Operas
Adolphe Adam's Les Postillon de Lonjumeau was a great success at its premiere in 1836, and, along with the ballet Giselle , has remained one of the composer's most popular works. Following the great French tradition, this opera-comique as it all: 18th-century Rococo Parisian glamour and a perilous love story involving the dashing and flirtatious Chapelou and his opposite, the powerful and clever Madeleine. This lavish and spectacular production from the Opera Comique in Paris received widespread critical acclaim and also features costumes by the iconic French fashion designer Christian Lacroix.
Based on Louisa May Alcott's enduringly popular novel about the adventures of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy in civil-war era New England, Mark Adamo's opera Little Women has been performed in more than 70 national and international engagements since its 1998 premiere by Houston Grand Opera and has achieved the status of an American classic. This recording, with a superb cast expertly directed for television, vividly brings to life an opera that The New Yorker hailed as 'A beautifully crafted work', brilliantly molding Alcott's tale into operatic form'.
The longing to overcome human boundaries lead the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to begin an experiment that formed a threat to the whole of humanity, and whose scientific results still do today. The question of the moral implications of the atomic bomb is raised in John Adams' opera, just as much as that of the influence on the private lives of the main characters. Dr. Atomic is the fifth work to result from almost twenty years of collaboration between the American composer and his fellow American director and Erasmus Prize-winner Peter Sellars.
Bonus features:
- Interview with Peter Sellars.
- Illustrated synopsis
Bonus features:
- Interview with Peter Sellars.
- Illustrated synopsis
The most recent composition by American minimalist composer John Adams is his take on the "Christmas Oratorio": a large-scale music theatre work entitled El Nino .
How does one actually celebrate Christ's birth in a land where palm trees and race conflicts flourish - in sunny California? Perhaps the way composer John Adams and director Peter Sellars portray it at the beginning of El Nino (La Nativite) , which was first performed nine days before Christmas 2000 at the Parisian Theatre du Chatelet: with a tree and festoons of lights. This symbol projected on the stage as a hazily poetic yet realistically blurred video is telling in more ways than one.
This fourth joint stage work by Adams and Sellars - which unlike the two operas Nixon in China (1987) and The Death of Klinghoffer (1991) turns to a Biblical rather than a contemporary theme - uses musical elements we are already familiar with from these two artists' three "worldly" pieces.
How does one actually celebrate Christ's birth in a land where palm trees and race conflicts flourish - in sunny California? Perhaps the way composer John Adams and director Peter Sellars portray it at the beginning of El Nino (La Nativite) , which was first performed nine days before Christmas 2000 at the Parisian Theatre du Chatelet: with a tree and festoons of lights. This symbol projected on the stage as a hazily poetic yet realistically blurred video is telling in more ways than one.
This fourth joint stage work by Adams and Sellars - which unlike the two operas Nixon in China (1987) and The Death of Klinghoffer (1991) turns to a Biblical rather than a contemporary theme - uses musical elements we are already familiar with from these two artists' three "worldly" pieces.
Domingo creates the magical illusion that Alfano wrote the role especially for him: Domingo de Bergerac" (review of the premiere in the Madrid daily ABC). Plácido Domingo's triumph in Valencia's stunningly futuristic theater El Palau de les Arts in February 2007 echoes the overwhelmingly positive reception he obtained at the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in this role. A coproduction of the New York, London and Valencia houses, Franco Alfano's little-known 1936 opera Cyrano de Bergerac has been reawakened to life by the great Spanish tenor. Although Alfano (1875-1954) enjoyed a long and prolific career as an opera composer, he is known today above all for having completed Puccini's Turandot . His earlier works not surprisingly reflect Puccini's verismo style, but his later works - including Cyrano de Bergerac - are clearly inspired by Debussy, Ravel and Strauss. Opulent scoring and colorful orchestral effects elegantly underscore the tragic story based on Rostand's famous drama of 1897, which achieved international celebrity in the Oscar-nominated 1990 film adaptation with Gérard Depardieu. Alfano's work faithfully relates the story of the large-nosed soldier poet who pines for the beautiful Roxane and writes her glowing love letters in the...
Thunderous applause and loud cries of "bravo" greeted the premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio at the inaugural performance of the first opera season in Valencia's new Palau de les Arts on 25 October 2006. Attending the stellar performance in architect Santiago Calatrava's breathtaking theater complex was Queen Sofía of Spain, who added to the glamour of the event. With this spectacular production directed by Pierluigi Pier'Alli, Valencia has put itself back on the map of the international opera world.
Calatrava's sweeping structure recalls the organic forms of Catalonia's "Modernisme" style. Hints of Gaudì and traces of Gothic arches and nave-like spaces project a feeling of openness and freedom. Not surprisingly, Fidelio was chosen to inaugurate the theater's main concert hall - an opera about freedom set in Spain, and in which the contrast between the darkness of Florestan's dungeon and the light of justice and love embodied by Leonore is both heard in the music and seen on the stage.
The production by noted Italian director Pierluigi Pier'Alli does full justice to the opera's concept with an imaginative treatment of light, projections and digital wizardry. Pier'Alli himself says that his concept "becomes increasingly symbolic and abstract" as the work...
Calatrava's sweeping structure recalls the organic forms of Catalonia's "Modernisme" style. Hints of Gaudì and traces of Gothic arches and nave-like spaces project a feeling of openness and freedom. Not surprisingly, Fidelio was chosen to inaugurate the theater's main concert hall - an opera about freedom set in Spain, and in which the contrast between the darkness of Florestan's dungeon and the light of justice and love embodied by Leonore is both heard in the music and seen on the stage.
The production by noted Italian director Pierluigi Pier'Alli does full justice to the opera's concept with an imaginative treatment of light, projections and digital wizardry. Pier'Alli himself says that his concept "becomes increasingly symbolic and abstract" as the work...
Translucence, transparency EUR" warmth are the qualities identified by Bernard Haitink as necessary for an ideal sound performance of Beethoven's only opera, and all are present in this fantastic recording of Katharina Thalbach's new production for Opernhaus Zurich. Haitink conducts the Zurich Opera Orchestra in a magnificent performance in which Leonore Overture No. 3 provides an interlude between the two scenes of the second act, following a tradition started by Gustav Mahler. German soprano Melanie Diener, in the role of Leonore, leads a brilliant cast including Alfred Muff as Rocco, Roberto Sacca as Florestan, Sandra Trattnigg as Marzelline and Christoph Strehl as Jaquino.
Bonus features :
- Illustrated synopsis
Bonus features :
- Illustrated synopsis
Beethoven's only opera is a masterpiece, an uplifting story of risk and triumph. In this new production, conducted by Antonio Pappano, Jonas Kaufmann plays the political prisoner Florestan, and Lise Davidsen his wife Leonore (disguised as Fidelio) who daringly sets out to rescue him. Set in strong counterpoint are the ingredients of domestic intrigue, determined love and the cruelty of an oppressive regime. The music is transcendent throughout and includes the famous Act I Quartet, the Prisoners' Chorus and Florestan's impassioned Act II cry in the darkness and vision of hope. Tobias Kratzer's new staging brings together the dark reality of the French Revolutionary 'Terror' and our own time to illuminate Fidelio's inspiring message of shared humanity.
This stellar production of Beethoven's Fidelio - the sole opera by the universally beloved composer born 250 years ago - stands out from the pack. First, it features a young Jonas Kaufmann in 2004, near the beginning of his meteoric rise to superstardom thanks to the qualities already on full display here: a dark and stentorian tenor voice, remarkable acting capacities, and a seemingly effortless expressiveness that make him a perfect fit for the iconic roles he would go on to embody, not least of which is Florestan.
But even the greatest soloist cannot make an opera work on his own - and?the unique alchemy here between Jurgen Flimm's minimalist staging and Nikolaus Harnoncourt's expert musical approach focuses the drama's power on the ineffable power of love, rather than just on philosophy or politics. Fidelio tells the story of Leonora (soprano Camilla Nylund, in one of the roles that launched her to international success like Kaufmann), who disguises herself as a man (Fidelio, "faithful one"), to rescue her husband (Florestan), unjustly imprisoned by his enemy Pizarro (here, a powerful Alfred Muff) and guarded by the warden Rocco (a worthy Laszlo Polgar). Fittingly, the original title of the opera was Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love.
But even the greatest soloist cannot make an opera work on his own - and?the unique alchemy here between Jurgen Flimm's minimalist staging and Nikolaus Harnoncourt's expert musical approach focuses the drama's power on the ineffable power of love, rather than just on philosophy or politics. Fidelio tells the story of Leonora (soprano Camilla Nylund, in one of the roles that launched her to international success like Kaufmann), who disguises herself as a man (Fidelio, "faithful one"), to rescue her husband (Florestan), unjustly imprisoned by his enemy Pizarro (here, a powerful Alfred Muff) and guarded by the warden Rocco (a worthy Laszlo Polgar). Fittingly, the original title of the opera was Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love.
Beethoven started composing Leonore in January 1803. The subject - the release to freedom of an unjustly imprisoned man by his devoted wife - was part of the genre of 'rescue operas' which were very popular at the end of the 18th century. The premiere of Leonore, given before an uncomprehending audience at a time of political upheaval, was a failure and Beethoven responded by shortening the work from three acts to two, which was the version performed in 1806. After further revisions it was to emerge in 1814 as Fidelio . This performance is from Opera Lafayette's Leonore Project which included a performance of Pierre Gaveaux's Leonore, ou L'Amour conjugal - the opera on which Beethoven modelled his Leonore.
Beatrice di Tenda is, to date, one of Vincenzo Bellini's more unfamiliar and rarely performed operas, even though it contains moments of extraordinary music. Based on a libretto by Felice Romani, Bellini's favourite collaborator, it was written in 1833 for Venice's La Fenice theatre. It was rather unsuccessful, but the musician always claimed it was on a par with his other, more popular works. Like all of Bellini's operas, Beatrice di Tenda calls for an outstanding female protagonist, for a role that today Dimitra Theodossiou is among the few who can tackle in all of its infinite variety of dramatic and vocal registers, reviving the glories of the great 19th-century bel canto sopranos.
Vincenzo Bellini's first great operatic success I Capuleti e i Montecchi is based on an Italian version of Romeo and Juliet in which the feuding clans seek reconciliation through the wedding of Giulietta and Tebaldo. Giulietta's lover, Romeo, begs her to elope with him, but fate has other plans for the couple.
Topped with the 'agile' coloratura runs and lyrical grace' (The New York Times) of soprano Jessica Pratt, this acclaimed production takes places in the historical and beautifully atmospheric Teatro La Fenice, the same venue in which I Capuleti e i Montecchi had its triumphant premiere in 1830.
Topped with the 'agile' coloratura runs and lyrical grace' (The New York Times) of soprano Jessica Pratt, this acclaimed production takes places in the historical and beautifully atmospheric Teatro La Fenice, the same venue in which I Capuleti e i Montecchi had its triumphant premiere in 1830.
The reigning queen of bel canto, Edita Gruberova has laid the cornerstone for a new Norma legend in her first stage performance of this virtuoso role. The premiere of Vincenzo Bellini's opera at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich marked a resounding new triumph in the singer's career. Sharing the stage with Gruberova were Zoran Todorovich, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Sonia Ganassi and other renowned soloists, along with the chorus of the Bavarian State Opera. Friedrich Haider conducted the production directed by Jurgen Rose. Emmy Award winner Brian Large directed the HDTV recording made in late January and early February 2006.
Edita Gruberova fulfilled all expectations, and in view of her great predecessors Callas, Caballe and Sutherland, these expectations were clearly very high. The expressive intensity of the one, the velvet timbre of the second, the brilliance of the third – Gruberova united all the strengths of the prima donnas of the past in her interpretation of a Norma that has already become a new high point in the history of this role. Gruberova captures her audiences not only through her stupendous technique, but also through her command of an incredibly large palette of subtle nuances. With her voice alone, she infuses her role with a rich spectrum of feelings...
Edita Gruberova fulfilled all expectations, and in view of her great predecessors Callas, Caballe and Sutherland, these expectations were clearly very high. The expressive intensity of the one, the velvet timbre of the second, the brilliance of the third – Gruberova united all the strengths of the prima donnas of the past in her interpretation of a Norma that has already become a new high point in the history of this role. Gruberova captures her audiences not only through her stupendous technique, but also through her command of an incredibly large palette of subtle nuances. With her voice alone, she infuses her role with a rich spectrum of feelings...
In Guy Joosten's ingenious production of Bellini's masterpiece, Norma is about more than just beautiful singing. It becomes a layered, timeless drama in which Norma is the archetypal successful woman struggling to retain her dominant but vulnerable position. Hasmik Papian's lyrical and intense interpretation of the title role accentuates the striking similarity between a Druid high priestess and a modern opera diva. Conductor Julian Reynolds guides the brilliant cast, choir and Netherlands Chamber Orchestra to great heights, providing a refreshing new take on the chef d'oeuvre of bel canto.
Bonus features :
- Introduction to Norma , including interviews with principal members of the cast and artistic team.
- Illustrated Synopsis
Bonus features :
- Introduction to Norma , including interviews with principal members of the cast and artistic team.
- Illustrated Synopsis
Norma is the eight opera in Bellini's catalgue, and third last in chronological order, followed only by Beatrice di Tenda of 1833, and I Puritani of 1835. The text for the opera was the work of the best-known librettist, Felice Romani, and was based on a contemporary French drama, Norma au L'infanticide by Soumet.
Norma occupies a very particular place in operatic repertoire, a dramatic work of lyrical beauty, not least in the most fanous of Norma's arias, Casta diva (Chaste goddess), her first-act prayer to the moon. Oroveso calls the Druids to watch for the new moon in Ite sul colle, o Druidi (Go to the hills, O Druids) and in the second act he warns of Pollione's possible successor, inveighing against Roman tyranny in Ah! del Tebro al giogo indegno (Ah! To the disgraceful yoke of Rome). Norma has notable duets with Adalgisa and with Pollione, revealing different aspects of her tragic character.
Norma occupies a very particular place in operatic repertoire, a dramatic work of lyrical beauty, not least in the most fanous of Norma's arias, Casta diva (Chaste goddess), her first-act prayer to the moon. Oroveso calls the Druids to watch for the new moon in Ite sul colle, o Druidi (Go to the hills, O Druids) and in the second act he warns of Pollione's possible successor, inveighing against Roman tyranny in Ah! del Tebro al giogo indegno (Ah! To the disgraceful yoke of Rome). Norma has notable duets with Adalgisa and with Pollione, revealing different aspects of her tragic character.
Bellini, unlike many of his colleagues - among them Donizetti - did not have to endure the disappointments and difficulties of rising from the ranks. His Bianca e Gernando , in 1826, was well received at Naples's Teatro San Carlo, and one year later, at the age of twenty-six, the composer triumphed at Milan's La Scala with Il Pirata . Norma is not only the high point of Bellini's artistic parabola but also the quintessence of Italian belcanto.
This video was recorded at the Massimo Bellini theatre of Catania, native town of the great Sicilian composer, and features, in the title role, the famous Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou, one of today?EUR(TM)s best interpreters of Norma.
This video was recorded at the Massimo Bellini theatre of Catania, native town of the great Sicilian composer, and features, in the title role, the famous Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou, one of today?EUR(TM)s best interpreters of Norma.
Star soprano Sonya Yoncheva sings the towering role of Bellini's Norma - a priestess torn between love and duty - in a timeless tale of love and betrayal, set in a fanatically religious and war-torn modern society. The spectacular production of Alex Olle for The Royal Opera also stars Joseph Calleja as Norma's former lover Pollione, leader of the forces occupying her country, Brindley Sherratt as her domineering father Oroveso, and Sonia Ganassi as Adalgisa, her greatest friend and unwitting rival in love. Royal Opera Music Director Antonio Pappano leads this superb cast, the Royal Opera House in one of the greatest works of the bel canto repertory.
I puritani's is one of Bellini's most creative and influential masterpieces, a bel canto opera stamped with vocal and orchestral writing of intoxicating beauty and dramatic intensity. Set in England in the Civil War shortly before Oliver Cromwell's triumph, it involves romantic and political intrigues that drew from Bellini music of melodic raptness and melancholic depth. It also inspired him to composes some of his most breathtakingly virtuosic passages, notably Elvira's Mad Scene, that call for the utmost in theatrical power. This production includes for the first tome all the music performed a the work's Paris premiere.
A jewel of bel canto, and Bellini's last masterpiece, I Puritani encapsulates every major theme held dear by the Italian romantic generation: a love triangle, quid pro quos, a shattered love affair leading to madness, set in Cromwell's England with its lot of political rivalries. It is also an ode to resistance and to freedom, echoing the political struggles that the Italian peninsula was facing in the 1830's. But it is mainly a testament to Bellini's unique musical brand, a genius combination of melodic brightness, post rossinian ornaments, and a profound and melancolic lamento that owes much to traditional Neapolitan songs.
It is therefore one of the most vocally demanding opera of the repertoire, and to face this challenge, the Teatro Real of Madrid called on four exceptional singers: the great diva Diana Damrau is Elvira, Javier Camarena is Arturo (both triumphed at the Metropolitan Opera of New York in the same opera in 2017), as well as baritone Ludovic Tezier and bass-baritone Nicolas Teste.
Catalan director Emilio Sagi offers a staging both elegant and simple, and bel canto expert Evelino Pido, along with the Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus, brings forth every nuance of this immense and unforgettable score.
It is therefore one of the most vocally demanding opera of the repertoire, and to face this challenge, the Teatro Real of Madrid called on four exceptional singers: the great diva Diana Damrau is Elvira, Javier Camarena is Arturo (both triumphed at the Metropolitan Opera of New York in the same opera in 2017), as well as baritone Ludovic Tezier and bass-baritone Nicolas Teste.
Catalan director Emilio Sagi offers a staging both elegant and simple, and bel canto expert Evelino Pido, along with the Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus, brings forth every nuance of this immense and unforgettable score.
This "spirited and witty" EUR" in the words of Germany's top daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung EUR" new production of Vincenzo Bellini's La sonnambula dazzles with its lovingly detailed and imaginative sets which reproduce a Swiss alpine resort in the 1930s. Complete with a majestic mountain panorama, cable car, post-bus and grand salon, not to mention the colorfully dressed resort guests, set designer Massimo Checchetto deploys an enchanting picture book of visual surprises. Premiered in Milan on 6 March 1831, La sonnambula is widely regarded as the composer's first true masterpiece.
Against the beautiful backdrop of De Ana's woodland sets - vaguely reminiscent of Turning paintings - and video projections that create an aura of mystery, Eglise Gutierrez, Antonino Siragusa and Simone Alaimo recreate Bellini's bel canto masterpiece, in a production that is a tribute to the historical Visconti Sonnambula of 1955.
Alban Berg's Lulu is a rarely performed work that calls for a very large orchestra as well as a large cast of vocal soloists. Written in the 1930s, Lulu is the story of a lower-class girl who uses men as stepping-stones on her path to fame and fortune and who ultimately meets her own fate at the hands of Jack the Ripper. Lulu, a tragic creature and femme fatale - nobody could allegorize such a role better then Patricia Petibon. As a sensual, ethereally beautiful Lulu, she commands the public's attention in every scene.
Leading the Wiener Philharmoniker, conductor Marc Albrecht treats the rich sonorities of Berg's music as a natural extension of Wagner, Brahms and Strauss. He thus provides an ideal support for the two main protagonists of the work, which is next to Patricia Petibon's Lulu Michael Volle's Dr. Schon. She is complemented by Volle's powerful baritone as well as tenor Pavol Breslik, bass-baritone Franz Grundheber and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as a heartrending Countess Geschwitz.
A particularly stunning feature of this production are the painted backdrops by Daniel Richter, one of the most internationally prized German painters of today. Whether depicting Lulu herself, a horde of menacing, grimacing faces or an eerie, stylized winter landscape, the gigantic...
Leading the Wiener Philharmoniker, conductor Marc Albrecht treats the rich sonorities of Berg's music as a natural extension of Wagner, Brahms and Strauss. He thus provides an ideal support for the two main protagonists of the work, which is next to Patricia Petibon's Lulu Michael Volle's Dr. Schon. She is complemented by Volle's powerful baritone as well as tenor Pavol Breslik, bass-baritone Franz Grundheber and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as a heartrending Countess Geschwitz.
A particularly stunning feature of this production are the painted backdrops by Daniel Richter, one of the most internationally prized German painters of today. Whether depicting Lulu herself, a horde of menacing, grimacing faces or an eerie, stylized winter landscape, the gigantic...
Lulu EUR" the "archetypal woman, created to wreak havoc, to lure, to seduce, to poison and to murder without anyone realizing" EUR" represents the object and the projection of men's desires and dreams. By destroying her lovers, Lulu is driven from cold-hearted love to cold-blooded murder and ultimately to her own destruction. For this Berlin Version Alban Berg's fragment has been completed by David Robert Coleman. Mojca Erdmann as Lulu proves ideally suited, mastering the insane leaps and coloraturas of the role with incredible ease. She is supported by Deborah Polaski as Countess Geschwitz, the "internally smouldering" Michael Volle as Dr. Schon and Georg Nigl as the "meticulously articulating athlete". (Der Tagesspiegel)
Lulu is a femme fatale, a maneater. She marries men and then kills them, one after another, or pushes them to commit suicide. This opera, which mixes forbidden love stories, crimes and decadence of the heroine, is one of the greatest operas of the 20th century. Alban Berg died before he had a chance to bring his third act to an end, and the opera was premiered at the Zurich Opera House in 1937, two years after the composer's death. The piece shocked the audience and was far from being acclaimed by the critics. In 1979, Friedrich Cerha achieved the orchestration of the third act.
Alban Berg used the themes from two of Frank Wedekind's plays, Pandora's Box and Earth Spirit, which both were forbidden in Germany. Lulu's philosophical and sociological significance seems to denounce the nonsense of a society in search for modernity, trying to deal with the confusion of the values and the search for the power.
The staging of this new production is by one of the greatest Russian stage directors of the moment, Dmitri Tcherniakov, who staged a beautiful Wozzeck at the Bolchoi a few years ago. The conductor, Kirill Petrenko, is the Bayerische Staatsoper's musical director, and Opera Magazine described him as "one of the most passionate [conductors] of his generation". The cast...
Alban Berg used the themes from two of Frank Wedekind's plays, Pandora's Box and Earth Spirit, which both were forbidden in Germany. Lulu's philosophical and sociological significance seems to denounce the nonsense of a society in search for modernity, trying to deal with the confusion of the values and the search for the power.
The staging of this new production is by one of the greatest Russian stage directors of the moment, Dmitri Tcherniakov, who staged a beautiful Wozzeck at the Bolchoi a few years ago. The conductor, Kirill Petrenko, is the Bayerische Staatsoper's musical director, and Opera Magazine described him as "one of the most passionate [conductors] of his generation". The cast...
The Russian director's aim with this bold, sensitive transposition was "to highlight the hidden sorrows of a late twentieth-century man dwelling in a megalopolis."
The redoubtably complex title role was entrusted to Austrian baritone Georg Nigl. Born in Vienna in 1972, Georg Nigl was solo soprano with the Vienna Boys Choir prior to three years as an actor at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He began training as a singer at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna in 1990, before going on to the Kammersangerin Hilde Zadek. Over the last few years he has worked with, among others, Thomas Hengelbrock and his Baltasar Neumann Ensemble, Jordi Savall and his Hesperion XXI Ensemble, and Giovanni Antonini and Luca Pianca and their Il Giardino Armonico.
American soprano Mardi Byers plays Marie. A native of Colorado, she made her international debut as Tosca in Lubeck and Elisabetta in Don Carlos in Wiesbaden and Basel. She has also sung Donna Anna and Suor Angelica at the New York City Opera, as well as Elisabeth in Tannhauser and Ariadne in Nuremberg.
Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis directs the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus. Artistic director of the Perm Opera and founder and musical director of the Musica Aeterna ensemble, Teodor Currentzis is now to be seen in the world's leading...
The redoubtably complex title role was entrusted to Austrian baritone Georg Nigl. Born in Vienna in 1972, Georg Nigl was solo soprano with the Vienna Boys Choir prior to three years as an actor at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He began training as a singer at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna in 1990, before going on to the Kammersangerin Hilde Zadek. Over the last few years he has worked with, among others, Thomas Hengelbrock and his Baltasar Neumann Ensemble, Jordi Savall and his Hesperion XXI Ensemble, and Giovanni Antonini and Luca Pianca and their Il Giardino Armonico.
American soprano Mardi Byers plays Marie. A native of Colorado, she made her international debut as Tosca in Lubeck and Elisabetta in Don Carlos in Wiesbaden and Basel. She has also sung Donna Anna and Suor Angelica at the New York City Opera, as well as Elisabeth in Tannhauser and Ariadne in Nuremberg.
Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis directs the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus. Artistic director of the Perm Opera and founder and musical director of the Musica Aeterna ensemble, Teodor Currentzis is now to be seen in the world's leading...
Based on real events and drawing on Georg Buchner's revolutionary play, Alban Berg's Wozzeck turns a grimly tragic narrative of violence and murder into one of the most powerful and original operas of the 20th century. Berg's uncompromising portrayal of brutality and madness generated much controversy, but the significance of Wozzeck was soon recognised; its compelling lyrical expansiveness, large-scale dramatic gestures and remarkable musical structures producing music of overwhelming emotional intensity. The Financial Times declared this to be a 'beautiful, moving, engrossing production... this is a consummate Wozzeck, blending clarity, lyricism, compassion and crushing force.'
Through the eye of French director Laurent Pelly this expression of Berlioz's undying admiration for the Bard - his adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing as an opera comique - becomes 'an elegant treatise on love and music designated in shades of grey with 50s-era costumes' (Sunday Express). Housed by designer Barbara de Limburg in a series of oversized boxes, it's 'terribly chic, terribly pretty' (The Spectacular). Soaring over the 'warmly graceful playing of the London Philharmonic', Paul Appleby sings 'attractively' as Benedict and Stephanie d'Oustrac 'makes a marvellously wiry and fiery Beatrice, singing with charm and actin with gusto' (The Telegraph).
"A mix of futurism a la Metropolis, fantasy a la Batman and quotes from Piranesi's Carceri, juxtaposed in the form of photo montages, enhanced with... robots, a helicopter, a shark and the winged vehicle of a pop star Pope," effuses critic Marianne Zelger-Vogt (Neue Zurcher Zeitung). The object of her rapture is not a Broadway musical but a French opera written in the 1830s, Hector Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini . The absence of the work in the operatic repertoire is certainly due in part to its musical excesses: the work is so complex, richly detailed and prolifically imaginative that Berlioz's contemporaries considered it unplayable and unsingable.
This is resoundingly proven false in the 2007 Salzburg Festival production of director Philipp Stolzl, conductor Valery Gergiev (The wild man of music) and a high-caliber cast accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic and its chorus. Stolzl, above all, has poured his experience as director of music videos, commercials and films into this project, termed "science fiction for Grand Opera" (Suddeutsche Zeitung), "breathtaking" (Der Standard), and "spectacularly successful" (F.A.Z.)
Berlioz hips the action forward by disguising his hero, the celebrated goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), as a monk and having him...
This is resoundingly proven false in the 2007 Salzburg Festival production of director Philipp Stolzl, conductor Valery Gergiev (The wild man of music) and a high-caliber cast accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic and its chorus. Stolzl, above all, has poured his experience as director of music videos, commercials and films into this project, termed "science fiction for Grand Opera" (Suddeutsche Zeitung), "breathtaking" (Der Standard), and "spectacularly successful" (F.A.Z.)
Berlioz hips the action forward by disguising his hero, the celebrated goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), as a monk and having him...
With his affinity for the 16th-century sculptor Benvenuto Cellini's advocacy of artistic freedom, Hector Berlioz went straight for the grand gesture with his first completed opera. Returning to it years after initial production debacles, Berlioz stated that he would 'never again find such verve and Cellinian impetuosity, nor such a variety of ideas'. The plot revolves around Cellini's wooing of Teresa, a match frustrated at every opportunity by his rival, the cowardly Fieramosca. Benvenuto Cellini is a pithy work combining romance, excitement, violence, comedy and spectacle; the perfect stage for Terry Gilliam's stylishly colourful and larger-than-life directing.
Faust is a victim of the "malady of his century", the feeling characterized by melancholy and dissatisfaction which marked artistic creation in the beginning of the 19th century and set the basis of the Romantic Movement. His knowledge is a burden which does not allow him to dream and he is tormented by his impiety (Alfred de Musset also expressed this feeling in the magnificent Rolla). Mephistoph?les, the devil personified as a human being, comes to him with an offer: should Faust follow him and forget about his erudition, he will have access to pleasure, happiness and everything he desires.
With the help of magic and fiendish creatures, the devil present the young Marguerite to Faust and both celebrate their love in a duet Love has taken my ravished soul . But to avoid disgrace and Marguerite's mother's fury, they have to part. In the wake of their union, Mephistopheles tells Faust that Marguerite is in prison for having poisoned her mother with a sleeping beverage. Mephistolpheles promises that he will free her if Faust agrees to serve him. As soon as Faust sells his soul to the devil, he is thrust in Hell. The last notes of Berlioz's work describe the apocalypse where blood flows, skeletons dance and the lakes are set on fire, where as Marguerite, the naive soul which...
With the help of magic and fiendish creatures, the devil present the young Marguerite to Faust and both celebrate their love in a duet Love has taken my ravished soul . But to avoid disgrace and Marguerite's mother's fury, they have to part. In the wake of their union, Mephistopheles tells Faust that Marguerite is in prison for having poisoned her mother with a sleeping beverage. Mephistolpheles promises that he will free her if Faust agrees to serve him. As soon as Faust sells his soul to the devil, he is thrust in Hell. The last notes of Berlioz's work describe the apocalypse where blood flows, skeletons dance and the lakes are set on fire, where as Marguerite, the naive soul which...
Hector Berlioz' grand opera Les Troyens is given an appropriately grand treatment in this production by the renowned Catalan theater group "La Fura dels Baus" under Carlus Padrissa recorded at Valencia's Palau de les Arts. In the first part, Padrissa plays with the present-day meaning of Trojans as computer viruses; in the second, he takes us to a future civilization headed towards self-destruction. The production is a triumph for Valery Gergiev, who conducts "with impressive energy" (FAZ), and for the grandiose, world-famous lead singers Daniela Barcellona, Elisabete Matos and Stephen Gould.
Tom Cairns' cinematic film of Bernstein's chamber opera features a young and vibrant cast, set in the Fifties. This biting satire on American suburban married life stars Stephanie Novacek as Dinah and Karl Daymond as Sam, facing a serious communication breakdown - he is obsessed with his achievements in work and sport: she seeks escapism via therapy and the magical world of the latest movie release, Trouble in Tahiti . Inspired by jazz and American musical comedy, the score is a path-breaking fusion of lyric art with popular entertainment.
Bonus features:
- Introduction to Trouble in Tahiti
- Not Particularly Romantic - Humphrey Burton, Bernstein's biographer, comments on the composer's life and the significance of Trouble in Tahiti.
- A Very Testing Piece - Conductor Paul Daniel on the performance and background of the opera
Bonus features:
- Introduction to Trouble in Tahiti
- Not Particularly Romantic - Humphrey Burton, Bernstein's biographer, comments on the composer's life and the significance of Trouble in Tahiti.
- A Very Testing Piece - Conductor Paul Daniel on the performance and background of the opera
For the first time in scenic version, and to celebrate Leonard Bernstein's centennial, the delightful Wonderful Town filmed during its French premiere at the Opera de Toulon!
With a keen sensitivity to the demands and specificities of the American "musical", and after the triumph of Sondheim's Follies in 2015, the Opera de Toulon once again embarked on a Broadway adventure with the French premiere of Bernstein's Wonderful Town, and brought back for the occasion stage director Olivier Benezech, a major connoisseur of the genre.
A true declaration of love to the city of New-York, Wonderful Town tells the tale, with a boisterous rhythm and vast amounts of jazzy tunes, of two sisters from Ohio looking for success and glory in the big city. Lighter in tone than later works like West Side Story or Candide , its smart combination of the different musical traditions one could hear when wandering in the streets of New-York, its accomplished orchestral writing and colouring, and its vivid sense of comedy earned it no less than five Tony awards when it premiered in 1953.
A story of love and swing with a touch of social satire, it is here revived with all the energy and the sparkle one could hope for: from the highly effective scenography by Luc Londiveau and Gilles Papain to...
With a keen sensitivity to the demands and specificities of the American "musical", and after the triumph of Sondheim's Follies in 2015, the Opera de Toulon once again embarked on a Broadway adventure with the French premiere of Bernstein's Wonderful Town, and brought back for the occasion stage director Olivier Benezech, a major connoisseur of the genre.
A true declaration of love to the city of New-York, Wonderful Town tells the tale, with a boisterous rhythm and vast amounts of jazzy tunes, of two sisters from Ohio looking for success and glory in the big city. Lighter in tone than later works like West Side Story or Candide , its smart combination of the different musical traditions one could hear when wandering in the streets of New-York, its accomplished orchestral writing and colouring, and its vivid sense of comedy earned it no less than five Tony awards when it premiered in 1953.
A story of love and swing with a touch of social satire, it is here revived with all the energy and the sparkle one could hope for: from the highly effective scenography by Luc Londiveau and Gilles Papain to...
This world premiere of a gripping new work by composer Harrison Birtwistle and librettist David Harsent, commissioned by The Royal Opera, brings the monstrous, Greek mythological character to the stage. The Minotaur, part man, part beast, trapped in his labyrinth and constrained by his bloodthirsty role there, longs to discover his true identity and his own voice. Athens must pay a blood sacrifice to Crete and among the innocents is Theseus, who has come to challenge the violent Minotaur, but who also attracts the attention of Ariadne, half-sister and keeper of the monster; it is with her help he succeeds.
Bonus features:
- Documentary - Myth is Universal .
- Illustrated synopsis.
Bonus features:
- Documentary - Myth is Universal .
- Illustrated synopsis.
Director David McVicar describes Carmen as "the first ever musical," and his new production, with Anne Sofie von Otter in the title role, restores the original opéra comique as Bizet wrote it, stripping away subsequent re-workings which turned it into a grand opera. Philippe Jordan makes his Glyndebourne debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Glyndebourne Chorus and a cast that includes Marcus Haddock, Laurent Naouri and Lisa Milne.
Bonus features:
- Costume design
- How to fight on stage
- Illustrated synopsis
- The cast and their characters
- Choreographing Carmen
- The Gardens of Glyndebourne
Bonus features:
- Costume design
- How to fight on stage
- Illustrated synopsis
- The cast and their characters
- Choreographing Carmen
- The Gardens of Glyndebourne
If Herbert von Karajan continues to be a looming presence in today's classical music world, then it is not only because of his more than 800 records and CDs, but also because of the many hours of video recordings which he produced over the course of many years. He began preserving his performances on film back in 1965 with La Boheme . His Carmen is based on his 1966 production for the Salzburg Festival with Grace Bumbry – one of the greatest interpreters of the title role in our time -, Jon Vickers, Mirella Freni and Justino Diaz in the lead roles. Perhaps the most popular opera in the world today, Carmen began its life as a failure when it was premiered in Paris in 1875. Tchaikovsky, however, who was in Paris at the time, prophesied that the opera would be a global success in only ten years. It took a little longer, but his prophecy did come true... and with works such as the Habanera , the Toreador Song , the Seguidilla and the Flower Song , how could the prophecy not come true?
In the splendid setting of the Macerata Sferisterio, the tale of seduction and jealousy par excellence, with a commanding Nino Surguladze in the title role and the direction of twice Oscar-winner Dante Ferretti (The Aviator - Sweeney Todd), here at his debut in the world of opera.
Bizet's passionate tale of the self-willed gypsy woman Carmen is certainly one of the most popular works in the history of opera. It shows how a cigar factory worker in Seville enchants and bewitches the men around her. Melodies like Carmen's legendary 'Habanera'or Escamillo's 'Toreador March' are well known tunes all over the world. The Opéra Comique in Paris commissioned George Bizet to write Carmen in 1872 and Bizet's music portrays the characters with care and reveals itself to both the most naïve and the most sophisticated listener. The wild-romantic Roman quarry of St. Margarethen provided the perfect backdrop for this live recording of one of the key works of the so-called 'Hispanismo'-style. The film captures a summer's evening in 2005 when thousands of spectators gathered at one of Europe's most important open-air festivals, visited by 220.000 opera lovers annually. This exciting production brought horses, pyrotechnical special effects and more than 400 participants onto the stage.
Free she was born and free she will die. This sometime cigar-maker, sometime smuggler with something of the sorceress about her is often in love - as capable of making a deserter of the sergeant Don Jose as she is of wooing the toreador, Escamillo. She is the ally of love - that rebellious bird and gypsy's child she resembles so much. Her first name: Carmen. Around these two syllables Prosper Merimee built a novella that Georges Bizet used to create a character that his opera would turn into a myth: that of a free woman who heeds her desires without worrying about propriety, and who is condemned to end up stabbed to death by a deserter consumed by passion. But a myth is open to an infinite number of possible readings.
Although it has become the most popular opera in the world Carmen - like any universal masterpiece - can still benefit from an innovative approach. Visionary director Dmitri Tcherniakov's take on it promises some strong emotions as, like Merimee, he shows us Carmen through the eyes of Jose. And against the dizzying vortex created by the meticulous direction, under the baton of an unbridled Pablo Heras-Casado, the eternal dance of love-unto-death plays out once more. https://festival-aix.com/en/event/carmen
Although it has become the most popular opera in the world Carmen - like any universal masterpiece - can still benefit from an innovative approach. Visionary director Dmitri Tcherniakov's take on it promises some strong emotions as, like Merimee, he shows us Carmen through the eyes of Jose. And against the dizzying vortex created by the meticulous direction, under the baton of an unbridled Pablo Heras-Casado, the eternal dance of love-unto-death plays out once more. https://festival-aix.com/en/event/carmen
Taken from Goethe's Faust, Mefistofele features the eternal human struggle between Good and Evil. The Story of Faust's temptation, dissolute life and redemption is set by director Giancarlo Del Monaco in contemporary society. Ferruccio Furlanetto delivers a charming, charismatic and strong interpretation of the devil, to remind us that evil is often very attractive.
Known mainly as the Paganini of the double bass , Giovanni Bottesini was in fact one of the most eclectic figures of Italian music in the second half of the nineteenth century. His Ero e Leandro met with great success whet it premiered in 1879, a success witnessed by the 28 performances that followed, an absolutely unthinkable number today.
After the composer's death it disappeared from the repertoire, only to be revived with the present staging. The score, stylistically comparable to the late Verdi, reveals unusual attention to orchestration and uses richly chromatic language. It may be set alongside operas like Ponchielli's La Gioconda and Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele , often showing a high quality of melodic inspiration.
After the composer's death it disappeared from the repertoire, only to be revived with the present staging. The score, stylistically comparable to the late Verdi, reveals unusual attention to orchestration and uses richly chromatic language. It may be set alongside operas like Ponchielli's La Gioconda and Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele , often showing a high quality of melodic inspiration.
800 liters of water, two sails, thirty pulleys, sixty hammocks: for the Bicentenary of the Teatro Real of Madrid, Deborah Warner coined a colossal production of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd . A critically-acclaimed performance, praised for its depth and intelligence.
'Oh, what have I done?' Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, former commander of the H.M.S. Indomitable asks himself with horror at the beginning of the opera, before recounting the tragic events that took place aboard his ship in 1797. The story revolves around a young model sailor, Billy Budd, and John Claggart, the unscrupulous master-at-arms obsessed and crazed by Billy's angelic beauty; and follows the characters in their fall down to the most infernal depths of perversion and psychosis, exploring the themes of innocence, culpability, individual responsibility and justice. In this ambiguous and symbolic tale, drawn from Herman Melville's last masterpiece, the composer Benjamin Britten, who returns for the occasion to symphonic opera and its infinite possibilities, unsettles and disturbs us by revealing the complexity and universality of human experience. Far from writing the characters as allegories of Good and Evil, the opera shows us instead the remorseless logic followed by the surge of one's darkest desires....
'Oh, what have I done?' Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, former commander of the H.M.S. Indomitable asks himself with horror at the beginning of the opera, before recounting the tragic events that took place aboard his ship in 1797. The story revolves around a young model sailor, Billy Budd, and John Claggart, the unscrupulous master-at-arms obsessed and crazed by Billy's angelic beauty; and follows the characters in their fall down to the most infernal depths of perversion and psychosis, exploring the themes of innocence, culpability, individual responsibility and justice. In this ambiguous and symbolic tale, drawn from Herman Melville's last masterpiece, the composer Benjamin Britten, who returns for the occasion to symphonic opera and its infinite possibilities, unsettles and disturbs us by revealing the complexity and universality of human experience. Far from writing the characters as allegories of Good and Evil, the opera shows us instead the remorseless logic followed by the surge of one's darkest desires....
Death in Venice , the last opera by Benjamin Britten , was composed based on the novella by Thomas Mann of the same name, which inspired at least one other celebrated artist, the filmmaker Luchino Visconti. Britten's opera was first performed at Aldeburgh Festival in 1973, just two years after the cinema release of Visconti's film, which Britten never saw. The complicated subject of the opera required a lot of preparation. Britten, who was already very ill, often expressed his fear that he would not be able to finish it. He even postponed an important operation in order to finish the score. Despite his best efforts, he was not able to conduct his piece, neither for its first performance, which he heard on the radio, nor for its recording.
Adopted from Thomas Mann's 1923 novella, Death in Venice was Benjamin Britten's last opera, the composer insisting on its competition while delaying badly needed heart surgery. The starkly simple narrative of a famous but failing novelist travelling to Venice to seek inspiration only to find unhealthy infatuation and deadly cholera, is given a chamber-like precision and clarity through Britten's score, becoming a haunting drama filled with musical symbols, disquieting mystery and richly evocative atmospheres of Venice and its strange characters.
Thirty years after the original broadcast, Owen Wingrave returned to the small screen in a new version by the highly-regarded music and arts director Margaret Williams, who reveals through a vivid film vocabulary the intensity of the drama and its passionate realization in Benjamin Britten's music.
Shot entirely on location, the story is updated from Edwardian times to the 1950s, establishing a connection with World War II. Gerald Finley portrays Owen Wingrave, scion of a soldier family whose reluctance to join the family trade reflects Britten's own pacifist principles. Taunted and rejected by a hostile family, Owen confronts the ghosts of the past to rebut the charges of cowardice. With Peter Savidge, Hilton Marlton, Ann Dawson. Libretto by Myfanwy Piper.Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Westminster Cathedral Choir Choristers. Bonus Feature: The Hidden Heart (58 minutes) profiles Britten, the leading twentieth century British composer, telling the story of his life, reflecting on his music and his lifelong relationship with his partner and muse, tenor Peter Pears.
Shot entirely on location, the story is updated from Edwardian times to the 1950s, establishing a connection with World War II. Gerald Finley portrays Owen Wingrave, scion of a soldier family whose reluctance to join the family trade reflects Britten's own pacifist principles. Taunted and rejected by a hostile family, Owen confronts the ghosts of the past to rebut the charges of cowardice. With Peter Savidge, Hilton Marlton, Ann Dawson. Libretto by Myfanwy Piper.Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Westminster Cathedral Choir Choristers. Bonus Feature: The Hidden Heart (58 minutes) profiles Britten, the leading twentieth century British composer, telling the story of his life, reflecting on his music and his lifelong relationship with his partner and muse, tenor Peter Pears.
Filmed in June 2013 during three extraordinary performances that took place during the Aldeburgh Festival, Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh beach takes place in the heart of the town that inspired it and is the film interpretation of Britten's Peter Grimes , the most successful opera of post-war Britain. Based on George Crabbe's 1810 poem The Borough , Britten's powerful and masterful evocation of the North Sea in all its moods has become inextricably linked with the Aldeburgh that was home to Crabbe in the late eighteenth century and Britten in the twentieth, and where both poem and opera were written.
Conceived and hosted by the Aldeburgh Festival, the performances of Peter Grimes were directed by Tim Albery who placed the audience on the beach watching the story of Peter Grimes unfold as dusk fades over the sea. The cast and chorus, with Alan Oke in the eponymous role of Peter Grimes, Giselle Allen as Ellen Orford, and David Kempster as Captain Balstrode, sing live with amplification, while the Britten-Pears Orchestra under the baton of Britten expert Steuart Bedford is pre-recorded.
Conceived and hosted by the Aldeburgh Festival, the performances of Peter Grimes were directed by Tim Albery who placed the audience on the beach watching the story of Peter Grimes unfold as dusk fades over the sea. The cast and chorus, with Alan Oke in the eponymous role of Peter Grimes, Giselle Allen as Ellen Orford, and David Kempster as Captain Balstrode, sing live with amplification, while the Britten-Pears Orchestra under the baton of Britten expert Steuart Bedford is pre-recorded.
Seventy years after its Glyndebourne world premier, Benjamin Britten's first chamber opera is welcomed home with a 'performance of enthralling emotional power and physical beauty' gifted with 'piercingly intelligent, immaculately realised staging and superb singing, acting and playing' led by 'Fiona Shaw's supremely nuanced direction' and underpinned by 'febrile playing' from members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (The Telegraph). The production eloquently and tastefully tackles the difficult subject, which is lent emotional weight by 'Christine Rice's grandly sung Lucretia, noble in tone yet tragically vulnerable', along with baritone Duncan Rock's 'forthright' Tarquinius and the 'smooth bass' of Matthew Rose as the caring Collatinus (The Guardian).
In London, a young governess is hired by the elegant and mysterious tutor of two children to supervise their education at Bly Manor, deep in the English countryside. Her employer imposes one strict condition, however: that hereafter he not be contacted under any circumstances. Assisted by an elderly housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, the young woman arrives at Bly and soon discovers that the seemingly angelic children (Miles, twelve, and Flora, eight) conceal a dark secret, namely the pernicious ghosts of two former domestics, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, who force the children to keep the secret of their suspicious past and plan to take them under their ultimate control. This is what the Governess must face, either with the children or without them. Flora will be saved in extremis, but little Miles will perish in escaping - perhaps - from Quint's demonic clutches.
That was the big event of the Aix-en-Provence Festival 2001, The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten has triumphed in a newly restored Theatre du Jeu de Paume. The production imagined by Luc Bondy extracts the essential of the libretto of Myfanwy Piper inspired by a story by Henry James. In an atmosphere reminding Hitchcock movies, where we can feel the tension, the stage director's work keep the suspense of the...
That was the big event of the Aix-en-Provence Festival 2001, The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten has triumphed in a newly restored Theatre du Jeu de Paume. The production imagined by Luc Bondy extracts the essential of the libretto of Myfanwy Piper inspired by a story by Henry James. In an atmosphere reminding Hitchcock movies, where we can feel the tension, the stage director's work keep the suspense of the...
Benet Casablancas is widely acclaimed as one of the leading Spanish composers of his generation, and his first opera, L'enigma de Lea , is the fruit of his close collaboration with award-winning writer Rafael Argullol. Reality and myth intertwine and become one in his story of love, grief and passion, as Lea wanders through time and space, a castaway of existence, and the bearer of immortality and a secret that cannot be revealed. The winner of several awards, L'enigma di Lea was declared 'a roaring theatrical success... beautifully staged and exquisitely sung' by Barcelona Metropolitan.
Emilio de' Cavalieri's Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo was premiered in 1600 in Rome. It was conceived to be performed in costume, bringing text and music together in a dramatic form, and is accepted as the first surviving opera, pre-dating works by Peri and Monteverdi . Its theme is the dialogue of Soul and Body, a pivotal concept of the Italian Counter-Reformation, presented in allegorical form. This production by the acclaimed director Robert Carsen was hailed as 'an unmitigated, tremendous success' and its 'musical production was extraordinary' (bachtrack.com).
Commissioned to celebrate the marriage of the Sun King, Louis XIV, and Marie Therese of Spain, the original production of Cavalli's Ercole Amante took two years to complete and, at the time, was the grandest show ever performed in Europe. DNO's contemporary, hilarious and surreal production, directed by David Alden, is a triumph of opera buffa, a riot of decoration and symbolism complemented by Constance Hoffman's exceptional costumes. Luca Pisaroni's Ercole is heroic and melodious in turn, Veronica Cangemi is a splendid Iole, and the Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera and Concerto Koln give a sublime performance under Ivor Bolton, a master of baroque music.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis.
- Cast gallery.
- Behind the scenes with Johanette Zomer.
- Behind the scenes with Luca Pisaroni.
- The making of Ercole Amante.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis.
- Cast gallery.
- Behind the scenes with Johanette Zomer.
- Behind the scenes with Luca Pisaroni.
- The making of Ercole Amante.
