GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Nabucco (compete opera recorded in 2013) The Royal Opera / Placido Domingo, Liudmyla Monastyrska, Andrea Caré, Marianna Pizzolato & Vitalij Kowaljow / Nicola Luisotti (cond) [ Sony Classical DVD / DVD - released 1/Jul/2015 ] Sony Classical presents a highlight among its releases of major opera works: a memorable performance of Verdi's Nabucco from the Royal Opera House in London, recorded live in April 2013. In this production Plácido Domingo made his debut in the role o |
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 |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 2012) Salzburg Festival / Anna Netrebko, Nino Machaidze, Piotr Beczala / Daniele Gatti (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophone DVD / DVD - released 15/Nov/2012 ] The New York Times wrote, "You don't often hear Mimì sung with such vivid character and sheer charisma." |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Die Zauberflote [The Magic Flute] (complete opera recorded the Salzburg Festival in 2006) Salzburg Festival / Rene Pape, Genia Kuhmeier, Paul Groves, Diana Damrau / Vienna Philharmonic / Riccardo Muti (cond) [ Decca Classics / Mozart 22 DVD / 2 DVD - released 9/Nov/2006 ] Unsurpassed Mozartian Riccardo Muti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic and a superb cast in an outstanding performance of Pierre Audi's fantastic, colourful production of Mozart's sublime 'singspiel'. |
HANS WERNER HENZE
Hans Werner Henze: The Bassarids Salzburg Festival / Sean Panikkar, Russell Braun, Willard White, Nikolai Schukoff / Vienna Philharmonic, Kent Nagano [ Arthaus Musik DVD / 2 DVD - released 11/Oct/2019 ] The opera, inspired by Euripides' tragedy The Bacchae, is as seductive as it is topical: When Dionysus - is he a charlatan? is he a demigod? - bursts into the intact world of ancient Thebes, he plunges a city into chaos. In stark contrast to his... |
JOHANN STRAUSS
Strauss, (J): Der Zigeunerbaron [The Gipsy Baron] (complete operetta filmed in 1975) Siegfried Jerusalem, Ellen Shade, Ivan Rebroff, Martha Modl / Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart / Kurt Eichhorn [ Universal Classics / Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 7/Apr/2008 ] "Beautifully filmed on location in Hungary with a fine cast of singers, this production is a delight." (MusicWeb August 2008) |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Rinaldo (complete opera recorded in 2011) Glyndebourne Opera / Sonia Prina, Anett Fritsch, Brenda Rae, Luca Pisaroni / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Ottavio Dantone [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 2/Feb/2013 ] "What is here is some exhilarating music-making, both vocal and instrumental. Ottavio Dantone leads an orchestral with a spring in its step and some fine playing" (BBC) |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Lohengrin (complete opera recorded in 2018) Staatsoper Stuttgart / Michaël König, Simone Schneider, Martin Gantner, Okka von der Damerau / Cornelius Meister [ Bel Air Classiques DVD / DVD - released 20/Nov/2020 ] What are heroes made of and why do our societies need them so badly ? At the Staatsoper Stuttgart, stage director Árpád Schilling tries to answer this mythological, political and existential question, lying at the core of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin.... |
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 / 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... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Aida (complete opera filmed in 2003) Gran Teatre del Liceu / Daniela Dessi, Elisabetta Fiorillo, Fabio Armiliato, Juan Pons / Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez (cond) [ Opus Arte Essential Opera Collection DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Oct/2013 ] "Juan Pons' Amonasro is a big-voiced portrayal by a big man with a big presence. He is quite simply superb, making his mark with every note he sings." (MusicWeb) |
JULES MASSENET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Massenet: Thais (complete opera recorded in 2004) Teatri La Fenice / Eva Mei (soprano), Michele Perusi (bass-baritone), William Joyner (tenor) & Christophe Fel (bass) / Marcello Viotti (cond) [ Dynamic DVD / DVD - released 28/Oct/2004 ] Venice's prestigious Teatro La Fenice's production of this enthralling opera, full of captivating music and dramatic development. The title role, in this excellent production, is sung by an Eva Mei in great vocal form, who gives an interpretation... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI / W. A. MOZART
