fired by the theatricality of a reviled female character who commands every dramatic situation she encounters...DeShong is a powerful vocal and dramatic presence as Orsini" (Gramophone) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia (Complete opera recorded in 2012) San Francisco Opera / Renée Fleming, Michael Fabiano, Elizabeth DeShong / Riccardo Frizza (conductor) [ EuroArts San Francisco Opera DVD / 2 DVD - released 10/Apr/2014 ] This is the first EuroArts release in cooperation with the San Francisco Opera, internationally recognized as one of the top opera companies in the world Renée Fleming as "America's most-loved and most-lauded opera singer"(The Times, London)... |
RACHMANINOV
The Miserly Knight (complete opera) Sergei Leiferkus / Vladimir Jurowski / Annabel Arden / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Vladmir Jurowski [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 19/Dec/2005 ] G :- '…an inspired piece of programming...Sergei Leiferkus was utterly compelling in the title role...he delivered an appropriately mean performance' - Opera |
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) |
STEPHEN SONDHEIM
Sondheim: Follies (complete musical comedy recorded in 2015) Opera Toulon / Graham Bickley, Liz Robertson, Charlotte Page, Marilyn Hill Smith, Julia Sutton / David Charles Abell (cond) [ BelAir Classiques DVD / DVD - released 20/Mar/2017 ] "The choice of the soloists is of irreproachable quality. The Follies' production in Toulouse is shining with a thousand fires." MUSICALAVENUE.FR |
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Ariodante (complete opera recorded in 2007) Spoleto Festival / Ann Hallenberg / Laura Cherici / Carlo Lepore / Alan Curtis (cond) [ Dynamic DVD / 2 DVD - released 5/Jun/2008 ] G : - "...this is a very very good DVD of a great Handel opera. If you yourself need to expand your horizon and move into the baroque - or know someone who would like to do so - then you will be hard put to start with anything better." (MusicWeb... |
WAGNER
Tannhauser (complete opera recorded in 2014) Staatsoper Berlin / Peter Seiffert, Marina Prudenskaya, Ann Petersen, Peter Mattei, René Pape / Daniel Barenboim (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques DVD / 2 DVD - released 18/Dec/2015 ] A brand new production of 'Tannhäuser' from the Staatsoper Berlin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim, staged and choreographed by Sasha Waltz, who has brought to the stage this Romantic Wagner opera with a star cast of some of today's best Wagnerian sin |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann [The Tales of Hoffmann] (complete opera recorded in 2021) Staatsoper Opera / Benjamin Bernheim, Olga Peretyatko, Angela Brower, Luca Pisaroni / Kent Nagano (con) [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 25/Feb/2022 ] "Nagano sweeps it all along with sensuality and verve; the Hamburg orchestra is on colourful form and for a staging that is (essentially) a piece of glorious escapism, it leaves you with a surprising amount to ponder." Gramophone Magazine April 2022 |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: La Pericole (Complete Operetta recorded in 2022) Stephanie D'Oustrac, Philippe Talbot, Tassis Christoyannis, Eric Huchet / Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Julien Leroy [ Naxos DVD / 2 DVD - released 10/Feb/2023 ] La Perricholi - in reality, Micaela Villegas - was Lima's leading theatrical l lady in the 1770s when Peru was a Spanish colony. Her life was fictionalised in a one-act play by Prosper Mérimée and a libretto was fashioned on which Offenbach created... |
MARK ADAMO
Little Women (complete opera recorded in 2000) Stephanie Novacek / Joyce DiDonato / Chad Shelton / Stacey Tappan / Houston Grand Opera Orchestra / Patrick Summers [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 22/Dec/2010 ] "It's expertly staged and acted, and interesting to see the young Joyce DiDonato in repertoire far removed from her familiar one." (BBC Music) |
AMBROISE THOMAS
Thomas: Hamlet (complete opera) Stéphane Degout, Sabine Devieilhe, Laurent Alvaro, Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo / Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Louis Langrée [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 8/Nov/2019 ] International Classical Music Awards 2021 Winner - Video Performance |