Francesco Cavalli , a natural successor to Monteverdi , was the most famous and influential Italian opera composer during the mid-17th century. Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister to the king, commissioned Cavalli to create a Parisian spectacle to celebrate the wedding of the 'Sun King' Louis XIVand the Infanta of Spain. Ercole amante ('Hercules in Love') was the flattering subject chosen for this regal extravaganza combining larger-than-life characters with mythology, and genuine human emotions with natural and cosmic phenomena. The result is a sumptuous Baroque spectacle, conceived on a vast scale in this lavish production by directors Valerie Lesort and Christian Hecq.
A king haunted by nightmares, princes as charming as they are flighty, a young woman disguised as a warrior to find her unfaithful lover, a slave who wants to be queen without giving up her lovers - without forgetting the old nurse who dreams of love! The portrait gallery on which Erismena opens promises dizzying romantic intrigue. This work by Cavalli , who had become the most eminent opera composer of his time, seems to have been a huge success following its creation in Venice in 1655, if the large number of productions staged over the following twenty years or so - even reaching as far as England - are anything to go by. Maestro Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, a fervent admirer of Cavalli, joins forces with director Jean Bellorini, poet of the stage and leader of the company, to revive this rarely-performed work. With its wealth of arias and tragicomic situations, Erismena offers a romantic, human kind of opera, in contrast to the mythological works of previous decades. There are no more gods here, or ancient heroes, but kings, princesses, soldiers and slaves carried away by a deliciously convoluted plot in which disguise and hidden identities become the allies of all conquering desire.
https://festival-aix.com/en/event/erismena
https://festival-aix.com/en/event/erismena
Giasone - Jason - is not the hero one would expect, in this opera by Cavalli . Indeed, his easy morality makes of him, unexpectedly, quite the modern character. Says Mariame Clement, who directed the production.
"People think they know the story, because they think, Medea, Giasone [...] but actually there's much more going on than what we know in mythology. [...] What we tried to do is to recreate a mythology of our own, to have a sort of world that is neither modern nor ancient, that's not contemporary but not historical either... a world of its own."
A brilliant opera, which comedy, tragedy and fantasy are seamlessly interwoven. On the podium, the baroque specialist Federico Maria Sardelli; in the title role, the sensational counter-tenor Christophe Dumaux.
"People think they know the story, because they think, Medea, Giasone [...] but actually there's much more going on than what we know in mythology. [...] What we tried to do is to recreate a mythology of our own, to have a sort of world that is neither modern nor ancient, that's not contemporary but not historical either... a world of its own."
A brilliant opera, which comedy, tragedy and fantasy are seamlessly interwoven. On the podium, the baroque specialist Federico Maria Sardelli; in the title role, the sensational counter-tenor Christophe Dumaux.
La virtu de' Strali d'Amore was the first ten operas Cavalli wrote with librettist Giovanni Faustini. Set in Cyprus, the plot involves enchanted and pastoral elements, love and its thwarting, the counterpointing of Man and God, sorcery, revelation and ultimate resolution, all accomplished in a brilliant series of scenes.
A follower of Monteverdi, Cavalli reveals the influence of the older man but also his own pronounced independence. Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante have become one of the most admired partnerships in the history of baroque music performance
A follower of Monteverdi, Cavalli reveals the influence of the older man but also his own pronounced independence. Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante have become one of the most admired partnerships in the history of baroque music performance
Pietro Antonio Cesti was one of the most outstanding champions of 17th-century Venetian opera, and La Dori was both his greatest success and a major influence on the genre in the expressiveness of its arias and duets. The story is set in Babylon on the shores of the Euphrates, and is a convoluted and richly tragicomedic tale of lost lovers, disguises and mistake identities filled with larger-than-life and colourfully costumed characters. This revival of a forgotten masterpiece was acclaimed as 'a production of the highest level in every aspect' (musicacultureaonline.it).
The rare biblical opera David and Jonathas is like Medee ', one of the major works of the French Baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier . The opera has been in the repertoire of Les Arts Florissants since 1988 and was first presented in a stage production by William Christie at the Aix-en-Provence Festival 2012.
This release is a special event for all Baroque music lovers.
Written a year after the death of Lully, this lyric tragedy allows Charpentier to develop beyond the religious dimension, a story of male friendship and forbidden love between David and Jonathas. An excellent cast gathered around William Christie and Les Arts Florissants brings young singers to the title roles: Pascal Charbonneau, a tenor and a former student of the European Academy of Music, sings David. The role of Jonathas is given to a woman: soprano Ana Quintans.
The staging by Andreas Homoki (Director of the Zurich Opera since summer 2012) focuses on the psychological aspect of this forbidden love story, giving a moving reading of the drama.
This release is a special event for all Baroque music lovers.
Written a year after the death of Lully, this lyric tragedy allows Charpentier to develop beyond the religious dimension, a story of male friendship and forbidden love between David and Jonathas. An excellent cast gathered around William Christie and Les Arts Florissants brings young singers to the title roles: Pascal Charbonneau, a tenor and a former student of the European Academy of Music, sings David. The role of Jonathas is given to a woman: soprano Ana Quintans.
The staging by Andreas Homoki (Director of the Zurich Opera since summer 2012) focuses on the psychological aspect of this forbidden love story, giving a moving reading of the drama.
Eclipsed in popularity for decades by its Italian translation, the original French libretto to Cherubini's masterpiece has recently found renewed favor with opera companies around the world. An eclectic vision of Medee , an opera comique in three acts with both spoken dialogue and arias, is presented here by the visionary stage director Krzysztof Warlikowski. Atop a narrative framework set in Ancient Greece and inspired by the famous tragedy of Euripedes, 1960s-era videos, music, and costumes flesh out a set of strikingly contemporary characters on the Brussels stage.
The impeccable interpretation of the score by Les Talens Lyriques, under the baton of Christophe Rousset, nonetheless keeps us firmly ensconced in the beguiling musical ambiance envisioned by Cherubini. The expressive Nadja Michael shines in the title role, as does Kurt Streit playing Jason, newly back from his quest for the golden fleece. The Greek hero, who spurned Medea's advances during his return trip home, falls in love with Dirce, daughter of King Creon. Their wedding preparations are going well and the royal subjects are rejoicing-but nobody is prepared for the return of the cruel Medea, who has vowed to exact vengeance on her erstwhile lover and all those he holds dear.
The impeccable interpretation of the score by Les Talens Lyriques, under the baton of Christophe Rousset, nonetheless keeps us firmly ensconced in the beguiling musical ambiance envisioned by Cherubini. The expressive Nadja Michael shines in the title role, as does Kurt Streit playing Jason, newly back from his quest for the golden fleece. The Greek hero, who spurned Medea's advances during his return trip home, falls in love with Dirce, daughter of King Creon. Their wedding preparations are going well and the royal subjects are rejoicing-but nobody is prepared for the return of the cruel Medea, who has vowed to exact vengeance on her erstwhile lover and all those he holds dear.
Ravel, Handel, Elgar, Stravinsky, a snippet of Puccini's Turandot, a bass-clarinet homage to George Gershwin, glissandi, hints of musicals, film music and Gilbert & Sullivan - Unsuk Chin is a master of stylistic parody, but also much more than that: she is clearly at home on every highway and byway of music history. Yet the musical house she constructs with the building blocks of the past and the present is definitely her own house, which she has designed and which self-assuredly proclaims her unmistakable individuality and style. It is a thoroughly modern house that welcomes everyone who loves music. "I did not want to write music that needs several pages of explanations to be understood," she says about her first opera, Alice in Wonderland.
Unsuk Chin, born in Seoul, Korea, in 1961, had always been fascinated by Lewis Carroll's fairy tale for children and adults. Director Achim Freyer, whose productions have been setting standards for decades, sees Chin's opera as a collection of "dream sequences," for which he has created imaginary spaces: with the help of pulleys, acrobats depict the magical characters of Alice's world and suggest the action through pantomime, and with the help of colorful masks and props. "Nightmare visions of the girl. Dream, reality, hyperreality...
Unsuk Chin, born in Seoul, Korea, in 1961, had always been fascinated by Lewis Carroll's fairy tale for children and adults. Director Achim Freyer, whose productions have been setting standards for decades, sees Chin's opera as a collection of "dream sequences," for which he has created imaginary spaces: with the help of pulleys, acrobats depict the magical characters of Alice's world and suggest the action through pantomime, and with the help of colorful masks and props. "Nightmare visions of the girl. Dream, reality, hyperreality...
Francisco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur was inspired by the real-life story of a celebrated actress at the Comedie-Francaise who was much admired by Voltaire. Hailed as a masterpiece, the opera was triumphantly staged in cities around the world after its premiere in 1902. The dramatically effective narrative is a passionate love triangle filled with intrigue and complicated plot twists set in the gallant 19th century. Its subtle ironies and gorgeous cantabile style of music provide a perfect vehicle for the star cast in the stunning production from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
L'Italiana in Londra was Domenico Cimarosa's first international triumph, thrilling audiences all over Europe after its premiere in 1778. However, it later became eclipsed by the even bigger success of Il matrimonio segreto , and has become a rarity on stage today. Set in a London hotel, this cheerful Intermezzo in musica has cleverly crafted arias, duets and ensembles that drive the plot along, the story being one of thwarted love, quarrels, and misundertandings. L'Italiana in Londra has been summed up by the director R.B. Schlather as 'incredibly charming and sophisticated... demanding, dark, dirty and very funny ... an impeccable rom-com.'
Il Matrimonio segreto was first staged in Vienna on 7th February 1792 and was also one of the greatest successes in the history of the eighteenth-century opera. It is universally recognized as Cimarosa's masterpiece and the only one of his operas to have survived in the regular repertoire to this day.
Il matrimonio segreto is Cimarosa's most famous opera buffa and it is one of the few comic operas to have maintained its place in the repertoire until today. At its first performance in 1792, Austrian emperor Leopold II is reputed to have liked this masterpiece so much that he ordered the musicians to play it again from the beginning! Michael Hampe's elegant, colourful production had already won international acclaim when staged in Paris, Stockholm and London - where it won the Olivier Award for Best Opera Production. His stage direction is sensitive to the music's flow and brings a welcome clarity to the many twists and deceptions in the plot. This recording comes live from the exquisite palace rococo theatre at the Schwetzingen Festival in 1986. The Drottningholm Court Theatre Orchestra, an outstanding orchestra for early music, is specialized in music of the 17th and 18th century - their authentic interpretation sounds extremely fresh and colourful, and the playing is always full of energy and contrasts.
The works of award-winning composer Chaya Czernowin have been performed worldwide at significant new music festivals and prestigious venues, and she is the first woman to be appointed composition professor at Harvard University. Commissioned by Deutsche Oper Berlin and widely acclaimed in the critical press, Heart Chamber uses voice and stage as internalised sonic and visual landscapes to create a genuine multi-sensory musical experience. With only two characters and a hint of a narrative, this is a grand opera on the smallest of transformations, focusing on the intense beauty and vulnerabilities of falling in love. 'It is seldom that audiences at the Duetsche Oper Berlin have listened with such rapture to a new commission' (Online Merker).
Jackie O develops around the life of Jacqueline Kennedy; her image, following her husband's assassination, of "tragic princess", and the following events, which captured the attention of the world's media.
American composer Michael Daugherty has written a very modern work, in-between opera and jazz, inspired by American musical and the popular culture of the late 1960s .
Jackie's arias Egyptian Time, Jackie"s Credo and All his bright light possess a lyrical, melancholic and exotic allure; the ones sung by Onassis - the conceited, coarse, self-made man - have, instead,echoes of Las Vegas: his I am curious and Stiff drink bring us back to Dean Martin or Sammy Davis Jr. Maria Callas, who in the '60s was beginning to lose her voice, retraces her life with the songs Addio delPassato and Flame Duet. Liz Taylor is engaged in a blues-like riff that recalls a Cat on the hot tin roof atmosphere; whereas Princess Grace Kelly trills in Doris Day fashion. Andy Warhol's aria conforms to his art: a series of modulated repetitions. In the finale dramatic climax, in Jackie's Song, Jackie duets with her dead husband's voice. Damiano Michieletto's perfect direction is lively and full of colours, and the resemblance of the singers to real characters is impressive. A great tribute to the...
American composer Michael Daugherty has written a very modern work, in-between opera and jazz, inspired by American musical and the popular culture of the late 1960s .
Jackie's arias Egyptian Time, Jackie"s Credo and All his bright light possess a lyrical, melancholic and exotic allure; the ones sung by Onassis - the conceited, coarse, self-made man - have, instead,echoes of Las Vegas: his I am curious and Stiff drink bring us back to Dean Martin or Sammy Davis Jr. Maria Callas, who in the '60s was beginning to lose her voice, retraces her life with the songs Addio delPassato and Flame Duet. Liz Taylor is engaged in a blues-like riff that recalls a Cat on the hot tin roof atmosphere; whereas Princess Grace Kelly trills in Doris Day fashion. Andy Warhol's aria conforms to his art: a series of modulated repetitions. In the finale dramatic climax, in Jackie's Song, Jackie duets with her dead husband's voice. Damiano Michieletto's perfect direction is lively and full of colours, and the resemblance of the singers to real characters is impressive. A great tribute to the...
Music of introverted tenderness and a libretto that hints at much and offers few answers - such is Pelleas et Melisande , Claude Debussy's only completed opera. Dubbed "Drama lyrique" by the composer himself, and written in 1902 at a time when the subconscious, the psyche, dreams and urges commanded the attention of science and art, this music searches the souls of its characters with its subtle nuances. Pelleas and Golaud are half-brothers, each loving the girl-from-nowhere Melisande. The elder, dominant Golaud makes her his wife; the younger Pelleas is the soul-mate of the taciturn, strangely vulnerable Melisande and an equally mysterious bond of concealed love is formed between them. The consummately precise staging by Nikolaus Lehnhoff has a cast to match these wondrous sounds. This exceptional production "achieves what actually can only be understood as magic." (Die Welt)
Paris' Opera de la Bastille celebrated the 150th birthday of Claude Debussy with avant-garde director Robert Wilson's "wondrous" (Le Figaro) production of Pelleas et Melisande featuring a stellar cast headed by Stephane Degout, Elena Tsallagova and Vincent Le Texier in the lead roles, and supported by high-caliber performers such as Anne-Sofie von Otter and Franz Joseph Selig in smaller roles. "The singers have integrated Wilson's language of gestures and lighting to a degree never attained by previous casts" (Le Figaro). Philippe Jordan gives a transparent reading of Debussy' haunting score.
When Debussy completes the score, based on the eponymous symbolist play by Maurice Maeterlinck, of Pelleas et Melisande in 1902, the world of opera still abides by Richard Wagner and the upheaval he caused with Tristan und Isolde. But Debussy decides to stand on the exact opposite side, and uses his new opus to preach a new aesthetic creed. In depicting the forbidden love story between the timid Pelleas and the beautiful Melisande, kept apart by an unfortunate marriage, the French composer brings us back to the immortal legend of Tristan and Isolde, but this time showing the world that the future of music could very well lie far away from Wagner's overwhelming lyricism and outsized rhetoric.
This new production, created by one of the rising stars of French stage direction Benjamin Lazar for the Malmo Opera (headed by Ingmar Bergman from 1952 to 1958), encapsulates all the different aspects of this mysterious work, from the oniric poetry invented by Maeterlinck and Debussy to the realism, poignant because openly simple and even mundane, of these profoundly human beings lost in a forest full of sound and symbols that will never let them escape.
The young French conductor Maxime Pascal, the Orchestra of the Malmo Opera, and an almost all-French cast (among which the...
This new production, created by one of the rising stars of French stage direction Benjamin Lazar for the Malmo Opera (headed by Ingmar Bergman from 1952 to 1958), encapsulates all the different aspects of this mysterious work, from the oniric poetry invented by Maeterlinck and Debussy to the realism, poignant because openly simple and even mundane, of these profoundly human beings lost in a forest full of sound and symbols that will never let them escape.
The young French conductor Maxime Pascal, the Orchestra of the Malmo Opera, and an almost all-French cast (among which the...
Pelleas et Melisande from the Opernhaus Zurich should be remembered as one of Dmitri Tcherniakov's most innovative production. Forget about the fountains, the caverns, the forest, the castles and the towers: here, the density of Maurice Maeterlinck's and Claude Debussy's symbolism becomes the starting point of an analytical journey into the human mind : it is now the psychoanalyst, "doctor" Golaud, who has to uncover the secrets of Melisande, an unfortunate and traumatized creature he brings home, and whose silence and puzzling attitude eventually bring him on the verge of insanity.
But the production is also the occasion for a reunion between Dmitri Tcherniakov and French conductor Alain Altinoglu, after the tremendous success of the Tchaikovsky dyptich Iolanta / The Nutcracker - arguably one of the most successful titles of the Bel Air Classiques catalogue. Their artistic complicity is intact: the precise, analytical but also nuanced and poetic baton of Altinoglu proves to be the best possible response to Tcherniakov's subtle exploration of the human psychology. Corinne Winters, as Melisande, Jacques Imbrailo, as Pelleas, and especially Kyle Ketelsen, as Golaud, embody with an incandescent realism these characters plagued by a form of evil and violence that we...
But the production is also the occasion for a reunion between Dmitri Tcherniakov and French conductor Alain Altinoglu, after the tremendous success of the Tchaikovsky dyptich Iolanta / The Nutcracker - arguably one of the most successful titles of the Bel Air Classiques catalogue. Their artistic complicity is intact: the precise, analytical but also nuanced and poetic baton of Altinoglu proves to be the best possible response to Tcherniakov's subtle exploration of the human psychology. Corinne Winters, as Melisande, Jacques Imbrailo, as Pelleas, and especially Kyle Ketelsen, as Golaud, embody with an incandescent realism these characters plagued by a form of evil and violence that we...
Premiered in 1883, Lakme remains one of the most popular of all French operas. Reflecting contemporary tastes, the original source material presented a tragic liaison between French officer and a Tahitian woman on a Pacific Island, but Delibes moved the location to British-rules India where the two central characters are tor between passion and loyalty, and assailed by a financial religious leader. For this opera Delibes wrote music of indelible beauty, including the much-loved Flower Duet and Bell Song .
One of the most extraordinary musical prodigies of our day, Alma Deutscher presents a modern version of the beloved fairy tale blending humor, poetry, and the magic of theatre. Deutscher began composing her Cinderella at age 8, but without directly taking up the original tale by the Brothers Grimm, preferring to give music the predominant place in her spectacle. The title character here is also a young composer, envied by her stepmother and stepsisters for her talent and forced to toil away as a mere copyist. But compelled by the same love for art, Prince Charming-a poet, in Deutscher's retelling-comes to Cinderella's aid...
The courageous Fatima defeats the evil Lord of the Castle in a wager and frees the dreams he has held captive. Drawing on a story by Rafik Schami, Johanna Doderer created this children's opera in 2015 to fulfil a commission from the Vienna State Opera.
Gaetano Donizetti's L'Ange de Nisida was commissioned by the director of the Theatre de la Renaissance in Paris. The libretto was entrusted to Gustave Vaez and Alphonse Royer, and the opera en quatre parties was completed in 1840. Unfortunately the theatre went bankrupt and the opera never reached the stage. Donizetti was aware that other venues would have rejected his work as it stood, for both repertoire and censorship reasons (the plot revolved around the King of Naples, Ferdinando d'Aragona, and his mistress). Consequently, he revised the score and incorporated a significant portion of it within his new one, La favorite .
The autograph score of L'Ange was subsequently lost and it is only thanks to the painstaking research of musicologist Candida Mantica that it was brought to light again. She took on the huge challenge of classifying the roughly 470 randomly alternate pages of L'Ange de Nisida that had survived at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris; she re-established their original order and finally managed to reconstruct roughly 97 percent of Donizetti's music. The few gaps in the score were judged as irrelevant by both Mantica and Donizetti Opera, so that the opera was considered a complete work in itself, with no need for additions...
The autograph score of L'Ange was subsequently lost and it is only thanks to the painstaking research of musicologist Candida Mantica that it was brought to light again. She took on the huge challenge of classifying the roughly 470 randomly alternate pages of L'Ange de Nisida that had survived at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris; she re-established their original order and finally managed to reconstruct roughly 97 percent of Donizetti's music. The few gaps in the score were judged as irrelevant by both Mantica and Donizetti Opera, so that the opera was considered a complete work in itself, with no need for additions...
Anna Bolena tells of a human drama of solitude and oppression; it is a work of psychological introspection centered, both from a dramaturgical and vocal point of view, around the protagonist, who soars to peaks of music splendour. A far-reaching opera, in which events and the tension developments between characters are thoroughly investigated. It is a very significant work in the history, as well as in Donizetti's own personal history, even though nowadays - and rightly so - it is no longer regarded, as it once was, as a sort of impromptu miracle.
The "Scala Academy Project" has chosen an opera by Donizetti never before performed on the Scala stage. Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali (Viva la mamma!) is a dramma giocoso which premiered in Naples in 1827.
Italian actor, director and writer Antonio Albanese, a true master of wit and satire, made his debut as opera director. The Orchestra is conducted by Marco Guidarini.
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali was inspired by two comedies written by Antonio Simone Sografi between 1794 and 1816. It follows the theatrical tradition of Goldoni, Gozzi and Metastasio, and subjects the bad habits of the operatic world to biting and sardonic criticism. The opera pokes fun at the "rights, either real or presumed, that each opera artist assumes to possess and which leads them to not liking particular operas or dances, irritating the public, ruining impresarios and ridiculing virtuosos".
Italian actor, director and writer Antonio Albanese, a true master of wit and satire, made his debut as opera director. The Orchestra is conducted by Marco Guidarini.
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali was inspired by two comedies written by Antonio Simone Sografi between 1794 and 1816. It follows the theatrical tradition of Goldoni, Gozzi and Metastasio, and subjects the bad habits of the operatic world to biting and sardonic criticism. The opera pokes fun at the "rights, either real or presumed, that each opera artist assumes to possess and which leads them to not liking particular operas or dances, irritating the public, ruining impresarios and ridiculing virtuosos".
Described as 'a joyous romp' (Opera News), Donizetti's dramma giocoso shows us what can go wrong when the egos of the actors get in the way of putting on a good show. From the prima donna and the sub-par lead tenor, to the seconda donna's boisterous mother (played by a bass singer) and all the characters in between, everyone is playing the diva whilst the director pulls his hair out in frustration, and questions of who will fund the production are raised...
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali ('The Conventions and Inconveniences of the Stage') - a joyful play on words in itself - more commonly known as Viva la mamma! is a two-act farce that shines an exaggerated spotlight on the behind-the-scenes working of a theatre and the rehearsal process with hilarious results.
Lauren Pelly directs this masterpiece of comic timing and satire, marking the continuation of his celebrated relationship with Opera de Lyon.
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali ('The Conventions and Inconveniences of the Stage') - a joyful play on words in itself - more commonly known as Viva la mamma! is a two-act farce that shines an exaggerated spotlight on the behind-the-scenes working of a theatre and the rehearsal process with hilarious results.
Lauren Pelly directs this masterpiece of comic timing and satire, marking the continuation of his celebrated relationship with Opera de Lyon.
Don Gregorio is the Neapolitan adaptation that Donizetti worked on his own L'ajo nell'imbarazzo , an opera first staged at the Teatro Valle in Rome on 4th February 1824. The subject was based on the play of the same name by Giovanni Giraud and the libretto of the original version was drawn up by Jacopo Ferretti, one of the Italy's leading librettists in the early nineteenth century. When Donizetti set to work on his Neapolitan version two years later, he was assisted by Andrea Leone Tottola whom he already worked with some of his operas.
Although some of the traditional passages were replaced by prose dialogue, a new numbers were added and others eliminated, Don Gregorio was still successful when it premiered on 11th June 1826 at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples.
Although some of the traditional passages were replaced by prose dialogue, a new numbers were added and others eliminated, Don Gregorio was still successful when it premiered on 11th June 1826 at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples.
A night at the opera, with a comic jewel in the great tradition of the Neapolitan opera buffa: Donizetti's elegant take on the genre, with the verve of baritone Simone Alaimo and the virtuosity of soprano Patrizia Ciofi.
Close to sixty, wealthy fuddy-duddy Don Pasquale is maddened by the idea that when he dies, all his worldly goods will go to his nephew Ernesto, whom he regards as a simpleton: hasn't the young man fallen for Norina, charming but without a penny to her name? So Don Pasquale decides to get married himself, and produce deserving heirs. Doctor Malatesta, a family friend, introduces him to his sister, Sofronia: submissive, virtuous and hardworking, she seems to be just what Don Pasquale wants. Alas, after the wedding, the new wife turns into an insufferable shrew - and a flighty spendthrift into the bargain.
Close to sixty, wealthy fuddy-duddy Don Pasquale is maddened by the idea that when he dies, all his worldly goods will go to his nephew Ernesto, whom he regards as a simpleton: hasn't the young man fallen for Norina, charming but without a penny to her name? So Don Pasquale decides to get married himself, and produce deserving heirs. Doctor Malatesta, a family friend, introduces him to his sister, Sofronia: submissive, virtuous and hardworking, she seems to be just what Don Pasquale wants. Alas, after the wedding, the new wife turns into an insufferable shrew - and a flighty spendthrift into the bargain.
Donizetti's Don Pasquale represents the high point of the Italian buff tradition, a sparking comedy using characters from commedia dell'arte in ways that are entertaining, witty and playful. It was the work selected by the Vienna State Opera for its 1977 tour through Austria. Starring famous singers like the bass Oskar Czerwenka, the great lyric tenor Luigi Alva and, on the cusp of international fame, Edita Gruberova (soon to become the 'queen of bel canto') - this filmed performance, in colour and sung in German, showcases on outstanding ensemble at the height of its powers.
Staged in Milan in 1832, L'Elisir d'amore was written in a remarkably short time by librettist Felice Romani who based the text on a French libretto that Eugene Scribe had written for Daniel Auber and staged in Paris a year earlier. Romani's wife claimed that the whole work was written within a fortnight, an obvious exaggeration, since it seems that Donizetti had already completed much of the opera some three weeks before it was to be staged, not to open the season, but to be staged as a later part of it.
Who wouldn't want a love potion? Even today, quite a few people would readily trust Dulcamara and his promises of eternal happiness. The successful blend of comic and lyrical elements, of fun and feeling, are what make of L'Elisir d'amore such an enjoyable opera. A sparkling Alex Esposito leads the rest of the cast in this entertaining production of one of Donizetti's most beloved operas.
Who wouldn't want a love potion? Even today, quite a few people would readily trust Dulcamara and his promises of eternal happiness. The successful blend of comic and lyrical elements, of fun and feeling, are what make of L'Elisir d'amore such an enjoyable opera. A sparkling Alex Esposito leads the rest of the cast in this entertaining production of one of Donizetti's most beloved operas.
After an absence of almost twenty years L'elisir d'amore is back at the Paris Opera in a crazy version by Laurent Pelly.
The plot is simple but effective: a shy, naive young peasant buys a love philtre from a quack - all he gets, in fact, is a flask of wine - in order to win the heart of the girl he is in love with; in the end, and with no help from the philtre, she will realise that she loves him too. Add to this a sparkling musical language and marvellously inspired melodies - including the legendary "Una Furtiva Lagrima" - and you have the authentic masterpiece Donizetti turned out in just two weeks.
Transposing the plot to the Italy of the 1950s, director Laurent Pelly offers us an absolute jewel, beautifully crafted and shot through with poetry.
The plot is simple but effective: a shy, naive young peasant buys a love philtre from a quack - all he gets, in fact, is a flask of wine - in order to win the heart of the girl he is in love with; in the end, and with no help from the philtre, she will realise that she loves him too. Add to this a sparkling musical language and marvellously inspired melodies - including the legendary "Una Furtiva Lagrima" - and you have the authentic masterpiece Donizetti turned out in just two weeks.
Transposing the plot to the Italy of the 1950s, director Laurent Pelly offers us an absolute jewel, beautifully crafted and shot through with poetry.
Gaetano Donizetti may have achieved immortality with his comic operas Don Pasquale and L'Elisir d'amore, and won a lasting place in the hearts of coloratura sopranos everywhere with Maria Stuarda and Lucia di Lammermoor, but for sheer entertainment, his La Fille du Régiment can't be beat. Especially when it's served in such a saucy, light-footed way by director Laurent Pelly in this coproduction of the Vienna State Opera, London's Covent Garden and New York's Metropolitan Opera. The plot revolves around Marie, the "daughter of the regiment", who was found on the battlefield as a baby and raised by the soldiers as their daughter. She falls in love with the young Tyrolean Tonio, who joins the regiment in order to be near her. When the Marquise de Birkenfeld hears about Marie, she claims that she is her long-lost niece, whom she will turn into a lady... Her plans backfire, of course, as Marie will never abandon her Tonio and most certainly never become a lady! French soprano Natalie Dessay, not only a dazzling singer but also a gifted actress, effortlessly sweeps her castmates along in this turbulent buffo delight of an opera.
Her partner is Juan Diego Florez, one of the leading young tenors of our time. Clad in lederhosen, he cheerfully seduces Marie – and the...
Her partner is Juan Diego Florez, one of the leading young tenors of our time. Clad in lederhosen, he cheerfully seduces Marie – and the...
Among all Donizetti's operas, Lucia di Lammermoor has always been the favourite for both audiences and singers: and with good reason. First staged on the evening of 26th September 1835, the work was based on Sir Walter Scott's novel The Bride of Lammermoor which was published in June 1819. This novel received a mixed reception from the critics. Blackwood's, a popular journal at the time, declared it to be 'a pure and magnificent tragic romance', whilst other magazines regarded it as far too gloomy. Based on real-life events of 1669, this tale of love, feuds, deception and madness appealed very greatly to Scott's more general readership, as well as to some of the librettists and composers of his time; within fifteen years of the novel's publication at least five operas had been composed, based on the story of Lucia and her unhappy fate. It is no surprise, then, that Salvadore Cammarano relished the prospect of writing the libretto for such an opera himself and that Donizetti took to the idea equally enthusiastically.
Diana Damrau sings the title role in Donizetti's tragic masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor . Director Katie Mitchell compellingly draws Lucia as a strong and independent woman who fiercely fights against her brother's machinations, and Vicki Mortimer's spectacular split-screen set metes out with devastating precision the events of Walter Scott's famous story. Daniel Oren conducts a thrilling cast, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus is on the Donizetti's most beautiful and dramatically potent operas.
The phenomenal Edita Gruberova, the world's undisputed Queen of bel canto, proves once again why she deserves this title: following her tumultuously applauded concert debut as Lucrezia Borgia in Barcelona, her mesmerizing role debut in a staged version of this work took place at the Bavarian State Opera and was acclaimed just as enthusiastically, and rightly so. Her performance, noted Opera Magazine, "vindicated the Munich audience's near-idolization of her".
With Lucrezia Borgia, Gruberova follows up her recent triumphs in Roberto Devereux and Norma with another bel canto masterwork. Singing with "exquisite purity" (Opera Magazine), the soprano also beguiles with her physical presence. Stage director Christof Loy and two-time Emmy Award-winning video director Brian Large both focus on the plot's dramatic potential and Gruberova's talent for expressing it with every tone and gesture. The singer is excellently paired with young tenor Pavol Breslik as her son Gennaro. Breslik, a native of Slovakia like Gruberova, gives such a radiant interpretation of the tormented youth that he is now being hailed as "the most promising new voice among lyrical tenors" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung).
With Lucrezia Borgia, Gruberova follows up her recent triumphs in Roberto Devereux and Norma with another bel canto masterwork. Singing with "exquisite purity" (Opera Magazine), the soprano also beguiles with her physical presence. Stage director Christof Loy and two-time Emmy Award-winning video director Brian Large both focus on the plot's dramatic potential and Gruberova's talent for expressing it with every tone and gesture. The singer is excellently paired with young tenor Pavol Breslik as her son Gennaro. Breslik, a native of Slovakia like Gruberova, gives such a radiant interpretation of the tormented youth that he is now being hailed as "the most promising new voice among lyrical tenors" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung).
Based on Victor Hugo's most sensational play, Lucrece Borgia, a scandalous tale of murder, torture, incest, homosexuality, drunkenness and orgies, Donizetti's opera is one of the great masterpieces of Italian bel canto repertoire. While omitting some of its more excessive elements, the libretto by Felice Romani inspired Donizetti to compose superb arias, duets, ensembles and choruses, bringing each act to a stirring conclusion. Beautifully costumed and designed, brimming with high drama and pathos, this production stars in the infamous title role Greek diva Dimitra Theodossiou, praised for her stupendous acting and singing in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux.
Based on Victor Hugo's most sensational play, Lucrece Borgia , a scandalous tale of murder, torture, incest, homosexuality, drunkenness and orgies, Donizetti's opera is one of the great masterpieces of Italian bel canto repertoire. While omitting some of its more excessive elements, the libretto by Felice Romani inspired by Donizetti to compose superb arias, duets, ensemble and choruses, bringing each act to a stirring conclusion.
Beautifully costumed and designed, brimming with high drama and pathos, this production stars in the infamous title role Greek diva Dimitra Theodossiou, praised for her stupendous acting and singing in Donizetti's Robert Devereux .
Beautifully costumed and designed, brimming with high drama and pathos, this production stars in the infamous title role Greek diva Dimitra Theodossiou, praised for her stupendous acting and singing in Donizetti's Robert Devereux .
In Donizetti's opera Maria Stuarda the roles of the doomed queen and her cousin, Elizabeth I, have been taken by some of the greatest divas, from Malibran to Gruberova and Tosi to Baltsa, each revelling in the high drama of their tragically linked fates. "Contributing greatly to the success of the work, the young Maestro Riccardo Frizza revealed himself as a deep and sensitive interpreter of this score, managing to capture all the nuances of Donizetti's music?EUR? Laura Polverelli portrayed with elegance and pride the character of Elizabeth, her furies, doubts and jealousies; Maria Pia Piscitelli was a wonderful Maria Stuarda, passionate, sorrowful, proud, dignified when sentenced to death, recalling her past sins yet conscious of her innocence" (MusiCulturA) .
With the release of this Maria Stuarda, recorded live in 2001, Dynamic makes an historic move, becoming the first Italian label to produce a DVD opera.
This very high quality production by Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo features, in the roles of the two queens, Carmela Remigio (Maria Stuarda) and Sonia Ganassi (Elisabetta), two great artists here making a fine display of their excellent vocal and acting skills. Francesco Esposito's direction and costumes and Italo Grassi's sets are very effective and superbly highlighted by the filming.
What makes this release even more interesting is the use of a new critical edition made by the renowned Swedish musicologist Anders Wiklund for Casa Ricordi.
Bonus features:
- Interviews with Carmela Remigio, Sonia Ganassi, Fabrizio Maria Carminati, Francesco Esposito, and Italo Grassi.
This very high quality production by Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo features, in the roles of the two queens, Carmela Remigio (Maria Stuarda) and Sonia Ganassi (Elisabetta), two great artists here making a fine display of their excellent vocal and acting skills. Francesco Esposito's direction and costumes and Italo Grassi's sets are very effective and superbly highlighted by the filming.
What makes this release even more interesting is the use of a new critical edition made by the renowned Swedish musicologist Anders Wiklund for Casa Ricordi.
Bonus features:
- Interviews with Carmela Remigio, Sonia Ganassi, Fabrizio Maria Carminati, Francesco Esposito, and Italo Grassi.
Donizetti's fiftieth opera, Marino Faliero, was first performed in Paris on 12 March 1835 with a cast comprising four of the finest singers of the period before premiering in London a few weeks later. Although these premieres were both overshadowed by Bellini's I Puritani, Marino Faliero subsequently enjoyed a long and successful run on international performances throughout the 19th century before disappearing from the stage until its modern revival in 1966. Set in Venice in 1355, it remains a major work of Italian Romanticism, sentimental, martial, full of conspiratorial adventure and culminating with the execution of the leading role.
This early, long-forgotten opera by Donizetti was staged during the 2020 edition of the Festival dedicated to the composer, with full-Covid 19 safety measures on. Fondazione Donizetti and its scholars took on the challenge to stage a work which had no original printed copy of the libretto, no autograph score and a second act quintet - 'Aura gentil, che mormori' - which was completely missing. This latter was commissioned to Elio and Rocco Tanica with the collaboration of Enrico Melozzi, who created a new version which 'seamlessly blended with the rest of the score.' (Bachtrack). The mise-en-scene is contemporary, imaginative and playful.
This sparkling opera buffa is a premiere from the 2016 Donizetti Festival of Bergamo, with the part of Pasquale in Neapolitan dialect. It is the story of two rich merchant brothers from Lisbon, who are used to weighing everything against their bargaining power. Also the marriage of Pasquale's niece Isabella is a bargain to them: she must marry another merchant, so as not to break the family's tradition. The gags among the various are hilarious - especially those between the two brothers, who have completely different characters - creating an almost surreal atmosphere. The show is very colourful, thanks to the rich sets and costumes.
The thorny subject of marital violence is set against a hilarious backdrop in this one-act farce where, contrary to what we are used to seeing in opera, tenor and baritone do their best to free themselves of the female protagonist, to whom both are married. No doubt, Gaspar's aria on the joys of chastising one's wife in the way she deserves causes a few raised eyebrows nowadays, but the funny side is genuine and the music is brilliant, making of this forgotten little opera a true gem.
London, 1601: love, desire and a death sentence at the English royal court – an ideal combination for an Italian grand opera, and Gaetano Donizetti's Roberto Devereux could hardly be grander or more fit for a queen, making it the ideal showcase for Edita Gruberova, and the prima donna assoluta of bel canto triumphs in this rarely performed work. In Christof Loy's production at Munich's National Theater, Gruberova sings the role of Queen Elizabeth I. Friedrich Haider conducts the chorus and orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera, and the recording is directed by Emmy award winner Brian Large. "Wavering between wounded pride, desperate love, moments of mildness and blind revenge she fashions a mad scene that takes the viewers' breath away. The furious coloraturas, the swelling tones, the outbursts, the nearly inaudible groans – everything fuses into an image of psychological desolation."
One of Donizetti's most emotionally raw operas, Roberto Devereux ossia Il conte di Essex was also the third to be loosely based on episodes in the life of Queen Elizabeth I. It deals with the love of Elizabeth and her favourite, the Earl of Essex, perhaps most tellingly expressed in the Act I duet, Nascondi, frena i palpiti, o misero mio core (Hide, hold back your palpitation, oh my wretched heart!). Elizabeth's subsequent abdication is, however, a matter of dramatic licence, yet provides a memorable operatic conclusion to this tragedy of love and jealousy as she despairs at the death of her lover ?EUR" Quel sangue versato al ciel s'innalza (The blood that is spilt rises up to Heaven). Directed by Francesco Bellotto, this was the inaugural production of the Bergamo Music Festival 2006, featuring the Greek soprano and leading Donizetti specialist, Dimitra Theodossiou, and the young American baritone Andrew Schroeder, both in superb voice.
Roberto Devereux composed on 1837 saw the light of day during a period of intense creativity for Gaetano Donizetti . After its premiere and up until 1848, Devereux was performed almost uninterruptedly. In the years that followed it would also enjoy a successful international career, throughout Europe and in the Americas, with versions in French, German, Russian and Hungarian. When Donizetti moved to Paris in 1838, he enriched the opera with the overture that paraphrases the British anthem God Save the Queen. The Queen dominates from her very entrance, a true protagonist, here performed by the great Mariella Devia: her pure voice, perfect intonation, great stage presence, all combined with the technical qualities of her voice, led to an extended standing ovation. It was a great success, too, for Sonia Ganassi (Sarah) and tenor Stefan Pop (Devereux).
In the last and most dramatic aria in Roberto Devereux , one of the four Tudor period operas composed by Gaetano Donizetti in 1837 along with Anna Bolena , Maria Stuarda and Il Castello di Kenilworth , the protagonist, Queen Elizabeth I of England, exclaims: "I do not reign, I do not live". This statement encapsulates great operatic themes, and it is the culmination of an opera that reveals the passions of characters who live among palace intrigues.
Written in the mature period of the leader of Italian romanticism, the opera displays a great vocal virtuosity, and is an example of Donizetti prizing the voice above all in the genre. The staging, by South African director Alessandro Talevi, who has been very successful in great opera houses as well as with more experimental theatre, places the play in an undetermined period, focusing on the chiaroscuro.
Written in the mature period of the leader of Italian romanticism, the opera displays a great vocal virtuosity, and is an example of Donizetti prizing the voice above all in the genre. The staging, by South African director Alessandro Talevi, who has been very successful in great opera houses as well as with more experimental theatre, places the play in an undetermined period, focusing on the chiaroscuro.
Revived after 171 years in oblivion, the staging of Rosmonda d'inghilterra at Bergamo's Teatro Donizetti proved fascinating for the Italian public.
The opera revolves around a tale of love and intrigue surrounding the main protagonists, the famous Queen of Eleanor of Aquitaine, her husband Henry II of England, and the fair Rosamund de Clifford. Rosmonda is the quintessential innocent, unaware that the man she loves is the King of England and that she has unwittingly become a rival to the much feared Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor, having already had her first marriage annulled for reasons of consanguinity, is unwilling to see her second marriage fail. Only the faithful page Arturo, secretly in love with Rosmonda, knows that the Queen is aware of her husband's betrayal, but he too is embroiled in this game of deceit, hoping that he will end up winning the girl.
The emotional and dramatic development is very effective. There is not a page in this score without some example of brilliant writing, a captivating theme, a moving passage. It all goes to prove how deeply original Donizetti was, and how much there is still to be discovered about this under-appreciated composer
The opera revolves around a tale of love and intrigue surrounding the main protagonists, the famous Queen of Eleanor of Aquitaine, her husband Henry II of England, and the fair Rosamund de Clifford. Rosmonda is the quintessential innocent, unaware that the man she loves is the King of England and that she has unwittingly become a rival to the much feared Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor, having already had her first marriage annulled for reasons of consanguinity, is unwilling to see her second marriage fail. Only the faithful page Arturo, secretly in love with Rosmonda, knows that the Queen is aware of her husband's betrayal, but he too is embroiled in this game of deceit, hoping that he will end up winning the girl.
The emotional and dramatic development is very effective. There is not a page in this score without some example of brilliant writing, a captivating theme, a moving passage. It all goes to prove how deeply original Donizetti was, and how much there is still to be discovered about this under-appreciated composer
In Donizetti's opera Maria Stuarda the roles of the doomed queen and her cousin, Elizabeth I, have been taken by some of the greatest divas, from Malibran to Gruberova and Tosi to Baltsa, each revelling in the high drama of their tragically linked fates.
"Contributing greatly to the success of the work, the young Maestro Riccardo Frizza revealed himself as a deep and sensitive interpreter of this score, managing to capture all the nuances of Donizetti's music. Laura Polverelli portrayed with elegance and pride the character of Elizabeth, her furies, doubts and jealousies; Maria Pia Piscitelli was a wonderful Maria Stuarda, passionate, sorrowful, proud, dignified when sentenced to death, recalling her past sins yet conscious of her innocence" (MusicCultura)
"Contributing greatly to the success of the work, the young Maestro Riccardo Frizza revealed himself as a deep and sensitive interpreter of this score, managing to capture all the nuances of Donizetti's music. Laura Polverelli portrayed with elegance and pride the character of Elizabeth, her furies, doubts and jealousies; Maria Pia Piscitelli was a wonderful Maria Stuarda, passionate, sorrowful, proud, dignified when sentenced to death, recalling her past sins yet conscious of her innocence" (MusicCultura)
Antonin Dvorak's next to last opera draws its substance from the underwater wonderland of little mermaids, Undines and Melusines: Rusalka , a water nymph, wishes to become human in order to be loved by the young prince. Despite being warned against it, she asks the witch Jezibaba to help her. In order for her wish to be fulfilled, Rusalka must give up her voice and face eternal damnation if her love fails. Jaroslav Kvapil's libretto inspired Dvorak to compose a masterpiece, a compelling opera full of poignant lyricism and dramatic twists.
Adam Fisher and Stefan Herheim masterfully present this 'lyrical fairytale' at La Monnaie. In this widely acclaimed interpretation, the fairytale elements assume frighteningly realistic dimensions making this enchanting production a psychoanalytical study of male fantasies and female archetypes.
Adam Fisher and Stefan Herheim masterfully present this 'lyrical fairytale' at La Monnaie. In this widely acclaimed interpretation, the fairytale elements assume frighteningly realistic dimensions making this enchanting production a psychoanalytical study of male fantasies and female archetypes.
A modern opera inspired by Victor Hugo's Claude Gueux , on a libretto by Robert Badinter and music by Thierry Escaich . The synopsis of Claude is based on a true story. Robert Badinter has read again and again the original file from the judicial archives of Troyes. Claude is a silk worker from la Croix-Rousse. He tries to lives a happy life with his wife and daughter. For them and for him he refuses the misery imposed by their condition. When his boss lays off workers to replace them by new English machines. Claude grabs his rifle and run to the barricades.
Claude is sentenced to 7 years of hard-Labor at Clairvaux's prison workshop. His love for the quality of his work and his hate of injustice makes him a charismatic figure for the others prisoners. To weaken him, the prison warden separates Claude from his most precious friend, Albin. From this, follows a chain of injustice and violence in witch Claude finish to kill the director. He will himself be "guillotined" (decapitated).
Claude is a plea against prison and for human dignity worn by magnificent performers: Jean-Sebastien Bou, in the title role, Jean-Philippe Lafont and Rodrigo Ferreira. The Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon is conducted by Jeremie Rhorer. This thrilling opera is staged by Olivier Py.
Claude is sentenced to 7 years of hard-Labor at Clairvaux's prison workshop. His love for the quality of his work and his hate of injustice makes him a charismatic figure for the others prisoners. To weaken him, the prison warden separates Claude from his most precious friend, Albin. From this, follows a chain of injustice and violence in witch Claude finish to kill the director. He will himself be "guillotined" (decapitated).
Claude is a plea against prison and for human dignity worn by magnificent performers: Jean-Sebastien Bou, in the title role, Jean-Philippe Lafont and Rodrigo Ferreira. The Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon is conducted by Jeremie Rhorer. This thrilling opera is staged by Olivier Py.
Manuel de Falla's short opera La vida breve is perhaps the greatest opera in the entire Spanish repertoire. Premiered in 1913, it is the tragic story of the poor gypsy Salud, whose lover Paco betrays her and plans to wed a wealthy young woman. Though a national monument in Spain, La vida breve is performed less frequently in non-Hispanic nations; to many music lovers, this recording may be the first encounter with a stage production of the work, and Giancarlo del Monaco EUR" known for his splendid productions at the Met EUR" makes it a memorable event. While not rejecting the folklore aspects of the original libretto, del Monaco creates a kind of psychological chamber drama in which the heroine Salud is on stage at all times, as if witnessing her own living nightmare of blood and shame.
Carlisle Floyd is one of America's foremost composers. Though he has also written in other forms, he is renowned for his operas, for which he also writes the libretti. The most famous and popular is his third opera, Susannah , premiered in 1955 and the second most performed of all American operas. Updated and set in Tennessee, it is loosely based on the Apocryphal tale of Susanna and the Elders. The work is rooted in vernacular folk melodies and hymns and contains soaring melodic beauty.
World premiered with a great success at the Vienna State Opera in 2019, Persinette retells the famous Rapunzel fairy tale. To the late-romantic music of Albin Fries , children's opera specialist Matthias von Stegmann takes us into the world rich in images, allowing us to sympathise and feel the excitement. Will Persinette escape her imprisonment in the high tower?
A political prisoner awaits death in his cell. A woman puts herself in mortal danger to seek justice. With its atmosphere of revolution and tale of devotional romance and a dramatic rescue from captivity, Pierre Gaveaux's Leonore, ou L'Amour conjugal was the direct forerunner to Beethoven's Fidelio . Having been entirely overshadowed by its famous successor and lain hidden for centuries, this both darkly sombre and entertainingly celebratory opera comique is seen here in an acclaimed modern premiere. Opera Lafayette's production was filmed at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater, John Jay College, New York, in 2017. It is a timeless and inspiring story of female heroism and political injustice which is as relevant today as ever.
With his spectacular production of Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chenier, director Keith Warner unites intellectual depth and exciting entertainment for the eyes and ears using every possible resource offered by Bregenz's floating stage. The colossal set by David Fielding is inspired by Jacques-Louis David's famous painting Death of Marat. The opera is both a moving love story and a historical thriller with a highly emotional score. Ulf Schirmer, the Wiener Symphoniker and the excellent soloists Hector Sandoval, Norma Fantini and Scott Henricks unleash the entire power of this Italian verismo work.
The soprano Daniela Dessi died suddenly on 20th August 2016, aged 59. She was hailed by critics and colleagues as one of the finest voices the world of opera has ever known. Dynamic pays tribute to the great soprano with this recording, filmed just one year before her untimely death. Her performance of Giordano's Fedora was one of the pinnacles of her stunning artistic career. In the famous aria O grandi occhi lucenti from Act One, she delivers a technically perfect and emotionally passionate performance worthy of a great star.