Operas - Aida / I Due Foscari / Die Zauberflote / Le Nozze di Figaro / Die Entfuhrung] (complete operas recorded 2015 - 2019) Teatro alla Scala / Anita Rachvelishvili, George Gagnidze, Placido Domingo, Anna Pirozzi, Martin Summer, Yasmin Ozkan, Carlos Alvarez, Diana Damaru [ C Major DVD / 8 Blu-ray Box Set - released 20/Aug/2021 ] FIVE OUTSTANDING OPERAS FROM THE LEGENDARY TEATRO ALLA SCALA: ON BLU-RAY |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: La Cenerentola (complete opera.recorded in 1981) Teatro alla Scala / Frederica von Stade, Margherita Guglielmi, Laura Zannini, Francisco Araiza, Claudio Desderi, Paolo Montarsolo / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / Unitel DVD / DVD - released 8/Nov/2005 ] Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's staging of this classic fairy tale, originally created for the San Francisco Opera in 1969, has been one of the most successful opera stagings of the 20th century |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (Complete opera directed by Franco Zeffirelli in 1965) Teatro alla Scala Opera / Mirella Freni / Adriane Martino / Gianni Raimondi / Herbert von Karajan (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon / Unitel DVD / DVD - released 15/Jun/2006 ] "A Bohème you can believe in." (The New York Times) |
UMBERTO GIORDANO
Giordano: Andrea Chénier (complete opera recorded in 2017) Teatro alla Scala / Yusif Eyvazov, Anna Netrebko, Luca Salsi, Annalisa Stroppa / Riccardo Chailly [ C Major DVD / DVD - released 16/Apr/2021 ] By choosing to work with director Mario Martone, known for his films as well as his work in opera and theatre, Chailly has given overall coherence to his cinematic vision. |
GIOACCHINIO ROSSINI
Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri [An Italian in Algeries] (complete opera recorded in 2013) Teatro Comunale di Bologna / Anna Goryachova, Alex Esposito, Yijie Shi & Mario Cassi / José Ramón Encinar [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Aug/2014 ] Pesaro's new offering in 2013 was an off-the-wall production of Rossini's popular comedy, 'The Italian Girl in Algiers', presented as a Swinging Sixties, James Bond adventure, set in the desert oil fields of the North African coast. Davide... |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: Guillaume Tell [William Tell] (complete opera recorded in 2013) Teatro Comunale di Bologna / Nicola Alaima, Marina Rebeka, Juan Diego Flórez, Amanda Forsythe / Michele Mariotti (cond) [ Decca Music Group DVD / 2 DVD - released 15/Apr/2015 ] At last the undisputed Rossini tenor par excellence, Juan Diego Florez makes his debut in the hugely demanding role of Arnold in 'Guillaume Tell' and "masters his part with seemingly effortless perfection" (Die Presse). |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: Matilde di Shabran (complete opera recorded in 2012) Teatro Comunale di Bologno / Juan Diego Florez, Anna Goryachova, Olga Peretyatko / Michele Mariotti (cond) [ Decca DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Sep/2013 ] The opera that few tenors dare sing and which Flórez has made his own throughout his career. |
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI
Pergolesi: Adriano in Siria (Complete opera recorded live in 2011) BLU-RAY Teatro Comunale Pergolesi / Marina Comparato, Lucia Cirillo, Annamaria Dell'Oste / Ottavio Dantone (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Apr/2012 ] "Top marks go to conductor and director for giving the music space to breathe. The vocal cast is almost uniformly brilliant. Dell'Oste is in a class of her own: she turns coloratura into eloquent, heart-rending declarations" (BBC Music) |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il Barbiere de Siviglia [The Barber of Seville] (complete opera recorded in 2005) Teatro Real, Madrid / Maria Bayo, Juan Diego Florez, Pietro Spagnoli, Ruggero Raimondi / Gianluigi Gelmetti (conductor) [ Decca DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Dec/2005 ] G :- A top international cast including soprano María Bayo, tenor Juan Diego Flórez, and the great bass baritone Ruggero Raimondi. |