Andre Rieu
Dancing Through the Skies - Wedding at the Opera [ Andre Rieu Studios DVD + CD / 2 DVD/CD - released 5/Feb/2009 ] Enjoy André's exclusive concert at the famous Semper Opera - the wonderful opera house of Dresden, Germany - where he performed in 2008! |
CHARLES GOUNOD
Gounod: Faust (Complete opera recorded in 2004) Royal Opera House / Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu, Bryn Terfel, Simon Keenlyside / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ EMI Classics DVD / 2 DVD - released 4/Oct/2010 ] "This is opera at its grandest and best" The Wall Street Journal |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
DonizettI: Lucia di Lammermoor (complete opera recorded in 2009) Metropolitan Opera / Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala, Mariusz Kwiecien / Marco Armiliato (conductor) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 16/Nov/2009 ] "Director Mary Zimmerman's…offers a Victorian gloss on the drama… which adds a fresh and fascinating resonance. This is reinforced by the filming, often steeply angled from front stage, and enjoys uncommonly strong choral and orchestral support." BBC |
JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Manon (Complete opera recorded in 2007) Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin / Anna Netrebko / Rolando Villazon / Alfredo Daza / Christof Fischesser / Daniel Barenboim (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 7/Aug/2008 ] Following the artistic success of their last DVD project, La Traviata from the 2005 Salzburg Festival, opera superstars Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón bring their combined talents to Jules Massenet's Manon. |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust (The Damnation of Faust) - From the Royal Albert Hall 1989 Anne Sofie Von Otter, Keith Lewis, Jose Van Dam, Peter Rose / The Chicago Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ AWD DVD / DVD - released 20/Jan/2006 ] Sir Georg Solti conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a magnificent performance of Berlioz's concert cantata. |
THOMAS ADES
Ades: The Exterminating Angel (complete opera recorded in 2017) Metropolitan Opera / Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies / Thomas Ades (cond) [ Erato DVD / DVD - released 20/Feb/2019 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 TOP THREE - Contemporary |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer [The Flying Dutchman] (Complete opera recorded in 2021) BLU-RAY & DVD Bayreuth Festival / John Lundgren, Georg Zeppenfeld, Asmik Grigorian, Attilio Glaser / Oksana Lyniv (conductor) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc/DVD - released 20/Apr/2024 ] "Lyniv's conducting is superb in terms of pacing and tonal weight and balance...Grigorian and Zeppenfeld sing as fluently and fearlessly as they act." Gramophone Magazine September 2022 Blu-ray of the Month |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Walkure (complete opera) Bayreuther Festspiele / Donald McIntyre, Matti Salminen, Gwyneth Jones / Pierre Boulez [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 24/Jul/2005 ] "This is the Patrice Chéreau centennial version of Wagner's masterwork, conducted by Pierre Boulez with a passion and intensity remembered still. Chéreau directs an outstanding cast with great originality and worked with video director Brian Large to |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Gotterdammerung (Complete Opera recorded in 1982) Bayreuther Festspiele / Peter Hofmann, Karan Armstrong, Elizabeth Connell, Leif Roar, Siegfried Vogel / Woldemar Nelsson (cond) [ EuroArts DVD / 2 DVD - released 21/Feb/2020 ] DVD re-release of the 1982 exclusive recording of Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin from the Bayreuth Festival, a masterful interpretation from the source of Wagnerian culture itself. Richard Wagner's three-act opera, an exquisitely lyrical piece,... |
RICHARD STRAUSS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Strauss, (R.): Der Rosenkavalier (the complete opera recorded in 1994) Felicity Lott, Anne Sofie Von Otter, Barbara Bonney, Kurt Moll / Carlos Kleiber (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 16/Aug/2004 ] "Lightly Handled, well-played Strauss. Strongly recommended." -Gramophone June 2001 |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia [The Barber of Seville] (complete opera recorded in 1988) Cecilia Bartoli, David Kuebler, Gino Quilico, Carlos Feller / Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gabriele Ferro [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 2/Nov/2018 ] "All the singers benefit from Michael Hampe's imaginative yet uneccentric direction and from Gabriele Ferro's well-calibrated (if not exactly warm-hearted) conducting." Opera |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Cecilia Bartoli: Viva Vivaldi Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) / Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini [ EMI Classics / EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 13/Sep/2000 ] Cecilia Bartoli performs a collection of arias from Vivaldi's operas at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris in 2001, accompanied by Baroque ensemble Il Giardino Armonico. |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: La Cenerentola [Cinderella] (complete opera with full libretto recorded in 1992) Cecilia Bartoli, William Matteuzzi, Enzo Dara, Alessandro Corbelli / Orchestra & Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 28/Aug/2014 ] "All eyes and ears, inevitably, are on Bartoli, and she doesn't disappoint...The singing itself is ravishing. At the same time, the performance makes dramatic sense...Decca provide a superb Alidoro, an alluring Clorinda, inventive and elaborate... |
VARIOUS
Tonight: Welthits von Berlin bis Broadway Renée Fleming (soprano), Klaus Florian Vogt (tenor) / Staatskapelle Dresden, Christian Thielemann [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 24/Jan/2014 ] The Staatskapelle Dresden's New Year's Eve concert has become a much-loved fixture in the musical calendar. This year's event stars Christian Thielemann, Renée Fleming and Klaus Florian Vogt. |
HANS PFITZNER
Pfitzner: Palestrina (complete opera) Christopher Ventris / Peter Rose / Michael Volle / Falk Struckmann / Christiana Karg / Bavarian State Opera Chorus and Orchestra / Simone Young [ Euroarts DVD / 2 DVD - released 15/Jun/2010 ] "Simone Young directs a flowing and nicely paced account. Christopher Ventris is sensitive, achieving exhausted nobility as the composer, and Falk Struckmann provides a rounded portrayal of the subtle Borromeo." (Gramophone) |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Agrippina (complete opera recorded in 2004) Combattimento Consort Amsterdam / Renate Arends / Annemarie Kremer / Jan Willem de Vriend (cond) [ Challenge Records DVD / DVD - released 25/Sep/2006 ] "A viable work of art, as witnessed by those who experienced this almost perfect production" Ivo Sindelár (The Czech Handel Society) |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Die Walkure (complete opera recorded in 1992) Daniel Barenboim / Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Harry Kupfer / Poul Elming / Nadine Secunde / Matthias Holle / etc. [ Warner Music Vision / Unitel DVD / 2 DVD - released 28/Oct/2005 ] "In many ways this is now the best bet for anyone wanting a DVD version of Die Walkure." (International Record Review) |
BELLINI
I Puritani (complete opera recorded in 2009) Netherlands Opera / Daniel Borowski, Mariola Cantarero, Riccardo Zanellato / Giuliano Carella (conductor), Francisco Negrin (director) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 2/Feb/2013 ] "Osborn manages a stupendous top F, non-falsetto, and his singing in the trio, lyrical but desperate, is even more wonderful...Go on, give it a whirl." (Gramophone) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Fidelio (opera recorded 1962/63) Deutsche Oper Berlin / Walter Berry, James King, Christa Ludwig, Lisa Otto / Artur Rother (cond) [ Arthaus Musik DVD / DVD - released 7/Aug/2011 ] For the four main roles, singers were chosen who already had international experience but were still fresh and vigorous. Christa Ludwig, James King and Walter Berry. |
ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK
Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel (complete opera filmed in 1981) Edita Gruberova, Brigitte Fassbaender, Hermann Prey, Helga Dernesch, Sena Jurinac, Norma Burrowes / Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 14/Nov/2005 ] This production, filmed in 1981, is released on DVD for the first time. |