The story takes place at the end of the 19th century, in St. Petersburg (Act One), Paris (Act Two) and Switzerland (Act Three). It's an operatic crime story, a drama of passion, revenge and guilt that unravels against a historical backdrop of Czarist Russia's political and ideological conflicts in the late 19th century.
Daniela Dessi is a complete prima donna of outstanding finesse, her rich voice both powerfully intense and deeply expressive. Tenor Fabio Armiliato shines particularly in the famous aria Amor ti vieta from Act Two, with a commanding and highly expressive stage presence in support of a powerful and wonderfully nuanced voice. The finale of the opera is reserved for the two protagonists, companions both on stage and in life. The...
The story takes place at the end of the 19th century, in St. Petersburg (Act One), Paris (Act Two) and Switzerland (Act Three). It's an operatic crime story, a drama of passion, revenge and guilt that unravels against a historical backdrop of Czarist Russia's political and ideological conflicts in the late 19th century.
Daniela Dessi is a complete prima donna of outstanding finesse, her rich voice both powerfully intense and deeply expressive. Tenor Fabio Armiliato shines particularly in the famous aria Amor ti vieta from Act Two, with a commanding and highly expressive stage presence in support of a powerful and wonderfully nuanced voice. The finale of the opera is reserved for the two protagonists, companions both on stage and in life. The...
This centenary performance of Umberto Giordano's Marcella was prepared from the composer's manuscript, the score and parts having been destroyed during World War II. Recalling Verdi's La Traviata and Puccini's La Rondine , as well as Giordano's own Andrea Chenier and Fedora , Marcella is the story of a poor girl and a painter whose idyllic affair is shattered when events reveal that her true love is actually a prince incognito.
At the age of 75, one of the leading figures on the 20th century music, Philip Glass , is composing a new work for the Teatro Real. The Perfect American , imagining the final months of the life of Walt Disney - the person who has, more than any other, influenced the current world of consumers. Children nowadays only see mices and ducks as Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, thanks to the image invented for them by Walt Disney factory. In opposition to the world of happiness he devised, the existence of this perfect American was marked by an unhappy youth and a personality whose "political correctness" outdid that of even Richard Nixon.
From the hand of Dennis Russell Davies, who has conducted almost all the premieres of Glass's operas, and the stage director Phelim McDermott, we will be penetrating into the nightmare of a happy world. World Premiere, commission of the Teatro Real De Madrid and English National Opera of London.
From the hand of Dennis Russell Davies, who has conducted almost all the premieres of Glass's operas, and the stage director Phelim McDermott, we will be penetrating into the nightmare of a happy world. World Premiere, commission of the Teatro Real De Madrid and English National Opera of London.
The preocupation of the composer of "minimal music", Philip Glass , with Indian music and his interest in Gandhi began in 1966 during his first visit to India where he met Ravi Shankar. Since then, the rhythmic figures of Indian music have exercised a significant influence on his music which has a strong meditative and almost hypnotic effect through the repetitive sequences of tones with minimal changes. Glass's work needs time to unfold its hypnotic effect and fascination. With his second opera Glass didn't want to draw a historic portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Instead he used the example of Gandhi's work during the last years between 1893 and 1914 in South Africa to draw an outline of the current worldwide political and religious problems. In South Africa Gandhi formulated his theory of passive resistance and civil disobedience known as Satyagraha as a reaction to the government's discrimination against the Indian population evidenced by its denial of basic rights such as the right to vote.
The reopening show of the historical stage of the Bolshoi Theatre by Jurowski and Tcherniakov.
Ruslan and Lyudmila , the fable of Mikhail Glinka (from a poem of Pushkin), and symbolic Russian opera in itself, was an apposite choice to open the 2011-2012 of the majestic Moscow opera, after its long renovation.
Tcherniakov transposes Glinka's opera into the 21st century exposing the protagonists exposing the protagonists to contemporary forms of temptations: a harem for Ruslan, and a Thai massage for Lyudmila.
Vladimir Jurowski conducts The Bolshoi Theater Orchestra and a magnificent and soloists Albina Shagimuratova, Mikhail Petrenko, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Charles Workman and Elena Zaremba in this production acclaimed for its musical quality and its staging.
Ruslan and Lyudmila , the fable of Mikhail Glinka (from a poem of Pushkin), and symbolic Russian opera in itself, was an apposite choice to open the 2011-2012 of the majestic Moscow opera, after its long renovation.
Tcherniakov transposes Glinka's opera into the 21st century exposing the protagonists exposing the protagonists to contemporary forms of temptations: a harem for Ruslan, and a Thai massage for Lyudmila.
Vladimir Jurowski conducts The Bolshoi Theater Orchestra and a magnificent and soloists Albina Shagimuratova, Mikhail Petrenko, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Charles Workman and Elena Zaremba in this production acclaimed for its musical quality and its staging.
Gluck's wonderful but neglected 1774 opera Iphigenie en Tauride , inspired by the Greek legend, is treated with forceful and convincing simplicity in Klaus Guth's revolutionary production stated the Zurich Opera House. The psychological drama in a tense atmosphere of fears and traumas is underline by Guth's use of huge masks and enclosed space. Conductor William Christie and his typically transparent but never cold orchestral sound perfectly match the descriptive elements in Gluck's score, while the Armenian mezzo-soprano Juliette Galstain as a fabulously good Iphigenie, the leading American opera baritone Rodney Gilfry as Oreste and the deceased South African tenor Deon van der Walt as Pylade head a superb cast.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ambitious "Festival Internacional de Musica Castell de Peralada", the Catalan theater collective La Fura dels Baus and its director Carlus Padrissa have staged Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice with three splendid soloists in a production that confirms the Fura's creativity. The most striking aspect of the production is the participation of the orchestral ensemble in the action. Padrissa also makes abundant stage use of the chorus, who depict souls or demons. With its stunning effects, expert lighting and video projections, the production grabs the viewer from the very start.
Gluck's 1762 opera Orphee et Eurydice was groundbreaking in its day and, as this 1999 performance from the Theatre Musical de Paris shows, it still lends itself to radical treatment. The composer's rejection of traditional, flamboyant, operatic bells and whistles led to a fresh form in which the lyrics hold court. The music provides the setting and emotional color in a way that is almost physical in its intensity. Gluck's readiness to incorporate the influences of other art forms - poetry, ballet, and drama - has always made this story of love rescued from the jaws of tragedy universally appealing.
Roberto Alagna as Orpheus in his brother David?EUR(TM)s new version of the Gluck masterpiece. A major event recorded in Bologna.
Opting for the French-language version of Gluck's Orpheus , David Alagna was faced with the task of achieving an appropriately subtle adaptation. In a plot transposed to the present day, Eurydice dies in a car accident on the day of her wedding, and Orpheus's quest for his beloved is a dream beginning and ending at the cemetery. No happy ending in this interpretation, but a new approach to characterisation: Amore, sung by a baritone, becomes a funeral parlour employee and Orpheus's guide. And Orpheus, of course, loses his loved one forever by turning to look back.
The enormously talented Roberto Alagna throws himself body and soul into this production. His incredible vitality and flawless timbre and diction make him a great Orpheus. His partner, young Italian soprano Serena Gamberoni, is simply stunning as Euridice, while French baritone Marc Barrard is suitably terrifying as the guide to the Underworld. The orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna is conducted by Giampaolo Bisanti, who masterfully brings out all Gluck's poetry, romantic melancholy and depth.
Opting for the French-language version of Gluck's Orpheus , David Alagna was faced with the task of achieving an appropriately subtle adaptation. In a plot transposed to the present day, Eurydice dies in a car accident on the day of her wedding, and Orpheus's quest for his beloved is a dream beginning and ending at the cemetery. No happy ending in this interpretation, but a new approach to characterisation: Amore, sung by a baritone, becomes a funeral parlour employee and Orpheus's guide. And Orpheus, of course, loses his loved one forever by turning to look back.
The enormously talented Roberto Alagna throws himself body and soul into this production. His incredible vitality and flawless timbre and diction make him a great Orpheus. His partner, young Italian soprano Serena Gamberoni, is simply stunning as Euridice, while French baritone Marc Barrard is suitably terrifying as the guide to the Underworld. The orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna is conducted by Giampaolo Bisanti, who masterfully brings out all Gluck's poetry, romantic melancholy and depth.
Many viewers will be familiar with the program as they were originally broadcast in 1966 as part of the Great Characters in Opera TV series produced for the BBC, comprising of 7 hour-long program. Gobbi's portrayal of the three roles featured leaves the viewer in no doubt as to why he was so popular on screen (he had appeared in approximately 25 films by the time of his death in 1984).
This series provides an exceptional account of a remarkable singer and actor's portrayal of three major operatic roles that featured highly throughout Tito Gobbi's distinguished career.
This series provides an exceptional account of a remarkable singer and actor's portrayal of three major operatic roles that featured highly throughout Tito Gobbi's distinguished career.
Sir Charles Mackerras teases the romantic beauty from Gounod's score, which has been much admired and performed since its debut, at the Theatre Lyrique, Paris, in 1867. In this 1994 recording, the youthful Roberto Alagna as Romeo and Leontina Vaduva as the unattainable Juliette, lead an excellent cast in a touching portrayal of this story of impossible love, based on the play by William Shakespeare.
Charles Gounod was enchanted by the young Provencal-born Frederic Mistral's epic love poem Mireio, and enlisted the distinguished Michel Carre to fashion a libretto. Against the grain of prevailing operatic practice in the 1860s, and its promotion of glamour and spectacle, Gounod relished instead the lives of modest country people and their idyllic world. He utilizes folk dances and a shepherd's lament to chart the story of his tragic heroine whose desire to marry her true love ends in her death. 'Everything feels true to the opera's pastoral spirit' wrote Gramophone about this production, which marked the opera's first appearance at the Paris Opera.
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William Shakespeare's timeless tale of romance Romeo and Juliet came alive in a new way when Charles Gounod adapted it for the stage as an opera.
This unforgettable stage production features Roberto Alagna in the role of Romeo and Angela Gheorghiu in the role of his young love, Juliette, with conductor Anton Guadagno leading the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. If you missed it on the stage, don't pass up this opportunity to take one of the most memorable stage adaptations of Shakespeare home with this release that's sure to touch the romantic in everyone.
This unforgettable stage production features Roberto Alagna in the role of Romeo and Angela Gheorghiu in the role of his young love, Juliette, with conductor Anton Guadagno leading the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. If you missed it on the stage, don't pass up this opportunity to take one of the most memorable stage adaptations of Shakespeare home with this release that's sure to touch the romantic in everyone.
On 7 April 1923, Ciboulette premiered at the Theatre des Varieties in Paris, and, as one of Reynaldo Hahn's most elegant and refined works, it is considered one of the last masterpieces of French operetta. The story tells of the pretty market gardener Ciboulette who, after an encounter with a fortune teller, decides to throw herself into a hedonistic future. She comes across a whole collection of Parisian characters, but true love eventually triumphs as the prophecy is fulfilled. Although Hahn wrote other works in this genre none of them would match Ciboulette's success. This Opera Comique production has been acclaimed by BBC Music Magazine for a cast that was 'impeccable'.
The Neapolitan version of Rinaldo : the stages of its rediscovery.
In 1711 George Friedrich Handel's Rinaldo was premiered in London at the Queen's Theatre of Haymarket. The opera was immediately successful, thanks to the presence of a great interpreter in the role of the protagonist: the Neapolitan castrato Nicola Grimaldi . In 1718 Rinaldo arrived in Naples, where it was adapted by Leonardo Leo and an unknown librettist. In that period theatres would stage both new operas and popular works that were reworked where necessary.
Rinaldo was one of the latter: a pasticcio, or rather an opera impasticciata (a score consisting of pre-existing music and pieces
added for the occasion). Rarely was a score performed without being modified, because tastes and performing practices changed, as did the interpreters involved. The following table compares the London and Naples performers.
In 1711 George Friedrich Handel's Rinaldo was premiered in London at the Queen's Theatre of Haymarket. The opera was immediately successful, thanks to the presence of a great interpreter in the role of the protagonist: the Neapolitan castrato Nicola Grimaldi . In 1718 Rinaldo arrived in Naples, where it was adapted by Leonardo Leo and an unknown librettist. In that period theatres would stage both new operas and popular works that were reworked where necessary.
Rinaldo was one of the latter: a pasticcio, or rather an opera impasticciata (a score consisting of pre-existing music and pieces
added for the occasion). Rarely was a score performed without being modified, because tastes and performing practices changed, as did the interpreters involved. The following table compares the London and Naples performers.
Based on the well-known mythological story narrated by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, this is a classical tale of jealousy and love. The giant Polyphemus tries to force his attention on the fair sea-nymph Galatea, who is in love with the shepherd Acis. When mad jealousy drives Polyphemus to kill his rival, Galatea asks her father Nereus to turn Acis' blood into a river so that, flowing into the sea, he will join her forevermore.
Christopher Hogwood conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and a distinguished cast including Danielle de Niese and Charles Workman in Wayne McGregor's new production of Handel's opera in which The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet appear in a rare and beautifully crafted collaboration.
Bonus features :
- Illustrated synopsis
- Staging Acis and Galatea
Bonus features :
- Illustrated synopsis
- Staging Acis and Galatea
When one of Germany's most famous filmmakers and stimulating operatic directors focuses her creativity on a rarely performed Handel opera, the result is a "mixture of dancers and singers, comedy and pathos" (The Times). Admeto , one of Handel's most popular operas in his lifetime, was premiered in London in January 1727. Doris Dörrie, whose Japan-inspired feature film "Cherry Blossoms - Hanami" was a major German box-office hit and won several international awards, returns to her beloved Japan in this production. Flowing robes, translucent panels and the participation of Japan's Mamu Dance Theater and its choreographer/dancer Tadashi Endo add an evocative dimension to the work whose lead roles were written for a popular castrato and two rivaling primadonnas. Sensitively directed for video by Agnes Méth, who worked with Dörrie on Mozart's La finta giardiniera at the Salzburg Festival, the opera is played by Nicholas McGegan's FestspielOrchester Göttingen on period instruments. For this production, a coproduction of the Internationale Händel-Festspiele in Göttingen and the Edinburgh International Festival on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Handel's death, Doris Dörrie was awarded the Edinburgh Festival's prestigious Herald Angel Award.
Agrippina was staged for the first time in late December 1709 - or possibly at the beginning of 1710 - at Venice's Teatro San Grisostomo and met with enormous success, as testified by twenty-seven following performances, a record number even for 18th-century standards. Agrippina 's triumph sanctioned Handel's definitive investiture as an operatic composer. After nearly 300 years this opera appears as a masterpiece of 18th-century music and an innovative work, considering that when Handel composed it he was just twenty-four years old. The composer's melodic creativity and sense of theatre are quite remarkable. The cast, conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire, includes Véronique Gens in the title role.
Composed when he was just twenty-four, Agrippina was Handel's first theatrical success and is a sparkling example of his early work. It is full of his fresh, exuberantly inventive music and employs one of the finest librettos with which George Frederic Handel ever worked. The opera was composed and first performed in Venice in 1709 and, in a witty plot by an Italian cardinal, it tells the farcical story of the private lives of two ruthless figures in roman history, Nero and his mother Agrippina, and how they become entangled with the innocent Ottone and his lover Poppea. Typically for a Handel opera, the work is centred on a series of towering arias designed to show off the virtuosity of the singers. This beautiful production by renowned opera director Michael Hampe was recorded at the exquisite 18th century palace theatre during the Schwetzingen Festival in1985. It combines the atmosphere of a true Baroque opera with an elegant, colourful staging and brilliant musicianship. The London Baroque Players, an outstanding orchestra for early music, which specializes in the music of the 17th and 18th century, joins an accomplished cast of singers, all baroque specialists.
During his years in Italy, Handel absorbed the music of his contemporaries and mastered new stylistic trends. Though the staging of La resurrezione was a memorable event in the Roman musical world, it was the production of Agrippina that marked Handel's definitive investiture as an operatic composer. It met with enormous success and an unprecedented number of performances followed. Its melodic power is overwhelming and in his creation of credible and vivid characters, the alternation of recitative and arias, and sheer theatrical power, Handel established the template that was to last for the remainder of his operatic career.
On 8th January 1735 at the Covent Garden in London, George Frideric Handel presented his new opera Ariodante on a libretto anonymously adapted by Antonio Salvi and inspired by Ariosto. Handel produced a refined musical setting of a somewhat audacious title which he treated in an equally unusual manner: he eliminated the traditional scenes of wonder or magic, worked on following the psychological development of the individual characters and focus on privileged expressivity rather than virtuosity for its own sake giving prominence.
The mutual love of Princess Ginevra and Prince Ariodante of Fife has the full approval of her father, the King of Scotland. But Duke Polinesso covets the throne. An opera about truth and appearance, set by director John Pascoe in the 1950's, in the glamorous days of the British monarchy.
The mutual love of Princess Ginevra and Prince Ariodante of Fife has the full approval of her father, the King of Scotland. But Duke Polinesso covets the throne. An opera about truth and appearance, set by director John Pascoe in the 1950's, in the glamorous days of the British monarchy.
As the first collaboration ever between conductor William Christie and director Luc Bondy, this production of Hercules was the major event of the 2004 opera season. Originally Created in Aix-en-Provence in July 2004, the show then moved on to the Palais Garnier in Paris where it was recorded in December of the same year.
The Hercules received the student prize at the Golden Prague 2005.
The Hercules received the student prize at the Golden Prague 2005.
Dame Janet Baker, in one of her greatest roles, leads a cast of some of Britain's finest interpreters of Baroque opera, and their performance under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras is one of the highest musical excellence. This video is a studio recording of John Copley's acclaimed English National Opera production.
The opera was first performed in 1724 at the Haymarket Theatre in London using castrati singers in the heroes' roles. This production follows modern practice in using women in these parts. Dame Janet's virtuoso role as Julius Caesar has been heralded as a masterful recreation of the music which Handel wrote for the finest singers of his time.
The opera was first performed in 1724 at the Haymarket Theatre in London using castrati singers in the heroes' roles. This production follows modern practice in using women in these parts. Dame Janet's virtuoso role as Julius Caesar has been heralded as a masterful recreation of the music which Handel wrote for the finest singers of his time.
Lacrosse sticks and flying bicycles bring contemporary chic to this timeless fantasy of warriors and witches in Robert Carsen's fun-filled transformation of Handel's first London triumph. Conducting from the keyboard just as Handel himself did, Ottavio Dantone leads a youthful cast of today's luminaries in the dramatic art of Baroque opera; the 'affecting' Sonia Prina, the 'unadorned intensity' of Anett Fritsch and 'fire-breathing flair' of Branda Rae. (The Observer)
In Spring 2019, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, led by John Eliot Gardiner, presented a critically-acclaimed European tour of Handel's opera Semele , including Alexandra Palace Theatre in London, where this live recording took place. Semele had not been performed by John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi ensembles since they originally recorded it in the 1980s and this recording gives listeners the chance to hear a fuller version of the work.
A glamorous team of young soloists joins the Monteverdi ensembles to bring the story of Semele to life, including celebrated English soprano Louise Alder, who takes on the title role, with the young tenor Hugo Hymas portraying the amorous Jupiter.
A glamorous team of young soloists joins the Monteverdi ensembles to bring the story of Semele to life, including celebrated English soprano Louise Alder, who takes on the title role, with the young tenor Hugo Hymas portraying the amorous Jupiter.
A classic work of its genre and historical period, Artaserse was premiered in Venice in 1730 by the most famous singers of the day: Farinelli in the role of the Arbace, Cuzzoni as Mandana and the castrato Nicolino as Artabano. It was a success for Hasse , who would, in 1740 and 1760, re-propose the same work in two different versions.
This video features one, in world premiere. The cast is extraordinary, with the countertenor Franco Fagioli giving a great performance of the role that was Farinelli's. Fagioli easily goes up and down the extension of more that three octaves, maintaning a uniform timbre and remarkable power and resonance. Also stunning, is the aria Pallido sole sung by Sonia Prina.
This video features one, in world premiere. The cast is extraordinary, with the countertenor Franco Fagioli giving a great performance of the role that was Farinelli's. Fagioli easily goes up and down the extension of more that three octaves, maintaning a uniform timbre and remarkable power and resonance. Also stunning, is the aria Pallido sole sung by Sonia Prina.
Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt's special wish for the Haydn anniversary year and for his 80th birthday was a production of Joseph Haydn's Il Mondo della Luna of 1777. With this exuberant staging by Tobias Moretti from Vienna's Theater an der Wien, Harnoncourt's wish was spectacularly fulfilled. Contributing to the success of the production are a fine cast of physically and vocally agile singers and the rousing orchestral accompaniment of Harnoncourt's own ensemble, the Concentus Musicus Wien.
In the Summer of 2009, the British director Nigel Lowery and the Iranian choreographer Amir Hosseinpour brought to the stage of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden, with colour and full of humour, the fantastic and imaginative adventures of "Racing Roland". On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn, the composer's most renowned opera during his lifetime, Orlando Paladino , was performed, a heroic-comical stage piece based on Ariost's famous Versepos . Singers such as Marlis Petersen (Angelica), Tom Randle (Orlando), Alexandrina Pendatchanska (Alcina), Pietro Spagnoli (Rodomonte), Sunhae Im (Eurilla) and Victor Torres (Pasquale) performed under the musical direction of period-music specialist René Jacobs. The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra completed this high-class production giving the music a beautiful sound and lively swing.
Der Prinz von Hamburg resonates powerfully with Hans Werner Henze's pacifist perspective. The opera is based on a play by Heinrich von Kleist that opposes authority, celebrating a dreamer rather than a classical hero, and individualist freedom rather than militarist nationalism. Ingeborg Bachmann's libretto heightens this message, and Henze's chamber-music setting is at once powerful and unpredictable. This visually stunning production stretches from intimate transparency to dramatic heights, in a critically acclaimed staging by the award-winning director Stephan Kimmig.
Hindemith conceived Mathis der Maler , his 'opera in seven tableaux', as a reimagining of Matthias Grunewald's Isenheim Alterpiece, a depiction of Christ's intense suffering and crucifixion. Set during the turbulence of the German Peasants' revolt in the early 16th century, the work's focus is on artistic freedom of expression and human isolation during a time of plague, repression and violence. Hindemith wrote his own libretto finding in Grunewald a metaphor for his own times. Performances of the opera in Germany were duly banned by the Naxis.
Bo Holten's new opera The Visit of the Royal Physician was a great success with both audience and reviewers at the premiere in 2009. It is a tragic love story from one of the most dramatic periods in the history of Denmark, when new ideas almost overturned the social order. It is the 1770s, and the young, idealistic doctor Struensee dreams of creating a new and better world. He is given the chance to put his ideas into practice when, almost by coincidence, he becomes royal physician to the insane King Christian VII. Soon he is also the lover of the young Queen Caroline Mathilde. The result is a disaster for all those involved while the old order is allowed to endure. The Visit of the Royal Physician is based on the best-selling novel by Per Olov Enquist. The performance was recorded at the Opera in Copenhagen and is conducted by the composer.
A new opera, with libretto by Roger Morris based on the Orpheus legend, a main character alluding to Jean Cocteau, by British composer Ed Hughes .
A stunning work in one Act, it is presented here in a concert performance recording with a short film by Sheryl Jenkins The Symptoms of his Madness were as Follows .
A stunning work in one Act, it is presented here in a concert performance recording with a short film by Sheryl Jenkins The Symptoms of his Madness were as Follows .
Diana Damrau and Angelika Kirchschlager star in the acclaimed 2008 production of Humperdinck's famous fairytale opera, in the company of two of Britain's most revered musical figures: Thomas Allen, playing the role of the Father, and the legendary conductor Colin Davis. Directors Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser combine their characteristic wit and a dash of deliciously dark comedy with the opera's fairytale charm. Humperdinck's music mixes catchy folk-like songs with sumptuous instrumental colour, making the result as tunefully approachable, musically memorable and visually delightful as opera gets.
Bonus features :
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Animated cast gallery
- Interview with Colin Davis
- Fairytales feature
Bonus features :
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Animated cast gallery
- Interview with Colin Davis
- Fairytales feature
First staged at the Weimar Court Theatre under the baton of Richard Strauss in 1893, who hailed it as "a masterpiece of the highest quality", Humperdinck's debut opera Hänsel und Gretel has remained a solid favourite since its 1893 première. Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) transformed Grimm's beloved fairy tale Hänsel und Gretel into opera entertainment for everyone from young children to the serious music lover; this is a tumultuous and joyful production for both children and adults. Director Katharina Thalbach cheerfully evokes a magic world of woodland sprites and candy dreams and creates an enchanting fantasy world filled with high spirits, fairytale fantasy and genial comedy. Recorded live at the world-famous Dresden Semperoper in December 2006, the production is also musically of the highest rank, with international soloists in the main roles, accompanied by the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under Michael Hofstetter.
Humperdinck is generally known for his fairytale opera Hansel und Gretel , a Christmas favourite, first staged in Weimar in 1893. His career brought early contact with Wagner and subsequently with his family as music tutor to Siegfried Wagner, the composer's son. He held various teaching positions of some distinction and enjoyed a fruitful collaboration in the theatre with Max Reinhardt, providing incidental music for a number of Shakespearean productions in Berlin.
The charming melodies make it an opera that children enjoy. However, its wonderful music is for everyone. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre created a fascinating production with renowned singers and highly skilled puppeteers.
The charming melodies make it an opera that children enjoy. However, its wonderful music is for everyone. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre created a fascinating production with renowned singers and highly skilled puppeteers.
Hansel und Gretel brought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy story Konigskinder (The King's Children') offers a stark contrast to it and has only begun to be revived in recent years. The doomed love of a goose girl and a prince - as they battle prejudice and are obstructed by magic - ends in their loving deaths, and with it a rebuke to the villagers who rejected them. This acclaimed production by the renowned German director Christof Loy features the award-winning singers ?EUR" tenor Daniel Behle and Ukrainian soprano Olga Kulchynska.
The tale of a quick-witted fox and her escape from confinement for a life in the forest that is by turns joyful and violent, The Cunning Little Vixen is an unsentimental parable of death and rebirth that lives through the instinctive and immediate world of nature, animal and human, which Janacek loved so much. Melly Still's production for Glyndenbourne finds the 'delicate balance between whimsy and mysticism' (Daily Telegraph) at the heart of the opera, which Vladimir Jurowski conducts' with lustrous style: you can hear the birds in the score, feel the sunshine and thrill to the starlit night sky in the finale scene' (Opera Today).
Leos Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen was described by its composer as "a comic opera with a sad ending." It is a profoundly poetic tale for which the composer wrote some wonderful, life-enriching music that is magnificently orchestrated. "His music is quite simply overwhelmingly moving," says Andre Engel, who, working with an outstanding cast, directed a new production of this fascinating work for the Paris Opera.
The House of the Dead is the moniker accorded to the Siberian labour camp by those who are held within it: thieves, killers, political prisoners. This is a place in which captives are incessantly monitored and punished. With its very own rules involving power and submission; its hierarchies and bullying by those in authority; this is a place far from civilisation, which acts both as its blind spot and its mirror. Based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's classic novel The House of the Dead , in which the author processes his own four-year incarceration, Leos Janacek created a singular work of musical theatre. This is an opera without heroes; without the standard plot revolving around conflict and its subsequent resolution. Against a backdrop of the tedium and gruelling routine of camp life, Janacek allows individual prisoners and their stories to emerge briefly from the multitude. He draws out personal journeys marked by humiliation and abuse. Janacek's unique musical idiom feels like eavesdropping and provides a raw, gestural expression for the brutality faced in the camp, but also for the moments of shared hope, compassion and solidarity.
The vulnerable young woman at the heart of Janacek's breakthrough opera is a signature role for the English soprano Amanda Roocroft. Here, in Stéphane Braunschweig's clear but deeply affecting production, she is partnered by the Slovak tenor Miroslav Dvorsky, as the man through whom she finds redemption, love and hope. The complex figure of the Kostelnicka becomes both tormentor and tormented in this fearless interpretation by the great dramatic soprano Deborah Polaski.
Katia Kabanova is an opera in three acts sung in Czech, which libretto by Vincenc Cervinka was inspired by Alexander Ostrovsky's play The Storm. The story takes place on the banks of the Volga. Katia, a young, sensible and sincere woman, is married to Tichon Kabanov, whose mother profoundly despises her. She is in love with Boris and dreams of going away from the solitude of her home to experience liberty and true love. One night, when her husband is away, she secretly meets Boris, and the two lovers tell each other about their feelings. But Katia, tormented by guilt, confesses everything when her husband comes back. Pressure and rejection by society constrain her to commit a tragic act to end her suffering.
This opera by Leos Janacek was premiered in 1921. It contains all the natural elements that Janacek loves such as wind, water, storms... as well as a presentation of profound and true human feelings. This opera brilliantly combines Russian theater and romantic and post-romantic Czech music.
This opera by Leos Janacek was premiered in 1921. It contains all the natural elements that Janacek loves such as wind, water, storms... as well as a presentation of profound and true human feelings. This opera brilliantly combines Russian theater and romantic and post-romantic Czech music.
With the "breathtakingly grandiose" (Salzburger Nachrichten) Angela Denoke in the lead role, this emotionally powerful opera is given a superior treatment at the hands of the Wiener Philharmoniker under Esa-Pekka Salonen and in an ingenious staging by Christoph Marthaler. Denoke gives a winning account of the sensual, tormented leading role. While Salonen lets the Wiener Philharmoniker alternate between powerful accents, filigree textures and mighty outbursts of raw emotion, Marthaler charms the viewer with his typical witty, naturalistic details.
Featuring Jessye Norman in an exclusive rehearsal of Bizet's Carmen at Radio France Studio with Seiji Ozawa leading the French National Orchestra.
Niccolo Jommelli was an innovative superstar among composers in his day, and is now recognised as precursor of the new Viennese Classical taste in music. With its intense story of love, life and death, Il Vologeso sets one of the most powerful libretti written for the European opera stage. This is critically acclaimed production is considered to be its first staged performance for over two centuries, and the highly successful opera directors Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito have revived a Baroque gem with their exciting, present-day staging.
Violanta is anxious to avenge the death of her sister Norina, who committed suicide after being seduced and abandoned by Prince Alfonso. Violanta attracts Alfonso to her palace to have him killed by her husband, Simone Trovai, but once in his presence, she discovers a man tormented by unhappiness and remorse, and she falls in love with him. Aware that she cannot escape the fate of death, she will call Simone and receive the fatal blow in place of Alfonso.
Violanta is Korngold's second opera; the composer wrote it at the age of 17 (1914). The setting in an imaginary and decadent 15th century Venice reflects the fascination at that time for the Renaissance age and for the themes of passion and death. Korngold's music, with very refined orchestration, perfectly paints the contrast between the dark and deadly atmosphere of the oppressive world which Simone forces upon his wife, and the sudden glimpses of life, sensuality, and passion brought by Alfonso, making Violanta one of the masterpieces of the early 20th century.
Violanta is Korngold's second opera; the composer wrote it at the age of 17 (1914). The setting in an imaginary and decadent 15th century Venice reflects the fascination at that time for the Renaissance age and for the themes of passion and death. Korngold's music, with very refined orchestration, perfectly paints the contrast between the dark and deadly atmosphere of the oppressive world which Simone forces upon his wife, and the sudden glimpses of life, sensuality, and passion brought by Alfonso, making Violanta one of the masterpieces of the early 20th century.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold spoke of this work as his 'masterpiece'. The Miracle of Heliane bears all the hallmarks of Korngold's musical theatre - and goes one step further in scale, with a huge score and orchestra, intoxicating pathos and exquisitely expressive harmonies that play with polytonality - resulting in a gripping and sensuous drama. The world premiere in Hamburg in 1927 was a triumph, with more than a dozen houses booking the latest work by Korngold, at the time the second most performed composer of opera after Richard Strauss . With the Jewish Korngold prevented by the Nazis from presenting his works to the public, The Miracle of Heliane vanished from the repertoire, never to return.
This is a timeless fairy tale portraying a cold ruler incapable of loving anyone, his wife Heliane, devoted to a Dionysian stranger, and a people waiting for a redemptory miracle to occur.
An outstanding cast in all roles, staging of Christof Loy and the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper conducted by Mark Albrecht awaken Korngold's grand and opulent music from decades of slumber and made this production a real triumph, acclaimed by audience and international critics alike.
This is a timeless fairy tale portraying a cold ruler incapable of loving anyone, his wife Heliane, devoted to a Dionysian stranger, and a people waiting for a redemptory miracle to occur.
An outstanding cast in all roles, staging of Christof Loy and the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper conducted by Mark Albrecht awaken Korngold's grand and opulent music from decades of slumber and made this production a real triumph, acclaimed by audience and international critics alike.
Edouard Lalo's Le Roi d'Ys is based on an ancient Breton legend; even the choice of a subject based on legend - and a Breton one at that - illustrates the ideological link between Lalo's opera and the Wagnerianism so prevalent throughout Europe at the time. Lalo furthermore made use of various elements of popular music inspired by Breton folklore that give the entire score a special character and flavour.
Le Roi d'Ys contains all the ingredients of a fine romantic tale: love, jealousy, fear and a touch of magic. The story is well supported that is effective, full of colour and contrasts, with wonderful arias and duets, and a splendid overture. Patrick David conducts; Jean-Louis Pichon's creative staging includes special effects worthy of the seventh art.
Le Roi d'Ys contains all the ingredients of a fine romantic tale: love, jealousy, fear and a touch of magic. The story is well supported that is effective, full of colour and contrasts, with wonderful arias and duets, and a splendid overture. Patrick David conducts; Jean-Louis Pichon's creative staging includes special effects worthy of the seventh art.
Stefano Landi was an influential early opera composer, and La morte d'Orfeo is regarded as a milestone in the development of the genre. The narrative starts where Monteverdi's L'Orfeo ends, taking is through the remaining adventures of Orpheus in the underworld. Beaten to death and torn apart by the fearsome maenads, Orpheus survives as a wandering soul and is finally reincarnated as a star in the sky. Landi succeeded in turning Greek tragedy into timeless music-drama, the staring point of all opera, and Seen and Heard International declared that it had 'never before encountered such technical perfection' in Pierre Audi's Amsterdam production.
Rued Langgaard's remarkable opera Antikrist confronts the decline and fall of Western civilization, critiquing modern lifestyles and ways of thinking, which resonates with our times more than ever before. Never performed in the composer's lifetime, Antikrist blends Romantic and contemporary styles to create a score that is both seductive and opulent, while the lack of a conventional plot creates space for an ironic and sarcastic expose of contemporary civilization's weaknesses.
This spectacular Deutsche Oper Berlin production was acclaimed in The New York Times as a "riotously colourful, boldly stylised staging [in] a near-breathless swirl".
This spectacular Deutsche Oper Berlin production was acclaimed in The New York Times as a "riotously colourful, boldly stylised staging [in] a near-breathless swirl".
A religious mystery opera. A magnificent doomsday vision. A full length nightmare.
Dacapo' Records' very first opera DVD features Rued Langgaard's powerful vision of the coming of Antikrist in the spectacular co-production with the Royal Danish Opera and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) from 2002. No punches are pulled as the composer's breathtaking revelation unfolds with its intriguing allegorical characters and its powerful statement about the moral decay of modern society.
Bonus feature:
-Langgaard and Antikrist
Dacapo' Records' very first opera DVD features Rued Langgaard's powerful vision of the coming of Antikrist in the spectacular co-production with the Royal Danish Opera and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) from 2002. No punches are pulled as the composer's breathtaking revelation unfolds with its intriguing allegorical characters and its powerful statement about the moral decay of modern society.
Bonus feature:
-Langgaard and Antikrist
An overpowering and paradoxical perfume of dream and reality floats around La Traviata , as if the life and death of this so-called 'errant' woman seem more real and more elusive than those of other opera heroines. It is with this perfume, composed of rare flower essences, of alcohols, of prescription drugs, of skins caressed, of seemingly odourless money, that Giuseppe Verdi deeply impregnated his musical material, just at the time when the perfume of the story of the courtesan Marie Duplessis, who died in 1847, six years before the opera was created in Venice, was evaporating.
In Traviata - You Deserve a Better Future , the audience is invited into Violetta's privacy to have a close look at the fire to which she abandons herself among the guests of this musical and phantasmagorical celebration that blends theatre and opera, voices that speak and sing; and where the distinction between the instrumentalists and the singers becomes blurred, where Charles Baudelaire is seated next to Christophe Tarkos, and where the phantoms of this Paris in full industrial boom whose future we are living in at present, sing and die.
In Traviata - You Deserve a Better Future , the audience is invited into Violetta's privacy to have a close look at the fire to which she abandons herself among the guests of this musical and phantasmagorical celebration that blends theatre and opera, voices that speak and sing; and where the distinction between the instrumentalists and the singers becomes blurred, where Charles Baudelaire is seated next to Christophe Tarkos, and where the phantoms of this Paris in full industrial boom whose future we are living in at present, sing and die.
Sergei Prokofiev devoted the last twelve years of his live to War and Peace . He completed the orchestration by April 1942 and the entire score was ready in March 1943. Having completed the first version (containing 11 scenes) unusually quickly, the composer continued working on the opera over the next ten years. The greatest landmark in the stage history of the opera came with the 1991 production at the Mariinsky Theatre, when Prokofiev's complete score was performed for the first time with no cuts. This production presents a new and exciting reading of Prokofiev's masterpiece.
The three-act romantic operetta Das Land des Lachelns (The Land of Smiles) by Franz Lehar was one of Lehar's later works, and was wildly popular in Vienna and Germany upon its 1929 debut. The title refers to the supposed Chinese custom of smiling, regardless of what is happening in life, with the leading character, Prince Sou-Chong singing a song early in the show titled Always smiling which describes this. This production from the Festival Orchester Morbisch, the Ballett der Seefestspiele Morbisch, and the Schor, Statisterie und Kinderstatisterie der Seefestspiele Morbisch is directed by Peter Edelmann, and was recorded at the 2019 festival.
Leonardo Leo's L'Alidoro was first staged at Teatro del Florentini with Gennaro Antonio Federico as his librettist. The opera was destined to reap success all over Europe with its Neapolitan music comedy theme. Frederico drafted a comedy in which the characters speak different languages (Neapolitan or Tuscan) according to their social status and work on different levels: one comic, the other serious.
L'Alidoro (Golden Wings) is a lost-and-found story that fathoms the themes of love and jealousy from different perspectives - those of age and social status in the forefront - interweaving comedy with more serious reflections. Recently rediscovered in the Abbey of Montecassino along with three other Leonardo Leo operas, Alidoro was chosen by Antonio Florio for his Pieta de' Turchini, one of the best Italian Baroque orchestras of the last twenty years.
L'Alidoro (Golden Wings) is a lost-and-found story that fathoms the themes of love and jealousy from different perspectives - those of age and social status in the forefront - interweaving comedy with more serious reflections. Recently rediscovered in the Abbey of Montecassino along with three other Leonardo Leo operas, Alidoro was chosen by Antonio Florio for his Pieta de' Turchini, one of the best Italian Baroque orchestras of the last twenty years.
Pagliacci is often celebrated as one of the finest examples of verismo, or realist opera. It is even based on a true story: Leoncavallo's father, a judge, once presided over the trial of an actor who, in a fit of jealousy, murdered his wife immediately following a performance. Pagliacci is frequently performed along with Mascagni's one-acter Cavalleria Rusticana . Both works are strongly linked with the name of Franco Zeffirelli, the great stage and film director who has been infusing the operatic repertoire with grace, elegance and poignancy. Both his Emmy Award-winning production of Pagliacci and his Cavalleria feature international star tenor Placido Domingo.
These two pinnacle of Italian opera, Pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana have it all - love, infidelity, betrayal, jealousy and murder. Both are classic examples of verismo operas that dramatise the lives of ordinary people: Pagliacci fuelled by the tension between everyday life and the aesthetic world of the stage. Cavalleria rusticana juxtaposing unbridled passion with profound faith. Robert Carsen's widely acclaimed 2019 production plays a masterful game of theatre-in-theatre, avoiding cliches and calling into question the nature of reality
Treading a tightrope between death, life and intense romance in the opulent world of 19th-century Habsburg royalty. Elisabeth tells the story of the beautiful Empress of Austria, from her wedding, to her tragic assassination by the hand of the Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni. Ongoing dark obsessions and inner turmoil are undercurrents family schisms flare up amidst a crumbling empire. These powerful themes and potent score brimming with fabulous music have combine to establish Elisabeth as the most successful German-language musical of all time. This spectacular open-air event presents Elisabeth at the fabled empress's real-life home - Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.
Jean-Baptiste Lully's Atys , a tragedie en musique, became known as the 'king's opera' due to Louis XIV's fondness for it. The work stands as a testament to the Sun King's courtly refinement, as well as his moves to make France the centre of European artistic culture. The opera's themes of romantic dilemmas and ultimate tragedy, set amidst the poetic atmosphere of Ovid's classical mythology, create expressive arias and duets. William Christie conducts this acclaimed production - hailed by the New York Times as being 'as satisfying as it is bold'.
In his position as the king's composer, Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) created the opera Persée for Louis XIV. The opera was considered the crowning achievement of 17th century French music theatre and was widely recognized as Lully's greatest work. Filled with dancing, fight scenes, monsters and special effects, this truly spectacular music drama recounts the thrilling story of Perseus, son of Zeus and heroic vanquisher of the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa. More than half a century after its premiere, Louis XV chose "Persée" to open the new Royal Opera House at the Chateau de Versailles, an event that formed part of the celebrations for the future Louis XVI's marriage to Marie Antoinette. Recorded live at the Elgin Theatre, Toronto in April 2004, this staging is a dazzling spectacle of gods and goddesses, dancing scenes, flying machines and monsters with fight scenes and special effects inspired by designs from the original 17th century performance. The excellent singer-actors and the "Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir" are leading specialists in early music.
An opera with a rich vein of musical ideas, sumptuous and original sets, a little-known German Romantic composer, high-level interpreters (among them Anna Caterina Antonacci): these are the ingredients of Hans Heiling, staged in 2004 in Cagliari under the scrupulous and refined baton of Renato Palumbo. There is no doubt that this timeless story of gnomes and spirits, love and suffering, supernatural powers and mortal beauty will captivate many opera lovers.
The Czech composer based his libretto on the play Le Voyage de Thesee by his friend and trusted source of inspiration, Georges Neveux. Martinu is said to have written the opera for Maria Callas. In this production, the role is sung by the internationally renowned American prima donna, Celina Lindsay.
Pietro Mascagni explored many different musical styles, from the verismo of his ever-popular Cavalleria rusticana to the sentimental lyricism of Lodoletta . Amica was composed at breakneck speed, reaching completion only a month before its Monte Carlo première in 1905 conducted by the composer, and combined a return to 'realism' with a more sophisticated style of writing. Its extravagant scenic and vocal demands contributed to the opera's neglect until recent times. Set in the Savoy mountains around 1900, Amica is a 'dramatic poem in two acts' involving two brothers, Giorgio and Rinaldo, whose love for the same woman, Amica, culminates in tragedy. While today numbering among his least performed works, Amica was initially a triumph, praised for its 'passionate accent' and 'impulsive sincerity' by a contemporary critic, and deemed 'most worthy of re-evaluation' according to the composer's biographer Roger Flury.
The Great Italian stage and screen director Franco Zeffirelli made these widely acclaimed film, starring Placido Domingo, with Georges Pretre conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala. Cavalleria Rusticana was filmed on location in Sicily, which adds immeasurably to the power and atmosphere of this timeless story of love, honour, justice, and violence.
Mascagni's first and most successful work has become an opera classic as it features elements of the Greek tragedy, mixing up religious and archaic elements. It's a story of love, passion, jealousy and restored honor in bloodshed.
Directors Di Gangi and Giacomazzi set this traditional Cavalleria in a Sicilian village of the 1940s where the buildings are rather bare and the piazza is the stage for private as well as public drama. Conductor Valerio Galli is at the head of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, one of the best in Italy. Good performance reviews for the whole cast.
Directors Di Gangi and Giacomazzi set this traditional Cavalleria in a Sicilian village of the 1940s where the buildings are rather bare and the piazza is the stage for private as well as public drama. Conductor Valerio Galli is at the head of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, one of the best in Italy. Good performance reviews for the whole cast.
With its combination of enchanting love story and broad, burlesque comedy, Cendrillon is one of the great fairy tales - a Cinderella that looks back to Charles Perrault's original story in all its richness and ambiguity. Massenet's sensuous Belle Epoque fairy tale is gilded with lavish orchestral textures and glittering vocal writing, drawing on everything from Baroque dances to Wagner-inspired chromaticism, to bring its story to colourful life, conjuring a world of infinite musical and emotional variety.
Jules Massenet's fairy-tale opera Cendrillon (Cinderella) was an immediate success at its premiere in 1899 at the Opera-Comique in Paris. Massenet, then at the height of his powers, creates a magical sound-world full of wit, enchantment and perfumed elegance to match librettist Henri Cain's coming-of-age adaptation of this classic fairy tale. The colorful fantasy world created by the acclaimed stage director Barbara Mundel and set designer Olga Motta features the British-Swiss soprano, Kim-Lillian Strebel, in her critically acclaimed title role.
Inspired by Francis de Croisset three-act comedy with the same title, Jules Massenet's Cherubin was completed in 1903. The stimuli that led Massenet to write an opera of eighteenth-century reminiscences may have been many and gave gone beyond the immediate enthusiasm he felt for Croisset's play. We might consider, for example, the fact that in the thirty year period between the 1880s and the first world war, Mozart was very fashionable in France.
The old Mozartian Cherubino of Le nozze di Figaro is no longer the young lad in his first naive contacts with women: his age moved on from 13 to 17 years and, of course, takes on more adolescent connotations: more hot-headed, impetuous, ephemeral and passionate. Massenet brings these aspects out well as he characterises Cherubin with vocal scoring that favours ample, intensely cantabile phrases, with leaps towards the acute register that give full vent to the lyrical soprano voice, with moments of sudden emphasis and equally rapid disappointments - a real tempest of hormones, light years away from the Voi che sapete of Mozart's page boy.
The old Mozartian Cherubino of Le nozze di Figaro is no longer the young lad in his first naive contacts with women: his age moved on from 13 to 17 years and, of course, takes on more adolescent connotations: more hot-headed, impetuous, ephemeral and passionate. Massenet brings these aspects out well as he characterises Cherubin with vocal scoring that favours ample, intensely cantabile phrases, with leaps towards the acute register that give full vent to the lyrical soprano voice, with moments of sudden emphasis and equally rapid disappointments - a real tempest of hormones, light years away from the Voi che sapete of Mozart's page boy.
Finished in 1910, Don Quichotte was a success when it premiered at the Opera Theatre in Monte Carlo, where sixty-seven year old Massenet had gone to seek relief from the rheumatism he suffered from. The subject from Cervantes's masterpiece, had been versified by the young and extravagant writer Jacques Le Lorrain. The story is quite different from that of Miguel de Cervantes's hero, appearing, rather, as a self-portrait of the poet himself: the knight becomes a model of virtue, of generosity, driven by lofty ideals; Dulcinee, from maid in an inn becomes a women of the world. His text was reworked by the librettist Henri Cain and submitted to Massenet, who, despite the difficult period he was going through, conceived a rich score, full of verve and maturity.
Manon is Jules Massenet's most popular and enduring opera which, having "quickly conquered the world's stages", has maintained an important place in the repertory since its creation. It is the quintessential example of the charm and vitality of the music and culture of the Parisian Belle Epoque.
Casted as Manon, Annick Massis together with Alessandro Liberatore on his debut as De Grieux, the opera was a mainstay of the Opera-Comique in Paris, reaching its 1,000th performance there in 1919.
Casted as Manon, Annick Massis together with Alessandro Liberatore on his debut as De Grieux, the opera was a mainstay of the Opera-Comique in Paris, reaching its 1,000th performance there in 1919.
From "dream team" of the opera stage to "dream team" of classic and pop - Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón have long since conquered the entire world of music. Yet while their CD Duets ranked third on the pop charts, the opera stage remains their preferred venue. And in Jules Massenet's Manon, they have found a drama worthy of their combined talents.
Manon, the tragic heroine of Massenet's work, is torn between flirtatiousness and profound love, between frivolity and deep commitment. Netrebko seems predestined for this role, with her body language alternating between girlish, introspective and carefree, and her voice radiating brilliance, warmth, mystery and longing. As the impoverished young nobleman Des Grieux, Rolando Villazón compellingly depicts the burning passion of an ultimately doomed lover with his glowing, supple, slender tenor voice.
The glittering production's distinctly Hollywood touch is due to director Vincent Paterson, who makes his operatic debut with Manon. Paterson knows what stars want: he worked his way up from dancer to director of music video clips and internationally renowned choreographer who has worked with Madonna, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, and staged several Broadway musicals. He also worked on films such as Dancer in the Dark,...
