LEOS JANACEK
Janacek: Kata Kabanova (complete opera recorded in 2008) Teatro Real, Madrid / Karita Mattila, Miroslav Dvorsky, Guy de Mey, Dali Schaechter / Jiri Belohlavek (cond) [ FRA Musica DVD / DVD - released 12/Dec/2010 ] "Its luminosity is reflected in Jiří Bělohlávek's conducting, undoubtedly the most airily lyrical Katya I can remember, which uses Mackerras's edition but applies less spiky gestures" BBC Music Magazine, January 2011 ***** |
PHILIP GLASS
Glass: The Perfect American (complete opera recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY Teatro Real / David Pittsinger, Donald Kaasch, Christopher Purves, Janis Kelly / Dennis Russell Davies (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Oct/2013 ] "The dark tone is set from the beginning...Purves impresses conveys the complex and ultimately flawed character of Walt...Opus Arte's production is excellent...and brings The Perfect American - such as it is - very vividly to life." Gramophone |
LEOS JANACEK
Janacek: Jenufa (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Teatro Real Madrid / Amanda Roocroft, Deborah Polaski, Nikolai Schukoff / Ivor Bolton (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Aug/2011 ] "Something in the composer's writing brings out the best in [Roocroft's] creamy voice and committed acting, and here she's superb as a young woman who forgives her stepmother for committing a terrible crime." (ClassicFM) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera [The Masked Ball] (complete opera recorded in 2008) BLU-RAY Teatro Real / Marcelo Alvarez / Violeta Urmana / Marco Vratogna / ElenaZaremba / Jesus Lopez-Cobos (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2011 ] Passion, loyalty and political conspiracy are the three pillars of Un ballo in maschera (1859), the 'most operatic of all operas'. Set in XIX century Boston, Mario Martone's atmospheric production for the Teatro Real in Madrid brings out all the... |
PIETRO MASCAGNI / RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana / Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (complete operas recorded in 2007) BLU-RAY Teatro Real / Violeta Urmana / Vincenzo La Scola / Vladimir Galouzine / Maria Bayo/ Carlo Guelfi / Jesus Lopez-Cobos (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 2/Feb/2009 ] Blu-Ray - "The performances are uniformly superb; especially Violeta Urmana's Santuzza and Vladimir Galouzine's Canio, especially in the aria Vesti La Giubba, where he almost brings down the house. Very highly recommended!" (AudAud.com) |
JANACEK
Jenufa (complete opera recorded in 2009) Amanda Roocroft / Deborah Polaski / Miroslav Dvorský / Nikolai Schukoff / Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real Madrid / Ivor Bolton [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 26/Oct/2011 ] "Amanda Roocroft has won laurels as Jenufa in various stage productions and comes across as a deeply sincere performer here, even if the voice is apt to turn shrill at the top...[Polaski's] very understatement is moving in its own way." (Gramophone) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Aida / La Traviata / Rigoletto (complete operas recorded 2002 - 2006) Royal Opera, Teatro Real, Liceu Opera / Daniela Dessi, Elisabetta Fiorillo, Norah Amsellem, Renata Bruson, Christine Shafer, Marcelo Alvarez, etc [ Opus Arte DVD / 5 DVD Box Set - released 20/Dec/2014 ] "José Antonio Gutiérrez's production is, by definition, ultra-traditional, but everything looks beautiful thanks to Cabanes's feeling for colour - ochres and blues dominate - and perspective." (BBC Music on Aida) |
JANACEK
Janacek: Kata Kabanova (complete opera recorded in 2008) BLU-RAY Karita Mattila / Miroslav Dvorsky / Guy de Mey / Dali Schaechter / Orchestra del Teatro Real Madrid / Jiri Belohlavek [ FRA Musica Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Dec/2012 ] "Throughout, Mattila sings with a flood of golden tone… Bělohlávek's conducting is beautifully judged, whether in tension or release. Utterly brilliant!" (Gramophone) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti:Roberto Devereux (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Teatro Real Madrid / Mariella Devia, Marco Caria, Silvia Tro Santafe, Gregory Kunde / Bruno Campanella (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Feb/2017 ] In the last and most dramatic aria in Roberto Devereux, one of the four Tudor period operas composed by Donizetti in 1837 (along with Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Il Castello di Kenilworth), the protagonist, Queen Elizabeth I of England, exclaims:... |
