FERRUCCIO BUSONI
Busoni: Doktor Faust (Complete Opera recorded in 2023) Blu-ray Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Dietrich Henschel, Daniel Brenna, Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Joseph Dahdah, Olga Bezsmertna, Florian Stern / Cornelius Meiste [ Naxos / Dynamic Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 15/Mar/2024 ] "Meister [acquits himself well], conducting by turns with sensitivity and vigour, and capturing effectively the haunting, mysterious sound world of the piece. The orchestral playing could be more refined but doesn't lack for commitment." Gramophone |
FRANCESCO CILEA
Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur (Complete Opera recorded in 2021) Blu-ray Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Maria José Siri, Ksenia Dudnikova, Martin Muehle, Paolo Antognetti / Daniel Harding (cond) [ Naxos / Dynamic Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 9/Sep/2022 ] Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur was inspired by the real-life story of a celebrated actress at the Comédie-Française who was much admired by Voltaire. Hailed as a masterpiece, the opera was triumphantly staged in cities around the world. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte (complete opera recorded in 2021) BLU-RAY Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Valentina Nafornita, Benedetta Torre, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Matthew Swensen, Thomas Hampson / Zubin Mehta (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 8/Apr/2022 ] The production of Mozart's classic comic opera from 2021 is directed by the acclaimed German director Sven-Eric Bechtolf. Conducted by Zubin Mehta, the cast includes Thomas Hampson as Don Alfonso, and the Moldovan soprano Valentina NaforniĊ£a. |
JANACEK
The Cunning Little Vixen BLU-RAY Isabel Bayrakdarian, Lauren Curnow, Quinn Kelsey, Judith Christin / Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Seiji Ozawa / Laurent Pelly (director) [ Arthaus Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 15/Jan/2014 ] Based on an illustrated tale published as a newspaper serial, this fanciful opera is one of Janácek´s true masterworks - at once charming, frightening, tragic and, in the end, life-affirming. The Cunning Little Vixen has been seldom staged in Italy,... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Gianni Schicchi (complete opera recorded in 2019) BLU-RAY Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Bruno de Simone, Francesca Longari, Anna Maria Chiuri, Dave Monaco / Valerio Galli (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 21/Aug/2021 ] "Bruno de Simone is an amiable, bespectacled Schicchi who could win anyone around with his mellow voice and floral shirt. He sparks off nicely against Anna Maria Chiuri, an unusually young 'vecchia' Zita, who brings a welcome vocal freshness" BBC Mus |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Linda Di Chamounix (complete opera recorded in 2021) BLU-RAY Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Jessica Pratt, Teresa Iervolin, Francesco Demuro, Marina de Liso / Michele Gamba (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 3/Dec/2021 ] "Deploying her voluminously secure soprano with artistry, [Pratt] gives us a sweetly innocent 'O luce di quest'anima' and skilfully navigates the once-famous Mad Scene. Her romantic partner is attractively voiced by Francesco Demuro." Opera |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Rinaldo (complete opera recorded in 2020) BLU-RAY Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Raffaele Pe, Carmela Remigio, Leonardo Cortellazzi, Francesca Aspromonte / Federico Maria Sardelli (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 28/May/2021 ] "Sardelli directs a stylish performance, drawing some fine playing from the modern instruments of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestra...It is only right that this famous staging should have been preserved on film" Opera |
JEAN-BAPISTE LULLY
Lully: Acis et Galatée BLU-RAY Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Sean-Francois Lombard, Elena Harsanyi, Valeria La Grotta, Luigi de Donato / Benjamin Lazar (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 19/May/2023 ] "Sardelli (wielding an authentically Lullian staff for certain movements) propels a crisp account - the festival orchestra's first with period instruments." Gramophone Blu-ray of the Month Aug 2023 |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La forza del destino(complete opera recorded in 2021) BLU-RAY Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Saioa Hernandez, Roberto Aronica, Amartuvshin Enkhbat / Zubin Mehta (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 18/Feb/2022 ] 'Three hours of a convincing performance, which managed to ignite reflections and questions about multiple aspects of human destiny, enriched by some brilliant artists and an open musicality.' - Lyric Opera Journal |