Manon, the tragic heroine of Massenet's work, is torn between flirtatiousness and profound love, between frivolity and deep commitment. Netrebko seems predestined for this role, with her body language alternating between girlish, introspective and carefree, and her voice radiating brilliance, warmth, mystery and longing. As the impoverished young nobleman Des Grieux, Rolando Villazón compellingly depicts the burning passion of an ultimately doomed lover with his glowing, supple, slender tenor voice.
The glittering production's distinctly Hollywood touch is due to director Vincent Paterson, who makes his operatic debut with Manon. Paterson knows what stars want: he worked his way up from dancer to director of music video clips and internationally renowned choreographer who has worked with Madonna, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, and staged several Broadway musicals. He also worked on films such as Dancer in the Dark,...
Giovanni Simone Mayr's Medea in Corinto is "the most absolutely amazing opera discovery in decades" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). Mayr, born in Germany in 1763, became one of the most important composers of Italian opera between Mozart and Rossini. He also taught many reputable composers, such as Donizetti. Written at the dawn of romanticism and the bel canto era, his main works unite stylistic characteristics of Viennese classicism with Italian melodic exuberance. Medea in Corinto was premiered in Naples in 1813.
At the Bavarian State Opera, director Hans Neuenfels stages this tragedy of betrayed love, lust for power and murderous hatred as a fascinating political thriller. Providing a vigorous orchestral support for soprano Nadja Michael as Medea and Ramon Vargas as her ex-husband Giasone, conductor Ivor Bolton plumbs the depths of Mayr's rich score.
At the Bavarian State Opera, director Hans Neuenfels stages this tragedy of betrayed love, lust for power and murderous hatred as a fascinating political thriller. Providing a vigorous orchestral support for soprano Nadja Michael as Medea and Ramon Vargas as her ex-husband Giasone, conductor Ivor Bolton plumbs the depths of Mayr's rich score.
Giovanni Simone Mayr was a musician of great success at the beginning of the 19th century. Medea in Corinto is one of his best operas. It was premiered at the San Carlo theatre in Naples in 1813, on a libretto by Felice Romani, and for decades it was one of the fortes of Isabella Colbran and Giuditta Pasta. Benedetto Sicca's direction has a great emotional impact, as have the distinctive and practiced performances of all the artists involved.
Fabio Luisi gives an intense reading of Mayr's music and masterfully underlines its deep psychological implications, while at the same time keeping in constant contact with the stage in a dramatic and enthusing crescendo. He is a Grammy Award-winning Italian conductor; principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and General Music Director of the Zurich Opera. Two great tenors are in the important roles of Jason and Aegeus: Michael Spyres and Enea Scala. Medea is entrusted to the Spaniard Davinia Rodriguez, who easily tackles even the difficult cavatina with obbligato violin of Act I, traditionally almost always omitted.
Fabio Luisi gives an intense reading of Mayr's music and masterfully underlines its deep psychological implications, while at the same time keeping in constant contact with the stage in a dramatic and enthusing crescendo. He is a Grammy Award-winning Italian conductor; principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and General Music Director of the Zurich Opera. Two great tenors are in the important roles of Jason and Aegeus: Michael Spyres and Enea Scala. Medea is entrusted to the Spaniard Davinia Rodriguez, who easily tackles even the difficult cavatina with obbligato violin of Act I, traditionally almost always omitted.
Premiered in 1951, Amahl and the Night Visitors was the first opera specifically composed for television, though Gian Carlo Menotti admitted that he had conceived it for the stage.
The magical story tells of Amahl, a disabled boy who befriends the Three Kings when they stop at his house on their journey to see the newborn Jesus. Amahl decides to give his crutch to Jesus, at which point his legs is miraculously healed. Long a Christmas favourite, this new Viennese production, sung in German, boldly re-examines the story finding its key elements to be fantasy, empathy and the enduring power of love.
The magical story tells of Amahl, a disabled boy who befriends the Three Kings when they stop at his house on their journey to see the newborn Jesus. Amahl decides to give his crutch to Jesus, at which point his legs is miraculously healed. Long a Christmas favourite, this new Viennese production, sung in German, boldly re-examines the story finding its key elements to be fantasy, empathy and the enduring power of love.
Saverio Mercadante led the way for the baroque opera to transform into the Romantic operatic drama Italy was to become famous for. Conductor and pioneer Alessandro De Marchi is repeatedly delighted to find that operas by Mercadante and his contemporaries display the musical ideas of this period of Italian music to full effect only in historically informed performances. The sound becomes more subtle, the musicians are in a chamber music frame of mind when they play historically informed performances, which allows the vocal language to come into its own. Moreover, Mercadante's Didone abbandonata also demonstrates that a classical libretto by Viennese court poet Metastasio still had plenty of substance for a composition even in the 19th century.
Didone abbandonata contains all that sets a Romantic Italian operatic drama apart: great scenes with cantabile and cabaletta for all the main characters, rousing composed ensembles, exciting duets and grand final scenes. The suicide of the Carthaginian Queen Dido, abandoned by Aeneas and betrayed by Jarba, is only a short recitative in Metastasio's libretto.
In contrast, Mercadante composed it as a great death scene. Conversely, he still made use of the long-established recitatives of the baroque tradition. Sizzling both in...
Didone abbandonata contains all that sets a Romantic Italian operatic drama apart: great scenes with cantabile and cabaletta for all the main characters, rousing composed ensembles, exciting duets and grand final scenes. The suicide of the Carthaginian Queen Dido, abandoned by Aeneas and betrayed by Jarba, is only a short recitative in Metastasio's libretto.
In contrast, Mercadante composed it as a great death scene. Conversely, he still made use of the long-established recitatives of the baroque tradition. Sizzling both in...
Written almost two centuries ago by Saverio Mercadante , coveted by many theatres of the day, Francesca da Rimini was, in fact, never staged. Every time it was scheduled for performance, something happened and it got canceled. A long series of incidents prevented it from reaching the stage for as any 185 years. Its forgotten manuscript, which was only known for its ill-starred fate, suddenly re-emerged five years ago in Madrid, the city where it was to have been premiered in 1831.
The soprano Leonor Bonilla (Francesca) is quite impressive in the part of the protagonist: she portrays the character's psychological frailty as well as her determination with a steely vocal technique, spinning out incredible modulations, displaying strong and dazzling vocalizations, easily soaring into the high register and flaunting such an attractive, casual and poignant stage presence that she even dares moving some dance steps with the corps de ballet.
Aya Wakizono is an admirable Paolo: endowed with a superb mezzo voice, she seeks and achieves consistency throughout the range is virtuosic in the coloratura, and fluent. No less demanding is the part of the tenor Lanciotto, with its fearful leaps and ornamentation worthy of the Neapolitan Rossini: Mert Sungu might in time get rid of a touch...
The soprano Leonor Bonilla (Francesca) is quite impressive in the part of the protagonist: she portrays the character's psychological frailty as well as her determination with a steely vocal technique, spinning out incredible modulations, displaying strong and dazzling vocalizations, easily soaring into the high register and flaunting such an attractive, casual and poignant stage presence that she even dares moving some dance steps with the corps de ballet.
Aya Wakizono is an admirable Paolo: endowed with a superb mezzo voice, she seeks and achieves consistency throughout the range is virtuosic in the coloratura, and fluent. No less demanding is the part of the tenor Lanciotto, with its fearful leaps and ornamentation worthy of the Neapolitan Rossini: Mert Sungu might in time get rid of a touch...
Andre Messager's Fortunio premiered in 1907 at the Opera Comique, where it received acclaim that was to last decades. One of the last composers to devote his entire career to opera and operetta, Messager exemplified in his music a feeling for dramatic pacing and the spirit of the Belle Epoque, qualities that permeate Fortunio, a comedie lyrique in which the dialogue in the libretto is given a continuous musical setting. Taking Alfred de Musset's play Chandelier as his source, Messager explores upper-class society at the turn of the 19th century with subtlety of characterisation and a thoroughly French orchesral transparency.
Messiaen's breathtakingly intense opera on the life of St. Francis of Assisi stars Rod Gilfry as the charismatic visionary, beguiled by the glory of creation, yet fearful of both its imperfections and its transience. Pierre Audi's thoroughly engaging production for The Netherlands Opera brings out the naive imagery, the grandeur, and above all the vast tenderness of the resplendent score, revealed as a grandiose ritual with the meaning and purpose of life as its central theme. But the real drama of the work takes place in the orchestra. Elevated to stupendous heights by the sublimely inspired Ingo Metzmacher, The Hague Philharmonic and the Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera combine forces with a brilliant cast to produce the finest possible musical pilgrimage.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis.
- Interviews : The Children
- Interviews : The Message
- Interviews : "A Chamber Piece EUR Really"
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis.
- Interviews : The Children
- Interviews : The Message
- Interviews : "A Chamber Piece EUR Really"
Margherita D'Anjou was Giacomo Meyerbeer's fourth opera in Italian and his first true success. After an absence from the stage of one and a half centuries, it returned at the 43rd Valle d'Itria Festival in an exemplary production: the ironical setting of the director Talevi - the War of the Roses takes place at the London Fashion Week - is perfectly matched by the elegant direction of Luisi, at the head of the Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia.
The opera, which belongs to the semi-serious genre, moves from the warlike tones of Act One to the idyllic ones of Act Two, where both female protagonist appear: the queen, a soprano, and the wife, a contralto; both seeking the love of a heroic tenor equally daring in battle and in music.
source: https://www.hbdirect.com
The opera, which belongs to the semi-serious genre, moves from the warlike tones of Act One to the idyllic ones of Act Two, where both female protagonist appear: the queen, a soprano, and the wife, a contralto; both seeking the love of a heroic tenor equally daring in battle and in music.
source: https://www.hbdirect.com
A stolen hoard of gold, the villainous Fafner, who turns into a dragon, the god Wotan, the plucky Valkyrie Brunnhilde, clever little forest bird and, last but not least, the hero Siegfried, a stranger to fear. They all experience great adventures in The Ring Cycle for Children.
Based on Wagner's original work, Hirofumi Misawa and Matthias von Stegmann have created an exciting one-hour opera, which uses the best-known motifs from the Ring to entice us into a world of myth and fairytale.
Based on Wagner's original work, Hirofumi Misawa and Matthias von Stegmann have created an exciting one-hour opera, which uses the best-known motifs from the Ring to entice us into a world of myth and fairytale.
Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville was greatly admired in his day. His opera Titon et l'Aurore was one of his most popular works, being held up as a triumph over the rival Italian style during the Parisian Querelle des Bouffons in the 1750s. The narrative of this spectacular opera-ballet follows the tumultuous and seemingly unbreakable liaison between the goddess L'Aurore and her lover the shepherd Titon. Jealous gods and goddesses try to interfere through murderous intent and dramatic abduction, but true love ultimately conquers all in stage director Basil Twist's acclaimed feast for the senses.
Monteverdi's operatic scene for three voices Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda , with a libretto drawns from Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata , is a vivid romance set against the backdrop of the First Crusade, in which the noble knight Tancredi fights a duel with a supposed Saracen warrior only to discover, too late, that the vanquished opponent dying in his arms is non other than his beloved Clorinda in disguise. In this dramatic and intimate performance, staged with precision by Pierre Audi, musical director David Porcelijn gives great attention to the phrasing and dynamic demands of the score, leading the ASKO Ensemble and the singers to transparent brilliance.
Bonus feature:
- Introduction to Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clarinda by Roeland Hazendonk
Bonus feature:
- Introduction to Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clarinda by Roeland Hazendonk
Almost four decades before creating his Poppea , Monteverdi wrote in the preface to his fifth book of madrigals, "The modern composer must create his works solely on the basis of the truth" EUR" a credo to which the music of his final opera is utterly faithful.
Poppea is a potent work from opera's first true creator and pioneering genius. The fact that, at the close of this highly charged dramma in musica , he allows evil to triumph over good (albeit temporarily), has frequently led to his being decried as amoral.
Monteverdi's timeless masterpiece, which creates a modern, deep involvement in performers and audiences alike, is brilliantly captured in this live recording of Pierre Audi's moving and beautifully styled production from Het Muziektheater Amsterdam.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Introduction to L'incoronazione di Poppea - featuring interviews with Pierre Audi, Christophe Rousset and members of the cast.
Poppea is a potent work from opera's first true creator and pioneering genius. The fact that, at the close of this highly charged dramma in musica , he allows evil to triumph over good (albeit temporarily), has frequently led to his being decried as amoral.
Monteverdi's timeless masterpiece, which creates a modern, deep involvement in performers and audiences alike, is brilliantly captured in this live recording of Pierre Audi's moving and beautifully styled production from Het Muziektheater Amsterdam.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Introduction to L'incoronazione di Poppea - featuring interviews with Pierre Audi, Christophe Rousset and members of the cast.
This stunning new production of Monteverdi's The Coronoation of Poppea clothes the characters in modern dress and emphasizes the moral ambiguity of the original text. Challenging the usual operatic conventions, the controversial stage director Ole Anders Tandberg, a leading light of contemporary Scandinavian theatre, emphasises the immediacy of the lurid, dramatic plot. This radical approach, combined with the emotional impact of Monteverdi's music, enables this seventeenth century masterpiece to make a direct appeal to contemporary audiences.
Claudio Monteverdi developed the principles of opera with L'Orfeo in the first decade of the 17th-century. At the very end of his life he wrote L'incoronazione di Poppea . The opera marked a decisive move from allegorical and mythic elements towards a historical subject - the love affair between the Roman Emperor Nero and his mistress Poppea. His final masterpiece, where the beauty of the arias vanquished the decadence of the storyline, was first performed in the year of his death.
For decades John Eliot Gardiner has been at the forefront of Monteverdi performance and scholarship, and for the 450th anniversary of Monteverdi's birth in 2017 he conducted all three of the composer's surviving full-length operas. This semi-staged production, recorded in Venice's historical Teatro La Fenice is part of that acclaimed cycle.
For decades John Eliot Gardiner has been at the forefront of Monteverdi performance and scholarship, and for the 450th anniversary of Monteverdi's birth in 2017 he conducted all three of the composer's surviving full-length operas. This semi-staged production, recorded in Venice's historical Teatro La Fenice is part of that acclaimed cycle.
In some respects, Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607) is to the history of Italian opera what Dante's Divine Comedy is to the history of Italian literature: a masterpiece that stands at the very beginning of the journey. With Orfeo and the operas that followed it, Monteverdi had the substantial merit of immediately demonstrating the infinite possibilities of this new genre, which would leave an imprint on three centuries of European culture. In the present edition the French conductor Jean-Claude Malgoire is at the head of a cast of Baroque opera specialists.
Intense and refined performances by an inspired cast, led by a profound and commanding John Mark Ainsley as the legendary tragic musician, are sustained with fluent ease and obvious affection by the ensemble under Stephen Stubbs. The beautifully styled, evocative stage production, rich with Pierre Audi's trademark symbolism, accentuates the solemn serenity of Monteverdi's most famous work to create a moving and timeless experience.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Introduction to the opera featuring interviews with Pierre Audi, Stephen Stubbs and members of the cast
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Introduction to the opera featuring interviews with Pierre Audi, Stephen Stubbs and members of the cast
Monteverdi's seminal first opera tells the dramatic story from Ovid's Metamorphoses of the descent of Orfeo (Georg Nigl) into the underworld to recover his beloved wife Euridice (Roberta Invernizzi), who has died from a snake bite. In a new production for La Scala, based on a painting by Titian and directed by Robert Wilson, the opera receives a powerful and inspiring performance from a fine cast, the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala and Concerto Italiano under the much-admired Italian early music specialist, Rinaldo Alessandrini.
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 stage direction reflects the sublime art and imagery found in Mantua's Palazzo Ducale, with its famous Hall of Mirrors, where the opera was first performed in 1607. Soloists include Furio Zanasi, Montserrat Figueras, Sara Mingardo, Antonio Abete, Daniele Carnovich, Fulvio Bettini, Gerd Turk, Francesc Garrigosa and Carlos Mena.
The history books tell us that L'Orfeo was one of the earliest surviving operas, and the most frequently performed of its era. Monteverdi and his librettist called it a 'fable in music', one which re-enacts the famous story of Orpheus who descends to the underworld in an attempt to bring his dead bride, Eurydice, back to life.
His journey through Hades proves fruitless, as, being unable to resist looking back at Eurydice as she follows him back to the living world he thus inadvertently condemns her to return to the world of the dead. Orpheus su?ers, loses himself in the violence of grief, grows and fnally comes to a new and deeper understanding of himself.
L'Orfeo is a magical introduction to Monteverdi's probing investigation of human nature, character and desire by means of music.
His journey through Hades proves fruitless, as, being unable to resist looking back at Eurydice as she follows him back to the living world he thus inadvertently condemns her to return to the world of the dead. Orpheus su?ers, loses himself in the violence of grief, grows and fnally comes to a new and deeper understanding of himself.
L'Orfeo is a magical introduction to Monteverdi's probing investigation of human nature, character and desire by means of music.
Monteverdi's L'Orfeo was premiered in 1607 and is the oldest opera still performed today. The narrative is based on the Greek legend Orpheus who, armed with the weapons of music and love, descends into Hades in an attempt to bring his lost bride Eurydice back to the living world. The opera's dramatic power is brought to life in this acclaimed production conducted by the great Monteverdi expert and interpreter Jordi Savall. Filmed at the Opera Comique in Paris L'Orfeo features a virtuoso cast with the service of text and music always at its core.
In his penultimate opera, based on text adapted from Homer's Odyssey , Monteverdi ventures further than ever before into the depths of human emotion. In this dramma in musica human frailty falls victim to time, fortune and love. Gods and humans, comic and intensely serious characters plus spectacular scenic effects are brought together in a wonderfully rich and effective texture. Pierre Audi's highly stylised and timeless production is captured here in a live recording from Het Muziektheater Amsterdam.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Introduction to Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria - including interviews with Glen Wilson and Pierre Audi.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Introduction to Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria - including interviews with Glen Wilson and Pierre Audi.
In a rare display of unanimous praise, international music critics rated this cycle one of the greatest operatic events of its time. Although Monteverdi played a truly important role in the development of opera, only few major opera houses have ventured to present these three Baroque masterpieces. Years of intensive study by conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, not only of the transmitted scores but also of the instruments used in Monteverdi's time, were necessary to provide a basis for the exceptionally high standard of the Zurich productions. Just how meticulously Harnoncourt and the celebrated stage director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle prepared themselves is made partly clear by the fact that the orchestra exclusively played original 17th-century instruments and specially-made copies for these productions. This in turn meant that each of the 39 members of the -awaited expansion of the standard opera repertoire had successfully been realized. What makes the Monteverdi cycle a unique project is the certainty that it can never again be repeated with quite the same quality and feeling.
Claudio Monteverdi was a pioneer in the origins and development of opera, taking vocal music beyond Renaissance polyphony and entering a modern era in which genuine feelings and emotions are expressed through a wide variety of characters. Part of a late flowering in Monteverdi's illustrious career, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria is considered the most tender and moving of his three surviving operas. It takes its narrative from the second half of Homer's Odyssey, presenting Ulysses as a flawed hero; a lone wanderer who has to overcome cruel tests, terrible hardships, treachery and deception before he can be reunited with his faithful queen Penelope and recover his kingdom. Recorded in Venice's historical Teatro La Fenice, this semi-staged production is part of John Eliot Gardiner's acclaimed celebration of Monteverdi's 450th anniversary, a true milestone in Western cultural history.
The renowned collaborations between Zurich Opera and Nikolaus Harnoncourt in the 1970s and early '80s were crucial milestones in projecting historically-aware performance away from historicism-for-its-own-sake, towards vitally-conceived productions for contemporary audiences. Il Ritorno enjoyed great success in 1977, in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's imaginative staging, in which Harnoncourt's opulent instrumental palette lifted the hearts of many, though only the eyebrows of the purists. In this musical 'revival' (the production is entirely new with its simple, fresh, whitewashed, open space and modern mosaic floor), to celebrate 25 years of the swashbuckling original, Harnoncourt allows the nobility of the score to roll unimpeded by the driven intensity of the older recorded account on Teldec from 1971 (9/89R).
The vocal contributions are also more eloquent than ever with outstanding contributions from the two protagonists, Vesselina Kasarova and Dietrich Henschel; can Monteverdi have ever heard this, his first opera for Venice's Teatro San Cassiano in 1640, sung with such an extraordinary range of vocal beauty and immediacy of expression? This extends to all the characters, notably in the wonderful discussion between the truculent Neptune and appeasing Jupiter, in Act 1,...
The vocal contributions are also more eloquent than ever with outstanding contributions from the two protagonists, Vesselina Kasarova and Dietrich Henschel; can Monteverdi have ever heard this, his first opera for Venice's Teatro San Cassiano in 1640, sung with such an extraordinary range of vocal beauty and immediacy of expression? This extends to all the characters, notably in the wonderful discussion between the truculent Neptune and appeasing Jupiter, in Act 1,...
Mozart was eleven years old when he wrote Apollo et Hyacinthus, K. 38 and Die Schuldigkeit desersten Gebots (The Obligation to Observe the First Commandment), K. 35 in 1767. Their brevity and contemporaneity made it seem fitting to entrust them to one director for their stage interpretations within the Mozart 22 project. John Dew, known and admired for his rediscoveries of long-neglected works and his highly imaginative productions, has created a semi-ironic framework that ideally suits the two little pieces. They are given a graceful musical accompaniment by the Symphony Orchestra of the Mozarteum University.
Apollo et Hyacinthus is Mozart's very first operatic venture and was commissioned soon after the successful performance of Schuldigkeit . "Apollo" is a Latin intermezzo that was intended as an insert between the prologue and the five-act school drama "Clementia Croesi." Curiously, it already contains many of the themes that would recur in Mozart's later operas: disguise, intrigue, transformation, self-discovery. The plot concerns Zephyrus' love for Melia, who is about to marry Apollo. In his jealousy, Zephyrus gravely wounds Hyacinthus with a discus and, to have Apollo banished, accuses Apollo of murder. Apollo, who saw Zephyrus throw the discus, turns the true...
Apollo et Hyacinthus is Mozart's very first operatic venture and was commissioned soon after the successful performance of Schuldigkeit . "Apollo" is a Latin intermezzo that was intended as an insert between the prologue and the five-act school drama "Clementia Croesi." Curiously, it already contains many of the themes that would recur in Mozart's later operas: disguise, intrigue, transformation, self-discovery. The plot concerns Zephyrus' love for Melia, who is about to marry Apollo. In his jealousy, Zephyrus gravely wounds Hyacinthus with a discus and, to have Apollo banished, accuses Apollo of murder. Apollo, who saw Zephyrus throw the discus, turns the true...
Ascanio in Alba, K. 111 came about through the good offices of Count Firmian, who had shared the Milan audience's enthusiasm for Mitridate and exerted his influence on the Empress in Vienna. He suggested entrusting the young Mozart with the composition of a festa teatrale for the wedding of the Empress's son, Archduke Ferdinand, and Maria Beatrice d'Este of Modena. Mozart began working on the score in late August 1771. Tailor-made for the royal wedding, the work's main function was to portray the members of the Habsburg wedding party as generous, kindly rulers and virtuous heroes. For the creative team of the production shown at the Salzburg Festival but originating at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, this specificity proved to be a rewarding challenge. Since the audience had no pre-formulated expectations with Ascanio in Alba, K. 111 , director David Hermann and his stage and costume designer Christof Hetzer sought to draw out of this unknown opera the elements that are of particular interest to us today.
Bastien und Bastienne takes up the plot of the little French opera Le devin du village (The Village Soothsayer) by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The "soothsayer" Colas, a wise old shepherd, advises the unhappy shepherdess Bastienne to secure the love of the fickle Bastien by arousing his jealousy. The despairing Bastien then also seeks advice from Colas, who pretends to use magic to bring the two lovers together again. Der Schauspieldirektor revolves around an impresario's problems in assembling a group of singers for a performance.
With Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Die Zauberflöte, Mozart made immortal contributions to the genre of the German Singspiel - German-language opera with spoken dialogues. But in the course of his career, Mozart also wrote two short German-language works that are different in musical craftsmanship, but both utterly delightful: Bastien und Bastienne, K. 50 , one of Mozart's earliest dramatic works, and Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impresario), K. 486 , a mature work written at the same time as Le nozze di Figaro.
Entrusting the two operas to the world-famous Salzburg Marionette Theater for the Mozart 22 cycle was perfectly natural, especially since Bastien und Bastienne was the very first work staged by this theater...
With Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Die Zauberflöte, Mozart made immortal contributions to the genre of the German Singspiel - German-language opera with spoken dialogues. But in the course of his career, Mozart also wrote two short German-language works that are different in musical craftsmanship, but both utterly delightful: Bastien und Bastienne, K. 50 , one of Mozart's earliest dramatic works, and Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impresario), K. 486 , a mature work written at the same time as Le nozze di Figaro.
Entrusting the two operas to the world-famous Salzburg Marionette Theater for the Mozart 22 cycle was perfectly natural, especially since Bastien und Bastienne was the very first work staged by this theater...
...
La Clemenza di Tito was commissioned to celebrate the coronation of the Emperor Leopold II as King of Bohemia in 1791, and was written in eighteen days. Nicholas Hytner's elegant new staging, performed in the original Italian language, was premiered during the Mozart Bicentenary season at Glyndebourne on 28th June, 1991. An impressive cast is led by Philip Langridge (Tito), Ashley Putnam (Vitellia) and Diana Montague (Sesto). New recitatives, to replace those written by Mozart's pupil Süssmayr, were commissioned from composer Stephen Oliver for this production. Andrew Davis conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mozart's final opera returns to Glyndebourne after an absence of nearly 20 years in a stark, compelling and very well acted' production directed by Claus Guth. Richard Croft sings the title role 'with exemplary stylistic poise and tonal sweetness', and Anna Stephany is a Sesto 'touchingly full of angst and remorse... with terrific elan and immaculate technical control' in the arias (The Telegraph) - her "Parto, Parto" 'simply breathtaking' (The Guardian). Guth's vision sets the 1st-century Roman story in a two-storey office suite bureaucracy 'exquisitely lit by Olaf Winter', aptly framing the scheming of Vitellia, sung by Alice Coote 'in terrific form'. The OAE under Robin Ticciati 'brings out the sheer beauty' of Mozart's score (Express).
Don Alfonso is convinced that the sweethearts of the two soldiers Ferrando and Guglielmo, Dorabella and Fiordiligi, would be unfaithful to them, given the opportunity. The two soldiers are convinced otherwise and bet with him. With the help of the young ladies' maid Despina, Alfonso devises an elaborate scheme to make the two young women believe their lovers have gone off to the army. Then he brings back the two young men, now disguised as "Albanians." Dorabella and Fiordiligi are smitten, and soon fall in love with the handsome strangers, but not with the "right" ones.
In their light-footed, witty and poetic staging, the Herrmanns took advantage of the wide stage of the Grosses Festspielhaus to create a luminous and elegantly minimalist landscape dotted with a few sparing but stylish props. The lovers are portrayed with verve and compelling emotional confusion by Ana María Martinez (Fiordiligi) and Sophie Koch (Dorabella) as the two sisters, and Stéphane Degout (Guglielmo) and Shawn Mathey (Ferrando) as the cocky soldiers who learn that lying isn't the best way to find out the truth. Thomas Allen (Don Alfonso) and the great Helen Donath (Despina) add their incomparable stage presence to the action. Conductor Manfred Honeck entices a wondrous delicacy and tenderness from the...
In their light-footed, witty and poetic staging, the Herrmanns took advantage of the wide stage of the Grosses Festspielhaus to create a luminous and elegantly minimalist landscape dotted with a few sparing but stylish props. The lovers are portrayed with verve and compelling emotional confusion by Ana María Martinez (Fiordiligi) and Sophie Koch (Dorabella) as the two sisters, and Stéphane Degout (Guglielmo) and Shawn Mathey (Ferrando) as the cocky soldiers who learn that lying isn't the best way to find out the truth. Thomas Allen (Don Alfonso) and the great Helen Donath (Despina) add their incomparable stage presence to the action. Conductor Manfred Honeck entices a wondrous delicacy and tenderness from the...
Director Claus Guth's production of Mozart's da Ponte trilogy for the
Salzburg Festival reaches its sensational conclusion with his elegant,
stylish production from the "Haus für Mozart". Guth bolsters the unity of the cycle by making ingenious reference to his stagings of the first two works, Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni . His widely acclaimed production of the trilogy, which began in the Mozart Year 2006, consolidates Guth's international reputation as one of the most sought-after stage directors of our time. Among his other major successes are Der fliegende Hollander in Bayreuth and Luisa Miller at the Bavarian State Opera.
Guth assembles a superb ensemble of young singers who toy with love and trust under the cynical gaze of "ringmaster" Bo Skovhus' Don Alfonso and his foxy, temperamental sidekick Despina, played by fiery young soprano Patricia Petitbon. Baritone Florian Boesch and tenor Topi Lehtipuu ideally complement their frisky partners Miah Persson and Isabel Leonard. Conductor Adam Fischer keeps the tempi brisk and the Wiener Philharmoniker on their toes in his layered reading of the score. "Uno spettacolo superbo", wrote the Corriere della Sera.
Salzburg Festival reaches its sensational conclusion with his elegant,
stylish production from the "Haus für Mozart". Guth bolsters the unity of the cycle by making ingenious reference to his stagings of the first two works, Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni . His widely acclaimed production of the trilogy, which began in the Mozart Year 2006, consolidates Guth's international reputation as one of the most sought-after stage directors of our time. Among his other major successes are Der fliegende Hollander in Bayreuth and Luisa Miller at the Bavarian State Opera.
Guth assembles a superb ensemble of young singers who toy with love and trust under the cynical gaze of "ringmaster" Bo Skovhus' Don Alfonso and his foxy, temperamental sidekick Despina, played by fiery young soprano Patricia Petitbon. Baritone Florian Boesch and tenor Topi Lehtipuu ideally complement their frisky partners Miah Persson and Isabel Leonard. Conductor Adam Fischer keeps the tempi brisk and the Wiener Philharmoniker on their toes in his layered reading of the score. "Uno spettacolo superbo", wrote the Corriere della Sera.
The focus of Lorenzo Da Ponte's libretto for Cosi fan tutte is on female infidelity, two partner-swapping couples and a wager. Its enigmatic ambiguity and lightness of touch, its razor's edge balance between irony and empathy, detachment and involvement, and on-stage reality and illusion is structured with perfect Classical symmetry. More than any other opera it explores the depths and darker impulses of the experience of love. This production by director Sven-Eric Bechtolf was given in Florence with a staging that 'holds a balance between philosophy and humour' (Bachtrack.com)
n 18th century Naples, Don Alfonso wagers that the two girls, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, are no more trustworthy in matters of love than any other women. The girls sing of their love, before Don Alfonso tells them that their lovers are to be called away to the war. Despina, bribed by Don Alfonso, urges the girls to find other lovers, but they declare their constancy. Guglielmo and Ferrando return, disguised as Albanians, but the girls remain firm. They agree to Despina's suggestion of harmless flirtation, each unwittingly choosing the other's partner. The success of the two Albanians, in spite of Fiordiligi's more prolonged resistance, leads to a wedding. The men now appear as themselves and pretend shock and horror at what is afoot, before revealing their plot. All ends happily, as Don Alfonso urges the power of reason in these circumstances.
This production by the Zurich Opera House had it premiere in Febuary 2000. The renowned soprano Cecilia Bartoli made her debut here as Fiordiligi, after having sung the two other Cosi roles, Despina and Dorabella, previously.
This production by the Zurich Opera House had it premiere in Febuary 2000. The renowned soprano Cecilia Bartoli made her debut here as Fiordiligi, after having sung the two other Cosi roles, Despina and Dorabella, previously.
A new Don Giovanni in Aix by russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov and conductor Louis Langree.
More than two centuries after its creation, the emotional pull of this supreme opera remains absolutely intact. Dmitri Therniakov duly revisits the myth and makes the seducer of Seville a 'man without qualities', a cipher whose words have a hypnotic power over women. His words will disrupt the proprieties ruling the Commandatore's family. His words are also what makes Don Juan such a subversive figure and the embodiment of one of the most powerful modern European myths.
Leading the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (Freiburger Barockorchester) one of the best Mozart current conductors, Louis Langree takes from this formation magnificent tones. Bo Skovhus portrays a dispirited Don Giovanni, old playboy and anti-hero. Kyle Ketelsen is his servant Leporello, currently the most talented baritone for this role. The female trio is composed of Marlis Petersen (Donna Anna), Kristine Opolais (Elvira) and Kerstin Avemo (Zerlina).
More than two centuries after its creation, the emotional pull of this supreme opera remains absolutely intact. Dmitri Therniakov duly revisits the myth and makes the seducer of Seville a 'man without qualities', a cipher whose words have a hypnotic power over women. His words will disrupt the proprieties ruling the Commandatore's family. His words are also what makes Don Juan such a subversive figure and the embodiment of one of the most powerful modern European myths.
Leading the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (Freiburger Barockorchester) one of the best Mozart current conductors, Louis Langree takes from this formation magnificent tones. Bo Skovhus portrays a dispirited Don Giovanni, old playboy and anti-hero. Kyle Ketelsen is his servant Leporello, currently the most talented baritone for this role. The female trio is composed of Marlis Petersen (Donna Anna), Kristine Opolais (Elvira) and Kerstin Avemo (Zerlina).
Filmed at the 1954 Salzburg Festival, this restored and technically enhanced recording of Don Giovanni is more than simply a superb performance of one of the world's most lastingly popular operas with an exquisite cast led by Cesare Siepi, Elisabeth Grummer and Lisa della Casa. It is the last visual document of Wilhelm Furtwangler's art, the legacy of a great conductor. A giant among 20th-century conductors, Wilhelm Furtwangler was associated for many years with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. After the war, he discovered a new, exceptionally rewarding venue for his artistry at the Salzburg Festival. Beginning with Fidelio in 1948, Furtwangler ushered in a golden age of memorable performances in Salzburg.
Don Giovanni is one of the timeless classics of all opera. Mozart's music, and the words of his great collaborator Da Ponte, are brought to life in Francesca Zambello's engrossing production from 2002 with its rich and colourful designs by Maria Bjornson. The music is memorable, dramatic and enjoyable: from the seductive solo voices of the famous 'La ci darem la mano' to the fabulous ensemble as Don Giovanni's infatuated conquests, vengeful victims and their outraged relatives join forces for justice. And retribution does finally come to Don Giovanni, a serial womanizer and a murderer, with the searing flames of Hell ready to engulf him. Simon Keenlyside heads the outstanding cast, conducted by renowned Mozart expert Charles Mackerras.
Bonus Features
- Synopsis
- Cast gallery
- Into the Royal Opera House
- A Backstage Tour
- Antonio Pappano in conversation with Charles Mackerras and Francesca Zambello
Bonus Features
- Synopsis
- Cast gallery
- Into the Royal Opera House
- A Backstage Tour
- Antonio Pappano in conversation with Charles Mackerras and Francesca Zambello
Il dissoluto punito, ossia Il Don Giovanni is the full title of the opera that is widely held to be the most perfect work of its genre. Luckily, it is known today merely as Don Giovanni , a title that far better evokes the hero in all of his seductive power, his disregard for the social order, his merry wantonness. It is this hero who fascinated Mozart, not the "dissolute punito" - the "rake punished" - who harks back to the morals and conventions of the late 18th century.
As sung by baritone Thomas Hampson, who made his international breakthrough as Don Giovanni under Harnoncourt in 1987, the title hero superbly incarnates the aging rake and emotional anarchist who's seen and done everything. Ildebrando D'Arcangelo plays his servant without exaggeration, as an astute observer. While Melanie Diener dazzles as Donna Elvira, it is Christine Schafer and Piotr Beczala who, with their powerful stage presence, give exceptionally unforgettable performances as Donna Anna and Don Ottavio.
Director Martin Kusej interprets Don Giovanni with compelling images that cast the rake as a child of today's consumer society, a man who acquires women, uses them and disposes of them after consumption. Happiness can be bought - but the specter of retribution is never far away, as in the...
As sung by baritone Thomas Hampson, who made his international breakthrough as Don Giovanni under Harnoncourt in 1987, the title hero superbly incarnates the aging rake and emotional anarchist who's seen and done everything. Ildebrando D'Arcangelo plays his servant without exaggeration, as an astute observer. While Melanie Diener dazzles as Donna Elvira, it is Christine Schafer and Piotr Beczala who, with their powerful stage presence, give exceptionally unforgettable performances as Donna Anna and Don Ottavio.
Director Martin Kusej interprets Don Giovanni with compelling images that cast the rake as a child of today's consumer society, a man who acquires women, uses them and disposes of them after consumption. Happiness can be bought - but the specter of retribution is never far away, as in the...
Wild animals live in the woods. Robbers hide there. Mystery is at home there. And, when the woods are on the stage of Salzburg's Haus fur Mozart, a notorious ladies' man and his unsavory accomplice can also find shelter there. For here, in the dense forest planted by director Claus Guth, is the home of the rugged macho Don Giovanni, who, assisted by Leporello, lures the ladies with the heady scent of danger. In Guth's almost cinematic Salzburg Festival production, every character in Mozart's most realistic opera seems to carry a back-story of thwarted love and frustration. Everyone appears to be seeking either salvation or damnation in the woods – a compelling concept that removes the opera from its traditional pseudo-Seville squares and palaces.
Don Giovanni is played by Christopher Maltman. Donna Anna, played by Annette Dasch, Donna Elvira by Dorothea Roschmann and Zerlina by Ekaterina Siurina. With a physique as striking as his full-bodied baritone voice, Maltman embodies Don Giovanni as an almost reluctant seducer, a man fated to bring misery to women and, ultimately, to himself. Next to Maltman, it is Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott who rivets the audience in this production: "Schrott's Leporello is an event in his own right, the event of the Salzburg Don...
Don Giovanni is played by Christopher Maltman. Donna Anna, played by Annette Dasch, Donna Elvira by Dorothea Roschmann and Zerlina by Ekaterina Siurina. With a physique as striking as his full-bodied baritone voice, Maltman embodies Don Giovanni as an almost reluctant seducer, a man fated to bring misery to women and, ultimately, to himself. Next to Maltman, it is Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott who rivets the audience in this production: "Schrott's Leporello is an event in his own right, the event of the Salzburg Don...
As the hero of the opera, Don Giovanni is the denominator of the piece, he gives it its name as the hero usually does, but he does more than this: he is the common denominator. Compared to his existence, all others are merely derivative. So wrote the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard, who, like many others, was fascinated by Mozart's 1787 opera. "It is this absolute centrality that makes this work exercise the power of illusion more than any other. Does this work, the second joint venture by Mozart and the librettist Da Ponte, need any further introduction? This 'dramma giocoso' can hardly be categorised: opera seria, opera buffa? - Don Giovanni is universal, enigmatic, superhuman, mythical. After Cosi fan tutte and La Clemenza di Tito, Ludovic Morlot will conduct his third opera by Mozart at La Monnaie. For those who are familiar with Warlikovski's approach, it will come as no surprise that Don Giovanni will be presented as a dark, desperate character.
The overwhelming success of the Prague performance of Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) in December 1786, led to the commissioning of a new opera. Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte turned to the Don Juan theme, making this promising material the basis for their new opera. In the spring of 1787 Mozart began to compose it in Vienna, and was able to complete it in Prague by the autumn of the same year. Don Giovanni received its first performance, under the composer's personal direction, on 20 October 1787 at Prague's Count Nostitz National Theatre.
This production of Don Giovanni at the Zurich Opera House was staged by the highly creative team of conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, director Jurgen Flimm and set-designer Erich Wonder. Rodney Gilfry and Cecilia Bartoli lead a first-class group of singers.
This production of Don Giovanni at the Zurich Opera House was staged by the highly creative team of conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, director Jurgen Flimm and set-designer Erich Wonder. Rodney Gilfry and Cecilia Bartoli lead a first-class group of singers.
Johan Simons' feisty production of Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail is an intelligently innovative account of Mozart's 1782 comic tale of abduction, love, loyalty and forgiveness. Kurt Rydl's Osmin is hilarious, with just the right edge of latent thuggery; Mojca Erdmann's smart and cheeky Blonde sports a red riding coat, high latex boots and a belt that she is not afraid to use on the men! Laura Aikin's Konstanze, torn between true love and obligation, reveals a vast range of human emotions and Edgaras Montvidas' Belmonte portrays his coming-of-age with clarity and genuine charisma. The performance is whipped up to a feverish pitch in the pit by Constantinos Carydis, the orchestra and chorus responding with fleet virtuosity. This ground-breaking performance delivers everything one could wish for from a Mozart opera, combining thrilling energy with a profound sense of lyrical beauty and truth.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis and cast gallery.
- Interviews with the cast.
- Behind the scenes documentary.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis and cast gallery.
- Interviews with the cast.
- Behind the scenes documentary.
Director David McVigar's original-period vision for this Mozartian gem allows its genius to speak for itself, offering a 'mesmerizing, sensitive... outstanding' portrayal of Enlightenment-era fascination with the East that is both 'exquisitely acted and sung', featuring a Konstanze and a Belmonte sung with 'finesse and bravura' and a 'sensationally voiced' Osmin (The Guardian).
Comic relief in Glyndebourne's 'brilliant production' is provided by 'beautifully sung live-wire performances' of Pedrillo and Blonde, and Robin Ticciati leads the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment through a restored, authentic rendition of the critical score with 'lovely fizz' and 'poignant gravitas' (The Independent).
Comic relief in Glyndebourne's 'brilliant production' is provided by 'beautifully sung live-wire performances' of Pedrillo and Blonde, and Robin Ticciati leads the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment through a restored, authentic rendition of the critical score with 'lovely fizz' and 'poignant gravitas' (The Independent).
The plot couldn't be simpler: the Spanish nobleman Belmonte must free his fiancee Konstanze, her English maid Blonde and Belmonte's servant Pedrillo from the clutches of the Turkish Bassa, or Pasha, Selim. Belmonte must sneak into the pasha's seraglio and sneak back out again, all the while eluding and outsmarting Osmin, the overseer of the harem. With his Salzburg production of 2003, young Norwegian director Stefan Herheim raised a storm of controversy that continued to crackle in 2006, when the production was revised for the Mozart 22 cycle.
Giving powerful accounts of their difficult roles is a top-notch cast dominated by Laura Aikin as Konstanze and Charles Castronovo as Belmonte. With her elegiac Andante arias, Aikin is an oasis of calm and nobility. Castronovo suggests his own vulnerability with his wonderfully lyrical timbre. At the head of the Mozarteum Orchestra, Ivor Bolton once again confirms his reputation as a dynamic and sensitive interpreter of Baroque and Classical operas. The clarity and wisdom of his music-making provide an astute contrast to the turbulent activity on stage. Indeed, the marriage of orchestra and voices evokes the image of the stage of life: on the surface, everything is in motion; below, order rules - but it is an order that is often lost in...
Giving powerful accounts of their difficult roles is a top-notch cast dominated by Laura Aikin as Konstanze and Charles Castronovo as Belmonte. With her elegiac Andante arias, Aikin is an oasis of calm and nobility. Castronovo suggests his own vulnerability with his wonderfully lyrical timbre. At the head of the Mozarteum Orchestra, Ivor Bolton once again confirms his reputation as a dynamic and sensitive interpreter of Baroque and Classical operas. The clarity and wisdom of his music-making provide an astute contrast to the turbulent activity on stage. Indeed, the marriage of orchestra and voices evokes the image of the stage of life: on the surface, everything is in motion; below, order rules - but it is an order that is often lost in...
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) is one of Mozart's five great repertoire operas alongside Le nozze di Figaro , Don Giovanni , Cosi fan tutte and Die Zauberflote . A typical "Singspiel", a form in which all the dialogue is spoken rather than sung, it was a great success during Mozart's lifetime and to this day has not lost any of its magic. Mozart was twenty-six when he wrote this opera, which was commissioned by a Viennese Theatre and premiered in 1782. The production for the Schwetzingen Festival in May 1991, which was amusingly staged by Michael Hampe, was recorded in the small, jewel-like Rococo Palace Theatre. Gianluigi Gelmetti led his excellent soloists, including international stars Ruth Ann Swenson and Kurt Rydl to an ensemble performance of great unity. The combination of colourful and imaginative sets and costumes and musical excellence brings the story about Westeners in a Turkish harem convincingly home to the viewers.
Belfiore believes he has killed his betrothed, Violante, in a fit of
jealousy. He flees in panic - which does not prevent him from falling for Arminda, who then spurns her admirer Ramiro in favor of Belfiore. Violante, meanwhile, searches for her lover with her servant Roberto. Under a false name, she takes a post as gardener on the estate of Don Anchise; her servant passes himself off as her cousin. While Anchise pursues Violante, Roberto romances the maid. The labyrinth of pursuit and deception becomes completely entangled when Belfiore, his new conquest Arminda and her persistent admirer Ramiro turn up on the estate...
The Mozart 22 production of La finta giardiniera was placed in the hands of Doris Dorrie, a noted filmmaker and, more recently, director of controversial opera productions. Asked why she set the work in a garden center, Dorrie replied: "It's a market of emotions! The plants represent feelings, the garden is our little paradise. We all have the same dream, which is why we buy so much equipment, chemicals, even weapons to keep our garden under control. It must be kept in its boundaries, for just as an uncontrolled garden can mutate into a wild jungle, so can uncontrolled emotions, proliferating like wild plants, become dangerous to us."
The rousing...
jealousy. He flees in panic - which does not prevent him from falling for Arminda, who then spurns her admirer Ramiro in favor of Belfiore. Violante, meanwhile, searches for her lover with her servant Roberto. Under a false name, she takes a post as gardener on the estate of Don Anchise; her servant passes himself off as her cousin. While Anchise pursues Violante, Roberto romances the maid. The labyrinth of pursuit and deception becomes completely entangled when Belfiore, his new conquest Arminda and her persistent admirer Ramiro turn up on the estate...
The Mozart 22 production of La finta giardiniera was placed in the hands of Doris Dorrie, a noted filmmaker and, more recently, director of controversial opera productions. Asked why she set the work in a garden center, Dorrie replied: "It's a market of emotions! The plants represent feelings, the garden is our little paradise. We all have the same dream, which is why we buy so much equipment, chemicals, even weapons to keep our garden under control. It must be kept in its boundaries, for just as an uncontrolled garden can mutate into a wild jungle, so can uncontrolled emotions, proliferating like wild plants, become dangerous to us."
The rousing...
Munich's court theater was the venue for the premiere of Mozart’s Idomeneo on 29 January 1781; today, it hosts another premiere of this same work, now to celebrate the reopening of this sparkling Rococo gem of a theater, now known after its architect as the Cuvilliés Theater. Restored at the cost of over 25 million euros, the theater provides an exultant red, gold and white setting for Mozart's opera seria, which is considered as the first of the seven uncontested masterworks of Mozart's dramatic oeuvre.
Drama keynotes Idomeneo, which is drenched in endless despair, the constant threat of death, and the destructive passions of jealousy and hatred. For having saved his life, King Idomeneo promises Neptune to sacrifice the first person he encounters. Unfortunately, this happens to be his son Idamante, who is torn between two women: the Trojan Princess Ilia, whom he loves, and the Greek Princess Elettra, who desperately wants to marry him and ascend the throne.
Mozart's highly expressive music is given a passionate reading by conductor Kent Nagano, who leads his singers and players with brisk energy. The dark, full sound of the Bayerisches Staatsorchester provides lush underpinnings for the bravura arias and glittering coloraturas. In the title role, John Mark...
Drama keynotes Idomeneo, which is drenched in endless despair, the constant threat of death, and the destructive passions of jealousy and hatred. For having saved his life, King Idomeneo promises Neptune to sacrifice the first person he encounters. Unfortunately, this happens to be his son Idamante, who is torn between two women: the Trojan Princess Ilia, whom he loves, and the Greek Princess Elettra, who desperately wants to marry him and ascend the throne.
Mozart's highly expressive music is given a passionate reading by conductor Kent Nagano, who leads his singers and players with brisk energy. The dark, full sound of the Bayerisches Staatsorchester provides lush underpinnings for the bravura arias and glittering coloraturas. In the title role, John Mark...
Written for the court of Munich in 1780/81, Idomeneo is often regarded as the first of the seven undisputed masterworks in Mozart's dramatic oeuvre. Never before had he cast such bold, impassioned music into a dramatic form or devised such a well-calibrated dramaturgy. Was it the plot that drove Mozart to such extremes of expressive power? The story evokes countless other opera seria subjects: King Idomeneo has promised to sacrifice to Neptune the first person he meets if he is saved from shipwreck; this turns out to be his son Idamante, who stands between two women, the Trojan Princess Ilia, whom he loves, and the Greek princess Elettra, who loves him. Four people on the edge of the abyss, drawn together by passion, torn apart by reasons of state...