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 |
KURT WEILL
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (complete opera recorded in 2010) Measha Brueggergosman / Jane Henschel / Willard White / Michael Konig / Teatro Real Madrid / Pablo Heras-Casado [ Bel Air Classiques DVD / DVD - released 9/Nov/2011 ] Bel Air present the hard-hitting new production of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Catalan collective, La Fura dels Baus, from the Teatro Real de Madrid. |
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... |
BIZET / MENDELSSOHN / MOZART / PUCCINI / STRAUSS 11 / RAMEAU
THE BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: Opera and Ballet Highlights Paris Opera Ballet / Royal Opera House / Teatro Real, Madrid / Glyndebourne Opera / Pacific Northwest Ballet / Drottningholms Slottsteater [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2009 ] Blu-Ray - Opera and Ballet Highlights from the Opus Arte catalogue at a very special price. |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann [The Tales of Hoffmann] (complete operettas recorded in 2014) Teatro Real / Anne Sofie von Otter, Vito Priante, Eric Cutler, Ana Durlovski, Measha Brueggergosman / Sylvain Cambreling (cond) [ Bel Air Classics DVD / DVD - released 8/Sep/2015 ] "Musically it's mostly excellent...Cutler is all vocal ease, elegance and passion. Von Otter's communicative and dramatic powers remain wonderfully persuasive." Gramophone |
ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorak: Rusalka (complete opera in 2021) Teatro Real / Asmik Grigorian, Eric Cutler, Maxim Kuzmin-Karavaev, Katarina Dalayman, Karita Mattila / Ivor Bolton (cond) [ C Major DVD / 2 DVD - released 2/Nov/2021 ] 'Loy's concept works well and the stylish production values make this one of the most successful Rusalkas on film...Central to the success is Asmik Grigorian's outstanding, passionate Rusalka.' Gramophone Award Finalist 2022 - Opera |
ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorak: Rusalka (complete opera recorded in 2021) ) [Blu-ray] Teatro Real / Asmik Grigorian, Eric Cutler, Maxim Kuzmin-Karavaev, Katarina Dalayman, Karita Mattila / Ivor Bolton (cond) [ C Major Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 2/Nov/2021 ] 'Loy's concept works well and the stylish production values make this one of the most successful Rusalkas on film...Central to the success is Asmik Grigorian's outstanding, passionate Rusalka.' Gramophone Award Finalist 2022 - Opera |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Don Giovanni (complete opera recorded in 2005) Teatro Real / Carlos Alvarez, Alfred Reiter, Marla Bayo, Jose Bros, Sonia Ganassi, Lorenzo Regazzo / Víctor Pablo Pérez (cond) [ Opus Arte Essential Opera Collection DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Oct/2013 ] ""Magnificent Maria Bayo as Donna Anna, the evolution of this soprano is spectacular. José Bros is tenor Midas: he converts everything he touches into gold. What a delightful performance! " Opera Actual |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Don Giovanni (complete opera recorded in 2005) BLU-RAY Teatro Real / Carlos Álvarez, Lorenzo Regazzo, María Bayo, José Bros, Sonia Ganassi / Víctor Pablo Pérez (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 6/Apr/2016 ] "The cast set to with a will vocally and dramatically...Víctor Pablo Pérez accompanies accommodatingly in a performance of appropriate but not over-grand scale...The Blu-ray pictures convey well the perspective depth of Frigerio's set." Gramophone |
PHILIP GLASS
The Perfect American (complete opera recorded in 2013) Teatro Real / David Pittsinger, Donald Kaasch, Christopher Purves, Janis Kelly / Dennis Russell Davies (cond) [ Orange Mountain Music / 2 CD - released 31/Mar/2016 ] Orange Mountain Music presents the premiere recording of Philip Glass's 2013 opera The Perfect American about the death of Walt Disney performed by an esteemed roster of soloists including Christopher Purves as Walt Disney. |
PHILIP GLASS
The Perfect American (complete opera recorded in 2013) Teatro Real / David Pittsinger, Donald Kaasch, Christopher Purves, Janis Kelly / Dennis Russell Davies (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Oct/2013 ] The last days of the American icon Walt Disney form a powerful and poignant subject for Philip Glass's latest opera, which was filmed at its first performances in Madrid in January 2013. Phelim McDermott's spectacular production is worthy of Disney's... |