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ROSSINI
La Gazzetta (complete opera recorded in 2005) Gran Teatre del Liceu / Cinzia Forte / Bruno Pratico / Charles Workman / Pietro Spagnoli / Maurizio Barbacini (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 18/Jul/2006 ] G :- "A joyous version of one of Rossini's lesser known operas, well sung and acted, beautiful to look at and characterised by a riot of comic invention" (MusicWeb Sept 2006) |
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MUSSORGSKY
Khovanshchina (complete opera recorded in 2007) Gran Teatre del Liceu / Vladimir Ognovenko / Vladimir Galouzine / Robert Brubaker / Michel Boder (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 30/Mar/2008 ] G : - "The staging drifts into occasional dramatic lulls, but nevertheless provides a highly convincing exposition of this difficult but rewarding score. Mussorgsky's drama is an anomaly in the operatic canon, in that it is driven not by character,... |
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CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea (complete opera) Hana Blažiková, Kangmin Justin Kim, Carlo Vistoli, Gianluca Buratto, Lucile Richardot / Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardine [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 22/Apr/2022 ] "A crowning glory, you might say, to Gardiner's half century association with Monteverdi" (TheTimes Five Stars) |
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WAGNER
Siegfried (complete opera recorded in 1999) Het Muziektheater Amsterdam / Heinz Kruse / Graham Clark / John Brocheler / Henk Smit / Carsten Stabell / Anne Gjevang / Hartmut Haenchen (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / 3 DVD - released 19/Jun/2006 ] G :- "This Siegfried definitely had me hooked from beginning to end" (MusicWeb July 2006) |
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VERDI
Aida (complete opera recorded in 2012) Arena di Verona / Hui He, Marco Berti, Andrea Ulbrich, Ambrogio Maestri / Daniel Oren (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 15/Jan/2014 ] "[Hui He] is quite magnificent, her silvery-toned soprano soaring above the orchestra. Add her involved and expressive acting and excellent vocal characterisation to a smooth legato line and I was bowled over." (MusicWeb) |
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BRITTEN
Billy Budd (complete opera recorded in 2010) John Mark Ainsley / Jacques Imbrailo / Phillip Ens / Glyndebourne Chorus / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Mark Elder [ Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 8/Aug/2011 ] "[Elder paces] the developing tragedy with airily lyrical detail and brooding, ominous power. John Mark Ainsley' s plangent, dark-toned tenor and intense diction show us a more neurotic Vere than usual, ridden with doubts and anxieties" (The Times) |
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KIRI te KANAWA
Opera in the Outback Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano) / Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with the Adnyamathanha Women's Choir [ Kultur / Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 29/Jul/2008 ] G : - Opera in the Outback features internationally renowned diva, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, singing a superb selection of songs from opera favourites to the popular classics. |
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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 |
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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) |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 ] |
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MONTEVERDI
L'Orfeo (complete opera recorded in 2002) Les Concert des Nations / Furio Zanasi, Arianna Savall, Montserrat Figueras, Sara Mingardo / Jordi Savall [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 11/May/2015 ] Jordi Savall directs Le Concert des Nations, La Capella Reial de Catalunya and the leading soloists of early opera in a beautiful period production of Monteverdi's favola in musica staged at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu in 2002. Gilbert Deflo's... |
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R. STRAUSS
Elektra (complete opera recorded live in Baden-Baden, 2010) Linda Watson / Manuela Uhl / Jane Henschel / Albert Dohmen / Rene Kollo / Munich Philharmonic Orchestra / Christian Thielemann [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 27/Jan/2011 ] Linda Watson, one of the great Wagnerian sopranos of today, superbly masters her role debut as Elektra, one of opera's most demanding roles. |
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DONIZETTI
L'Elisir D'Amore (Complete opera recorded in August 2009) Glyndebourne Opera / Ekaterina Siurina, Peter Auty, Alfredo Daza / Annabel Arden (Director) / Maurizio Benini (Conductor) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 29/Mar/2011 ] Acclaimed Italian conductor Maurizio Benini makes his Glyndebourne debut in Donizetti's intoxicating and deeply touching opera, whose fast-moving comic story unfolds the romantic rivalry between penniless farmhand and bumptious soldier, both vying... |
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JANACEK
The Cunning Little Vixen (Complete opera recorded in 2012) Glyndebourne Opera / Lucy Crowe, Emma Bell, Sergei Leiferkus / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jurowski [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 31/Jul/2013 ] "Crowe's Vixen is vocally completely secure and delightfully and sharply characterized...[in the closing scene] there is just the right sense of pantheistic rapture...an outstanding achievement." (International Record Review, 2012) |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Tosca (complete opera recorded in 2003) Madrid Teatro Real / Daniela Dessi, Fabio Armiliato, Ruggero Raimondi / Maurizio Benini (cond) [ Opus Arte Essential Opera Collection DVD / DVD - released 20/Oct/2013 ] "...An absolutely magnificent cast of voices." EL MUNDO, Madrid |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Rigoletto (Complete Opera recorded in 1996) Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Marcelo Alvarez, Peter Auty, Graeme Broadbent, Christine Schafer / Edward Downes (cond) [ Opus Arte Essential Opera Collection DVD / DVD - released 1/Jun/2014 ] "A thrilling performance, with Gavanelli the best acted Rigoletto since Gobbi." - Gramophone Magazine (June 2002) |
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PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (complete ballet recorded in 2009) Royal Opera House / Marialela Nunez, Thiago Soares, Elizabeth McGorian, Christopher Saunders / Valery Ovsyanikov (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] 'The production as a whole is beautifully formed and dramatically convincing… And praise, too, for the corps, who made us feel the sorrow and anger of the swans' collective misfortune.' The Times |
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VERDI / MOZART / MONTEVERDI / OFFENBACH / PUCCINI / WAGNER
The Essential Opera Collection (19 DVD) Muziektheater Amsterdam / Glyndebourne Opera / Madrid Teatro Real / Gran Teatre del Liceu / Netherlands Opera / Royal Opera House / Paris Opera [ Opus Arte Essential Opera Collection DVD / 19 DVD Box Set - released 20/Nov/2015 ] The 'Essential Opera Collection' is an exciting new mid-price series that brings together popular operas and classic productions in simple stylish packaging. The ten launch titles represent the leading opera houses of the world, including The Royal... |