Such an extraordinary work deserves an exceptional interpretation. And this is ensured by Sir Roger Norrington and the Camerata Salzburg playing on an "island" (the action unfolds on Crete) surrounded by narrow ramps on which the singers, literally "on the edge of the abyss," pace about in search of one another, of love, of redemption... Simplicity and elegance stamp both the production of Ursel and Karl-Ernst Herrmann, and the playing of the Camerata Salzburg. Norrington entices entire catalogues of nuances from his players,...
Such an extraordinary work deserves an exceptional interpretation. And this is ensured by Sir Roger Norrington and the Camerata Salzburg playing on an "island" (the action unfolds on Crete) surrounded by narrow ramps on which the singers, literally "on the edge of the abyss," pace about in search of one another, of love, of redemption... Simplicity and elegance stamp both the production of Ursel and Karl-Ernst Herrmann, and the playing of the Camerata Salzburg. Norrington entices entire catalogues of nuances from his players,...
Even though in recent years Idomeneo has been staged more frequently, this Mozart masterpiece can hardly be counted among the operas (the Da Ponte trilogy in primis) that made of the Salzburg composer one of the greatest operatic composers of all times. Yet Idomeneo was, in its day, a revolutionary work, animated by music that appears remarkably innovative and profoundly theatrical.
The Irrfahrten (Odysseys) trilogy comprises three independent, self-contained performances that are motivically interwoven into a compelling whole through a great variety of references. Various artistic genres - music, theater, dance and video - are fused into an original form of music theater that could very well point to the future. The trilogy was conceived by Joachim Schlömer, a noted dancer, choreographer and director. He sees his project as the "odyssey of an artist from external control to self-determination" (Schlömer). This concerns not only Mozart himself, but also the artist in general, and, by extension, everyone who has overcome a crisis in their life to achieve their personal freedom.
At the beginning of the trilogy is the twelve-year-old Mozart's first opera buffa, La finta semplice (The Make-Believe Simpleton), a full-length opera with commedia dell'arte-style characters. "The music," says Schlömer, "tells of wanting something - even if the characters still don't really know what they want." The second Odyssey, Abendempfindung (Evening Sensation), a pasticcio of Mozart arias, songs, instrumental pieces (including some for the rare and evocative glass harmonica) and letters. The great Ann Murray is the featured performer here. The third Odyssey, Rex...
At the beginning of the trilogy is the twelve-year-old Mozart's first opera buffa, La finta semplice (The Make-Believe Simpleton), a full-length opera with commedia dell'arte-style characters. "The music," says Schlömer, "tells of wanting something - even if the characters still don't really know what they want." The second Odyssey, Abendempfindung (Evening Sensation), a pasticcio of Mozart arias, songs, instrumental pieces (including some for the rare and evocative glass harmonica) and letters. The great Ann Murray is the featured performer here. The third Odyssey, Rex...
Following the success of his Mitridate, Mozart received another commission to write an opera for Milan, a dramma per musica in three acts. He began working on Lucio Silla in late 1772, while on his third trip to Italy. Although the rehearsals were fraught with problems caused by recalcitrant singers, the work was nevertheless given 26 performances to full houses. Yet despite this success, Lucio Silla was the last opera Mozart wrote for Italy.
"I see it as a kind of political thriller, the story of a plot against an inhuman regime. [...] Lucio Silla is, in my opinion, one of the few truly political pieces by Mozart." Director Jürgen Flimm conceived his production accordingly, delivering a taut and often breathtakingly raw interpretation of the story of the dictator Lucio Silla. Although the action unfolds in ancient Rome, Flimm has transposed it to Mozart's day, when absolutistic monarchs still held sway over Europe.
Coveting the betrothed of the senator Cecilio, the dictator Silla exiles the senator and declares him dead. Giunia, however, wards off Silla's advances and is happily reunited with Cecilio when he secretly returns. But Silla refuses to yield and tries to force Giunia to give herself to him. She refuses once, she refuses twice... Then Silla publicly...
"I see it as a kind of political thriller, the story of a plot against an inhuman regime. [...] Lucio Silla is, in my opinion, one of the few truly political pieces by Mozart." Director Jürgen Flimm conceived his production accordingly, delivering a taut and often breathtakingly raw interpretation of the story of the dictator Lucio Silla. Although the action unfolds in ancient Rome, Flimm has transposed it to Mozart's day, when absolutistic monarchs still held sway over Europe.
Coveting the betrothed of the senator Cecilio, the dictator Silla exiles the senator and declares him dead. Giunia, however, wards off Silla's advances and is happily reunited with Cecilio when he secretly returns. But Silla refuses to yield and tries to force Giunia to give herself to him. She refuses once, she refuses twice... Then Silla publicly...
Mozart was not yet seventeen when Lucio Silla was created in Milan one December evening of 1772, yet we can still distinguish in this youthful composition some of the elements that established the exceptionally-gifted child musician as the greatest composer of all times. Indeed, with Lucio Silla, although a neoclassical "opera seria" in every way, it seems that Mozart was already learning to deconstruct and to free the traditional forms of musical drama from archaic conventions. We can also identify in this work an aesthetic premise that Mozart didn't formulate until ten years later: it falls to music only to express and to reveal the psychological depths of the characters; and the poetry in the libretto should only be its "obedient daughter".
The opera is centered around the love roman dictator Lucio Silla bears for his enemy's daughter Giunia, who favours the exiled senator Cecilio as the object of her affection. After many twists and turns, the lovers are united in marriage and Silla renounces his crown.
Tenor Kurt Streit is Lucio Silla, and soprano Patricia Petibon is Giunia for the last time, after having gained international recognition thanks to her numerous performances in this role, while mezzo-soprano Silvia Tro Santafe is the ardent Cecilio. In this monumental...
The opera is centered around the love roman dictator Lucio Silla bears for his enemy's daughter Giunia, who favours the exiled senator Cecilio as the object of her affection. After many twists and turns, the lovers are united in marriage and Silla renounces his crown.
Tenor Kurt Streit is Lucio Silla, and soprano Patricia Petibon is Giunia for the last time, after having gained international recognition thanks to her numerous performances in this role, while mezzo-soprano Silvia Tro Santafe is the ardent Cecilio. In this monumental...
Mozart's fourth opera EUR" written when he was only 14 EUR" displays all the hallmarks of the fresh, inventive writing that was to flourish into extraordinary genius in his later works and, with a cast as good as this, The Royal Opera's production takes Mitridate, re di Ponto to the highest levels of operatic achievement. Based on a play by Jean Racine, it is a story of jealous love and political intrigue.
Widely acclaimed as one of the absolute top productions of the Mozart 22 cycle in Salzburg, Mitridate has everything going for it. It is a wild story of erotic desire, jealousy, intrigue and betrayal; a dramatically focused staging that does full justice to the conflicted relations; a cast of singers who are all of the highest caliber; and a sensational musical ensemble led by a singularly powerful and charismatic conductor.
Indeed, the real star of this production is conductor Marc Minkowski, who is famed for his recordings of Baroque music with his ensemble Les Musiciens du Louvre - Grenoble, who also play on this recording. It is nothing less than phenomenal how Minkowski storms into the score and unleashes raw emotions encompassing everything from happiness and tenderness to madness and murderous jealousy. As he plumbs the depths of this music, he carries his singers on his orchestra's richly nuanced fabric, whips them along impetuously, and envelops them in opulent sounds.
In stage director Günter Krämer and his set designer Jürgen Bäckmann, Minkowski found partners on a par with his vibrant talent. Through cleverly placed mirrors, Krämer reveals what's going on "behind the scenes" at the same time that we see what is occurring before our eyes - a breathtaking...
Indeed, the real star of this production is conductor Marc Minkowski, who is famed for his recordings of Baroque music with his ensemble Les Musiciens du Louvre - Grenoble, who also play on this recording. It is nothing less than phenomenal how Minkowski storms into the score and unleashes raw emotions encompassing everything from happiness and tenderness to madness and murderous jealousy. As he plumbs the depths of this music, he carries his singers on his orchestra's richly nuanced fabric, whips them along impetuously, and envelops them in opulent sounds.
In stage director Günter Krämer and his set designer Jürgen Bäckmann, Minkowski found partners on a par with his vibrant talent. Through cleverly placed mirrors, Krämer reveals what's going on "behind the scenes" at the same time that we see what is occurring before our eyes - a breathtaking...
Recorded at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in June 2004, this Marriage of Figaro was unanimously acclaimed by the public and critics alike as a Mozart opera landmark.
Director Jean-Louis Martinoty brings an elegantly intelligent narrative sense to an interpretation in which the protagonists, against a backdrop of magnificent canvases of 18th-century inspiration, are dressed by Sylvie de Segonzac in a palette in which every shade is perfect. Hans Schavernoch's set suggests an elitist society that is coming apart at the seams.
René Jacobs's conducting of Concerto Köln is meticulous and perfectly balanced, offering a ravishing use of tonal colour and orchestral dynamics.
A veteran Almaviva, the excellent Pietro Spagnoli plays opposite Annette Dasch's beauteous Countess. As Figaro and Susanna, Luca Pisaroni and Rosemary Joshua are a truly sparkling couple, while mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager embodies the most divinely troubling Cherubino.
Director Jean-Louis Martinoty brings an elegantly intelligent narrative sense to an interpretation in which the protagonists, against a backdrop of magnificent canvases of 18th-century inspiration, are dressed by Sylvie de Segonzac in a palette in which every shade is perfect. Hans Schavernoch's set suggests an elitist society that is coming apart at the seams.
René Jacobs's conducting of Concerto Köln is meticulous and perfectly balanced, offering a ravishing use of tonal colour and orchestral dynamics.
A veteran Almaviva, the excellent Pietro Spagnoli plays opposite Annette Dasch's beauteous Countess. As Figaro and Susanna, Luca Pisaroni and Rosemary Joshua are a truly sparkling couple, while mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager embodies the most divinely troubling Cherubino.
Lorenzo da Ponte's libretto and Mozart's music were to transform the stock characters of the opera buffa tradition into real human beings, making Le Nozze di Figaro one of the most sophisticated operas of all time. A charming, expressive and witty Figaro, Lorenzo Regazzo leads a sparkling cast to illustrate superbly the timeless humanity of this masterpiece. Christoph Marthaler's take on Mozart's classic is both daringly original and highly contemporary, the setting transposed to a wedding-dress shop lit with neon lights and a shabby register office.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- A Day of Real Madness EUR" A documentary film by Reiner E. Moritz, including interviews with the cast and creative crew
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- A Day of Real Madness EUR" A documentary film by Reiner E. Moritz, including interviews with the cast and creative crew
Any reprise of the Strehler Nozze di Figaro has to be a major event. And in 2010, thirty-seven years after its premiere, the work met with a fresh triumph at the Opera Bastille, featuring a new generation of performers: Ludovic Tezier as Count Almaviva, Barbara Frittoli as Countess Almaviva, Ekaterina Siurina as Susanna, Luca Pisaroni as Figaro and Karine Deshayes as Cherubino.
Filmed at the Paris Opera with Philippe Jordan as the musical director, he revealed the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera National de Paris at the height of their powers.
The program also include bonus interview featuring Humbert Camerlo, who worked for many years with Giorgio Strehler and was the stage director for this reprise.
Filmed at the Paris Opera with Philippe Jordan as the musical director, he revealed the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera National de Paris at the height of their powers.
The program also include bonus interview featuring Humbert Camerlo, who worked for many years with Giorgio Strehler and was the stage director for this reprise.
In David McVicar's spellbinding production of Le nozze di Figaro the break-down of the relationship between Finley's suave, dashingly self-absorbed Count and Roschmann's passionately dignified Countess lies at the heart of the opera. The struggle to rekindle their love contrasts tragic-comically with the sexy ease between a feisty Figaro (Erwin Schrott) and a sassy Susanna (Miah Persson) and the tenacious spark that remains between Marcellina (Graciela Araya) and Bartolo (Jonathan Veira). Antonio Pappano conducts (and accompanies the recitatives) with invigorating wit and emotional depth, allowing the ensemble to capture the moments of dramatic tension to perfection and engaging fully with the rhythm of an already classic production, captured in High Definition video and surround sound.
Bonus features:
- The Magic of Mozart - Interviews with Antonio Pappano, David McVicar and principal cast.
- Illustrated Synopsis
Bonus features:
- The Magic of Mozart - Interviews with Antonio Pappano, David McVicar and principal cast.
- Illustrated Synopsis
Anna Netrebko, Christine Schäfer, Dorothea Röschmann, Bo Skovhus and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt and accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic - this Marriage of Figaro is a feast for musical gourmets. Of all the Mozart 22 productions of the Salzburg Festival's Mozart year 2006, Figaro is no doubt the most popular, both among connoisseurs and amateurs - perhaps because it is above all a triumph of superior music-making.
The story is well-known, the work is fast-moving, witty, touching and vibrant. Based on a politically and socially explosive comedy by Beaumarchais, but toned down by Mozart's librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, it treats the topic of love, lust and justice among the various classes: nobility, indentured servants and the rising bourgeoisie. The joy of the work lies above all in its characters, which are perhaps the most "human" human beings to be found on the opera stage.
Harnoncourt's musical concept is meticulously worked-out, interpreted with a wealth of subtle nuances and, with respect to the madness of the romantic intrigues unfolding on the stage, nothing less than thought-provoking. Director Claus Guth's staging fits the music like a glove: there are no farcical elements or slapstick; he takes each and every character...
The story is well-known, the work is fast-moving, witty, touching and vibrant. Based on a politically and socially explosive comedy by Beaumarchais, but toned down by Mozart's librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, it treats the topic of love, lust and justice among the various classes: nobility, indentured servants and the rising bourgeoisie. The joy of the work lies above all in its characters, which are perhaps the most "human" human beings to be found on the opera stage.
Harnoncourt's musical concept is meticulously worked-out, interpreted with a wealth of subtle nuances and, with respect to the madness of the romantic intrigues unfolding on the stage, nothing less than thought-provoking. Director Claus Guth's staging fits the music like a glove: there are no farcical elements or slapstick; he takes each and every character...
Few conductors have mastered the fluidity of melodic control, the rhythmic drive and the dramatic characterization of Mozart's operas to the extent of Karl Bohm. This production, filmed in London in 1976, abounds in splendid singers, all of whom give performances of the highest vocal and dramatic distinction: Hermann Prey is the definitive Figaro, charming in his vigorous self-confidence; Mirella Freni's Susanna is a personification of innocence and beauty; Kiri Te Kanawa's Countess is a touching portrait of wronged womanhood; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's Count is a deceitfully flirtatious despot; and Maria Ewing's Cherubino is a passionate study of adolescent naivety. Bohm's wonderfully supple conducting reflects his lifelong devotion to Mozart. Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's direction perfectly translates the polished stylishness and the beauty and warmth of Bohm's musical direction into scenes and character portrayals of luminous naturalness.
Perhaps no opera is as closely and affectionately associated with a single house as Le nozze di Figaro is with Glyndebourne. Effortlessly witty yet shot through with pain and sadness, this deeply ambivalent day in the life of masters and servants as they scheme and outwit one another was Glyndebourne's opening production in 1934.
Michael Grandage's staging is the seventh, set in a louche Sixties ambience. Marshalled by the 'ideal pacing' of Robin Ticciati, a youthful cast of principals has 'no weak link' and 'looks gorgeous' in a production that continues Glyndebourne's rewarding history of engagement with Mozart's and Da Ponte's 'day of madness.' (The Sunday Times)
Michael Grandage's staging is the seventh, set in a louche Sixties ambience. Marshalled by the 'ideal pacing' of Robin Ticciati, a youthful cast of principals has 'no weak link' and 'looks gorgeous' in a production that continues Glyndebourne's rewarding history of engagement with Mozart's and Da Ponte's 'day of madness.' (The Sunday Times)
Featuring one of the most popular Mozart operas, Le Nozze di Figaro , a witty satire on the authority of the reigning noble class and infidelity in love relationships. Starring a great cast of singers with Dorothea Roschmann, Rene Pape, Emily Magee and Peter Schreier - to name but a few - this performance is conducted by Daniel Barenboim, chief conductor of the Berlin State Orchestra since 1992 named conductor for life by the orchestra in 2000.
The specialized press and the public cheered this production of Le nozze di Figaro at the Mozart Festival of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as a veritable "festival of voices" and a "complete success".
The specialized press and the public cheered this production of Le nozze di Figaro at the Mozart Festival of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as a veritable "festival of voices" and a "complete success".
Critics were unanimous in their praise of the opening production of the Mozart 22 project at the Salzburg Festival 2006: the premiere of the serenata Il rè pastore, K. 208 . It was composed in early 1775 for the visit to Salzburg of Archduke Maximilian. As in La finta giardiniera of the previous year, it takes up the motif of the trials of love and virtue in a pastoral setting. The shepherd Aminta unexpectedly learns that he is the rightful heir to a kingdom. Initially delighted to become a king, Aminta loses his enthusiasm when he learns he must marry Tamiri instead of his beloved Elisa.
Thomas Hengelbrock, the production's director and conductor, gives eloquent voice to Mozart's tale with his Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, which plays on original instruments (including an early "fortepiano" instead of the traditional harpsichord as continuo instrument). At 19, Mozart was no beginner, and his next work was to be Idomeneo, which is generally considered to be his first operatic masterpiece. In Il rè pastore, it is amazing how Mozart manages to infuse life into the rigid conventions of the opera seria genre. There is dramatic impact and emotional depth, for
example in Aminta's rondo "L'amerò, sarò costante" with obbligato solo violin; and there are poignant depictions of...
Thomas Hengelbrock, the production's director and conductor, gives eloquent voice to Mozart's tale with his Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, which plays on original instruments (including an early "fortepiano" instead of the traditional harpsichord as continuo instrument). At 19, Mozart was no beginner, and his next work was to be Idomeneo, which is generally considered to be his first operatic masterpiece. In Il rè pastore, it is amazing how Mozart manages to infuse life into the rigid conventions of the opera seria genre. There is dramatic impact and emotional depth, for
example in Aminta's rondo "L'amerò, sarò costante" with obbligato solo violin; and there are poignant depictions of...
These musings by Mozart on life and death were the starting point for Raphael Pichon and Romeo Castellucci's interpretation of the composer's emblematic unfinished Requiem . An expression of humankind's existential dread in the face of mortality, this requiem mass confronts us with the transience of nature and culture, of humankind and of the individual.
'We should understand and celebrate the end as the other side of a party, where the dance carries on. This Missa pro defunctis is thus transposed and its meaning changed.' Thanks to Castellucci's theatrical vision and the musical dramaturgy by Pichon, who supplements the work with other religious pieces by Mozart, this Requiem becomes the ultimate celebration of life.
'We should understand and celebrate the end as the other side of a party, where the dance carries on. This Missa pro defunctis is thus transposed and its meaning changed.' Thanks to Castellucci's theatrical vision and the musical dramaturgy by Pichon, who supplements the work with other religious pieces by Mozart, this Requiem becomes the ultimate celebration of life.
Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots is an allegorical drama in three parts that was first performed in the Archibishop's residence in March 1767. Mozart composed the first part. The work is an offshoot of the 17th-century tradition of the Jesuit school drama in which the characters are purely symbolic. Here, the "lukewarm Christian" becomes the object of contention between two authorities. Worldliness tempts him with the pleasures of the senses; a trio formed by Justice, Mercy and Christian Spirit urges him to choose an active Christian life. Mozart included such subtle musical touches as a 3/4 dance rhythm and merry woodwinds deployed by Worldliness and an alto trombone that summons the hero to the Last Judgement – an instrumental color that will appear prominently in Don Giovanni .
The genre of Il sogno di Scipione hovers between opera seria and oratorio. Devoid of psychological development or even dramatic conflict, it centers on Scipio, who dreams of two beautiful allegorical women: Fortuna (Fortune) and Costanza (Constancy). The two women both try to win him over. Ultimately, Scipio has to choose one, and his choice falls, unsurprisingly, on Costanza.
The Mozart 22 production of Il sogno di Scipione (Scipio's Dream) adds two more superlatives to the already stunning list of this project's matchless achievements. The musical direction is in the hands of the youngest conductor of all Mozart 22 works, Robin Ticciati, born in 1983; and it is most likely the very first staged performance ever of this work, which was not given its first full-length concert premiere until 1979, at the Salzburg Mozartwoche. Based on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, like Betulia liberata, Tito and Rè pastore, the azione teatrale was composed between April and August 1771. Although it was intended for Archbishop Schrattenbach, he died before the work was completed.
Director Michael Sturminger has devised a light and witty staging with artists from the Klagenfurt Municipal Theater. He transposes the action to what looks like a large suite in a luxury hotel. Gone are...
The Mozart 22 production of Il sogno di Scipione (Scipio's Dream) adds two more superlatives to the already stunning list of this project's matchless achievements. The musical direction is in the hands of the youngest conductor of all Mozart 22 works, Robin Ticciati, born in 1983; and it is most likely the very first staged performance ever of this work, which was not given its first full-length concert premiere until 1979, at the Salzburg Mozartwoche. Based on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, like Betulia liberata, Tito and Rè pastore, the azione teatrale was composed between April and August 1771. Although it was intended for Archbishop Schrattenbach, he died before the work was completed.
Director Michael Sturminger has devised a light and witty staging with artists from the Klagenfurt Municipal Theater. He transposes the action to what looks like a large suite in a luxury hotel. Gone are...
An abducted beauty in a harem, a noble rescuer from Europe, a merciless Muslim ruler - aren't these the ingredients for Mozart's Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail ? Yes, but not only. They are also found in the fragment of a Turkish opera that Mozart wrote shortly before the Entfuhrung , a work that was later given the title Zaide . The fragmentary nature and splendid music of Zaide have long stimulated enterprising artists to attempt completions or collages to make the work performable. For the Mozart 22 project, Salzburg Festival director Peter Ruzicka commissioned the Israeli composer Chaya Czernowin to produce a new work that stage director Claus Guth would then interweave with the Zaide fragment.
In Zaide we have two lovers, Zaide and Gomatz, held prisoner in a harem in an imaginary past, somewhere in the Middle East. In Adama we have two lovers, a Woman and a Man, caught in the irreconcilable religious and political conflicts of today's Middle East. Mozart's themes are imprisonment, doomed love, culture clash and despotism; Czernowin's are the same, but transported into our time. She tells of the love between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, a partnership doomed to fail in a world torn by violence.
Czernowin approached her task with great reverence for...
In Zaide we have two lovers, Zaide and Gomatz, held prisoner in a harem in an imaginary past, somewhere in the Middle East. In Adama we have two lovers, a Woman and a Man, caught in the irreconcilable religious and political conflicts of today's Middle East. Mozart's themes are imprisonment, doomed love, culture clash and despotism; Czernowin's are the same, but transported into our time. She tells of the love between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, a partnership doomed to fail in a world torn by violence.
Czernowin approached her task with great reverence for...
Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) is Mozart's most popular and beloved opera, and its melodies - from Papageno's folkloric tunes to the Queen of the Night's breathtaking coloraturas - are familiar even among non-listeners of classical music. In this production by Pierre Audi, however, it is the eyes and not the ears that first fall under the spell of this truly magical Magic Flute . From the illustration on the stage curtain to the incredible, wildly colored, primeval-looking monsters, animals and decorative elements on the stage, the production is dominated by the unmistakable expressive world of the Dutch artist and sculptor Karel Appel. A co-founder of the acclaimed Cobra Group, Appel developed a darkly expressionistic idiom and was the "secret dramaturge" of the production, says director Audi. Appel died at the age of 85 three months before the premiere of Die Zauberflote at the Salzburg Festival.
While the sets may be a treat for the eyes, the music is a feast for the ears. Metropolitan Opera and La Scala star Diana Damrau shines as a Queen of the Night who effortlessly tosses out her coloraturas with dazzling accuracy. Rene Pape's Sarastro is a worthy counterpart, a solemn figure with balsamic bass tones. Paul Groves' supple tenor voice ensures a faultless Tamino...
While the sets may be a treat for the eyes, the music is a feast for the ears. Metropolitan Opera and La Scala star Diana Damrau shines as a Queen of the Night who effortlessly tosses out her coloraturas with dazzling accuracy. Rene Pape's Sarastro is a worthy counterpart, a solemn figure with balsamic bass tones. Paul Groves' supple tenor voice ensures a faultless Tamino...
The main focus of the Easter Festival 2013, held for the first time with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, will be on the four performances of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. The principal roles are sung by Ana Durlovski (Queen of the Night), Pavol Breslik (Tamino), Kate Royal (Pamina), Michael Nagy (Papageno) and Regula Muhlemann (Papagena). The "Three Ladies" are also portrayed by prominent performers, namely Annick Massis, Magdalena Kozena and Nathalie Stutzmann. Jose van Dam functions as narrator and Canadian artist and seasoned opera director Robert Carsen is in charge of directing.
One of Mozart's most enchanting works, Die Zauberflote is a fairy tale that uses familiar archetypes to ask provocative and difficult questions about religion, the nature of power, the bonds of family, and of course love.
Premiered just months before Mozart's death, Die Zauberflote in many ways represents a new departure for the composer. Catching the spirit of revolution in the air, Mozart turned his attention for the first time from court opera to popular opera, writing this singspiel ('sung play') for a new and much broader audience.
Celebrated Canadian directing duo Barbe and Doucet make both their British and Glyndebourne debuts here with their new Die Zauberflote, a veritable "theatrical feast of eccentricity." (The Guardian). Ryan Wigglesworth conducts an outstanding cast including Russian soprano Sofia Fomina as Pamina, David Portillo as her beloved Tamino, Brindley Sherratt as Sarastro, and the ebullient Bjorn Burger as Papageno.
Premiered just months before Mozart's death, Die Zauberflote in many ways represents a new departure for the composer. Catching the spirit of revolution in the air, Mozart turned his attention for the first time from court opera to popular opera, writing this singspiel ('sung play') for a new and much broader audience.
Celebrated Canadian directing duo Barbe and Doucet make both their British and Glyndebourne debuts here with their new Die Zauberflote, a veritable "theatrical feast of eccentricity." (The Guardian). Ryan Wigglesworth conducts an outstanding cast including Russian soprano Sofia Fomina as Pamina, David Portillo as her beloved Tamino, Brindley Sherratt as Sarastro, and the ebullient Bjorn Burger as Papageno.
Wit and astute theatrical awareness are the hallmarks of this exceptional vision of Mozart's and Da Ponte's famous masterpieces, directed by the duo Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito. Set in a 1960s youth hostel, Cosi fan tutte is a charmingly original tableau of adolescent inexperience, while Le nozze di Figaro , set in a car showroom, exemplifies the delicate balance between love's shadowy manipulation and its cheerful innocence. Don Giovanni , by contrast, is a breathtaking, sinister game of voyeuristic intimacy and brutal violence. Ingo Metzmacher and a sparkling ensemble and cast underscore this unique vision of a kaleidoscope of human emotions with commitment and vitality.
Bonus features :
- Illustrated synopses - Cosi fan tutte , Le nozze di Figaro , Don Giovanni
- Introductions: The Trilogy , Cosi fan tutte , Le nozze di Figaro , Don Giovanni
Bonus features :
- Illustrated synopses - Cosi fan tutte , Le nozze di Figaro , Don Giovanni
- Introductions: The Trilogy , Cosi fan tutte , Le nozze di Figaro , Don Giovanni
Mozart's genius in setting to music Da Ponte's comic play of love, infidelity and forgiveness marks Cosi fan tutte as one of the great works of art from the Age of Enlightenment. Nicholas Hytner's beautiful new production, with its sure touch and theatrical know-how, lives up to its promise to be "shockingly traditional", while Ivan Fischer teases artful performances from an outstanding international cast of convincing young lovers.
Bonus features :
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Interview with Ivan Fischer
- Interview with Nicholas Hytner
- Cast Feature
- Animated Gallery
Bonus features :
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Interview with Ivan Fischer
- Interview with Nicholas Hytner
- Cast Feature
- Animated Gallery
Modest Mussorgsky Boris Godunov was performed in the open air and for the first time in front of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia. This spectacular production, also performed in front of the very same cathedral in the summer of 2014, 90 years after the building's consecration, was conceived by Plamen Kartaloff, the director of Sofia Opera and dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Boris Christoff and to the 85th anniversary of the birth of Nicolai Ghiaurov, both world-renowned for their interpretations of the role of Boris.
Boris Godunov is the story not only of a troubled leader but of an entire nation, and its history is as eventful as that of Mother Russia herself. In this new production, the legendary director Andrei Konchalovsky presents a personal vision of the opera that takes Mussorgsky's bare and monumental first version as its basis, while adding the final scene from the composer's revision, in which not only the Tsar but the people themselves reveal their fatal flaws.
Orlin Anastassov stars in the title role, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.
Orlin Anastassov stars in the title role, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.
Child murder, scheming monks and a tsar lapsing into madness - Modest Mussorgsky spread the thematic arc wide in his choral opera, which he began to work on from 1868, and with which he attempted to awaken an awareness of his own time through the indirect route of a historic story.
As an artist of the 19th century, he was driven by the psychology of the masses. Thus, in Boris Godunov , alongside the hero of the title, the main role is actually taken primarily by the Russian people, rejoicing, starving, demanding and questioning.
With the participation of conductor Kent Nagano , catalan stage director Calixto Bieito proposes an original reading of this brilliant work. The cast leaded by Alexander Tsymbaliuk (Boris) associates Gerhard Siegel (Schuisky), Markus Eiche (Chelkalov) and Anatoli Kotscherga (Pimen).
As an artist of the 19th century, he was driven by the psychology of the masses. Thus, in Boris Godunov , alongside the hero of the title, the main role is actually taken primarily by the Russian people, rejoicing, starving, demanding and questioning.
With the participation of conductor Kent Nagano , catalan stage director Calixto Bieito proposes an original reading of this brilliant work. The cast leaded by Alexander Tsymbaliuk (Boris) associates Gerhard Siegel (Schuisky), Markus Eiche (Chelkalov) and Anatoli Kotscherga (Pimen).
Das Drumherum by Elisabeth Naske is commissioned by the Vienna State Opera based on the eponymous children's book classic by Mira Lobe.
Timeless, cheerful and yet with unobtrusive sincerity, Elisabeth Naske tells a lovable story in the children's opera Das Drumherum.
The mayor wants to expand his city at any cost and plans skyscrapers, shopping malls and business centres. For this purpose, even the forest should be cleared. The children of the city do not want to accept this. Brave and with a lot of imagination, they are committed to preserving nature and its playgrounds.
And then there is the friendly Waldgeist Hullewulle - all together a wonderful solution of the conflict succeeds.
After Mira Lobes's children's book of the same name, which has been popular for generations, a one-hour music theatre work was created, which premiered at the Vienna State Opera with great success.
Timeless, cheerful and yet with unobtrusive sincerity, Elisabeth Naske tells a lovable story in the children's opera Das Drumherum.
The mayor wants to expand his city at any cost and plans skyscrapers, shopping malls and business centres. For this purpose, even the forest should be cleared. The children of the city do not want to accept this. Brave and with a lot of imagination, they are committed to preserving nature and its playgrounds.
And then there is the friendly Waldgeist Hullewulle - all together a wonderful solution of the conflict succeeds.
After Mira Lobes's children's book of the same name, which has been popular for generations, a one-hour music theatre work was created, which premiered at the Vienna State Opera with great success.
This production of Carl Nielsen's treasured opera Maskarade bears witness to the spectacular 2006 staging at the Royal Danish Opera by top director Kasper Bech Holten and chief conductor Michael Schonwandt. The immortal story of old Jeronimus versus the young rebels is given new life in impressive surroundings while still continuing the proud traditions of the Royal Danish Opera, featuring the strongest Maskarade cast in living memory.
Bonus features:
- Introduction to Maskarade
- The Making of Maskarade
Bonus features:
- Introduction to Maskarade
- The Making of Maskarade
Nielsen's Maskarade is regarded as Denmark's national opera. It combines folk-song character, Mozartean elegance and virtuoso surprises to create what conductor Titus Engel describes as 'musical comedy that's both witty and of the highest calibre'. Based on an 18th-century play by Ludwig Holberg, the story revolves around Leander and Leonoara who meet at a masquerade ball, swear undying love, and then have to deal with the complicated consequences of their situation, all accompanied by Nielsen's irresistibly sparkling score. This acclaimed contemporary staging from Oper Frankfurt is sung in new German translation and directed by Tobias Kratzer.
The video presents a spectacular new production of Carl Nielsen dramatic debut opera, Saul and David from 1901 - a production marking the Royal Danish Theatre's celebration of the composer's 150th anniversary in 2015. The story of King Saul, bitterly jealous of young David, who won the favour of the people by defeating the giant Goliath, is stage in a highly original fashion by acclaimed English director and Nielsen enthusiast David Pountney, who updates the Biblical story to our own time, lending it psychological and political undertones. The performance is conducted by Nielsen expert Michael Schonwandt and presents an array of Denmark's leading singers with Johan Reuter in the demanding title role.
On This Planet is a journey through life from birth to death. But it is no ordinary journey. It has been set to text and music by the composer Anders Nordentoft, and it is performed by the musician Thomas Sandberg; on stage Martin Tulinius has created a unique unity of video, computer graphics, sound and light EUR" just as the music mixes different genres. Anders Nordentoft's past as a rock musician is combined with his classical training in a brand new musical universe where the concept of crossover is no longer adequate as a label.
Thomas Sandberg is well known in Scandinavia as an unusual mixture of performance artist, percussionist, clown and sound artist. Together with Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen he creates a symbiosis of the human voice and instrumental sound where texts by Anders Nordentoft and the West Indian poet Derek Walcott meet. With On This Planet we enter the same universe as Twin Peaks and Lars von TrierEUR(TM)s The Kingdom, where anything can happen and nothing is what it seems. This suspense-filled universe is given musical nerve by Anders Nordentoft in a mixture of rock, jazz, blues and modern music. There are no borders On This Planet. Anything can happen.
Bonus features:
- From music paper to orchestra - Documentary on Anders Nordentoft
Thomas Sandberg is well known in Scandinavia as an unusual mixture of performance artist, percussionist, clown and sound artist. Together with Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen he creates a symbiosis of the human voice and instrumental sound where texts by Anders Nordentoft and the West Indian poet Derek Walcott meet. With On This Planet we enter the same universe as Twin Peaks and Lars von TrierEUR(TM)s The Kingdom, where anything can happen and nothing is what it seems. This suspense-filled universe is given musical nerve by Anders Nordentoft in a mixture of rock, jazz, blues and modern music. There are no borders On This Planet. Anything can happen.
Bonus features:
- From music paper to orchestra - Documentary on Anders Nordentoft
Acclaimed director Laurent Pelly is one of the most renowned and prolific interpreters of Offenbach's brilliantly inventive operettas, including several productions for the Opera de Lyon. The composer's satirical and hilarious opera bouffe version of the Charles Perrault's 17th-century tale of the serial wife-murdering Bluebeard (in which no-one actually gets murdered), deftly walks the line between humour and cruelty, with a stellar performance from Yann Beuron in the title role.
Just as in Orpheus in the Underworld , this opera-travesty by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) also uses an ancient Greek subject as a means of caricaturing contemporary social and political issues. The main target of Offenbach's barbs are the unscrupulousness and moral decline of France's "Second Empire". The action of the ancient saga of gods and heroes is stripped of its loftiness and parodistically reduced to an ironic display of very human motivations, weaknesses and excesses. "The ambivalence of Offenbach's genius emerges here more clearly than in any other of his works - a genius that masters with the same skillfullness all the facets of musical expression: emotion and intellect, romance and parody." (Bernard Grun, Cultural History of the Operetta)
La Belle Helene, Jacques Offenbach's 1864 three-act opera bouffe, unfolds just prior to the Trojan War. Offenbach opens with the goddess Venus promising to procure Helen's love for Paris, through Calchas, the High Priest of Jupiter. He subsequently weaves the tale of Paris' seduction of Helen and the virulent chagrin of her husband, Menelaus.
The production of Offenbach's opera by The Theatre Musicale de Paris, Chatelet features a libretto co-written and adapted by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy. Dame Felicity Lott portrays Helen, Yann Beuron is Paris, Michel Senechal is Menelaus, and Francois Le Roux plays Calchas. Les Musiciens du Louvre and the Chorus of the Musiciens du Louvre provide musical accompaniment.
The production of Offenbach's opera by The Theatre Musicale de Paris, Chatelet features a libretto co-written and adapted by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy. Dame Felicity Lott portrays Helen, Yann Beuron is Paris, Michel Senechal is Menelaus, and Francois Le Roux plays Calchas. Les Musiciens du Louvre and the Chorus of the Musiciens du Louvre provide musical accompaniment.
Offenbach?EUR(TM)s Les Contes d'Hoffmann, staged by Olivier Py. High art at Geneva?EUR(TM)s Grand Théâtre!
Three fables. A man falls in love with a doll, a young woman sings herself to death and a courtesan steals her lovers' reflections. "Three women in the same woman," and the same number of stories told by Hoffmann. A picture of the cursed artist slipping through women's arms into those of his muse, under the treacherous eye of the evil one, the latter also appearing in three diabolical incarnations. Intertwining themes borrowed from the German poet, the libretto fed the composer's fantasies with material both fantastic and fanciful, sustaining his dreams that this work would one day be a triumph at the Opéra Comique. Alas, he was to die before he could see it performed.
Baroque and mystical, carnal yet metaphysical, Olivier Py's theatrical universe comes into its own when highlighting the oddities of this truly singular work.
Three fables. A man falls in love with a doll, a young woman sings herself to death and a courtesan steals her lovers' reflections. "Three women in the same woman," and the same number of stories told by Hoffmann. A picture of the cursed artist slipping through women's arms into those of his muse, under the treacherous eye of the evil one, the latter also appearing in three diabolical incarnations. Intertwining themes borrowed from the German poet, the libretto fed the composer's fantasies with material both fantastic and fanciful, sustaining his dreams that this work would one day be a triumph at the Opéra Comique. Alas, he was to die before he could see it performed.
Baroque and mystical, carnal yet metaphysical, Olivier Py's theatrical universe comes into its own when highlighting the oddities of this truly singular work.
Giancarlo Del Monaco's passionate and intelligent production of Jacques Offenbach's magnum opus creates a climactic kaleidoscope of deep and convincing emotions. A highly credible incarnation of the pitiable Kleinzach he sings about, Aquiles Machado is the poet who loses his romantic idealism, his reflection and finally his soul to a 'trio of charming enchantresses'. Conductor Alain Guingal inspires the superbly dramatic cast, including Maria Bayo, Milagros Poblador, Valentina Kutzarova and Katharine Goeldner, in an outstanding recording.
Bonus features:
- Interviews with Maria Bayo, Aquiles Machado and Juan Carlos Matellanes
- Illustrated Synopsis
Bonus features:
- Interviews with Maria Bayo, Aquiles Machado and Juan Carlos Matellanes
- Illustrated Synopsis
Les Contes d'Hoffmann is a great, unfinished masterpiece. In 1880 Offenbach's health began to deteriorate rapidly. Les Contes d'Hoffmann had already been programmed for the 1880/81 season of the Opéra-Comique, but Offenbach was having a hard time finishing it and worked only in the moments of respite from his illness. He died on 5 October, leaving the opera incomplete (we still do not know to what extent). And so Ernest Guiraud, a "specialist" who had already transformed into recitatives the spoken parts of Bizet's Carmen , was called to finish the task. The opera was first staged at the Opéra-Comique on 10 February 1881 and met with great success. Soon it was being performed in the most important theatres of the world.
This edition has an Italian cast of exceptional quality, in which stand out the amazing voice of Desirée Rancatore, the extraordinary artistry of Ruggiero Raimondi and the fascinating direction of Pier Luigi Pizzi, one of today's most creative directors.
This edition has an Italian cast of exceptional quality, in which stand out the amazing voice of Desirée Rancatore, the extraordinary artistry of Ruggiero Raimondi and the fascinating direction of Pier Luigi Pizzi, one of today's most creative directors.
Un mari a la porte was premiered at the Bouffes-Parisiens on 22nd June 1859 and, chronologically, comes between two masterpieces such as Orphee aux enfers (21st October 1858) and Genevieve de Brabant (11th November 1859).
The libretto by Delacour and Morand offers a plot based on misunderstandings and misconceptions, something which characterized much of the contemporary French theatre and which would find its apotheosis, towards the end of the century, in the pochade and in Georges Feydeau's operas, in which, however the erotic and mischievous element always plays a prominent role that here is only present at the beginning (on his wedding night, Henri Martel, Suzanne's husband, wants to go into his bedroom but finds the door locked, because a debtor of his, a certain Florestan Ducroquet, has hidden in it and thrown the key out of the window).
The libretto by Delacour and Morand offers a plot based on misunderstandings and misconceptions, something which characterized much of the contemporary French theatre and which would find its apotheosis, towards the end of the century, in the pochade and in Georges Feydeau's operas, in which, however the erotic and mischievous element always plays a prominent role that here is only present at the beginning (on his wedding night, Henri Martel, Suzanne's husband, wants to go into his bedroom but finds the door locked, because a debtor of his, a certain Florestan Ducroquet, has hidden in it and thrown the key out of the window).
La Perricholi - in reality, Micaela Villegas - was Lima's leading theatrical lady in the 1770's when Peru was a Spanish colony. Her life was fictionalised in a one-act play by Prosper Merimee and a libretto was fashioned in which Offenbach created his opera bouffe Le Perichole , reflecting the creative mania in Paris at the time for Spanish life and art. La Perichole and Piquillo, her lover and companion in misfortune, are impoverished street singers. Meanwhile the Viceroy Don Andres de Ribeira wishes to make her his lover. In music of vivacious rhythms including boleros, seguidillas and rich arias, Offenbach plays out their love against a broader social canvas.
Jacques Offenbach had already achieved fame as an operetta composer by 1866, but that year's premier of La Vie parisienne was his first portrayal of contemporary Parisian life. With its tale of romantic intrigues, disguises and comic celebrations of the mad gaiety of life in the French capital, La Vie parisienne became popular in the nationa's theatres, but not after a hasty re-working of its final acts after protests from the original performers. With significant new musical discoveries and the final act restored, this opera-bouffe masterpiece now speaks for itself given the resources of a superb cast and Christian Lacroix's colourful and much acclaimed Bru Zane France production.
The staging of the Danish composer Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen's opera The Picture of Dorian Gray (2013) is one of Den Jyske Opera's (Danish National Opera) bravest ventures in recent years. A choreographed opera with no singers on stage - based on Oscar Wilde's most controversial novel. Like Wilde's novel, Agerfeldt Olesen's opera balances between reality and dream or imagination. Consequently, both sounds from the world of yesterday and outbreaks of the musical genre are present in Agerfeldt Olesen's score, though primarily expressing the composer's own distinctive sound. The prizewinning Swedish choreographer Marie Brolin-Tani has conceived the choreography seen on the opera stage as a strong sensual interpretation of the actions and conflicts of the drama.
This cinematic production of a contemporary opera by composer Jocy de Oliveira , tells the story of Mathilda Segalescu, an opera singer aboard the Sturma, the last jewish ship to leave Romania during World War II, that sank in the Black sea killing all its passengers. Years later, a Turkish fisherman rescues her piano from the waters and falls in love with her spirit kept safe by the memory of the waters. A true homage to all refugees of war.
As Malibrans brings up the dark side of a diva, her voice and her role as an opera personage.
In the great majority of traditional opera librettos, the female personage is always destined to submission or condemned to death. Through opera history and also in real life, these "divas" with their divine voices, fantasized as goddesses, were often driven to lose their sanity.
As Malibrans does not present a linear narration; however, a great part of reconstructed images are based on the cult figure of Maria Malibran. She becomes the archetype of the theme and represents a new type of woman born before 1830.
Bonus features:
- The Making of As Malibrans
- Noturno de um piano
- Revenge of Medea
- Nenhuma mulher civilizada faria isso
In the great majority of traditional opera librettos, the female personage is always destined to submission or condemned to death. Through opera history and also in real life, these "divas" with their divine voices, fantasized as goddesses, were often driven to lose their sanity.
As Malibrans does not present a linear narration; however, a great part of reconstructed images are based on the cult figure of Maria Malibran. She becomes the archetype of the theme and represents a new type of woman born before 1830.
Bonus features:
- The Making of As Malibrans
- Noturno de um piano
- Revenge of Medea
- Nenhuma mulher civilizada faria isso
Fata Morgana means mirage and visions of the subconscious, and is also the druid witch who represents divine wisdom, depositary of the primitive revelation.
According to Stephen Hawking, the world we live in, with its planets and galaxies, is contained within an enormous bubble, whose surface gives off other smaller bubbles that occasionally give rise to new universes. This concept is the central idea of this magical opera: a bubble, symbolizing birth, rebirth, the bubble of space, time.
Jocy de Oliveira believes Liturgia do Espaco to be a "cosmic allegory," questioning human beings in the light of the celestial spectacle. T.S. Eliot gave her the first key: "Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future."
Bonus features:
- The Making of Fata Morgana
- The Making of Liturgia do Espaco
According to Stephen Hawking, the world we live in, with its planets and galaxies, is contained within an enormous bubble, whose surface gives off other smaller bubbles that occasionally give rise to new universes. This concept is the central idea of this magical opera: a bubble, symbolizing birth, rebirth, the bubble of space, time.
Jocy de Oliveira believes Liturgia do Espaco to be a "cosmic allegory," questioning human beings in the light of the celestial spectacle. T.S. Eliot gave her the first key: "Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future."
Bonus features:
- The Making of Fata Morgana
- The Making of Liturgia do Espaco
Inori to the Sacred Prostitute represents a return to the ritual in search of the mythical, of the symbol, of the eternal. This rite of passage is tender, painful, erotic, hallucinating, violent, sanctifying, involving the personage in solitude of his being in a net between the profane and the sacred.
The center of this rite is the myth of the sacred prostitute. To restore her figure means to regain the true feminine with inherent values now lost in modern society. To recreate the image of the Goddess in our time is to reformulate totally our thinking, directing ourselves to a more human and integrated world.
In this path, the magic of the encounter is like a language of the initiated which integrates words and phonemes from primitive people, extinct people, future people.
Illud Tempus means "time now and always" in Latin. It also represents the atemporal telling of dreams, of unconscious time when God was a woman, a contemporary fairy tale.
Spoken words in different languages are used not only to tell these stories but also to weave intelligible phonemic texts combining sonic and semantic results.
Focusing on texts that expresses the female psyche through times, Illud Tempus explores, through music, theater, and body expression, this variety and diversity of...
The center of this rite is the myth of the sacred prostitute. To restore her figure means to regain the true feminine with inherent values now lost in modern society. To recreate the image of the Goddess in our time is to reformulate totally our thinking, directing ourselves to a more human and integrated world.
In this path, the magic of the encounter is like a language of the initiated which integrates words and phonemes from primitive people, extinct people, future people.
Illud Tempus means "time now and always" in Latin. It also represents the atemporal telling of dreams, of unconscious time when God was a woman, a contemporary fairy tale.
Spoken words in different languages are used not only to tell these stories but also to weave intelligible phonemic texts combining sonic and semantic results.
Focusing on texts that expresses the female psyche through times, Illud Tempus explores, through music, theater, and body expression, this variety and diversity of...
Kseni is a foreign woman who comes from another place, another time, another culture... Kseni is someone who thinks differently and fights for the right to be different. It explores the myth of Medea in a different light, capturing eternal conflicts transposed to our time. It revisits primordial questions that reside in human relationships and within ourselves. It is a reflection on this timeless myth transported to the political and cultural reality of the world today.
Bonus features:
The Making of Kseni, A Estrangeira
The Making of Kseni, Die Fremde
Bonus features:
The Making of Kseni, A Estrangeira
The Making of Kseni, Die Fremde
Revisiting Stravinsky is a music theatre piece in memory of Stravinsky and in recognition to Robert Craft. A dramatic musical reading with multimedia resources conceived and written by Jocy de Oliveira, it is based on her diary of acquaintance and rare collection of letters written to her by Stravinsky and his most important collaborator and interpreter, the conductor and writer Robert Craft.
The script brings up historic musical events, human, witty, emotional moments creating a touching dramatization intercepted by the extraordinary music of Stravinsky and vocal/instrumental/electro-acoustic pieces specially composed by Jocy de Oliveira.
Bonus:
- Robert Craft on Stravinsky, 8 November 2010
The script brings up historic musical events, human, witty, emotional moments creating a touching dramatization intercepted by the extraordinary music of Stravinsky and vocal/instrumental/electro-acoustic pieces specially composed by Jocy de Oliveira.