DONIZETTI
Don Pasquale (complete opera) / Il campanello di notte (one act opera) Alfredo Mariotti, Anna Maccianti, Alberto Rinaldi, Ugo Benelli / Coro e Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Ettore Gracis [ Deutsche Grammophon Opera House / 2 CD - released 1/May/2006 ] "This welcome issue provides a good introduction to two of Donizetti's lighter compositions and at bargain price" (MusicWeb May 2006) |
AMILCARE PONCHIELLI
Ponchielli: la Gioconda (complete opera recorded in 1958) Anita Cerquetti, Franca Sacchi, Mario del Monaco, Cesare Siepi, Giulietta Simionata / Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gianandrea Gavazzeni [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2019 ] 'To compare Anita Cerquetti's Gioconda with Callas's is a revelation. Cerquetti brings to the role intelligence, musicianship, and an appealing voice' High Fidelity |
VERDI / PUCCINI / PONCHIELLI / SPONTINI
Anita Cerquetti - Recital Anita Cerquetti (soprano) / Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gianandrea Gavazzeni [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Jun/2019 ] A famous Decca operatic recital, long unavailable, celebrating the thrilling voice and short-lived career of a soprano who set operatic stages alight in the late 1950s. |
DONIZETTI
L'elisir d'amore (Complete opera) Barbara Bonney, Gasta Winbergh, Bernd Weikl, Rolando Panerai. Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Gabriele Ferro [ DG Opera House / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2005 ] 'A performance that bubbles along as brightly and affectionately as the music itself' BBC Record Review |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Armida (complete opera recorded live in 1952) Maria Callas, Francesco Albanese, Mario Filippeschi / Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tullio Serafin [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Live Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] Rossini is a pillar of bel canto opera, but he was less central to Callas's art and career than Bellini and Donizetti. She performed two of his comic works - Il barbiere di Siviglia and Il turco in Italia - and in 1952, with her mentor Tullio Serafin... |
GASPARE SPONTINI
Spontini: Fernando Cortez (La conquète du Mexique) (complete opera) Dario Schmunck, Alexia Voulgaridou, Luca Lombardo, Gianluca Margheri / Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Jean-Luc Tingaud [ Dynamic / 3 CD - released 1/May/2020 ] Gaspare Spontini's rare opera 'Fernand Cortez' is now available as a triple disc on DYNAMIC. Recorded in October 2019 at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, this production is the first modern times recording of the original 1809 version. |
W. A. MOZART
Fernando Corena: Arias for Bass Fernando Corena (bass) / Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Sep/2015 ] "'Corena sings with a fine, resonant, clean tone. His production is easy and completely natural, and his diction, phrasing and general musicianship are most praiseworthy" (Gramophone) |
PUCCINI
Il Trittico (Suor Angelica, Il Tabarro, Gianni Schicchi) Fernando Corena, Robert Merrill, Mario del Monaco & Giulietta Simionato / Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Lamberto Gardelli [ ALTO / 2 CD - released 25/Nov/2013 ] For the first time on only 2 discs |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Ernani (complete opera recorded in 2022) Francesco Meli, Roberto Frontali, Vitalij Kowaljow, Maria José Siri / Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, James Conlon [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 16/Feb/2024 ] Victor Hugo's 1830 stage drama Hernani won overwhelming admiration, and over a decade later Verdi's attention was drawn to it as an operatic vehicle that would give him opportunities for full dramatic unity. |
VERDI / MEYERBEER / LEONCAVALLO / PUCCINI / BOITO / etc
Opera Recital Giuseppe di Stefano (tenor) / Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Bruno Bartoletti [ DG Spotlight / CD - released 24/Aug/2006 ] 'His voice is of faultless beauty and remarkable expressive power; it possesses the velvety richness which we have not experienced since the days of Gigli and Lauri Volpi', wrote an eminent American critic in 1948 following Giuseppe Di Stefano's... |
DONIZETTI
L'elisir d'amore (Complete opera) Hilde Gueden, Giuseppe di Stefano, Fernando Corena / Orchestra e coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli [ Decca Heritage Masters / 2 CD - released 20/Sep/2011 ] "Hilde Gueden's Adina is properly coy and sweetly sung, Giuseppe di Stefano an affecting Nemorino, but Fernando Corena's Dulcamara steals the show." (BBC Music) |