Bonus:
- Robert Craft on Stravinsky, 8 November 2010
The Zurich Opera is known for staging works that star singers have always wanted to sing and Paisiello's Nina was evidently a role coveted by Cecilia Bartoli, one of today's most sought-after performers. This opera buffa (with sung and spoken text) has to be the only one where the heroine is mad from the start. It requires a singer of immense vocal and dramatic talent to pull off such a role and Bartoli is phenomenal in this Cesare Lievi production. Laszlo Polgar, Jonas Kaufmann, Juliette Galstian and Angelo Veccia provide an excellent foil for her tour de force. Adam Fischer conducts.
Written by John Gay in 1728, The Beggar's Opera is widely considered to be the first musical comedy, and one that pre-empted by about 300 years the current vogue for jukebox productions, which create a plot to fit around hit songs. Gay took some of the best-known tunes of his day, both classical and popular, and worked them into a savagely satirical tale set amongst London's thieves, pimps and prostitutes.
For the festivities marking the Pergolesi's tercentenary in his native Jesi, Ignacio García created a new staging of the imperial drama Adriano in Siria . His staging in Jesi's exquisite 18th-century Teatro Comunale Pergolesi includes the delightful comic intermezzo Livietta e Tracollo , thus following the precedent set at the premiere in 1734. A fine Italian cast and the distinguished Accademia Bizantina are led by the Accademia's director, Ottavio Dantone.
Written in 1998, Petitgirard's opera differs from David Lynch's cult film in offering an entirely different perspective on the tale of Joseph Merrick, born in 1863 with horrific deformities, exhibited as a freak at the circus, taken in by Dr. Treves at the London Hospital and subsequently afforded celebrity status. Where the film is based largely on Dr. Treves' memoirs, the opera is based on biographies of Joseph Merrick giving his character a more central focus than in the film.
Requiring 38 soloists, chorus and large orchestra, Palestrina, Hans Pfitzner's (1869-1949) "most important work" (Süddeutsche Zeitung), is a challenging opera to stage. In Munich, the city in which it was given its world premiere in 1917, the Bavarian State Opera succeeded - director Christian Stückl, best known for his staging of the Oberammergau Passion Play and the Salzburg Festival's Jedermann, transformed the monumental work into an optical pop art event.
Stückl's production infuses such color and life into the serious work that even the German tabloid "Abendzeitung" delightedly wrote: "Who would have thought that Pfitzner could be such fun?" Written in a lush late-Romantic idiom, the masterpiece weaves a fictitious tale around Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, one of the most important Renaissance composers and renovators of sacred music, who fears losing his creative powers and his role in society.
Conductor Simone Young maintains a silky, organic orchestral texture and expertly holds the reins of the many vocal and instrumental parts. Heading the many outstanding soloists are the imposing Christopher Ventris as Palestrina, Bayreuth regular Falk Struckmann and baritone Michael Volle.
Stückl's production infuses such color and life into the serious work that even the German tabloid "Abendzeitung" delightedly wrote: "Who would have thought that Pfitzner could be such fun?" Written in a lush late-Romantic idiom, the masterpiece weaves a fictitious tale around Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, one of the most important Renaissance composers and renovators of sacred music, who fears losing his creative powers and his role in society.
Conductor Simone Young maintains a silky, organic orchestral texture and expertly holds the reins of the many vocal and instrumental parts. Heading the many outstanding soloists are the imposing Christopher Ventris as Palestrina, Bayreuth regular Falk Struckmann and baritone Michael Volle.
Tom Jones is universally considered one of Philidor's best operas and one of the most perfect examples of a music genre that was quite popular in 18th-century France, the Opera-comique. The libretto is derived from Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a foundling, while the music, with its succession of dialogues, airs, ariettes, and ensembles is truly delightful, embodying the elegant and caustic spirit of the Age of Enlightenment.
On the podium of this Tom Jones, staged at Lausanne's Opera in the summer of 2005, is one of the greatest specialists of French 17th 18th- century music, Jean-Claude Malgoire, who thus continues his collaboration with Dynamic, which already counts several prestigious titles both on CD and video.
On the podium of this Tom Jones, staged at Lausanne's Opera in the summer of 2005, is one of the greatest specialists of French 17th 18th- century music, Jean-Claude Malgoire, who thus continues his collaboration with Dynamic, which already counts several prestigious titles both on CD and video.
What more appropriate venue for Ildebrando Pizzetti's operatic masterwork of 1958 Assassinio nella Cattedrale than the austere, Romanic Basilica di San Nicola in the southern Italian port city of Bari. A striking coincidence: the action of T. S. Eliot's stage play "Murder in the Cathedral", on which the opera is based, takes place in December 1170; the Basilica di San Nicola also dates from the 12th century and was consecrated in 1197...
Pizzetti's religiosity also manifests itself in his choice of T.S. Eliot's modern-day miracle play about St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who returns from a seven-year-exile only to be confronted by various torments, including Four Temptations; he succumbs to the fourth, the temptation of martyrdom...
Internationally acclaimed bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi, at home on all of the world's major stages and unforgotten as Don Giovanni in Joseph Losey's celebrated 1979 film, brings the firmness and authority of his vocal artistry to this role, elevating it to one of the most passionate and intriguing portrayals of a 20th-century operatic hero.
Pizzetti's religiosity also manifests itself in his choice of T.S. Eliot's modern-day miracle play about St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who returns from a seven-year-exile only to be confronted by various torments, including Four Temptations; he succumbs to the fourth, the temptation of martyrdom...
Internationally acclaimed bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi, at home on all of the world's major stages and unforgotten as Don Giovanni in Joseph Losey's celebrated 1979 film, brings the firmness and authority of his vocal artistry to this role, elevating it to one of the most passionate and intriguing portrayals of a 20th-century operatic hero.
A rarely performed opera, Ponchielli's La Gioconda is one his famous and well-loved work. Although the first version suffered from Ponchielli's doubts and uncertainties: on the one hand the musician was convinced, for example, that the libretto was too long and complex,to the detriment of the music, and that many parts are not developed the way it should be. This reason, did not stop the composer as well as the opera to garner so much praise during its premiere at Milan's La Scala. In the end, after experiencing radical changes that lasted for twenty six years in the making, the changes contributed to consolidate its literally and musical substance, sanctioning the works's definitive and long lasting success.
Nicola Porpora was a composer who helped to turn Italian opera into the most successful and spectacular genre in Europe. One of the few luminaries of the 'Neapolitan School' to actually be born in Naples, Porpora wrote L'Angelica , a serenade for six voices and instruments, to a libretto by the young Pietro Metastasio in 1720. The work was composed for the birthday of Empress Elizabeth Christine, wife of Charles VI, and its plot is comedic, focusing on the travails of a couple in love. The opera's success was immediate, resulting in the commissioning of further works that would lead to ever more glamorous successes for Porpora in Venice, London, Dresden and Vienna.
Rife with historical references, Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites is a 20th-century opera masterpiece and an insightful exploration of wide-reaching themes: life, death, honor, and religion. In 1789, at the beginning of French Revolution, Blanche de la Force-daughter of a nobleman-senses the rising wave of anti-aristocratic sentiment and decides to become a nun, hoping to find safety in the convent. After their prioress dies, the whole convent-including the new Sister Blanche of the Agony of Christ-take a vow of martyrdom and, when sentenced to death, resign themselves to their fate, singing the moving "Salve Regina" as they march to the guillotine.
Visionary Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov, winner of four Golden Mask awards for Best Director, transposes Poulenc's opera into a Soviet context, with sparse and unadorned scenography and a stellar cast that includes Susan Gritton as Sister Blanche and Bernard Richter as her brother, the Chevalier de la Force. Under the baton of the great Kent Nagano, the Orchestra and Choir of the Bayerische Staatsoper bring out the poetry in Poulenc's opera, with its "subtle and intricate tonal language [that] is by turns hymnal and haunting" (Anthony Tommasini).
Visionary Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov, winner of four Golden Mask awards for Best Director, transposes Poulenc's opera into a Soviet context, with sparse and unadorned scenography and a stellar cast that includes Susan Gritton as Sister Blanche and Bernard Richter as her brother, the Chevalier de la Force. Under the baton of the great Kent Nagano, the Orchestra and Choir of the Bayerische Staatsoper bring out the poetry in Poulenc's opera, with its "subtle and intricate tonal language [that] is by turns hymnal and haunting" (Anthony Tommasini).
2004 production of Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges, performed in the theatre of Grand Saint-Jean. The cast list suggested Larissa Gergieva's Mariinsky Theatre young singers academy had set up their summer camp in Aix to give the audience a taste of Russia's youngest singing talents.
Philippe Calvario made his debut as a theatre director. His debut didn't reveal any inexperience. He knew how to make the best use of all the possibilities the theatre offered. With an admirable dash and panache, he placed the chorus groups around, very often to hilarious effect. The cheap stage constructions and the candy-coloured costumes fitted perfectly with his slapstick approach. The sometimes sharp, sometimes burlesque music of Prokofiev invites an over-the-top approach.
Conductor Tugan Sokhiev, only 26 years old, made a favourable impression. In his conducting of the Prokofiev score, it was easy to hear that he was a pupil of Valery Gergiev. Sokhiev has the same hard-edged drive as his master, pushing for large dynamic contrasts. With the young and enthusiastic cast, this works wonderfully well.
Philippe Calvario made his debut as a theatre director. His debut didn't reveal any inexperience. He knew how to make the best use of all the possibilities the theatre offered. With an admirable dash and panache, he placed the chorus groups around, very often to hilarious effect. The cheap stage constructions and the candy-coloured costumes fitted perfectly with his slapstick approach. The sometimes sharp, sometimes burlesque music of Prokofiev invites an over-the-top approach.
Conductor Tugan Sokhiev, only 26 years old, made a favourable impression. In his conducting of the Prokofiev score, it was easy to hear that he was a pupil of Valery Gergiev. Sokhiev has the same hard-edged drive as his master, pushing for large dynamic contrasts. With the young and enthusiastic cast, this works wonderfully well.
Prokofiev's enchantingly surreal commedia dell'arte masterwork is turned into a spectacular triumph of total theatre in this vital production from the Amsterdam Muziektheater. De Nederlandse Opera has chosen to use the more flexible French libretto of the 1921 premiere, a pertinent choice which has the advantage of accentuating the aesthetic common ground shared by Prokofiev and Les Six .
Stephane Deneve's brilliant musical direction inspires outstanding performances from the soloists and the superb Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, enhanced by the smart, blockbusting staging of Laurent Pelly and the exquisite sets of Chantal Thomas, which propel this feverish fable to great heights.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Introduction to L'amour des 3 Oranges - including interviews with main members of the cast and the artistic team
Stephane Deneve's brilliant musical direction inspires outstanding performances from the soloists and the superb Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, enhanced by the smart, blockbusting staging of Laurent Pelly and the exquisite sets of Chantal Thomas, which propel this feverish fable to great heights.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Introduction to L'amour des 3 Oranges - including interviews with main members of the cast and the artistic team
Prokofiev's disturbingly enigmatic opera, The Fiery Angel , was never performed in his lifetime - considered too decadent by Stalin and his successors - but David Freeman's imaginative production asserts it as one of the composer's greatest masterpieces.
Ostensibly, it is a tale of religious hysteria and demonic possession, but the novel, by the Russian decadent Valéry Bryusov, from which the opera is derived, also explores symbolically the love triangle endured by the writer himself, inspired by the self-destructive figure of his lover, the poet Nina Petrovskaya.
David Freeman has completely entered into this opera's strangely unnerving world. Evil is all around us and in his sensational production the image is taken quite literally.
Ostensibly, it is a tale of religious hysteria and demonic possession, but the novel, by the Russian decadent Valéry Bryusov, from which the opera is derived, also explores symbolically the love triangle endured by the writer himself, inspired by the self-destructive figure of his lover, the poet Nina Petrovskaya.
David Freeman has completely entered into this opera's strangely unnerving world. Evil is all around us and in his sensational production the image is taken quite literally.
Based on Dostroyevsky's novel of the same name, The Gambler is a dark study of human failings and the corruptive power of money. In this work, everyone gambles: the hero Alexey, the General and even the wealthy aunt Babulenka. Blanche, the Marquis and Polina - who loves Alexey - gamble with their fellow human beings. The results are humiliation, ruin and self-delusion. But when the Staatskapelle Berlin under the world-famous conductor Daniel Barenboim provide the orchestral sound to the full, lustrous voices of Vladimir Ognovenko, Kristine Opolais, Misha Didyk, Stefania Toczyska and their colleagues, there is nothing even remotely dismal about the opera or its production.
Marking the 125th Anniversary of his birth, Prokofiev's Semyon Kotko is given an outstanding performance here by a fine cast, conducted by Valery Gergiev, who is widely regarded as one of the Prokofiev's greatest interpreters.
Set during 1918, in a Post-Bolshevik-Revolution climate, Semyon Kotko is a story of love, war and resistance although lesser-known than Prokofiev's other operas, such as War and Peace and Betrothal in a Monastery , Semyon Kotko is nevertheless a raw, thrilling, and utterly engrossing work.
Set during 1918, in a Post-Bolshevik-Revolution climate, Semyon Kotko is a story of love, war and resistance although lesser-known than Prokofiev's other operas, such as War and Peace and Betrothal in a Monastery , Semyon Kotko is nevertheless a raw, thrilling, and utterly engrossing work.
For Puccini, La Boheme was not just an eternal love story. The subject of his opera is time. The passing of time; the memory of time that will never live again. And we tell the music of the fourth act. In a succession of nostalgic variations that return to the themes of the first act. - Jean-Michel Folon (Torre del Lago, July 2003)
John Copley's enduring production of one of the most famously melodious and popular of all operas is a classic of the Royal Opera repertory. With historically accurate designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman and an excellent cast headed by Hibla Gerzmava and Teodor Ilincai, this 2009 revival, in which conductor Andris Nelsons makes a distinguished Royal Opera House debut, does full justice to Puccini's masterpiece.
Bonus Features :
- Cast Gallery
- Interview with John Copley
- Interview with Andris Nelsons
Bonus Features :
- Cast Gallery
- Interview with John Copley
- Interview with Andris Nelsons
One of the world's most beloved operas, La Boheme is, along with Puccini's Tosca and Madama Butterfly , one of the pillars of the Italian repertory. When it premiered in Turin on 1 February 1896, it was dismissed as "a momentary error". It wasn't until its first performance in Palermo that year that the opera scored a definitive success. This production of La Boheme scored a trio of "firsts": it was the first opera film to be produced by Unitel, the first music film conducted by Herbert von Karajan, and the first major film production by Franco Zeffirelli.
Produced in 1965, it was based on Zeffirelli's acclaimed 1963 La Scala production and features Mirella Freni and Gianni Raimondi as the star-crossed lovers. Karajan conducts the chorus and orchestra of Milan's La Scala. The production is still considered today one of the finest treatments of opera on film and a classic of opera performance in the 20th century.
Produced in 1965, it was based on Zeffirelli's acclaimed 1963 La Scala production and features Mirella Freni and Gianni Raimondi as the star-crossed lovers. Karajan conducts the chorus and orchestra of Milan's La Scala. The production is still considered today one of the finest treatments of opera on film and a classic of opera performance in the 20th century.
The Bohemians is an exciting new movie version of La Boheme , set in present-day Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As the current hotbed of counter-cultural artistic expression, Williamsburg presents the perfect modern counterpart to the Latin Quarter of Paris in the mid-1800s. The film stars well-known performers as well as aspiring new opera singers like Israel Lozano, a three-time winner of Placido Domingo's Operalia competition, and Suzanne Kantorski-Merrill, who both have approached the project with an amazing passion. The film also relies on the contributions of a number of graduates from Juilliard, the Academy of Vocal Arts and Manhattan School of Music.
Based on stories by Henri Merger but also infused with the composer's own experiences as a penniless graduate, Puccini's powerful opera La Boheme portrays its youthful characters' romantic outlook on life and the brutally tragic end to their innocence. The story is set around 1830 but director Orpha Phelan sees Puccini's characters as equally at home in our times: "their story is universal, all that is needed is to understand what it is like to be young and in love!" This Malmo production was acclaimed in the Svenska Dagbladet as "one of the most moving renditions of Puccini's opera I have ever seen".
Set in the artistic but impoverished milieu of early 19th-century Paris, the tragic love of the poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimi is on the most affecting in all opera. La Boheme's arias are also some of the most intensely passionate Puccini ever wrote, making it is one of the best-loved of all his works.
In what Opera News called a 'through rethinking and brilliant re-creation' this exceptional Oslo production, strongly cast and conducted, and staged by internationally acclaimed director Stefan Herheim, explores the work as never before to create what The New York Times called an 'ultimately haunting' experience.
In what Opera News called a 'through rethinking and brilliant re-creation' this exceptional Oslo production, strongly cast and conducted, and staged by internationally acclaimed director Stefan Herheim, explores the work as never before to create what The New York Times called an 'ultimately haunting' experience.
Nikolaus Lehnhoff's Hollywood-style production updates this Wild West story to the capitalist culture of Wall Street, perfectly reflecting Puccini's innovatory spirit. In a new angle on the age-old love triangle theme, corrupt Sheriff Jack Rance (Lucio Gallo) and charismatic criminal Dick Johnson (Zoran Todorovich) vie for the love of glamorous blonde and devout Christian Minnie (Eva-Maria Westbroek), finding her way in a man's world. Carlo Rizzi's idiomatic conducting draws excellent singing from the large cast and fine playing from the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.
Bonus features :
- Backstage insights - principal members of the cast and Basia Jaworski.
Bonus features :
- Backstage insights - principal members of the cast and Basia Jaworski.
Exactly 101 years after the world premiere of Puccini's La fanciulla del West at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Stockholm's Royal Opera House now presents a brilliant, modern-day interpretation of this rarely played opera. While the lead role is sung by Nina Stemme, one of today's best youthful-dramatic sopranos, the two male protagonists, John Lundgren and Aleksandrs Antonenko, can hardly be surpassed in vocal artistry and stage presence. Director Christof Loy stages the opera as an early Hollywood Western relating the impossible love of a young woman and the most wanted criminal in the West.
Puccini's Gianni Schicchi perfomed at the AVRO Kerstmatinee 2000 by Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Robert Wilson's pure and highly stylised 2003 production enhances the timeless beauty of Puccini's moving Japanese tragedy. Cheryl Barker and Martin Thompson lead an inspired cast in a highly charged recording from the Amsterdam Muziektheater with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by a masterful and passionate Edo de Waart.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Introduction to the Madama Butterfly - interviews with Robert Wilson, Edo De Waart and the cast
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Introduction to the Madama Butterfly - interviews with Robert Wilson, Edo De Waart and the cast
On the anniversary of the first success of Madama Butterfly in Brescia on 28 May 1904, Placido Domingo conducted, from the podium of Torre del Lago Puccini, Daniela Dessì, Fabio Armilato and Juan Pons in a new production by Stefano Monti with sets designed by Arnaldo Pomodoro and costumes of Maison Gattinoni.
Madam Butterfly is without doubt Giacomo Puccini's most beloved and performed opera, and opera that has captivated and touched the audiences of the whole world. This production was filmed in Torre del Lago, in the opera-air theatre on the shores of the peaceful Tuscan lake where Puccini liked to retreat.
A rococo beauty who ultimately drags everything into the abyss, Puccini's Manon Lescaut is never fully satisfied. She becomes addicted to the admiring glances she receives from others, and the luxury and diamonds in which she bathes don't warm her for long. In this, his first successful opera, the composer paints a portrait of a woman who has everything, only to lose it because she is incapable of holding on to anything. Likewise Puccini, who identified closely with his heroine, helping himself to many things. He took the orchestra from Verdi , expanding it with phrases and themes he found in Wagner and the French people.
To all of this he added something from within himself - a melody more breathless than that of Verdi, but in many ways, sweeter. Add to that an ingenious fire in which ideas flow and the themes are inspired. The fact that the Berliner Philharmoniker turn to Puccini - this beloved yet ostracized composer - is symbolic. Here is someone who was thought to be outmoded for a long time, but there is really so much more to be discovered about him and his work. The tale of one who becomes a model but remains a girl, is very contemporary.
To all of this he added something from within himself - a melody more breathless than that of Verdi, but in many ways, sweeter. Add to that an ingenious fire in which ideas flow and the themes are inspired. The fact that the Berliner Philharmoniker turn to Puccini - this beloved yet ostracized composer - is symbolic. Here is someone who was thought to be outmoded for a long time, but there is really so much more to be discovered about him and his work. The tale of one who becomes a model but remains a girl, is very contemporary.
Although one of his most consistently lyrical operas, La rondine (The Swallow) remains one of Puccini's least known. Dissatisfied with the result of his work, Puccini wrote three versions, with two different endings, and continued to make further revisions up to his death in 1924. The innovative 2007 production at the Torre del Lago Giacomo Puccini Festival, presented here, is in effect a fourth version, which combines Acts I and II of the first version (1917), with Lorenzo Ferrero?EUR(TM)s 1994 orchestration of parts of the Finale of Act III of the incomplete third version (1921), some of which had survived only in piano score, as well as Ruggero's Act I romanza, Parigi e la citta dei desideri , from the second version (1920).
With a sparkling score reminiscent of Franz Lehar and Richard Strauss, La rondine , set in mid-19th century Paris, tells the story of Magda de Civry, a young courtesan who falls in love one evening with Ruggero Lastouc, the handsome son of a childhood friend of her protector, Rambaldo Fernandez. Although Magda believes that her compromised social position prevents their marrying, in Puccini's third version it is Ruggero who leaves Magda when he discovers that she is the mistress of Rambaldo.
With a sparkling score reminiscent of Franz Lehar and Richard Strauss, La rondine , set in mid-19th century Paris, tells the story of Magda de Civry, a young courtesan who falls in love one evening with Ruggero Lastouc, the handsome son of a childhood friend of her protector, Rambaldo Fernandez. Although Magda believes that her compromised social position prevents their marrying, in Puccini's third version it is Ruggero who leaves Magda when he discovers that she is the mistress of Rambaldo.
Although one of his most consistently lyrical operas, La rondine (The Swallow) remains one of Puccini's least known. Dissatisfied with the result of his work, Puccini wrote three versions, with two different endings, and continued to make further revisions up to his death in 1924. The innovative 2007 production at the Torre del Lago Giacomo Puccini Festiva, presented on this video, is in effect a fourth version, which combines Acts I and II of the first version (1917), with Lorenzo Ferrero's 1994 orchestration of parts of the Finale of Act III of the incomplete third version (1921), some of which had survived only in piano score, as well as Ruggero's Act I romanza, Parigi e la citta dei desideri , from the second version (1920).
With a sparkling score reminiscent of Franz Lehar and Richard Strauss, La rondine, set in mid-19th century Paris, tells the story of Magda De Civry, a young courtesan who falls in love one evening with Ruggero Lastouc, the handsome son of a childhood friend her protector, Rambaldo Fernandez. Although Magda believes that her compromised social position prevents their marrying, in Puccini's third version it is Ruggero who leaves Magda when he discovers that she is the mistress of Rambaldo.
With a sparkling score reminiscent of Franz Lehar and Richard Strauss, La rondine, set in mid-19th century Paris, tells the story of Magda De Civry, a young courtesan who falls in love one evening with Ruggero Lastouc, the handsome son of a childhood friend her protector, Rambaldo Fernandez. Although Magda believes that her compromised social position prevents their marrying, in Puccini's third version it is Ruggero who leaves Magda when he discovers that she is the mistress of Rambaldo.
Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with a highly acclaimed perfomance of Puccini's opera in one act, Suor Angelica , at the legendary AVRO Kerstmatinee in 1999.
From the main hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam: Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra perfoming Puccini's opera in one act, Il tabarro . Joining them is a great cast of high-class singers. Amongst them star tenor José Cura.
Giacomo Puccini's fifth opera was first staged at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome in 14th January 1900. Tosca is an opera that arouses powerful feelings, written by a musician who excelled in the characterisation of weak figures. It is one of the most popular of Puccini's works, for it successfully conveys the irresistible force of elemental emotions and passions: jealousy, desire, love of life, despair in the face of death. In this sense Tosca is much more like the "desperate passion" of Manon Lescaut than the crepuscular intimism of Boheme .
Filmed in the authentic Roman locations specified in the score, this Tosca absolutely pulsates with tension and excitement. The first act was shot in the splendid Baroque church of Sant'Andrea della Valle. The second act was filmed in papal apartments in the Castel Sant'Angelo resembling those in the Palazzo Farnese, which is now the French Embassy and off limits to film teams. The final act was filmed on the banks of the Tiber and on the ramparts of the ancient Castel Sant'Angelo. Raina Kabaivanska is a memorable Tosca, restless, jealously provocative and powerfully determined. With Placido Domingo's heroically passionate portrayal of Cavaradossi and Sherrill Milnes' ruthless and eruptively sensual Scarpia, this Tosca is a winner.
Daniela Dessi takes the title role in Nuria Espert's new production of Puccini's fiery Roman melodrama of lust, betrayal and revenge.
A new production by the internationally acclaimed director Nuria Espert for the Teatro Real, Madrid, in a beautifully intense and dramatic classical style. The lighting by Vinicio Cheli increases the atmosphere of a performance which is destined as a benchmark for twenty-first century productions. Based on the theatre play La Tosca , by Victorien Sardou and first performed at the Teatro Costanzi de Roma on 14th January 1900. Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
Bonus feature:
- Interviews with Daniela Dessi and Fabio Armiliato, Ruggero Raimondi, Maurizio Benini, and Nuria Espert
A new production by the internationally acclaimed director Nuria Espert for the Teatro Real, Madrid, in a beautifully intense and dramatic classical style. The lighting by Vinicio Cheli increases the atmosphere of a performance which is destined as a benchmark for twenty-first century productions. Based on the theatre play La Tosca , by Victorien Sardou and first performed at the Teatro Costanzi de Roma on 14th January 1900. Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
Bonus feature:
- Interviews with Daniela Dessi and Fabio Armiliato, Ruggero Raimondi, Maurizio Benini, and Nuria Espert
Tosca is a melodrama of love, betrayal and death set in the revolutionary unrest of 1800. The story concerns the opera singer Floria Tosca who tries to save her lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi, from the brutal chief police, Scarpia. Through-composed and expertly orchestrated it contains some of Puccini's best-known lyrical arias and remains one of this most performed operas.
For the Easter Festival 2017 in Baden-Baden, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker draw their inspiration from Tosca , the most well-known and also most brilliant of all the Puccini operas. And that is deservedly so, since Tosca is not merely a work of art, but also a gripping suspense-packed story. With Kristine Opolais as Tosca and a spectacular staging by Philipp Himmelmann this production offers a fresh view on this beloved classic.
Turandot from the Arena di Verona: Franco Zeffirelli's legendary production of a Puccini masterpiece.
For its 88th edition, the prestigious Arena di Verona Festival honored internationally acclaimed Italian stage director Franco Zeffirelli. Zeffirelli delivers an opulent staging of the fairy-tale story of the Chinese Princess Turandot, who will only marry a prince capable of solving her riddles.
The Russian soprano Maria Guleghina proved a brilliant Turandot. Salvatore Licitra's trump card is his imposingly radiant tenor voice of which he remains in sovereign control even in the role's much-feared highest register. The soprano Tamar Iveri is a beautiful and sensitive Liù.
The Orchestra and Chorus of the Arena di Verona are conducted by Maestro Giuliano Carella.
For its 88th edition, the prestigious Arena di Verona Festival honored internationally acclaimed Italian stage director Franco Zeffirelli. Zeffirelli delivers an opulent staging of the fairy-tale story of the Chinese Princess Turandot, who will only marry a prince capable of solving her riddles.
The Russian soprano Maria Guleghina proved a brilliant Turandot. Salvatore Licitra's trump card is his imposingly radiant tenor voice of which he remains in sovereign control even in the role's much-feared highest register. The soprano Tamar Iveri is a beautiful and sensitive Liù.
The Orchestra and Chorus of the Arena di Verona are conducted by Maestro Giuliano Carella.
Giacomo Puccini wrote what was supposed to be his last opera at a time where, riddled with disease and old age as he was, he felt like his own turmoil was reflected in the outside world: itself staggering, unsteady, overwhelmed and smashed by the chaos of European diplomacy. In spite of these obstacles, he persevered and worked until the very end of his life on this opera that he left unfinished but that proved to be a "way out" for him in many ways. Drawn from an ancient Persian epic from the 13th century, Turandot was indeed an excuse to escape into a new dramatic universe, one made of unexpected sounds and symbols. Here, in a world removed both geographically and chronologically from his own reality, he gave into the seductive powers of exoticism and eroticism, just as his own heroin Princess Turandot abandons herself to the mysteries of love and forgiveness.
After twenty years of absence, Puccini's Turandot was revived on the stage of the Teatro Real in a new production by American stage director Robert Wilson. One of the most important theatre and visual artist of our times, the director who gave life to Philip Glass's Einstein of the Beach and who reinvented Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande hadn't worked on a Puccini opera in twenty-five years, since his...
After twenty years of absence, Puccini's Turandot was revived on the stage of the Teatro Real in a new production by American stage director Robert Wilson. One of the most important theatre and visual artist of our times, the director who gave life to Philip Glass's Einstein of the Beach and who reinvented Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande hadn't worked on a Puccini opera in twenty-five years, since his...
Puccini wrote Nessun Dorma for Turandot (1926), his last, unfinished opera, eventually completed by Franco Alfano . Special about the music of Turandot is Puccini's use of techniques from grand opera, as well as his chinoiseries.
In Nessun Dorma, Calaf expresses his conviction that he will overcome, and that Turandot will eventually love him. The orchestra paints the nocturnal atmosphere with wave-like movements in the strings, while the vocal melody gradually prepares the rise to a euphoric high b: one of the most feared, yet also most rewarding notes of the tenor repertoire.
Writer: Kasper van Kooten
In Nessun Dorma, Calaf expresses his conviction that he will overcome, and that Turandot will eventually love him. The orchestra paints the nocturnal atmosphere with wave-like movements in the strings, while the vocal melody gradually prepares the rise to a euphoric high b: one of the most feared, yet also most rewarding notes of the tenor repertoire.
Writer: Kasper van Kooten
Le Villi is an opera-ballet in two acts that marked Giacomo Puccini's debut in the world of opera. It was first staged at Teatro dal Verme in Milan in 1884. Librettist Ferdinando Fontana based the story on the ancient legend of the Willis, fantastic creatures representing the souls of young women who were the victims of love.
Anna and Roberto are engaged, but during a trip the man is seduced by a woman and his fianc?e dies of heartbreak. Roberto, who is by then abandoned and left penniless, is haunted by remorse and attacked by the revengeful fairies and Anna's ghost.
All the elements of the more mature Puccini are already recognizable: the characters of Anna and Roberto anticipate the "love victim" and the "man without qualities" archetypes of his later operas, whereas some of the composer's touches of harmony and aria structure foresee his future success.
Anna and Roberto are engaged, but during a trip the man is seduced by a woman and his fianc?e dies of heartbreak. Roberto, who is by then abandoned and left penniless, is haunted by remorse and attacked by the revengeful fairies and Anna's ghost.
All the elements of the more mature Puccini are already recognizable: the characters of Anna and Roberto anticipate the "love victim" and the "man without qualities" archetypes of his later operas, whereas some of the composer's touches of harmony and aria structure foresee his future success.
The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera join forces for Wayne McGregor's acclaimed fusion of music and movement, whose richly layered designs perfectly complement Purcell's telling of a classical tale of love thwarted by evil powers. With Sarah Connolly and Lucas Meachem in the title roles, Christopher Hogwood conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
Henry Purcell was a genius whose ability to combine French and Italian influences transported the English language to new levels of expression in music. Dido and Aeneas was pioneering in its day and is considered one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works, with a moving tale of love, betrayal and tragedy that has proved to be of unceasing appeal to audiences for centuries. Deborah Warner's affection for this opera shines through in an overwhelmingly acclaimed performance filmed in December 2008 at the Opera Comique in Paris.
The collaboration of the poet John Dryden and Henry Purcell marked a conspicuous leap forward for English opera. Their greatest project, King Arthur , is a five-act 'dramatic opera', the text of which had its origins in a patriotic musical play Dryden had written in 1684 but which he radically overhauled. The result was a work that appealed to the audience's enthusiasm for fine costumes, lavish sets, ingenious stage machinery and a cast of singers, dancers and instrumentalists, containing vocal show-stoppers such as the imperishable Frost Scene and Fairest Isle. This critically acclaimed staging uses a new performing edition by Rene Jacobs, and is sung in English with German dialogue
Castor et Pollux is arguably Rameau's finest creation in the tragédie lyrique style. Its libretto, based in mythology, focuses on an unusual theme: the self-sacrificing love between Castor, who is mortal, and his immortal brother, Pollux. When Castor is killed while defending his beloved Telaire from an attempted abduction, Pollux resolves to give up his immortality and take Castor's place in the Underworld. After passionate debate over who will live and who will die, the brothers are eternally united, transformed into the constellation Gemini. The strikingly luminous sets, depicting a stylized version of the constellation, give this fabulous production, staged by Pierre Audi and conducted by Christophe Rousset, a glorious 21st-century baroque look.
Bonus features :
- Illustrated Synopsis
- To serve this big spectacle - a look behind the scenes of Castor et Pollux with comments by Pierre Audi and members of the cast and crew.
Bonus features :
- Illustrated Synopsis
- To serve this big spectacle - a look behind the scenes of Castor et Pollux with comments by Pierre Audi and members of the cast and crew.
Les fetes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour was Rameau's first exploration of the world of Egyptian mythology. Its libretto called for magic, gods and extraordinary natural effects to which he responded with one his most comprehensively brilliant scores, blending a gallant and pastoral inspiration of extreme refinement with powerful vocal and orchestral writing. In his use of a fluid and continuous flow of music, in the theatrical deployment of choruses, and in the blurring of the distinction between recitatives and airs, Rameau entered a new and pioneering stage of development. The score heard in his performance is the authoritative version.
In Glyndebourne's first-ever staging of an opera by Rameau , director Jonathan Kent presents a production which, in his own words, 'strives to appeal to every sense and show audiences how engrossing and musically ravishing French Baroque opera can be.' Rameau's inventive take on Racine's great tragedy Phedre brought to life Paul Brown's colourful and elegant designs and Ashley Page's playful choreography. Ed Lyon and Christine Kang give captivating performances as the titular young lovers, while Sara Connolly, making a welcome return to Glyndebourne, 'invests Phaedra with both grandeur and a desperately human vulnerability' (The Independent). Leading exponent of early music William Christie 'sets an exhilarating pace, galvanising the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to playing of tremendous panache' (The Daily Telegraph).
Rameau's first opera Hippolyte et Aricie delivered a lyrical tragedy of such extraordinary intensity it changed the course of French music, stunning and overwhelming its audiences. This breathtaking spectacle involves prince Hippolyte, who asks his mother-in-law Queen Phedre for help in wooing the beautiful Aricie, not knowing the Phedre secretly wants Hippolyte for herself. In a single work Rameau re-invented tragedie en musique with dramatic expressiveness and shocking harmonic innovations. It is seen here in an acclaimed Opera Comique production that personifies Rameau's assertion that 'music must speak to the sould, it's true aim must be to express thoughts, feelings, and passions'.
The French Baroque opera Hippolyte et Aricie carries its audience away into a realm of wonders with magnificent dance and choir scenes and the greatest possible multitude of musical forms. Philippe Rameau , a French contemporary of Bach and Handel , revolutionized the music of his time with radically novel, sometimes dissonant harmonics; extraordinarily colourful and complex orchestral movements, multifarious rhythms and dramatic intensity.
The artist Olafur Eliasson, who created the set design for the opera Phaedra and the ballet Tree of Codes is responsible for the set and costume design. In his art, he deconstructs natural phenomena and he rethinks them with the help of color, light, reflections and motion. For Eliasson it is never about the work of art as an autonomous object, but about the interchange with the beholder.
The artist Olafur Eliasson, who created the set design for the opera Phaedra and the ballet Tree of Codes is responsible for the set and costume design. In his art, he deconstructs natural phenomena and he rethinks them with the help of color, light, reflections and motion. For Eliasson it is never about the work of art as an autonomous object, but about the interchange with the beholder.
In Dreams of Babel, a documentary about the dance prodigy Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui released on DVD by Bel Air Classiques in 2010, the choreographer explained how shifting identities, multiculturalism, and his own plural heritage as the son of an immigrant, had shaped his dramaturgy and artistic inspiration. Thus, to take on the stage direction for Les Indes Galantes , whose multiple plots take place in a fantasized exotic elsewhere, supposed to mirror the European society, meant for Cherkaoui bringing the tension between identity and alterity to a whole new level. And the choreographer pushes his reflection much farther than mere baroque specular aesthetics: his Indes Galantes raise the sensible issues of population movements, fragmented and ever-changing territories and borders, but also the refugee crisis that has shaken Europe to its very core.
For this new production at the Prinzregenten Theater, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui brought his own dance ensemble, the Eastman company, as well as a brilliant vocal cast, among which Anna Prohaska, Francois Lis or Lisette Oropesa. Ivor Bolton conducts a Munchner Festspielorchester at the top of its game.
For this new production at the Prinzregenten Theater, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui brought his own dance ensemble, the Eastman company, as well as a brilliant vocal cast, among which Anna Prohaska, Francois Lis or Lisette Oropesa. Ivor Bolton conducts a Munchner Festspielorchester at the top of its game.
Inspired by a fable by La Fontaine, Rameau produced perhaps his most brilliant music for his penultimate great work, blending reality and the surreal on several levels. This passionate new production by Jose Montalvo, stunningly choreographed by Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu, sets new standards in entertainment, charm and ingenuity. The sharp and spectacular multimedia staging does full justice to Rameau's dazzling burlesque, confirming Olivier Rouviere's statement that ' Les Paladins is the last laugh of a witty 77-year old composer'. Recorded live in 2004 at the Paris Theatre du Chatelet, both the virtuoso cast and Les Arts Florissants are in top form, clearly enjoying themselves in the masterful hands of William Christie.
Bonus feature:
- Baroque that rocks! EUR" A documentary film by Reiner E. Moritz featuring interviews with William Christie, Dominique Hervieu, Topi Lehtipuu, Stephanie d'Oustrac and other members of the cast
Bonus feature:
- Baroque that rocks! EUR" A documentary film by Reiner E. Moritz featuring interviews with William Christie, Dominique Hervieu, Topi Lehtipuu, Stephanie d'Oustrac and other members of the cast
Jean-Philippe Rameau's Platee is a masterpiece of the French operatic repertoire and was highly regarded by critics during the composer's lifetime. Composed for the marriage of the Dauphin Louis, son of Louis XV, to the Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain, it was first performed at Versailles in 1745 and became an instant hit.
The plot revolves around the ugly and conceited frog Platee, the victim of a machination of the gods who make her believe that she is loved by Jupiter. Is this Rameau mocking Princess Maria Teresa of Spain - reputedly a woman of little beauty? Or the French court, which saw itself as a new Olympus?
This classic production from the Opera national de Paris by Marc Minkowski and Laurent Pelly returns to the stage with an entirely new cast, featuring Julie Fuchs, Mathias Vidal, Jean Teitgen and Lawrence Brownlee in the title-role.
The plot revolves around the ugly and conceited frog Platee, the victim of a machination of the gods who make her believe that she is loved by Jupiter. Is this Rameau mocking Princess Maria Teresa of Spain - reputedly a woman of little beauty? Or the French court, which saw itself as a new Olympus?
This classic production from the Opera national de Paris by Marc Minkowski and Laurent Pelly returns to the stage with an entirely new cast, featuring Julie Fuchs, Mathias Vidal, Jean Teitgen and Lawrence Brownlee in the title-role.
Making full use of Drottningholm Theatre's unique 17th century Baroque theatre machinery, as well as his deep creative understanding of the profound drama of the work, stage director Pierre Audi creates a production of Zoroastre that completely accords with the spirit of Rameau. True to the form of the tragedie lyrique, choreographer Amir Hosseinpour's dances perfectly match the weight and meaning of both plot and music. The ensemble, Les Talens Lyriques, reinforced with musicians from the Drottningholm Court Theatre Orchestra and Chorus, is expertly and passionately led into the musical stratosphere by musical director Christophe Rousset. This intensely dramatic production is captured live in vibrant High Definition video and true surround sound.
Bonus features:
- Zoroastre: Discovering an opera - a documentary by Olivier Simonnet
- Illustrated Synopsis
Bonus features:
- Zoroastre: Discovering an opera - a documentary by Olivier Simonnet
- Illustrated Synopsis
This video features the three-act opera Aleksis Kivi (1996) by iconic Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara who also wrote the libretto.
The opera tells the story of Finland's national author Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) and draws on many of Kivi's own poems and texts. Aleksis Kivi wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language (Seven Brothers), but during his short lifetime he suffered from moral and artistic condemnation by literary rivals. He died, insane and impoverished, at age 38.
This Finnish National Opera production is conducted by Mikko Franck and staged by Pekka Milonoff and features Jorma Hynninen in the lead role. Hynninen, upon whose request the opera was written, already headed the casts at the opera's world premiere performance in 1997, as well as for the acclaimed premiere CD recording in 2002.
The opera tells the story of Finland's national author Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) and draws on many of Kivi's own poems and texts. Aleksis Kivi wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language (Seven Brothers), but during his short lifetime he suffered from moral and artistic condemnation by literary rivals. He died, insane and impoverished, at age 38.
This Finnish National Opera production is conducted by Mikko Franck and staged by Pekka Milonoff and features Jorma Hynninen in the lead role. Hynninen, upon whose request the opera was written, already headed the casts at the opera's world premiere performance in 1997, as well as for the acclaimed premiere CD recording in 2002.
Ottorino Respighi's La bella dormente nel bosco (Sleeping Beauty) was originally commissioned by the renowned puppeteer Vittorio Podrecca. The revised version we hear today preserves much of the kaleidoscopic approach and magnified characters and emotions of that original, now enhanced by the composer's matchless orchestration. This famous story in which the Princess pricks her finger on a spindle and sleeps for centuries until kissed by her Prince is given a magical atmosphere through director Leo Muscato's colourful staging, and the superb cast of this Teatro Lirico di Cagliari production truly inhabits an enchanted realm.
The opera La campana sommersa (The Sunken Bell) is Respighi's operatic masterpiece. A symbolist drama on a supernatural theme. It is steeped in beauty, mystery and foreboding and orchestrated with the Romantic opulence familiar from his sumptuous trilogy of Roman tone-poems. Its triumph at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1928 was repeated at La Scala, Milan, and this most recent production at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, world-renowed for its staging of rarities, was hailed for its 'brilliant production' and magnificent performances.
Composed using his own libretto, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov created this magical opera based on the short story Nikolay Gogol in which Vakula the handsome blacksmith wants to marry the rich farmer's daughter Oksana, who in turn demands that he must first bring her the Tsarina's shoes. Meanwhile a witch on her broomstick gathers the stars on the devil steals the moon - demonic forces trying to hinder this romantic union. Enchantment and enlightenment come together happily in Rimsky-Korsakov's fairy-tale opera, and this Oper Frankfurt production was considered 'a perfect seasonal tonic' by the Financial Times.
Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel (Le Coq d'or) is based on a Pushkin fold take, but the opera's Orientalism, comedy and sultry elements go far beyond its original influence. The composer saw in the story of Tsar, punished for his cowardice and despotism, and opportunity to employ satire to condemn Russian's autocratic ruler, Nicholas II.
This new production premiered in May 2021 and was staged by the Australian director, Barrie Kosky, a specialist in Russian opera. Critics hailed the 'glorious' singing of Dmitry Ulyanov and the 'exquisite' performance of Nina Minasyan calling the event 'a triumphant evening for all concerned' (Bachtrack.com).
This new production premiered in May 2021 and was staged by the Australian director, Barrie Kosky, a specialist in Russian opera. Critics hailed the 'glorious' singing of Dmitry Ulyanov and the 'exquisite' performance of Nina Minasyan calling the event 'a triumphant evening for all concerned' (Bachtrack.com).
The Invisible City of Kitezh , completed in 1905, is a remarkable opera that fuses folklore, mysticism and realism. Its subject is the story of the advancing Mongol army's entry to the Great Kitezh and the city's subsequent miraculous survival. Rejecting archaisms and the more religiously inclined suggestions of his librettist, Rimsky-Korsakov sought to create an opera that is contemporary and even fairly advanced. It is therefore through-composed, hinting at times at Wagnerian procedure, and flooded with the composer's rich, apt and brilliant orchestral palette, fully supportive of the powerful vocal writing.
The Invisible City of Kitezh , completed in 1905, is a remarkable opera that fuses folklore, mysticism and realism. Its subject is the story of the advancing Mongol army's entry to Great Kitezh and the city's subsequent miraculous survival. Rejecting archaisms and the more religiously inclined suggestions of his librettist, Rimsky-Korsakov sought to create an opera that is "contemporary and even fairly advanced". It is therefore through-composed, hinting at times at Wagnerian procedure, and flooded with the composer's rich, apt and brilliant orchestral palette, fully supportive of the powerful vocal writing.
In the 13th century, the rich merchants of Novgorod mock the dreams of far-away journeys and of commercial conquests brought forth by Sadko, a musician and singer. But Volkhova, the Sea King's daughter, is enchanted by Sadko's voice, and promises to help him fulfill his dreams...
Sadko is a decisive work in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's aesthetic evolution. As in many operas, the composer draws his artistic material from Russian folk and fairytales, but also from old musical and poetic forms. The result is a prodigious opera, whose modernity - both dramatic and musical - erupts from the fabulous resources of traditional Russian epics, but also from the wonders of the marine universe, close to his former navigator self's heart.
A subtle analyst of the slavic soul, stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov comes back to the great stage of the Bolshoi Theater and devises a surprising production that perfectly underlines the ambiguities of this paradoxical opera, between past and present, fantasy and reality. He surrounds himself with magnificent Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, but also some of his favorite singers: Mikhail Petrenko, Ekaterina Semenchuk... In the pit and at the head of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, young Russian conductor Timur Zangiev breathes in this little-know...
Sadko is a decisive work in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's aesthetic evolution. As in many operas, the composer draws his artistic material from Russian folk and fairytales, but also from old musical and poetic forms. The result is a prodigious opera, whose modernity - both dramatic and musical - erupts from the fabulous resources of traditional Russian epics, but also from the wonders of the marine universe, close to his former navigator self's heart.
A subtle analyst of the slavic soul, stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov comes back to the great stage of the Bolshoi Theater and devises a surprising production that perfectly underlines the ambiguities of this paradoxical opera, between past and present, fantasy and reality. He surrounds himself with magnificent Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, but also some of his favorite singers: Mikhail Petrenko, Ekaterina Semenchuk... In the pit and at the head of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, young Russian conductor Timur Zangiev breathes in this little-know...
The argument is based on an historical case. In the suburbs of Moscow, reigned around 1571 Tsar Ivan IV, the Terrible . As Widowed, he is looking for a new wife for the third time. He chooses the young Marfa, she loves another man but bends to the will of the Tsar and renounces her love.
From this starting plot, the Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov retains only the frame. A live competition is organized for a virtual monarch like in the reality show called Joe Millionaire where competitors attempt to marry a rich man. Here, the characters become the various players of the audiovisual industry bringing an acerbic critic of nowadays television.
Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin. With Olga Peretyatko, Anita Rachvelishvili and Johannes Martin Kranzle.
From this starting plot, the Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov retains only the frame. A live competition is organized for a virtual monarch like in the reality show called Joe Millionaire where competitors attempt to marry a rich man. Here, the characters become the various players of the audiovisual industry bringing an acerbic critic of nowadays television.
Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin. With Olga Peretyatko, Anita Rachvelishvili and Johannes Martin Kranzle.
First performed at the Teatro Regio, Turin, on 5 March 1876, Lauro Rossi's penultimate opera Cleopatra caught the public's attention in the wake of Verdi's Aida (1871). Like that better-known work, it contains some wonderful arias and set pieces, including a marvelous Act I banquet scene, Cleopatra's Act II aria, the thrilling ensemble that closes Act III, and the confrontation between Cleopatra and Octavian in Act IV, all making for compelling viewing and listening. From the brooding opening scene in which Diomedes foretells the fall of Egypt to Cleopatra's death scene, this gripping grand opera by one of Italy's forgotten masters springs vividly to life in this revival filmed at the 2008 Macerata Sferisterio Festival
From the Rossini Festival in Pesaro comes the first staged performance since 1825 of Adelaide di Borgogna . Set in medieval times, the libretto relates the tale of a king's widow who is used as a pawn in diplomatic and amorous intrigues. Adelaide stars sought-after mezzo Daniela Barcellona as Ottone, and, in the role of Adelaide, young Australian soprano Jessica Pratt, who possesses a natural-born bel-canto voice. Director Pier' Alli has devised a modern, stylish look for his production, which interweaves medieval aspects with ironically used elements from the time of the opera's genesis.
The Opera Vlaanderen of Antwerp continues its Rossini Cycle under the musical direction of conductor Alberto Zedda, with the rarely performed opera Armida . Armida is clearly a tenor opera par excellence, as there are four tenors among its main roles, here interpreted by Enea Scala, Robert McPherson, Dario Schmunck and the young Adam Smith.
Director Marianne Clement and her customary set designer Julia Hansen have returned to the Opera Vlaanderen after the successful Giasone by Cavalli released by Dynamic. Here they take a critical look of the world of the noble and heroic knightly ideals are cast aside. However, love here turns into a destructive frenzy.
Director Marianne Clement and her customary set designer Julia Hansen have returned to the Opera Vlaanderen after the successful Giasone by Cavalli released by Dynamic. Here they take a critical look of the world of the noble and heroic knightly ideals are cast aside. However, love here turns into a destructive frenzy.
Based on Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's highly acclaimed Salzburg production, Il Barbiere di Siviglia was filmed in a Munich studio, while the voices and music were taped in Milan, using the Scala orchestra and chorus. The brilliant cast includes Teresa Berganza, Hermann Prey, Luigi Alva and Enzo Dara, all great names in the international operatic world.
The press enthusiastically declared this Barber of Seville a "firework display of exhilarating comedy" and praised the "unforced liveliness" of the cast. EuroArts releases this highly acclaimed staging of one of the most popular operas ever written. Vesselina Kasarova is the undisputed star of this production - she shines musically and dramatically in the part of Rosina, one of her signature roles, which she has since been invited to sing in many major opera houses from Vienna to New York. Recorded live at the Zurich Opera in April 2001, the cast was led by Manuel Lanza as Figaro, Reinaldo Macias as the Count, Carlos Chausson as Bartolo and Nicolai Ghiaurov as Basilio and Nello Santi, a "singer-conductor" in the best Italian tradition, roused his orchestra to precise, vivacious performance.
Gioacchino Rossini was only 23 years old when he wrote what was to become his most famous opera, composed after the scandalous eponymous play by Beaumarchais. Il Barbiere di Siviglia premiered in Rome in 1816: an innovative work, full of sophistication and finesse that first intrigued the Italian public, before winning over the entire peninsula and the rest of the world.
The opera displays with great clarity the essence of the Rossinian revolution: situation comedy, sharp criticism of social hypocrisy, together with a witty musical style, the glory of belcanto, and the contagious energy of assertive melodic lines. With the adventures of the factotum Figaro and his master Almaviva, looking to seduce the beautiful Rosina and steal her away from the old Bartolo; through the endless criss-crossing of this lover's chase, Rossini was to begin a new chapter in Italian opera, and forge a new brand that shaped the musical landscape of the 19th century.
For this reprisal of Hugo de Ana's famous staging at the Arena di Verona, Rossini's masterpiece is conducted by Maestro Daniel Oren. Italian baritone Leo Nucci, a true connoisseur of the part, is a boastful and virtuoso Figaro, while soprano Nino Machaidze and tenor Dmitry Korchak are perfect as the not-so-candid lovers around whom...
The opera displays with great clarity the essence of the Rossinian revolution: situation comedy, sharp criticism of social hypocrisy, together with a witty musical style, the glory of belcanto, and the contagious energy of assertive melodic lines. With the adventures of the factotum Figaro and his master Almaviva, looking to seduce the beautiful Rosina and steal her away from the old Bartolo; through the endless criss-crossing of this lover's chase, Rossini was to begin a new chapter in Italian opera, and forge a new brand that shaped the musical landscape of the 19th century.
For this reprisal of Hugo de Ana's famous staging at the Arena di Verona, Rossini's masterpiece is conducted by Maestro Daniel Oren. Italian baritone Leo Nucci, a true connoisseur of the part, is a boastful and virtuoso Figaro, while soprano Nino Machaidze and tenor Dmitry Korchak are perfect as the not-so-candid lovers around whom...
Rossini's comic masterpiece was based on Pierre-Agustin Caron de Beaumarchais's French play Le Barbier de Seville and is the ultimate opera buffa. The score is a compendium of the composer's wittiest and most brilliant writing, and includes the famous entrance aria Largo al factotum and a raft of superbly dynamic ensembles. This vibrant and youthful production features Florian Sempey, one of the world's best Figaros, the 'Rossini tenor' Michelle Angelini, vivacious and critically admired Catherine Trottmann, and the award-winning team of acclaimed director Laurent Pelly and conductor Jeremie Rhorer who directs his spirited period ensemble Le Cercle de l'Harmonie.
At the apex of his career, Rossini accepted a commission from La Scala to produce a new title. The new opera entitled Bianca e Falliero would open the Carnival season on 26th December 1819. Reaping great success with audiences but received contrasting review, some of them outright negative, Bianca e Falliero is a story of Falliero, hero coming back after a successful battle only to find that his love, Bianca has been arranged to marry somebody else.
The present video is the first authorized video publication of an ROF productions. Among the many and unquestionable merits of this festival are its high-quality stagings, which are reference points in the history of the production of Rossini's operas. Bianca e Falliero returns, this time, in an intimate and iconic interpretation that stands poles apart from that of Pizzi, and is inspired by Venetian Renaissance paintings, with an explicit reference to the works of Veronese.
The present video is the first authorized video publication of an ROF productions. Among the many and unquestionable merits of this festival are its high-quality stagings, which are reference points in the history of the production of Rossini's operas. Bianca e Falliero returns, this time, in an intimate and iconic interpretation that stands poles apart from that of Pizzi, and is inspired by Venetian Renaissance paintings, with an explicit reference to the works of Veronese.
The plot of La cambiale di matrimonio , which Rossini composed when he was just eighteen years old, revolves around the farcical attempts of Tobia Mill, a rich English merchant, to combine business with pleasure by forcing his daughter, the lovely Fanny ("the merchandise") to marry Slook, his rich colonial correspondent from America, by means of a bill of exchange. Eventually it is the gallant Slook himself who persuades Mill to allow Fanny to marry her true love, Edoardo Milfort. This Rossini Opera Festival ?EUR" Pesaro production features two well-established singers, Desiree Rancatore and Saimir Pirgu, who are joined by three promising young singers: Fabio Maria Capitanucci, Enrico Maria Marabelli and Maria Gortsevskaya.
Rossini's first staged opera already contains all the elements that would take the music world by storm in Il barbiere di Siviglia , L'italiana in Algeri and La Cenerentola in the years to come: melodic inventiveness, ingenious connections between sung lines and orchestral accompaniment in the exuberant finale, musical humour and ensembles using breathtakingly fast parlando singing. This sparkling production continues the Rossini one-act opera series emerging from the Schwetzingen Festival with excellent direction, acting and stagecraft. Director Michael Hampe created a perfect realization of the opera in the small, jewel-like Rococo Theatre of Schwetzingen Palace in May 1989. The staging is perfectly suited to the screen and the cast of principals, led by John Del Carlo; Janice Hall and David Kuebler provide musical excellence together with the flexible Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. The lively performance is led by Gianluigi Gelmetti, who was awarded the Rossini d'Oro Prize in 1999.
"Catch Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez in what may just be definitive performances in Rossini's enchanting rags-to-riches rendition," entreated James Sohre in his review of Rossini's beloved drama giocoso La Cenerentola in Opera Today. This recording from Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu captures all the vocal sparks and dazzle generated by these two phenomenal singers.
With his airy, effortless high notes and perfect command of rapid-fire Rossinian parlando, the charismatic Flórez once again proves that he was born to sing Rossini. American mezzo Joyce DiDonato is not only a beautiful Angelina and a stunning presence, but also a prodigiously gifted artist who moves with ease and grace from the most delicate pianissimi to the most heartrending outbursts of passion. A noted bel canto singer, Ms. DiDonato won the Metropolitan Opera's Beverly Sills Award in 2007.
Coproduced by the Houston Grand Opera, the Welsh National Opera Cardiff and Geneva's Grand Théâtre in addition to the Liceu, this international undertaking boasts a truly cosmopolitan flair. Conducting the Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Patrick Summers leads "an effervescent reading" (Opera Today) that is fully supported by the rest of the top-notch cast. Director Joan Font and his set and costume...
With his airy, effortless high notes and perfect command of rapid-fire Rossinian parlando, the charismatic Flórez once again proves that he was born to sing Rossini. American mezzo Joyce DiDonato is not only a beautiful Angelina and a stunning presence, but also a prodigiously gifted artist who moves with ease and grace from the most delicate pianissimi to the most heartrending outbursts of passion. A noted bel canto singer, Ms. DiDonato won the Metropolitan Opera's Beverly Sills Award in 2007.
Coproduced by the Houston Grand Opera, the Welsh National Opera Cardiff and Geneva's Grand Théâtre in addition to the Liceu, this international undertaking boasts a truly cosmopolitan flair. Conducting the Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Patrick Summers leads "an effervescent reading" (Opera Today) that is fully supported by the rest of the top-notch cast. Director Joan Font and his set and costume...
The first opera to be staged at the recently reconstructed Petruzzelli theatre of Bari, this Cenerentola shines with the bravura and comic verve of its interpreters. Daniele Abbado's direction and Evelino Pido's conducting bring out the best of this opera, which for much of the 19th century vied with Il barbiere di Siviglia as Rossini's most popular and most frequently performed comic opera.
Written in French in 1828 for the Paris Opera, Le Comte Ory has maintained its success in France and in many other countries to this day. Re-using some of the music of his Viaggio a Reims, Rossini turns the disguise-based libretto into a spirited play of erotic lightness. Lluis Pasqual's witty and clever production was recorded at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. The dynamic, international young cast is headed by tenor Yijie Shi in the title role, Laura Polverelli as his astute page and Maria Jose Moreno as Countess Adele. Paolo Carignani conducts with verve and brio.
Demetrio e Polibio was Rossini's very first opera. Written when he was a teenager, it premiered in Rome in 1812 and revived at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in 2010. Young stage director Davide Livermore, heading a production of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Urbino, turns the libretto into a ghost story, setting the action at night, behind the stage of an opera house. Thanks to various "phantasmagorical" tricks, Livermore creates an enchanting atmosphere that is musically rendered by the Orchestra Sinfonica Rossini under Corrado Rovaris. Each giving outstanding performances are the four young soloists Maria Jose Moreno, Victoria Zaytseva, Yijie Shi and Mirco Palazzi, "stars of the highest international order" (Suddeutsche Zeitung).
L'equivoco stravagante was written on 1811 and its Rossini's first two-act comic opera, the only one written for a theatre in Bologna (his adoptive home after he abandoned Pesaro). A truly peculiar opera; not so much in its music but with the text written by Gaetano Gasbarri which led the work being ostracised from theaters for nearly two centuries.
L'equivoco stravagante stages the classic situation of the young girl who does not intend to be wedded to the traditional rich braggart but prefers a timid young man who is short of money; this time the expedient used to drive off the undesired wooer is to have him believe that in reality the girl is a young boy who has been castrated - or in the euphemistic parlance of the time a musico . Seasoned with fanciful language, made up of bold neologisms and licentious double meanings, with expressions that are in turn silly, absurd, or hyperbolic, Gasbarri's libretto offers no few aspects of modernity, while Rossini's music already contains the melodic invention, the frenzied rhythm, the musical electricity that within just a few months were to project the composer unstoppably towards worldwide success.
L'equivoco stravagante stages the classic situation of the young girl who does not intend to be wedded to the traditional rich braggart but prefers a timid young man who is short of money; this time the expedient used to drive off the undesired wooer is to have him believe that in reality the girl is a young boy who has been castrated - or in the euphemistic parlance of the time a musico . Seasoned with fanciful language, made up of bold neologisms and licentious double meanings, with expressions that are in turn silly, absurd, or hyperbolic, Gasbarri's libretto offers no few aspects of modernity, while Rossini's music already contains the melodic invention, the frenzied rhythm, the musical electricity that within just a few months were to project the composer unstoppably towards worldwide success.
Rossini wrote L'equivoco stravagante ('The Curious Misunderstanding'), his first full-length opera, when he was only 19 years old. As its title suggests, the plot of this dramma giocoso offers a panoply of absurdist stagecraft with one character being led to believe that the work's heroine is in fact a castrato trying to avoid military service. Full of his trademark buffo humuor, melodious and musically buoyant, the opera ran foul of the censors and was swiftly banned, which accounts for its rarity in performances and recordings. The new edition of the score was used in this production corrects numerous previous errors.
Ermione is an opera of string colours, dominated by violent, shifting feelings, with passages of remarkable dramatic intensity and vivid pathos, rendered with masterly skill by the performers in this edition from the Rossini Opera Festival. The subject was taken from Jean-Baptiste Racine's tragedy Andromaque (1667) and the libretto was written by prolific librettist Andrea Leone Tottola . It premiered at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples on 27th March 1819 but was not a success for it was withdrawn after only seven performances until it was revived in concert form in Sienna on 22nd August 1987.
Together with librettist, Giovanni Gherardini, Rossini opened La gazza ladra at Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 31st March 1817. The opera was a success from its premiere and deservedly entered the already substantial catalogue of Rossini's works and, at the same time, generated a new group - the semi-serious genre. With La gazza ladra Rossini succeeds in mixing comic-sentimental and dramatic elements, thus achieving a music style which is enriched, modulated to suit events, forerunning an aesthetic ideal that was to be formalised some years later. The brilliant, rousing ouverture was made famous thanks to the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick's motion picture A Clockwork Orange .
The story, inspired by a sad event that had really happened, is based on a rather complex plot but does have a happy ending, and exploits mainly a weepy, pathetic tone, concentrating on the character of Ninetta, who is innocent but considered guilty.
The story, inspired by a sad event that had really happened, is based on a rather complex plot but does have a happy ending, and exploits mainly a weepy, pathetic tone, concentrating on the character of Ninetta, who is innocent but considered guilty.
Misunderstandings and plot twists abound in this opera buffa. The Opera Royal de Wallonie (ORW) ended its 2014 season with La Gazzetta , a comic opera by Gioachino Rossini taken from a play by Carlo Goldoni . This Liege production of the 1816 opera was directed by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera. The plot revolves around the bizarre idea of a man who decides to find a husband for his daughter through an ad in a newspaper. This production includes, for the first time, a quintet found In 2012 by the librarian of Palermo's Conservatory: authenticated by US musicologist Philp Gosset, it has been given back its rightful place in Act One of Rossini's opera.
This production of L'inganno felice , a semi-serious opera that is quite popular also in our day, was recorded in the summer of 2015 at the Rossini in Wildbad Opera Festival. The performance had a resounding success, thanks to the direction of Jochen Schonleber, the vigorous conducting of Antonino Fogliani and the presence of the bass Lorenzo Regazzo in the role of Tarabotto, the true star of the soiree, supported by a splendid Silvia Della Benetta as Isabella.
"A complete and organized madness": it would be difficult to find a more apt description than that of the writer Stendhal to describe this surrealist face, composed by Rossini in a matter of weeks (he claimed 18 days) and premiered in May 1813. In the madcap comedy L'Italiani in Algeri , dadaist sensibilities meet onomatopoetic Italian opera buffa in two acts brimming with frenetic rhythms-seeming to anticipate the films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton-and yet, also, with great tenderness in the arias of Isabella and her fiance Lindoro, and with the patriotic fervor that animated Venice during the era.
The corsair Mustafa, bored with his wife Elvira, wishes to find a new companion. He intends to marry Elvira off to his Italian slave Lindoro (Maxim Mironov), himself preoccupied with his fiancee Isabella (Christianne Stotijn) in Italy. Unbeknownst to him, Isabella has already made plans to come find Lindoro in Algiers?EUR"and upon her arrival, she charms Mustafa and fools him into thinking he has won her affections. Can she keep up the ruse long enough to escape back to Italy with her beloved? medici.tv
The corsair Mustafa, bored with his wife Elvira, wishes to find a new companion. He intends to marry Elvira off to his Italian slave Lindoro (Maxim Mironov), himself preoccupied with his fiancee Isabella (Christianne Stotijn) in Italy. Unbeknownst to him, Isabella has already made plans to come find Lindoro in Algiers?EUR"and upon her arrival, she charms Mustafa and fools him into thinking he has won her affections. Can she keep up the ruse long enough to escape back to Italy with her beloved? medici.tv
When the 21-year-old Gioachino Rossini wrote his L'Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers) for Venice in 1813 he had already made his debut as an opera composer two and a half years earlier, yet this was his tenth opera-a quarter of all the operas which he was to write up to 1829.
The opera portrays the adventures of the astute Isabella, Italian prisoner of the sultan Mustapha, who has wearied of his docile, submissive wives and seeks a new wife who can stand up to him: in this Isabella succeeds all to well, wrapping the sultan around here finger and then reducing him to despair as she finally returns to Italy with her beloved Lindoro and suitor Taddeo. Alongside the dizzying speeds of its action, the opera contains an element that is wholly new for the Italian stages of the day: pervasive, at times even explicit, sexual allusion, starting with Isabella's aria Cruel lot, tyrannous love (All men want it/all men ask for it/happiness/from a fair woman).
The opera portrays the adventures of the astute Isabella, Italian prisoner of the sultan Mustapha, who has wearied of his docile, submissive wives and seeks a new wife who can stand up to him: in this Isabella succeeds all to well, wrapping the sultan around here finger and then reducing him to despair as she finally returns to Italy with her beloved Lindoro and suitor Taddeo. Alongside the dizzying speeds of its action, the opera contains an element that is wholly new for the Italian stages of the day: pervasive, at times even explicit, sexual allusion, starting with Isabella's aria Cruel lot, tyrannous love (All men want it/all men ask for it/happiness/from a fair woman).
The press hailed the premiere of Matilde di Shabran as the "high point of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro" (Der Tagesspiegel). Leading the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, conductor Michele Mariotti commands a perfect roster of singers: tenorissimo Juan Diego Florez, "perhaps the best Rossini tenor of our time" (Deutschlandradio), sings the role of Corradino; Matilde is breathtakingly and "gorgeously sung by Olga Peretyatko" (The N.Y. Times). Mario Martone's production gives pride of place to two spiral staircases that allow grand entrances, exits EUR" and displays of athleticism!
From the prestigious Rossini Festival in Pesaro comes a thought-provoking interpretation of Rossini's azione tragico-sacra Mose in Egitto. Topping the cast of high-caliber vocalists are Sonia Ganassi and Dmitry Korchak as two lovers drawn into the political turmoil of their time. Director Graham Vick's interpretation centers on a condemnation of all religious fundamentalism. Designed by Stuart Nunn, the set evokes a bombed-out edifice and provides a chilling setting for Rossini's haunting melodies. With the gifted Roberto Abbado on the podium, "the music is free to carry its timeless message" (La Stampa).
L'occasione fa il ladro is one of the five one-act operas - farsa giocosa - in which the teenage Rossini first demonstrated his operatic genius. This farce about arranged marriages, role reversals and other amorous confusions is, in musical terms, by far the most riotous of these five operatic jewels ?EUR" all performed in the intricately decorated Rococo Theatre at Schwetzingen Palace. Renowned opera director Michael Hampe's sparkling production is perfectly suited to the small stage of the historic theatre. Recorded live in 1992 with an excellent cast of principals led by Susan Patterson, Robert Gambill and Natale de Carolis, and Gianluigi Gelmetti's refreshingly fast-paced leadership of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra maintains the light musical touch of this "joyous farce" while at the same time setting a benchmark for the reading of these tiny gems among Rossini's operas.
L'occasione fa il ladro (Opportunity Makes a Thief) was composed by the young Rossini in just evelen days, working alongside his librettist Luigi Prividali. The tale presents a comedy of multiple confusions in one act. Count Alberto, travelling to marry a fiancee he has yet to meet, leaves an inn with the wrong suitcase. Left holding the Count's papers and possessions, Don Parmenione audaciously adopts Alberto's identity intent on taking the bride for himself. Jochen Schonleber's acclaimed production adapts Rossini's swift and deftly plotted moral drama to give present-day relevance to Rossini's exuberant ensemble burletta.
This beautiful production by renowned opera director Michael Hampe was recorded at the exquisite Rococo Theatre in Schwetzingen Palace in May 1990. La scala di seta is one of the five one-act operas - farsa giocosa - in which the young Rossini first demonstrated his operatic genius. This sparkling production continues the Rossini one-act opera series emerging from the Schwetzingen Festival. The staging is perfectly suited to the screen and the cast of principals, led by David Griffith and Luciana Serra provide musical excellence together with the flexible Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Simone Young, who has since become one of the foremost opera conductors of the younger generation, appears on harpsichord and fortepiano. She was chief conductor of the Sydney Opera and has recently been appointed as the new musical director of the Hamburg Opera. Here she can be seen at the start of her career establishing a speciality for which she is now famous: she frequently conducts early operas from the harpsichord.
Rossini's sparkling La Scala di Seta of 1812 weaves a burlesque tale of gentlemen climbing in and out of a lady's bedchamber on a silken ladder. Damiano Michieletto's modern-day production from the Rossini Festival in Pesaro sets the action in the two-room apartment of the heroine Giulia, sung with "wonderful suppleness" (Opernwelt) by Olga Peretyatko. The production also features a spectacular grand aria for Blansac (Carlo Lepore) extraneous to the work. Leading a young and spirited cast of Rossini specialists is maestro Claudio Scimone, a key figure in the international Rossini Renaissance.
The composition of Semiramide took approximately four months, which is an unusually long span for Rossini . The premiere took place on the 3rd of February 1823. The opera's libretto is based on Voltaire's drama Semiramis , written by the French philosopher and scholar in 1748. For some respects a conclusive works, Semiramide contains, like all masterpieces, traditional elements alongside innovative ones.
Rossini accentuated the role of the orchestra, compared to his previous serious operas: the Sinfonia, the longest and most elaborate Rossini ever wrote, immediately suggests Rossini endeavoured to give the instrumental part a more important role yet than usual. At the same time, the bel canto dimension is probably more developed than in any other previous Rossinian serious opera. Indeed even recently, the difficulty of finding interpreters up to tackling Rossini's vocal writing, often prohibitively difficult, has contributed to the few and far between performances of this masterpieces. The role of Semiramide calls for a singer with qualities both of dramatic and coloratura soprano; bel canto agility is, in any case, required of all the main interpreters of this opera. This is a huge opera from all points of view. It summarizes and completes Rossini's serious arc, and is...
Rossini accentuated the role of the orchestra, compared to his previous serious operas: the Sinfonia, the longest and most elaborate Rossini ever wrote, immediately suggests Rossini endeavoured to give the instrumental part a more important role yet than usual. At the same time, the bel canto dimension is probably more developed than in any other previous Rossinian serious opera. Indeed even recently, the difficulty of finding interpreters up to tackling Rossini's vocal writing, often prohibitively difficult, has contributed to the few and far between performances of this masterpieces. The role of Semiramide calls for a singer with qualities both of dramatic and coloratura soprano; bel canto agility is, in any case, required of all the main interpreters of this opera. This is a huge opera from all points of view. It summarizes and completes Rossini's serious arc, and is...
Filled with beautiful, original music, Rossini's rarely performed Sigismondo was resurrected at the 2010 Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. The press called the production a "perfect symbiosis of music and stage work" (Quotidiano Nazionale). Director Damiano Michieletto sets the first act in a realistic "insane asylum" of past times; the second takes place in an elegant palace. Mezzo Daniela Barcellona portrays the mad King Sigismondo with fierce intensity and flowing coloraturas; also outstanding are Olga Peretyatko, Antonino Siragusa and Andrea Concetti. Leading the orchestra with supreme musicality is Michele Mariotti, principal conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and acclaimed maestro at La Scala, the Met and other leading houses.
Rossini's one-act opera Il Signor Bruschino was premiered at the Teatro di San Moise in Venice in 1813. As performed at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, the work is a gem, and the New York Times cheered the "clever production" conceived by the young Florentine theater collective Teatro Sotteraneo, one of the most innovative experimental groups in Italy. The action takes place in a 21st-century Rossini theme park, a kind of Rossinian Disneyland, with fireworks of mistaken identities, exhilarating music, intricate ensemble pieces, verbal puns and gags EUR" a hint of Rossini's later masterpieces!
Il signor Bruschino is the last of the five one-act operas - farsa giocosa - in which the young Rossini first demonstrated his operatic genius. Among the 'peculiarities', which caused a sensation at its premiere 1813, was the daring experiment in search of new tonal effects in the overture, during which the second violins are required to tap their bows on their music stands. The opera is a mixture of saucy elegance, sizzling wittiness, cheeky orchestration and also some touching lyricism. It was realised to perfection in the small, jewel-like Rococo Theatre in Schwetzingen Palace, which was built in 1752. The stage is small and the beautifully elegant and this shining production by Michael Hampe, recorded in May 1989, provides one and a half hours of the entertaining story about "the son won in a game" as it is subtitled. The staging transfers to the screen perfectly and the cast of principals, led by Alessandro Corbelli, Alberto Rinaldi and Amelia Felle provide musical excellence together with the flexible Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Gianluigi Gelmetti.
Filmed live in 2007 at the prestigious Rossini Opera Festival in the composer's birthplace, Pesaro, Il Turco in Italia is a madcap ensemble opera with an inspired score that boasts music of both comic genius and extraordinary beauty.
Set in Naples, it spins crazy late around a poet who uses the romantic entanglements of the inhabitants with a Turkish prince as inspiration for the plot of his next play. Ultimately, life imitates art as all ends happily, but not before a planned abduction leads to chaotic situation of mistaken identity.
Set in Naples, it spins crazy late around a poet who uses the romantic entanglements of the inhabitants with a Turkish prince as inspiration for the plot of his next play. Ultimately, life imitates art as all ends happily, but not before a planned abduction leads to chaotic situation of mistaken identity.
Filmed live in 2007 at the prestigious Rossini Opera Festival in the composer's birthplace, Pesaro, Il Turco in Italia is a madcap ensemble opera with an inspired score that boasts music of both comic genius and extraordinary beauty. Set in Naples, it spins a crazy tale around a poet who uses the romantic entanglements of the inhabitants with a Turkish prince as inspiration for the plot of his next play. Ultimately, life imitates art as all ends happily, but not before a planned abduction leads to a chaotic situation of mistaken identity?EUR?
Though rarely performed today, the dramma per musica Zelmira is regarded as one of Rossini's most important and musically complex works. Roberto Abbado conducts a cast of noted soloists, including Kate Aldrich, acclaimed as "the discovery of the year" (L'Unita), in the title role of a princess unjustly accused of having killed her father, sung by Alex Esposito. While Gregory Kunde and Marianna Pizzolano stand out for their vocal artistry, the palm goes to star tenor Juan Diego Florez, whose opening aria, with its five high D's and long-held high C, was hailed by Opernwelt as "phenomenal."
In this live recording for 2009, Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila - a story of doomed love set against the backdrop of cultural conflict between Hebrews and Philistines - is reinterpreted to relate with the conflicts in today's Middle East. "In our approach to this opera we tried to move away fromthe quasi-biblical interpretation, and to place the story in a contemporary context to explain its political meaning in today's world," say the two directors, Israeli Omri Nitzan and Palestinian Amir Nizar Zuabi. In this production by Vlaamse Opera, the dramatic story of Saint-Saëns' greatest opera is unfolded in all its tragic beauty.
A fabulous tale of amourous intrigue based on Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor . Here in a delightfully humorous production, recorded at the Schwetzinger Palace Theatre.
Domenico Scarlatti's La Dirindina and Albinoni's Pimpinone are two intermezzi buffi, which were comic operatic interludes inserted between acts or scenes of an opera seria. Pimpinone was performed for the first time in Venice in 1708, as the interlude for Astarto , Albinoni's own opera seria.
The work was an immediate success and was given many further performances, both in Italy and abroad. La Dirindina was composed seven years later, in 1715, by Domenico Scarlatti, son of Alessandro. Both intermezzi are premiere video recordings, filmed in high definition of 16:9 aspect ratio with stereo PCM sound.
The work was an immediate success and was given many further performances, both in Italy and abroad. La Dirindina was composed seven years later, in 1715, by Domenico Scarlatti, son of Alessandro. Both intermezzi are premiere video recordings, filmed in high definition of 16:9 aspect ratio with stereo PCM sound.
The Irrfahrten (Odysseys) trilogy comprises three independent,
self-contained performances that are motivically interwoven into a
compelling whole through a great variety of references. Various artistic genres - music, theater, dance and video - are fused into an original form of music theater that could very well point to the future. The trilogy was conceived by Joachim Schlomer, a noted dancer, choreographer and director. He sees his project as the "odyssey of an artist from external control to self-determination." (Schlomer) This concerns not only Mozart himself, but also the artist in general, and, by extension, everyone who has overcome a crisis in their life to achieve their personal freedom.
At the beginning of the trilogy is the twelve-year-old Mozart's first opera buffa, La finta semplice (The Make-Believe Simpleton), a full-length opera with commedia dell'arte-style characters. "The music," says Schlomer, "tells of wanting something - even if the characters still don't really know what they want." The second Odyssey, Abendempfindung (Evening Sensation), a pasticcio of Mozart arias, songs, instrumental pieces (including some for the rare and evocative glass harmonica) and letters. The great Ann Murray is the featured performer here. The third Odyssey, "Rex...
self-contained performances that are motivically interwoven into a
compelling whole through a great variety of references. Various artistic genres - music, theater, dance and video - are fused into an original form of music theater that could very well point to the future. The trilogy was conceived by Joachim Schlomer, a noted dancer, choreographer and director. He sees his project as the "odyssey of an artist from external control to self-determination." (Schlomer) This concerns not only Mozart himself, but also the artist in general, and, by extension, everyone who has overcome a crisis in their life to achieve their personal freedom.
At the beginning of the trilogy is the twelve-year-old Mozart's first opera buffa, La finta semplice (The Make-Believe Simpleton), a full-length opera with commedia dell'arte-style characters. "The music," says Schlomer, "tells of wanting something - even if the characters still don't really know what they want." The second Odyssey, Abendempfindung (Evening Sensation), a pasticcio of Mozart arias, songs, instrumental pieces (including some for the rare and evocative glass harmonica) and letters. The great Ann Murray is the featured performer here. The third Odyssey, "Rex...
The Irrfahrten (Odysseys) trilogy comprises three independent, self-contained performances that are motivically interwoven into a compelling whole through a great variety of references. Various artistic genres - music, theater, dance and video - are fused into an original form of music theater that could very well point to the future. The trilogy was conceived by Joachim Schlömer, a noted dancer, choreographer and director. He sees his project as the "odyssey of an artist from external control to self-determination." (Schlömer) This concerns not only Mozart himself, but also the artist in general, and, by extension, everyone who has overcome a crisis in their life to achieve their personal freedom.
At the beginning of the trilogy is the twelve-year-old Mozart's first opera buffa, La finta semplice (The Make-Believe Simpleton) , a full-length opera with commedia dell'arte-style characters. "The music," says Schlömer, "tells of wanting something - even if the characters still don't really know what they want." The second Odyssey, Abendempfindung" (Evening Sensation) , a pasticcio of Mozart arias, songs, instrumental pieces (including some for the rare and evocative glass harmonica) and letters. The great Ann Murray is the featured performer here. The third Odyssey, Rex...
At the beginning of the trilogy is the twelve-year-old Mozart's first opera buffa, La finta semplice (The Make-Believe Simpleton) , a full-length opera with commedia dell'arte-style characters. "The music," says Schlömer, "tells of wanting something - even if the characters still don't really know what they want." The second Odyssey, Abendempfindung" (Evening Sensation) , a pasticcio of Mozart arias, songs, instrumental pieces (including some for the rare and evocative glass harmonica) and letters. The great Ann Murray is the featured performer here. The third Odyssey, Rex...
Franz Schreker's career was cut short by the events of 1933 in Germany but he achieved real fame with his operas, and the huge success of Der Schatzgraber (The Treasure Hunter) in the 1920s was the high point of his career. In a complex and ultimately tragic tale of destructive greed, desire and toxic social hierarchy, the innkeeper's daughter Els is forced to confront the consequences of her murderous intent in what conductor Marc Albrecht considers 'a work of exceptional quality, concentration and significance.' Following the huge success of Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane , director Christof Loy continues his exploration of strong female characters and neglected 20th-century masterpieces with this highly acclaimed Deutsche Oper Berlin production.
Most of Schubert's operas were written without a specific commission, in the hope that, once completed, some theatre might find them interesting simply by virtue of their musical value. This unrealistic optimism proved almost always wrong and Schubert suffered bitter disappointments, very often working for nothing. Begun on 20 September 1821, Alfonso und Estrella was completed on 27 February 1822 but was first staged, on the initiative of Franz Liszt, only in 1854, after Schubert's death. Alfonso und Estrella has the characteristic climate of a romantische Oper. If it is true that Schubert lacks the sense of theatre which is typical of the best operatic composers of his day (for example Weber), the power of his creativity and beauty of many arias cannot be denied.
Fierrabras of 1823 is the last of Franz Schubert's stage works. Rarely performed to this day, this heroic-romantic opera has now been staged for the first time ever at the Salzburg Festival by famous director Peter Stein. The strong cast includes the marvellously expressive miracle Dorothea Roschmann (Die Zeit) and Michael Schade, who exudes his exceptional tenor in Fierrabras's heroic arias (Der neue Merker). Under the energetic baton of lngo Metzmacher, the Vienna Philharmonic unfold "the melos, the poetry, the sweetness and the dramatic force of Schubert's highly refined and atmospheric sound worlds" (Kleine Zeitung) in highly romantic fashion.
Together with the internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, Christof Loy creates an intimate evening of music theatre. Inspired by the songs of Franz Schubert , which oscillate between the joy of life and the longing for death, the two tell of the extremes of human feelings. In addition to the Winter Journey song cycle, other works of the composer will be performed. Anne Sofie von Otter, whose?career began in Basel, is one of the most celebrated singers in the world. She will be accompanied on the piano forte by the internationally acclaimed pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout.
Anton Schweitzer's Alceste (1773) has gone down in music history as the first German-language opera. Though it is practically unknown today, it offers music lovers a wealth of passionate arias and ariosos, lyrical scenes and jaunty ensembles, all in a pre-classical style that occasionally foreshadows Mozart. Written by Anton Schweitzer (1735-1787), one of the leading composers of his time, the work boasts impressive credentials: its libretto was written by C. M. Wieland, one of the great authors of the German Enlightenment, and it was premiered at Weimar's Ducal Residence, one of the most important artistic and cultural centers of the late 18th century, where this recording was also made.
Performed on the occasion of the official reopening of the Anna Amalia Library in Weimar in 2007, the sparing production by Hendrik Müller concentrates on the chamber-like interplay of the four lead roles. Alceste's demanding, coloratura-filled parts are mastered with grace and seemingly effortless ease by all singers. In the lead role as the wife who sacrifices herself to save her beloved husband, Simone Schneider combines delicacy with dazzling technique, and harmonizes superbly with internationally acclaimed Cyndia Sieden as Parthenia. Tenor Christoph Genz offers a moving account of...
Performed on the occasion of the official reopening of the Anna Amalia Library in Weimar in 2007, the sparing production by Hendrik Müller concentrates on the chamber-like interplay of the four lead roles. Alceste's demanding, coloratura-filled parts are mastered with grace and seemingly effortless ease by all singers. In the lead role as the wife who sacrifices herself to save her beloved husband, Simone Schneider combines delicacy with dazzling technique, and harmonizes superbly with internationally acclaimed Cyndia Sieden as Parthenia. Tenor Christoph Genz offers a moving account of...
Salvatore Sciarrino stands at the forefront of Italy's musical avant-garde. His chamber opera Luci mie traditrici was inspired by the murders by the Renaissance nobleman and composer Carlo Gesualdo of his wife and her lover. This production of the opera was first performed at the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte di Montepulciano in July 2010. It has been recognised as the finest production of this work presented to date. The composer himself has stated that it is the reference point for the opera's performance.
St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre has staged the opera Dead Souls to the music by Rodion Shchedrin , who turns 80 in 2012. One of the indisputable operatic masterpieces of the 20th century will appear in the brand new, bright, expressive staged version, more than 30 years later, again at the Mariinsky Theatre. The premiere of the production took place on March 18. It is the first Russian production since its 1977 premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre.
Full of fizz and subtle humor, Die Fledermaus (The Bat) has become a staple of New Year's Eve programming in many opera houses around the world. In this sparkling production, director Otto Schenk has freed it from the conventional bonds of the theater, broken it up into fully telegenic, whirling visual sequences, and heightened it with the tumultuous gaiety prescribed by Strauss. Act II, often a stiffly staged ball, has at last become one great hurly-burly, a huge festival, an orgy of swaying figures EUR" drunken or otherwise intoxicated. Foremost among them are the frenzied Eberhard Wachter as Eisenstein, the delicious Renate Holm as Adele and the noble Gundula Janowitz as the long-suffering Rosalinde, who does a magnificent gypsy dance. Competing for the title of show-stealer are fabled Bayreuth tenor Wolfgang Windgassen as Prince Orlofsky and actor-director Otto Schenk himself as Frosch. Karl Bohm leads the Vienna Philharmonic and the Chorus of the Vienna State Opera in this spirited recording.
The British director David Pountney lets the entertaining tale unfold accompanied by the many spectacular effects for which he has become internationally famous. Monumental props are embellished with skilled, clean-cut directing work, seasoned with a healthy portion of black humour. In the final scene the audience sees dramatic gallows dangling with numerous corpses, all turning in time to the music of a waltz.
Strauss himself loved this work. It was the last of his stage works for which he conducted the premiere performance. He described it as "generally speaking a much more cheerful work than Der Zigeunerbaron."
Strauss's felicitous orchestration, languorous melodies, and endless inventiveness ensure over 2 hours of pleasure for all who invest in this unique piece of theatre.
Strauss himself loved this work. It was the last of his stage works for which he conducted the premiere performance. He described it as "generally speaking a much more cheerful work than Der Zigeunerbaron."
Strauss's felicitous orchestration, languorous melodies, and endless inventiveness ensure over 2 hours of pleasure for all who invest in this unique piece of theatre.
Johann Strauss Jr., known as the "Waltz King", surpasses all other composers in the history of the operetta with regards to musical inventiveness. With the sparkling temperament and winning charm characteristic of his works, this genial musician brought world fame to the Viennese waltz and made spectacular contributions to the field of operetta. Wiener Blut was Strauss's last work, which he left incomplete at his death. However, thanks to Adolf Muller's brilliant arrangement, this work has become a fully accepted Strauss operetta, inspired by the brightest of Vienna-waltz spirits and delighting anew at every performance through its wealth of captivating melodies
Richard Strauss's Arabella is a lyric comedy that portrays hardships and obsessions in a society whose late-bourgeois values are crumbling. An addiction to gambling has driven the family of cavalry officer Waldner into financial ruin, and their only hope for salvation lies in marrying of their daughter Arabella into a wealthy family. Strauss's orchestral opulence couples with its period Viennese setting as seen Arabella perceived as a light-hearted comedy of errors, but Tobias Kratzer's multi-faceted production also explores the disunity between its characters, spotlighting tensions that connect 19th-century to the present day.
Ariadne auf Naxos was conceived as a one-act opera to be performed as an interlude in an abridged version of Moliere's play Le bourgeois gentilhomme . But due to the hybrid nature of the project, Strauss and his librettist eventually decided to write a musical prologue to replace the play. To fit in with its 18th-century conception and inspiration, Strauss scored the work for a far smaller orchestra than his previous operas. The charm of a mock old-fashioned harlequinade is set beside a virtuoso handling of three types of soprano: coloratura (Zerbinetta), lyric (Composer) and dramatic (Ariadne).
This Vienna State Opera production, featuring Gundula Janowitz, Rene Kollo, Trudeliese Schmidt and Walter Berry with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Karl Bohm, drew rave reviews. In particular, the young Edita Gruberova as Zerbinetta was heralded as the "event of the evening," whose exquisite phrasing, sublime timbre and brilliant coloratura fireworks served up with witty and charming nonchalance brought her endless and justified ovations. This was clearly her final leap to the top of the world's best vocalists (Vienna's popular daily "Kurier," 22.11.76)
This Vienna State Opera production, featuring Gundula Janowitz, Rene Kollo, Trudeliese Schmidt and Walter Berry with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Karl Bohm, drew rave reviews. In particular, the young Edita Gruberova as Zerbinetta was heralded as the "event of the evening," whose exquisite phrasing, sublime timbre and brilliant coloratura fireworks served up with witty and charming nonchalance brought her endless and justified ovations. This was clearly her final leap to the top of the world's best vocalists (Vienna's popular daily "Kurier," 22.11.76)
The proven Richard Strauss trio of Renee Fleming, Sophie Koch and Christian Thielemann gets together once again at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, which continues its series of triumphs after Rosenkavalier . In this colorful and humorous staging by Philippe Arlaud, Strauss specialist Thielemann leads his first opera at the head of the Sachsische Staatskapelle Dresden, which performed the world premieres of nine Strauss operas. While Renee Fleming dazzles in her role debut as the spurned Ariadne, Sophie Koch, Robert Dean Smith and Jane Archibald prove themselves worthy counterparts of the American soprano. (616 Zeichen)
Glyndebourne's wartime history as a home for evacuee children is the ingenious context for a new production of this unclassifiable entertainment in which low comedy and high tragedy compete for our attention, 'borne aloft by Strauss's divine music nd Hofmannsthal's visionary poetry'. At the centre of this production from Katharina Thoma is the noble, tragic figure of the abandoned Ariadne herself, in a haunting performance from Soile Isokoski, 'with brilliant support from the pit' (The Independent).
The sensation of the 2010 Baden-Baden Winter Festival was the performance of Richard Strauss's Elektra with the Munich Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann. Strauss's first collaboration with Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Elektra is a dense, raw, jagged cry for justice and vengeance. A one-act masterpiece inspired by Greek mythology, it shakes the audience to the core with its powerfully expressive chords, spooky waltz rhythms and mad dance of triumph. Herbert Wernicke's legendary production for the Bayerische Staatsoper stands out for its clear lines, classical structural elements and striking color contrasts.
Swedish soprano Irene Theorin gives an impressive role debut as Elektra, just as Wagner singer Waltraud Meier as Klytamnestra. They are complemented by Eva-Maria Westbroek's Chrysothemis and Rene Pape's Orest. In his interpretation of Strauss' one-act masterpiece, conductor Daniele Gatti explores the radical side of the Expressionist score, while not neglecting the late 19th-century lyricism either. His musical vision harmonizes perfectly with the forbidding atmosphere conveyed by director Nikolaus Lehnhoff and his set designer.
Ever since his filming of Salome with stage director Gotz Friedrich in 1974, it had been one of Karl Bohm's greatest wishes to realize an Elektra film with the same director. The production was completed in 1981. That spring, Bohm conducted the soundtrack for the film in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic - it was the great musician's last recording. His death on 14 August 1981 in Salzburg, while work was still in progress on this film, makes Elektra his artistic legacy. No other opera by Richard Strauss calls for such gigantic vocal and instrumental forces as Elektra. The work surges with savage polyphonic sonorities typical of expressionism. Elektra was the first work written in collaboration with the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal and was premiered in the Semper Opera in Dresden on 25 January 1909. In this production, history, psychoanalysis and modern-day apocalyptic visions are presented with compelling urgency through Friedrich's staging and Bohm's artistic mastery. Elektra becomes a contemporary myth of desperate, unrelenting humanity. "Seldom before, surely, have the often erotic ideas of Hofmannsthal's libretto been so explicitly delineated or its tragic grandeur so movingly realised. Leonie Rysanek, in her first and possibly only Elektra, surmounted the score's...
A timeless tragedy told and retold through the centuries, staged by one of the most renowned visionaries of the opera stage to a score by an undisputed master of twentieth-century romanticism: all of this is on the bill in this production for the ages, performed in 2013 at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in the south of France. The legendary Patrice Chereau (who passed away just months later) honors Richard Strauss's masterpiece with feverish intensity, supported by a dream cast and an Orchestre de Paris in top form under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Soprano Evelyn Herlitzius gives life to the Elektra , the focus of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's libretto that drew its inspiration in the Sophocles play. The daughter of Agamemnon - murdered king of Mycenae, betrayed upon his return from the Trojan War by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus (the dazzling Waltraud Meier and Tom Randle)- Elektra is unafraid to court danger in search of justice, desperately trying to protect her younger brother Orestes (a brilliant Mikhail Petrenko), rightful heir to the throne, and seeking to avenge her father under the watchful eyes of his executioners.
Soprano Evelyn Herlitzius gives life to the Elektra , the focus of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's libretto that drew its inspiration in the Sophocles play. The daughter of Agamemnon - murdered king of Mycenae, betrayed upon his return from the Trojan War by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus (the dazzling Waltraud Meier and Tom Randle)- Elektra is unafraid to court danger in search of justice, desperately trying to protect her younger brother Orestes (a brilliant Mikhail Petrenko), rightful heir to the throne, and seeking to avenge her father under the watchful eyes of his executioners.
A shining hour, a moment of glory, trumpeted Vienna's Kurier after the double premiere of Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Salzburg Festival in July 2011. The premiere of a stunning production, and that of Christian Thielemann as opera conductor at the Salzburg Festival. "A triumph for Thielemann", hailed the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Christian Thielemann and the Wiener Philharmoniker were frenetically cheered, heartily applauded, "and rightly so (Suddeutsche Zeitung).
True to the Salzburg Festival's tradition, this production features a line-up of great Strauss singers, a "high-caliber vocal cast that provides the greatest Strauss bliss" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). The entire cast was exuberantly accompanied by the Wiener Philharmoniker, which "responded with playing of exceptional refinement, precision and warmth" (Financial Times).
Completed in 1917, the massively scored work - one of the most difficult to interpret, both musically and dramatically - wasn't a success from the beginning. It was only years later that the opera was rediscovered: thanks to Karl Bohm's acclaimed complete Grammophon recording, which took place in Vienna in 1955, the work became better known and is now even regarded as "the richest and most colorful score that...
True to the Salzburg Festival's tradition, this production features a line-up of great Strauss singers, a "high-caliber vocal cast that provides the greatest Strauss bliss" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). The entire cast was exuberantly accompanied by the Wiener Philharmoniker, which "responded with playing of exceptional refinement, precision and warmth" (Financial Times).
Completed in 1917, the massively scored work - one of the most difficult to interpret, both musically and dramatically - wasn't a success from the beginning. It was only years later that the opera was rediscovered: thanks to Karl Bohm's acclaimed complete Grammophon recording, which took place in Vienna in 1955, the work became better known and is now even regarded as "the richest and most colorful score that...
The rarely performed opera Die Liebe der Danae is a feast for Strauss lovers, with arias, ensembles and orchestral interludes blazing with sumptuous colors and rich textures. Written under war clouds and completed in 1940, it is the swan song of an aged composer who is taking leave from the world on the eve of the catastrophe that will engulf it. This timeless production from the Deutsche Oper Berlin can be seen as the mirror of a changing world order, with a wonderfully suggestive symbol dominating the stage during all three acts: a grand piano suspended upside-down from the rafters.
"The best of the best assembled on stage," wrote Germany's leading newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung after the premiere of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Indeed, it would be hard to find a more ideal cast for this late-Romantic Rococo pastiche anywhere in the world. As the Marschallin, stellar soprano Renée Fleming uses her velvety tones and autumnal shadings to complement the youthfully lyrical and dynamic voice of Sophie Koch as her young lover Octavian. Diana Damrau's Sophie enhances the trio's sparkle with her ethereal high notes. Next to Franz Hawlata as a swaggering Baron Ochs and the always impressive Franz Grundheber as Faninal, the Baden-Baden production rounds off its male leads with international tenor star Jonas Kaufmann as the "Italian Singer."
Leading his Münchner Philharmoniker, acclaimed Romantic specialist Christian Thielemann revels in Strauss's lustrous melancholy and obtains a rarely heard transparency from the brass and woodwinds. Bolstered by these solid orchestral underpinnings, Herbert Wernicke's Salzburg Festival production - which also scored a great success at Paris' Opéra de la Bastille - has been polished and trimmed here by Alejandro Stadler. It places the cast of fabulous singers in a sumptuous...
Leading his Münchner Philharmoniker, acclaimed Romantic specialist Christian Thielemann revels in Strauss's lustrous melancholy and obtains a rarely heard transparency from the brass and woodwinds. Bolstered by these solid orchestral underpinnings, Herbert Wernicke's Salzburg Festival production - which also scored a great success at Paris' Opéra de la Bastille - has been polished and trimmed here by Alejandro Stadler. It places the cast of fabulous singers in a sumptuous...
The Semperoper caused a sensation in November 2007 when it visited Japan for the first time in twenty-six years. The demand for tickets and the audience's enthusiasm were unprecedented, not least because the company was staging a piece that is performed more authentically in Dresden than anywhere else in the world: Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, which received its first performance in Dresden in 1911. Leading the ensemble was the radiant-voiced and profoundly thoughtful Marschallin of Anne Schwanenwilms, a singer described by The Independent as "one of the greatest singers on the operatic stage today."
Peter Hall's magnificent 1992 production of Strauss's opera Salome features sensational acting from Maria Ewing who, as the sinister, monstrous heroine of the title, ultimately leaves nothing to the imagination in her Dance of the Seven Veils . She leads a fine cast including Michael Devlin as a strong-voiced Jokanaan, Kenneth Riegel as a devilish Herod, Gillian Knight as the depraved Herodias and Robin Leggate as the infatuated Narraboth. The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, in excellent form, is conducted by Edward Downes.
David McVicar's powerful 2008 production of Oscar Wilde's bible-based drama takes the controversially disturbing film Salo as its visual reference, setting it in a debauched palace in Nazi Germany. Strauss's ravishing and voluptuous score adds to the sexual alchemy conjured by an international cast led by Nadja Michael in the title role.
WARNING: Contains nudity and scenes of violence.
Bonus features:
- Documentary – David McVicar: A work in process .
- Illustrated Synopsis
WARNING: Contains nudity and scenes of violence.
Bonus features:
- Documentary – David McVicar: A work in process .
- Illustrated Synopsis
In Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky's last opera Iolanta , a blind princess is searching for the source of her sadness and finds love. In Igor Stravinsky's neoclassical one-act buffa Mavra , an ingenious young woman has a risky idea and smuggles her lover, disguised as a cook, into her mother's house.
Stage director Axel Ranisch interweaves those two works, resulting in a coming-a-of-age fairy tale on family, love, knowledge and self-determination: Mavra and Iolanta are becoming Mavra/Iolanta .
Stage director Axel Ranisch interweaves those two works, resulting in a coming-a-of-age fairy tale on family, love, knowledge and self-determination: Mavra and Iolanta are becoming Mavra/Iolanta .
Stravinsky's opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex from the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Robert Dean Smith, Waltraud Meier, Juha Uusitalo and Jan-Hendrik Rootering. Riccardo Chailly conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
This ambitious production uses a number of striking visual elements including a massive set that floats above a reflecting pool, huge puppets and sculptures. The noted Butoh artist, Min Tanaka, dances the role of Oedipus, and is joined by twenty dancers to portray this classical tragedy.
Persephone has only one singer, the priest Eumolpus, who functions largely as a narrator. The orchestral writing is melodious, with a solo woodwind or brass instrument often presenting an arresting, even jaunty theme over a simple rhythmic accompaniment.
In The Nightingale' , Robert Lepage incorporates the usual operatic arts, adds puppetry and acrobatics, and reverses the usual performance arrangement by placing the orchestra on the stage and turning the orchestra pit into a shimmering pool of water. This alchemy transmutes some children's tales about animals into an unusually integrated and spellbinding piece of theater.
The triumph of this Nightingale production is the way in which all the arts illuminate the music in an emotional rather than purely plot - and character-centered manner while remaining firmly grounded in storytelling... (The Wall Street Journal)
The triumph of this Nightingale production is the way in which all the arts illuminate the music in an emotional rather than purely plot - and character-centered manner while remaining firmly grounded in storytelling... (The Wall Street Journal)
The stage-play for a Baroque-Orchestra, two Sopranos and one actor is based on the real-life story of Jack Unterweger, a notorious womanizer and celebrated author and journalist, who was suspected of killing prostitutes in Vienna, Graz, Prague and Los Angeles; later vanished from Vienna, fled into the U.S., got arrested in Miami, transferred to Austria, accused and finally committed suicide after being convicted of homicide in eleven cases.
"It's hard to believe that this Krol Roger had been neglected for so long!" The prestigious Opernwelt was not alone in welcoming the belated rediscovery of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski's (1882-1937) masterpiece of 1926, which resonates with echoes of Late-Romanticism and Expressionism, Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. Presented at the Festival Hall of the Bregenz Festival in a production by festival director David Pountney, the musical rarity, a combination of opera, oratorio and mystery play, tells the story of 12th-century Sicilian King Roger, who is led astray by a mysterious shepherd who preaches a life of unrestrained hedonism.
Director David Pountney delivers an uncommonly riveting production by staging the clash of virtue and immorality in a simple, archaic, yet wondrously luminous set reminiscent of an ancient Greek theater. The coproduction with the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona is given musical shape by the Wiener Symphoniker, who "rise above themselves" (Opernwelt) under Sir Mark Elder. Scott Hendricks gives a powerful rendition of the title hero. Will Hartmann and Olga Pasichnyk shine as the shepherd and the king's wife.
Director David Pountney delivers an uncommonly riveting production by staging the clash of virtue and immorality in a simple, archaic, yet wondrously luminous set reminiscent of an ancient Greek theater. The coproduction with the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona is given musical shape by the Wiener Symphoniker, who "rise above themselves" (Opernwelt) under Sir Mark Elder. Scott Hendricks gives a powerful rendition of the title hero. Will Hartmann and Olga Pasichnyk shine as the shepherd and the king's wife.
In Marco Polo , an opera within an opera, composer Tan Dun portrays the Venetian explorer's travels to the Far East as a journey of both inner and physical discovery, a voyage depicting spiritual experiences as well as a geographical expedition. At the same time the work, on a libretto by Paul Griffiths, can be seen as a compositional adventure of the composer himself, unifying the various cultural worlds he occupies: a blend of Western avant garde and Oriental traditions. Pierre Audi's mythical staging and Jean Kalman's fabulous set design complement the composer's own musical direction, forging the dazzlingly versatile soloists, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Capella Amsterdam to a stunning symbiosis of elements across time and space, a true testimony to cultures intertwined in globalisation.
Bonus features :
- Synopsis - Cast gallery
- The Music of Tomorrow - A documentary by Reiner E. Moritz, including interviews with the creative team and principal members of the cast.
Bonus features :
- Synopsis - Cast gallery
- The Music of Tomorrow - A documentary by Reiner E. Moritz, including interviews with the creative team and principal members of the cast.
Based on Gogol's fantastical and comic story of the Devil's antics on Christmas Eve, this magical blend of opera and ballet is brought to vivid life in Francesca Zambello's colourful production. Magnificent set designs (Mikhail Mokrov) and costumes (Tatiana Noginova), and an excellent, largely Russian cast provide authenticity. Splendid dancing by The Royal Ballet and Cossack dancers completes the spectacle.
Originally set in the 15th century, Tchaikovsky's The Echantress is updated to the present day in this innovative production. The charismatic, emancipated Nastasya, who rejects the advances of the devious Mamirov, duly faces the implacable forces of traditional values in a society riven by divisions between liberal freedoms and religious orthodoxies. The tragic outcome engulfs everyone.
The Bolshoi troupe triumphs at Paris Opera's 2008 season opening with Eugene Onegin.
Three romantic heroes each with a solitary destiny: Tatiana, a Romanesque young woman seeking absolution; Onegin, a distant dandy hiding emptiness under affected haughtiness; and Lenski, abandoned by his literary idol. Between these three, barren affections presage the inexorable social ruin.
With a stage setting as sombre as it is effective ?EUR" a great dining table appears in the middle of a salon ?EUR" the director Dmitri Tcherniakov separates two different worlds and lends the drama a clarity rarely reached.
Three romantic heroes each with a solitary destiny: Tatiana, a Romanesque young woman seeking absolution; Onegin, a distant dandy hiding emptiness under affected haughtiness; and Lenski, abandoned by his literary idol. Between these three, barren affections presage the inexorable social ruin.
With a stage setting as sombre as it is effective ?EUR" a great dining table appears in the middle of a salon ?EUR" the director Dmitri Tcherniakov separates two different worlds and lends the drama a clarity rarely reached.
Described by Tchaikovsky as "lyric scenes", Eugene Onegin receives a spectacular reinterpretation from the Norwegian director Stefan Herheim. His productions create controversy and excitement around Europe, and here he takes Pushkin's story of illusion, disaffection and frustrated love, and places the protagonists EUR" world-weary Onegin and naïve, passionate Tatyana EUR" in a triple temporal perspective, referencing the theatrical present, the period of the work's composition, and the pageant of Russia's history. Mariss Jansons, renowned for his mastery of Tchaikovsky's symphonies, conducts this performance from Amsterdam's Muziektheater.
Tchaikovsky is best known for his symphonic scores and ballets such as the Nutcracker , Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty . Yet his operas also occupy a place of honor in his oeuvre, and two of them, Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades , both based on novels by Pushkin, are among his very finest works.
The plot of Onegin is quickly told: on a Russian country estate, awkward, inexperienced young Tatyana is seized by a sudden passion for the handsome, blase new neighbor Eugene Onegin. She writes him a love letter, but he makes it clear to her that he is not interested. Later, when Tatyana's sister flirts with Onegin, her fiancé challenges him to a duel and is killed. Years later, Onegin returns, finds that Tatyana has married an aged prince, and tries to win her back but fails. Tchaikovsky called his opera a sequence of "lyric scenes." Its structure prefigures narrative techniques that later came into use in cinema, such as abrupt cuts and chronological leaps, intimate close-ups, and atmospheric interjections. Bearing this practically cinematic structure in mind, director Andrea Breth has produced an intimate chamber play that mines the depths of veracity, precision and charisma of her singer-actors. The stage suggests both the concrete location of the action as well as...
The plot of Onegin is quickly told: on a Russian country estate, awkward, inexperienced young Tatyana is seized by a sudden passion for the handsome, blase new neighbor Eugene Onegin. She writes him a love letter, but he makes it clear to her that he is not interested. Later, when Tatyana's sister flirts with Onegin, her fiancé challenges him to a duel and is killed. Years later, Onegin returns, finds that Tatyana has married an aged prince, and tries to win her back but fails. Tchaikovsky called his opera a sequence of "lyric scenes." Its structure prefigures narrative techniques that later came into use in cinema, such as abrupt cuts and chronological leaps, intimate close-ups, and atmospheric interjections. Bearing this practically cinematic structure in mind, director Andrea Breth has produced an intimate chamber play that mines the depths of veracity, precision and charisma of her singer-actors. The stage suggests both the concrete location of the action as well as...
Tchaikovsky's lyric opera Eugene Onegin is based on Alexander Pushkin's novel in verse - a masterpiece of Russian literature. The narrative tells the story of Onegin's remorse in rejecting the young Tatyana and his instigation of a fatal duel in which his friend Lensky dies. The opera is constructed in what Tchaikovsky termed 'lyrical scenes', with music that articulates the feelings of the characters with great sensitivity and subtlety. With a minimalist set design, director Laurent Pelly's staging underlines the lightness and sadness of the subject while fully expressing the characters' fantasies and inner torments. After his forays into the Russian repertoire, Alain Altinoglu conducts La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and Chorus with a cast of outstanding singers.
Iolanta , Tchaikovsky's final opera, in Peter Sellars' 2012 production at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Premiered in 1892, it is a one-act work based on the Danish play Kong Renes Datter (King Rene's Daughter) by Henrik Hertz, a romanticized account of the life of Yolande de Bar. It contains all aspects of the composer's mastery: beautiful melodies, clear structure and genuine passion. Sellars paints this production as a spiritual quest in search of light.
Iolanta is a young princess, who doesn't know that she is blind. Her father, the king, has forbidden his people from telling her the truth. A young knight, Count Vaudemont, stumbles upon the princess's hidden castle and falls hopelessly in love with her. As he declares his love, he realizes she is blind. Vaudemont begins passionately explaining to Iolanta what light and color are when they are discovered by the King. Aware that the princess is now aware of her blindness and that she has no intention of curing it, King Ren? gives Iolanta an ultimatum: if she does not accept to be treated for her blindness, he will execute the young knight. Horrified by her father's words, Iolanta agrees in order to save her beloved. Once cured, she confirms with her own eyes that her beloved Vaudemont has been spared. Rejoicing, Iolanta...
Iolanta is a young princess, who doesn't know that she is blind. Her father, the king, has forbidden his people from telling her the truth. A young knight, Count Vaudemont, stumbles upon the princess's hidden castle and falls hopelessly in love with her. As he declares his love, he realizes she is blind. Vaudemont begins passionately explaining to Iolanta what light and color are when they are discovered by the King. Aware that the princess is now aware of her blindness and that she has no intention of curing it, King Ren? gives Iolanta an ultimatum: if she does not accept to be treated for her blindness, he will execute the young knight. Horrified by her father's words, Iolanta agrees in order to save her beloved. Once cured, she confirms with her own eyes that her beloved Vaudemont has been spared. Rejoicing, Iolanta...
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt ('None but the lonely heart') , probably the best known of Tchaikovsky's songs, lends its name to an intimate theatrical evening in which Christof Loy has combines songs or 'romances' and instrumental music to create a chamber opera of striking beauty and intensity. Tchaikovsky's songs cover a stylistic diversity and unsayable create expressive tensions and encapsulate true human emotions. Given a sumptuous period setting, these qualities create a unique drama in which suppressed love is confronted with longed for moments of passion, and sadness over broken relationships leads to withdrawal and lonelines.
Obsessive in gambling and in love, the soldier Hermann is the protagonist of Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame , based on a story by Pushkin. He is smitten with the aristocratic Lisa and fixated on learning the winning secret of "the three cards" from her grandmother, the Countess, played by iconic contralto Ewa Podles. This opulent production from Barcelona's Liceu captures St Petersburg in the era of Catherine the Great, while the house's Music Director Michael Border conducts a large and impressive cast.
Luther is a two-act opera by Finnish composer and conductor Kari Tikka who also wrote the libretto in collaboration with Jussi Tapola. It tells the life story of the German theologian and church reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546).
This live recording was made in May 2003 at the Temppeliaukion Kirkko ("Rock Church") in Helsinki, where the work had its world première in December 2000. The Finnish National Opera production is staged by Jussi Tapola, with conductor Kari Tikka leading a cast of soloists from the Opera.
Bonus features:
- An introduction to Luther
- A visit to the Temppeliaukio Church
This live recording was made in May 2003 at the Temppeliaukion Kirkko ("Rock Church") in Helsinki, where the work had its world première in December 2000. The Finnish National Opera production is staged by Jussi Tapola, with conductor Kari Tikka leading a cast of soloists from the Opera.
Bonus features:
- An introduction to Luther
- A visit to the Temppeliaukio Church
In a tragic-comic take on the extremes of celebrity culture, composer Mark Anthony Turnage, librettist Richard Thomas and director Richard Jones add Anna Nicole Smith to opera's gallery of bad, sad girls. A pneumatic Playboy model who married an octogenarian billionaire, she achieved grotesque fame before her destitute, drug-riddled death. With its jazz-coloured score and Eva-Maria Westbroek's starry performance, this is, as the New York Times said: "an engrossing outrageous, entertaining and, ultimately deeply moving opera".
To celebrate the bicentennial of Giuseppe Verdi's birth, La Fura dels Baus opens the "Centanario Festival 2013" of the Arena di Verona. Carlus Padrissa and Alex Olle sign a brillant new version of Aida .
Aida is the most popular opera of Verona Festival, the only one performed every year, 17000 spectators enjoy the show every evening. This new production is designed by La Fura dels Baus. They transform the arena into a huge desert, creating mechanical animals and manufacture a solar power plant. They use their experience in leading large-scale shows and opera to create the Aida of the 21st century splendidly conducted by a young talented conductor, Omer Meir Wellber .
The Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida, an Ethiopian princess. An Egyptian military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris is in love with Radames, although he does not return her feelings.
Aida is the most popular opera of Verona Festival, the only one performed every year, 17000 spectators enjoy the show every evening. This new production is designed by La Fura dels Baus. They transform the arena into a huge desert, creating mechanical animals and manufacture a solar power plant. They use their experience in leading large-scale shows and opera to create the Aida of the 21st century splendidly conducted by a young talented conductor, Omer Meir Wellber .
The Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida, an Ethiopian princess. An Egyptian military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris is in love with Radames, although he does not return her feelings.
Set against the magnificent backdrop of Lake Constance, every production at the Bregenz Festival faces strong natural competitors. But with this first-ever production of Verdi's Aida (in an abridged version) on the lakeside stage, it is easy to overlook the beauty of the surrounding nature. Stage director Graham Vick and set designer Paul Brown conjure up an "open-air spectacle of superlatives" (Die Zeit) that throws a bridge between ancient Egypt and today's U.S.
The stage effects are stunning: ruins of the Statue of Liberty pieced
together with the help of giant cranes, boats carrying priestesses and
prisoners EUR" parts of the opera even take place in the lake itself! And in the Grand March EUR" one of the most famous marches in opera EUR" a golden elephant comes sailing into view on a barge.
Under Carlo Rizzi, the Wiener Symphoniker brilliantly support the chorus and soloists, among whom Iano Tamar (Amneris) and Tatiana Serjan (Aida) stand out. Drawing capacity crowds of over 200,000 spectators in just one season, Aida is the festival's most successful opera to date, even more successful than the Tosca production, which has been immortalized in the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace".
The stage effects are stunning: ruins of the Statue of Liberty pieced
together with the help of giant cranes, boats carrying priestesses and
prisoners EUR" parts of the opera even take place in the lake itself! And in the Grand March EUR" one of the most famous marches in opera EUR" a golden elephant comes sailing into view on a barge.
Under Carlo Rizzi, the Wiener Symphoniker brilliantly support the chorus and soloists, among whom Iano Tamar (Amneris) and Tatiana Serjan (Aida) stand out. Drawing capacity crowds of over 200,000 spectators in just one season, Aida is the festival's most successful opera to date, even more successful than the Tosca production, which has been immortalized in the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace".
Filmed at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Daniela Dessi, Elisabetta Fiorillo, Fabio Armiliato, Juan Pons and Roberto Scandiuzzi lead the cast in the renowned period production filmed in 2003 against the historic paper trompe-l'oeil sets painted between 1936-45 by Josep Mestres Cabanes, the last representative of the old Catalan school of scenography. Mestres Cabanes worked on his Aida vision for eight years. The opulent staging he created in 1945 is here in every detail. The seven magnificent sets he painted for Aida in 1945 have been subtly and painstakingly restored by Jordi Castells and his team - revealing the palaces, temples and surroundings of Memphis and Thebes which the set designer had wanted to evoke in his historical yet also fantasy-like vision.
These fascinating sets are not just realistic - but also magical in the theatrical sense. Mestres Cabanes loved the theatre which he had been exploring for over a quarter of a century. His sets are dramatic and visceral, conceived for stage action, conveying the dynamic tensions proper to each part of the work ?EUR" intimate, epic, severe, sensual, troubled and tragic.
Bonus features:
- Scenographer Josep Mestres Cabanes at the Liceu
- Illustrated synopsis
These fascinating sets are not just realistic - but also magical in the theatrical sense. Mestres Cabanes loved the theatre which he had been exploring for over a quarter of a century. His sets are dramatic and visceral, conceived for stage action, conveying the dynamic tensions proper to each part of the work ?EUR" intimate, epic, severe, sensual, troubled and tragic.
Bonus features:
- Scenographer Josep Mestres Cabanes at the Liceu
- Illustrated synopsis
Cheryl Studer, in the title role, leads an excellent cast in Elijah Moshinsky's 1994 production of Verdi's extravagant and magnificent Egyptian opera. Aida was acclaimed at its first performance in 1871 and has grown in stature ever since to become one of the best-loved and most-performed grand operas of all time.
This exciting open-air staging of Aida was one of the classical highlights in summer 2004. The vast production of the Verdi masterpiece at St. Margarethen took place amidst the intoxicating scenery of a rustically romantic Roman quarry, which provided a unique backdrop for this live recording. The Opera Festival St. Margarethen in Austria counts as one of Europe's most important open-air festivals and nearly 150,000 opera lovers from all over the world visit it annually. The story of the forbidden love between the Egyptian leader Radames and the beautiful Ethiopian princess Aida was originally commissioned for the opening of the Cairo opera house, which formed part of the celebrations surrounding the opening of the Suez Canal in 1871. This is an opera of epic proportions and the staging presented on this video truly conforms to this spirit: horses, elephants, pyrotechnical special effects and more than 400 participants take to the stage. The magnificent event, with its towering musical performances is captured by the famous music video duo of directors Dolezal/Rossacher.
Commissioned by the Viceroy of Egypt, Aida is Verdi's only opera to be written for a non-European house. Although set in Egypt in the 19th century BC, it borrows only superficially from the current fashion for exotic subjects but on closer examination emerges as an implacable indictment of nationalism and imperialism.
Nina Stemme marks her theatrical role debut as Aida with an astounding performance in a new staging by Nicolas Joel at the Zurich Opera - sharing the stage with a star-packed cast including Salvatore Licitra, Luiciana d'intino and Juan Pons.
Bonus:
- The Story of Aida - a film by Louis Wallencan
- Interview with Andy Sommer
Bonus:
- The Story of Aida - a film by Louis Wallencan
- Interview with Andy Sommer
First performed in Naples in 1845, Alzira is an eloquent example of the refinement and emotional depth of Verdi's musical language, and yet it remains one of his least-performed works. The dream unfolds against the background of the Spanish conquest of Peru and inspired Verdi to write original melodies and magnificent choruses, to be heard here in a concept performance from the Alto Adige Festival in Dobbiaco.
Filmed live at the Leipzig Opera in November 2005, this recording of Verdi's famous Un Ballo in Maschera , brings a lively musical evening. Riccardo Chailly, who made a critically acclaimed start in his position as General Music Director of the Leipzig Opera with this staging, directs the Gewandhausorchestra and a cast of experienced Verdi singers in a collaboration between the Zurich and Leipzig Operas. Un ballo in maschera - a story of love, power and political murder in 19th century United States of America - is as exciting as a thriller, but with a passion that can only be experienced in a Verdi opera. The Italian film director Ermanno Olmi ( The Legend of the Holy Drinker, The Tree of Wooden Clogs ) staged it accordingly. The amazing visual effects in this production were created by the sculptor Arnaldo Pomodore who designed the fantastic colourful set and costumes.
In 1792 King Gustavus III of Sweden was shot at a masked ball, and this was the starting point of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera . But Before the opera could be performed in Rome in 1859, the composer had to deal with a whole series of problems with the censor. It was only when the action was moved to Boston and all reference to real-life figures removed that work could be launched on its triumphant career.
La battaglia di Legnano is the only opera by Verdi to have any direct bearing on the Risorgimento - the Italian liberation movement. Only superficially is the action concerned with the conflict between the Lombard League and Frederick Barbarossa, the Hohenstaufen emperor. Among the opera's highlights are its patriotic choruses, with which Verdi stirred up opinion in favour of a united Italy.
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Italian unity, Ruggero Cappuccio staged a new production of Verdi's opera La battaglia di Legnano for the Rome Opera. Premiered in 1849, this work won Verdi a unique spot in the hearts of the Italian people, making the composer a living symbol of the struggle for liberation and unification. Leading the talented cast are Dimitra Theodossiou as Lida, Andrew Richards as the freedom fighter Arrigo, and Leonardo Lopez Linares as Rolando, Arrigo's best friend. Boris Brott conducts with the "fire needed for this patriotic opera." (Der neue Merker)
Il Corsaro is still one of Verdi's less known and performed operas. Chronologically speaking, it belongs to the famous "years in the galley", even though it dates from a period (the autumn of 1848) when the composer's name, in Italy, could already be considered established. Although this is considered one of Verdi's minor works, there are many exciting and poignant passages in it, and the tight dramatic action makes for music that has a pressing and incisive rhythm. The renowned baritone Renato Bruson and conductor Renato Palumbo stand out in the cast and this recording makes the most of Lamberto Puggelli's beautiful sets.
One of Verdi's least performed work, Il corsaro is based on a poem by Byron and was written between 1845 and 1848. The action takes place in the 16th century, a period notable for its skirmishes between Christian pirates and the Ottoman Empire, yet the action centres not on maritime battles and duels but on complex love affairs, all of which end badly for the protagonists.
Based on Schiller's play of the same name, Don Carlos was written for the Paris Opera between 1865 and 1867 in the tradition of a French grand opera. Repeatedly revised and performed in Italian as Don Carlo, the opera is seen here in the version that Verdi prepared for Modena in 1886. In many respects, this is Verdi's most ambitious and most forward-looking work.
First performed in French at the Paris Opera in 1867, Don Carlo is in may ways an amazingly innovative work. The opera seems to underline Giuseppe Verdi's shift from the Manichean division between good and evil, which had been a clear, structural element of his dramaturgy up to that point in his career.
In this opera, Verdi assembles all his mainstay music theatre themes: power, with its honours and burdens; the contrasts of impossible love; the conflict between father and son; and an oppressed people demanding freedom.
Verdi radically revised the score in 1883, using an Italian libretto and reducing the opera from five acts to four. The popularity of Don Carlo has grown unremittingly ever since, with today's critics almost unanimously recognising it as one of Verdi's greatest masterpieces, an opera that continues to reveal new gems.
Daniel Oren if fully in control on the podium, ensuring unanimity between orchestra and singers. The maestro softens the dark tones of the score, which are well reflected in the visuals, choosing instead to emphasise the various changes of mood.
In this opera, Verdi assembles all his mainstay music theatre themes: power, with its honours and burdens; the contrasts of impossible love; the conflict between father and son; and an oppressed people demanding freedom.
Verdi radically revised the score in 1883, using an Italian libretto and reducing the opera from five acts to four. The popularity of Don Carlo has grown unremittingly ever since, with today's critics almost unanimously recognising it as one of Verdi's greatest masterpieces, an opera that continues to reveal new gems.
Daniel Oren if fully in control on the podium, ensuring unanimity between orchestra and singers. The maestro softens the dark tones of the score, which are well reflected in the visuals, choosing instead to emphasise the various changes of mood.
Teatro Regio's 2013 revival of their highly successful 2006 production of Verdi's Don Carlo celebrates the 40th anniversary of the theatre's reopening in 1973. With traditional staging and lavish costume design, the production garnered high acclaim in the national and international press, with GB Opera commending the 'sumptuous' setting and French online music magazine ResMusica praising director Hugo de Ana's decision to revive the show 'in all its splendour'.
Shown here in the four-act version, Don Carlo is the fascinating tale of father-son power struggles, adultery and love that borders on incest. The cast - under the powerful baton of Gianandrea Noseda - is headed by renowned Mexican tenor Ramon Vargas, and also features Ludovic Tezier, who has been hailed as 'one of the best Verdian singers of our time' (ResMusica).
Shown here in the four-act version, Don Carlo is the fascinating tale of father-son power struggles, adultery and love that borders on incest. The cast - under the powerful baton of Gianandrea Noseda - is headed by renowned Mexican tenor Ramon Vargas, and also features Ludovic Tezier, who has been hailed as 'one of the best Verdian singers of our time' (ResMusica).
I due Foscari was Verdi's sixth opera and is based on Lord Byron's play The Tow Foscari . Rich in intrigue, the plot tells of the final days of the famous Venetian doge, Francesco Foscari, and his illegal overthrow in 1457. The opera was first performed at the Teatro Argentina in Rome in November 1844.
Ernani is Verdi's fifth work for the stage and is based on Victor Hugo's Hernani . It takes as its starting point the theme of vengeance in all its manifold aspects and received its first performance at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in March 1844, its success proving Verdi's definitive breakthrough as a composer. The fact that the work has been staged with increasing frequency in major opera houses in recent years is due to the renaissance of bel canto singing.
The premiere of Ernani at Venices' Teatro La Fenice in 1844 failed to come up to Verdi's expectations, primarily because of the poor health of some of the singers. Both critics and audiences, however, soon warmed to Ernani , especially after the following performances. The opera contains some of Verdi's most successful, impassioned arias (first and foremost Elvira's cavatina and Silva's cantabile) and clearly denoted an evolution in terms of dramatic structure, more cohesive and with lesser use of blocks of closed numbers. Despite a turbulent 'premiere', Ernani became a real international success, beginning with the felicitous Vienna productions of May/June 1844. The cast of this Teatro Regio of Parma production features some of today's best singers for this type of repertoire.
The nearly eighty-year-old Verdi debuted Falstaff at La Scala on the 9th of February 1893. Based on the play The Merry Wives of Windsor , Falstaff was Verdi's last opera, which covered nearly fifty-four years of creative activity and the most perfect enigmatic work ever composed by the musician from Busseto.
Boito Arrigo skillfully preserved his original traits, converging them into a libretto that is agile, concise and imaginative. His Falstaff is not a solely comical figure; he is a complex character with a cynical outlook on life.
Boito Arrigo skillfully preserved his original traits, converging them into a libretto that is agile, concise and imaginative. His Falstaff is not a solely comical figure; he is a complex character with a cynical outlook on life.
After an unparalleled succession of tragic operas, Verdi finished his operatic career with a comedy. It has a thread of intriguing musical cross-references and a great richness of musical resource, as well as subtle delineation of character. It has enchanting love music, too, but it is the depiction of Falstaff himself and the web of conspiracy around him that gives the opera its chief celebrity. Verdi's congenial librettist Arrigo Boito created a sparkling adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "Henry IV." Falstaff was premiered in Milan in 1893.
Based, in part, on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and King Henry IV, Falstaff is Verdi's last work for the stage - and only his second comic opera. And yet the humour in this multilayered masterpiece is distinctly wry, for all the main characters exhibit an array of of human weaknesses that are implacably exposed by Verdi and his librettist Arrigo Boito.
Out of Giuseppe Verdi's adoration for William Shakespeare three masterpieces were born: Macbeth, Otello and, as a musical testament, his only comedy Falstaff . But in accordance with its librettist Arrigo Boito's wish to remove the original bourgeois farce The Merry Wives of Windsor out of the English mists and to warm it up to the clear Tuscan sun, Falstaff transforms Shakespeare's morality play into an ode to life, to pleasure and to reconciliation that forgives human vices, rewards intelligence and virtue, and praises that spark of madnessthat gives life its flavour. Shakespeare's most famous and subversive comic character has indeed proved to be a fertile ground for Verdi who, then eighty-years old, signed with Falstaff his most modern, most ambitious, but also wisest and ambiguous opera.
It was high time that French stage director Laurent Pelly, an eniment specialist of the buffa repertoire, tried out his talents on this whimsical music drama: a task he performs with absolute maestria, highlighting with remarkable subtlety the numerous comic devices invented by Verdi and Boito but also pondering on the equivocal morality of the argument. He is, of course, helped in this endeavour by a wonderful team of singers: from the excellent baritone Roberto de Candia to the...
It was high time that French stage director Laurent Pelly, an eniment specialist of the buffa repertoire, tried out his talents on this whimsical music drama: a task he performs with absolute maestria, highlighting with remarkable subtlety the numerous comic devices invented by Verdi and Boito but also pondering on the equivocal morality of the argument. He is, of course, helped in this endeavour by a wonderful team of singers: from the excellent baritone Roberto de Candia to the...
It all started with an agreement with the Russian music authorities and on the suggestion of Mauro Corticelli (an impresario from Bologna), to asked the composer to write a new opera for the imperial theatre. Verdi choose Don Alvaro o La fuerza de sino by the Spaniard Angel Perez de Saavedra for his subject and libretto and contacted to Piave to set the work right away.
On the evening of 10th November 1862 La forza del destino was finally staged at St. Petersburg's Imperial Theatre, obtaining resounding success. The performance was "excellent", according to what Verdi wrote to Tito Ricordi in his telegraphic account of the soirre. The Czar Alexander II, who could not see the first performances due to illness, attended on the fourth evening, and summoned the Maestro to congratulate him in person. La forza del destino is, indeed an experimental creation by a composer who was already mature but still looking for new incentives and challenges.
On the evening of 10th November 1862 La forza del destino was finally staged at St. Petersburg's Imperial Theatre, obtaining resounding success. The performance was "excellent", according to what Verdi wrote to Tito Ricordi in his telegraphic account of the soirre. The Czar Alexander II, who could not see the first performances due to illness, attended on the fourth evening, and summoned the Maestro to congratulate him in person. La forza del destino is, indeed an experimental creation by a composer who was already mature but still looking for new incentives and challenges.
For La forza del destino , Verdi created one of his most famous melodies, the "fate" motif that permeates the whole of the score. Music and action alternate in masterly fashion between large-scale crown scenes and intimate interiority, in that way illustrating Verdi's real them: the manner in which fallible human beings are destroyed by a cruel fate.
"The cast is a dream team", wrote the Financial Times after the premiere of this production of Verdi's La forza del destino at the Wiener Staatsoper. At the top of the list is soprano Nina Stemme, who gives a full-blooded portrayal of Leonora. Passionate, forceful readings are also provided by Salvatore Licitra as Alvaro, Leonora's lover, and by Carlos Alvarez as Don Carlo, Leonora's vengeful brother. Zubin Mehta leads the Staatsoper Orchestra with agility, subtleness and relaxed mastery. Director David Pountney establishes the randomness of fate at the outset in a video depicting a butterfly flapping its wings and setting fortune's wheel into motion.
Un giorno di regno is the rare case of a musical comedy by Verdi. But his second stage work proved a complete fiasco when unveiled at La Scala, Milan, in 1840 and more than half a century was to pass before he attempted a second comedy with his final opera Falstaff . Today, conversely, Verdi's early melodramma giocoso enjoys increasing popularity thanks to its wellspring of musical ideas and effervescent melodies.
Giovanna d'Arco , Verdi's seventh opera, was premiered at La Scala in Milan on 15th February, 1845. It was written between the composition of I Due Foscari (November 1844) and Alzira (August 1845), a period when Verdi was already enjoying popularity as a recognized heir to Bellini and Donizetti. After the success of Nabucco, which had launched him on the Italian operatic scene, the Venetian triumph of Ernani cemented Verdi's repuation as a composer of international stature, both of home and abroad.
Giuseppe Verdi made his breakthrough as an opera composer with Nabucco in 1842; eager to follow it up with another stroke of genius, he produced I Lombardi alla prima Crociata the following year and again scored a notable success. But while the work's musical qualities were unanimously acclaimed, its libretto offended the clerical authorities. The opera relates the conflict between Christians and Muslims at the time of the Crusades, but treats both sides with a certain ambivalence and features a romance between the Christian Giselda and the Muslim Oronte. In spite of the work's powerful choruses interspersed with solo arias and ensembles, I Lombardi has never achieved the prominence of Verdi's most popular operas.
The production from the Teatro di San Carlo of Naples is dominated by the formidable voices of Ruggero Raimondi as Pagano, a Muslim who helps the Crusaders, and Dimitra Theodossiou as Giselda, the Christian maiden captured by the Sultan of Antioch, and who falls in love with his son Oronte. Raimondi, an internationally celebrated bass-baritone even before his immortal turn as Don Giovanni in Joseph Losey's 1979 film, imbues his voice with a rich melancholy that humanizes his ambiguous role. The young Greek-German soprano Theodossiou has been hailed as one of...
The production from the Teatro di San Carlo of Naples is dominated by the formidable voices of Ruggero Raimondi as Pagano, a Muslim who helps the Crusaders, and Dimitra Theodossiou as Giselda, the Christian maiden captured by the Sultan of Antioch, and who falls in love with his son Oronte. Raimondi, an internationally celebrated bass-baritone even before his immortal turn as Don Giovanni in Joseph Losey's 1979 film, imbues his voice with a rich melancholy that humanizes his ambiguous role. The young Greek-German soprano Theodossiou has been hailed as one of...
I Lombardi alla prima crociata (The Lombards on the First Crusade) was Verdi's fourth opera and received its first performance at La Scala, Milan, in February 1843. The grandiloquent subject matters is fleshed out with broad-brushed musical and dramatic effects and lavish choral scenes and created a correspondingly impressive impact. A great success in Milan, it spread to the rest of Europe within a matter of only a few years.
Luisa Miller is based on Schiller's famous stage play Kabale und Liebe and marks its composer's first departure from the world of the Bible and historical legend. Rather, Verdi depicts everyday conflicts between ordinary people. Musically, too, the opera broke with a number of the operatic conventions of its time.
Hailed as his first mature masterpiece, Verdi's 1849 opera Luisa Miller leaves the world of Bellini and Donizetti behind and opens the door to the realism of the three following operas, Rigoletto , La Traviata and Il Trovatore. Even though it has not become a repertoire work like its successors, the work's ensemble scenes and fluid dramaturgy have an electrifying impact on all Verdi lovers. This drama, based on Schiller's Kabale und Liebe, treats the conflicts between the two fathers and their children and between two very different social classes with a forward-looking psychological refinement. "It is a melodrama hovering between two worlds and depicts a society in transition from one to the other," says director Denis Krief. The story of the star-crossed lovers Luisa and Rodolfo fully occupies center stage in this production from the 2007 Festival Verdi in Parma, with a minimalist decor highlighted by a simple wooden table for the heroine's home and an elegant sofa for the home of the noble Walter family. As in his 2007 Nabucco from the Arena di Verona, Franco-Italian director Denis Krief pares down the production to focus on the music and, above all, the outstanding singers.
Fiorenza Cedolins heads the roster of great Verdi artists in this production. The famed...
Fiorenza Cedolins heads the roster of great Verdi artists in this production. The famed...
Coproduced with Siberia's Novosibirsk Opera, this new Macbeth uses cutting-edge multimedia technology to give the viewer a fresh perspective on the work. Google Earth satellite images plunge us into the heart of the action: a gloomy square surrounded by soulless buildings, and the interior of an aristocratic residence. Witches are no more a part of Tcherniakov's Macbeth that the duel was of Onegin , but once again the atmosphere is one of brooding claustrophobia.
Tcherniakov has chosen a great cast, beginning with the marvellous Lithuanian soprano Violeta Urmana as Lady Macbeth. Greek baritone Dimitris Tiliakos is a powerful presence as Macbeth, while the Italians Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass) and Stefano Secco (tenor) are sumptuous as, respectively, Banquo and Macduff.
In this, his second production at the Paris Opera, Teodor Currentzis, music director of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre conducts with verve and a splendid theatrical sense.
Tcherniakov has chosen a great cast, beginning with the marvellous Lithuanian soprano Violeta Urmana as Lady Macbeth. Greek baritone Dimitris Tiliakos is a powerful presence as Macbeth, while the Italians Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass) and Stefano Secco (tenor) are sumptuous as, respectively, Banquo and Macduff.
In this, his second production at the Paris Opera, Teodor Currentzis, music director of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre conducts with verve and a splendid theatrical sense.
Black, red, cream and gold are the colours that define Phyllida Lloyd's Royal Opera House staging of Verdi's robust, yet penetrating setting of Shakespeare's Scottish play. Manipulated by a whole coven of cunning, scarlet-turbanned witches, the characters often evoke figures in a splendid Gothic fresco. With Simon Keenlyside making his British debut, as an athletic, brooding Macbeth and Liudmyla Monastyrska as his Lady, both imperious and subtle, this performance, masterfully conducted by Antonio Pappano, goes far beyond mere sound and fury.
Bonus features:
- Interview with Liudmyla Monastryrska, Simon Keenlyside, Raymond Aceto
- Rehearsing Macbeth with Antonio Pappano
Bonus features:
- Interview with Liudmyla Monastryrska, Simon Keenlyside, Raymond Aceto
- Rehearsing Macbeth with Antonio Pappano
Verdi was justifiably pleased with Macbeth, his tenth opera and his first on a Shakespearian subject ?EUR" it would long remain his own favourite among his "early period" operas. Eighteen years later, at the invitation of the Theatre Lyrique in Paris, he substantially revised the score, and this version (sung in Italian) is presented here in Pier Luigi Pizzi's visually arresting 2007 production. The talented young cast is headed by Giuseppe Altomare as Macbeth, one of Verdi's most profoundly modern anti-heroes, a political animal driven to bloody regicide yet doomed by his very success. Olha Zhuravel plays his obsessively ambitious wife, driven to madness by her own guilt.
This opera undoubtedly marks an important turning point in Verdi's operatic writing, because it brings to the foreground the characters' introspective, psychological aspect, which would be the fundamental feature of most of the maestro's later creations.
This recording documents the production staged at Novara's Teatro Coccia during the 2013-2014 season, with Dario Argento tackling for the first time the direction of an opera.
This recording documents the production staged at Novara's Teatro Coccia during the 2013-2014 season, with Dario Argento tackling for the first time the direction of an opera.
A reworking of Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name, Verdi's Macbeth received its first performance in Florence in March 1847, although the heavily revised version of 1865 is the one that is almost always performed today. The subject matter is dark and was little known in Italy in Verdi's day. Moreover, the opera contains no real love story. For all these reasons Verdi was taking a huge risk in tackling the subject.
Commissioned in 1846, Macbeth offered Verdi the opportunity to make a qualitative leap in his career and its premiere was triumphantly received by audiences. Yet the libretto had proved problematic and many Italian critics did not share the composer's reverence for Shakespeare . Verdi surmounted all concerns with an opera that valued brevity but also preserved the play's most important elements. The formidable final concertato stands as one of his greatest achievements thus far, his pacing and detailing of the opera as a whole far surpassing his previous works. This production preserves the preferred 1865 revision of the work, sung in Italian and retaining the original 1847 finale.
Based on Schiller's play The Robbers , I masnadieri was commissioned by Her Majesty's Theatre in London where it was first performed in 1847, conducted by the composer. Once again Verdi was fascinated by the idea of giving musical expression to the eerie and earthy elements in his source. No wonder, then, that the work had many detractors among critics but was a popular success with its audience.
After his first two operas Oberto and Un giorno di regno , Verdi fell into a depression that dissipated only when he was shown the libretto to Nabucco and discovered the chorus Va, pensiero . The words sung by the Hebrew exiles made an indelible impression on the composer, who also saw the political potential within them: an echo of the Italians' longing for freedom and a unified nation.
This video production vividly captures this unique experience and provides the viewer with fascinating details that escape many of the Arena's spectators. Stage director Denis Krief casts the work in a sparse modern setting, providing a highly effective showcase for the true heroes of the evening, the singers under conductor Daniel Oren. The chorus of the Hebrew captives is so perfect that it is probably impossible to find it sung anywhere else more beautifully than in Verona.
As so often in the Arena, the chorus presents itself as protagonist and perfectly homogeneous ensemble in this acoustically delicate theater. But with Leo Nucci as an aging Nabucco reminiscent of Lear, Fabio Sartori as his antagonist Ismaele and Maria Guleghina as a power-hungry Abigaille, the stage was dominated by three brilliantly disposed soloists who rousingly did justice to the drama of their...
This video production vividly captures this unique experience and provides the viewer with fascinating details that escape many of the Arena's spectators. Stage director Denis Krief casts the work in a sparse modern setting, providing a highly effective showcase for the true heroes of the evening, the singers under conductor Daniel Oren. The chorus of the Hebrew captives is so perfect that it is probably impossible to find it sung anywhere else more beautifully than in Verona.
As so often in the Arena, the chorus presents itself as protagonist and perfectly homogeneous ensemble in this acoustically delicate theater. But with Leo Nucci as an aging Nabucco reminiscent of Lear, Fabio Sartori as his antagonist Ismaele and Maria Guleghina as a power-hungry Abigaille, the stage was dominated by three brilliantly disposed soloists who rousingly did justice to the drama of their...
This exciting open-air staging of Nabucco was one of the classical highlights in summer 2007. The vast production of the Verdi masterpiece at St. Margarethen took place amidst the intoxicating scenery of a rustically romantic Roman quarry, which provided a unique backdrop for this live recording. The Opera Festival St. Margarethen in Austria counts as one of Europe's most important open-air festivals and nearly 220,000 opera lovers from all over the world visit it annually. Nabucco tells the story of Nebuchadnezzar, ancient King of Babylon, who went mad after proclaiming himself God. It is one of the most popular works in the history of opera and was Giuseppe Verdi's (1813?EUR"1901) break-through in 1842. It features the most famous of all opera choruses, "Va, pensiero...", which is a tune known to more than just opera lovers. This is an opera of epic proportions and the staging presented on this video truly conforms to this spirit: horses, pyrotechnical special effects and more than 400 participants take to the stage.
Nabucco was premiered at Milan's La Scala on March 9, 1842. It met with enormous success, crowned by as many as 75 performances at La Scala before the end of that year. With Nabucco Giuseppe Verdi finally found his own stance, attaining linguistic and expressive means that, in the space of a decade, would make him the undisputed master of Italian opera theaters.
The present, interesting production, staged at the Carlo Felice theater in Genoa, features young but already internationally renowned interpreters: Alberto Gazale, as a solid and convincing Nabucco; Susan Neves as an Abigaille by the beautiful and powerful vocal means; Orlin Anastassov as a greatly authoritative Zaccaria, which lets foresee for him a radiant career.
The present, interesting production, staged at the Carlo Felice theater in Genoa, features young but already internationally renowned interpreters: Alberto Gazale, as a solid and convincing Nabucco; Susan Neves as an Abigaille by the beautiful and powerful vocal means; Orlin Anastassov as a greatly authoritative Zaccaria, which lets foresee for him a radiant career.
Nabucco was Verdi's third work for the stage and proved his first great success when performed in 1842. It deals with the Hebrews' attempts to break free from the yoke of their Babylonian oppressors and is nowadays numbered among Verdi's most popular works, not least on account of its famous Chorus of Hebrew Slaves, which has one of the best-loved melodies in the whole history of opera.
A new production of Verdi's Nabucco at the Arena di Verona, and probably the most exciting lyrical event of the summer 2017.
Verdi's third opera - but first great popular success - was created at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1842, in the epicentre of the Risorgimento and the capital of Italian nationalism, at a time where the supporters of Italian independance from Austrian occupation were starting to make their voices heard. The 'Chorus of the Hebrew slaves', pivotal point in the third act where the Jews, exiled from Babylon by Nabuchodonosor, mourn their country, 'so beautiful and lost', immediately resonated with the Italian nationalists and has ever since been a symbol of Italian national identity.
Boldly transposing the action out of biblical times and into Italian Risorgimento, French director Arnaud Bernard goes as far as to center the entire opera during the popular uprisings of 1848 and in the insides of the Milanese opera house. A clever way to emphasize on the legends that have been building around Verdi's operas and the role they played in the political process of uniting the Italian peninsula, and in the construction of an authentic italianita.
Soprano Susanna Branchini literally steals the stage as Nabuchodonosor's daughter Abigaille (for whom Verdi...
Verdi's third opera - but first great popular success - was created at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1842, in the epicentre of the Risorgimento and the capital of Italian nationalism, at a time where the supporters of Italian independance from Austrian occupation were starting to make their voices heard. The 'Chorus of the Hebrew slaves', pivotal point in the third act where the Jews, exiled from Babylon by Nabuchodonosor, mourn their country, 'so beautiful and lost', immediately resonated with the Italian nationalists and has ever since been a symbol of Italian national identity.
Boldly transposing the action out of biblical times and into Italian Risorgimento, French director Arnaud Bernard goes as far as to center the entire opera during the popular uprisings of 1848 and in the insides of the Milanese opera house. A clever way to emphasize on the legends that have been building around Verdi's operas and the role they played in the political process of uniting the Italian peninsula, and in the construction of an authentic italianita.
Soprano Susanna Branchini literally steals the stage as Nabuchodonosor's daughter Abigaille (for whom Verdi...
Oberto was the first of Verdi's operas to be staged and was heard for the first time at La Scala, Milan, in November 1839. As a young unknown composer, Verdi was subject to the rules then governing the opera industry in Italy. Even so, there are already many scenes in this early work that reveal unmistakable signs of the composer's individual style
Verdi's first published opera, written in his 20s, already shows the instinctive melodic gift and heightened sense of drama which was to make him a giant among composers of grand opera. Set in 13th century Italy, Oberto was first performed at La Scala, Milan in 1839 - 54 years before his last opera was premiered there - and prepared the way for a lifetime's work which would culminate in some of the finest music ever written.
Bonus feature:
- Interview with Yves Abel
Bonus feature:
- Interview with Yves Abel
Herbert von Karajan, a master painter of aural and visual panoramas, has created a medley of Mediterranean moods, extending from the violent storm of the Overture to the golden hues of the palace scenes. Jon Vickers, in one of his greatest roles as the brooding Moor Otello, displays the full brilliancy of his legendary voice; Mirella Freni, as Otello's tormented wife Desdemona, secures our compassion with singing of serene vocal beauty; Peter Glossop is as evil an Iago as one can imagine. Three definitive portrayals of some of Verdi's most powerful characters. With the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Herbert von Karajan's Salzburg Festival production is assured of an electrifying impact.
"An amazing range, with fresh young lows and girlish highs, full, glowing middle and high registers, a timbre of silk, champagne and sandpaper, a great lyrical-dramatic soprano," wrote Berlin's Tagesspiegel about Marina Poplavskaya. The Moscow native was clearly "the queen of this operatic performance," as the eminent critic Joachim Kaiser put it in the Suddeutsche Zeitung, and perhaps the most dazzling discovery of this Salzburg Festival production of Verdi's Otello .
Poplavskaya's Desdemona shares the limelight on the stage of Salzburg's Grosses Festspielhaus with her partner Aleksandrs Antonenko, an up-and-coming Latvian tenor with an impressive stage presence and a light, heady timbre that gives his Otello a youthful note.
Particularly noteworthy are Carlos Alvarez, a powerful, charismatic baritone who infuses his manipulating Iago with criminal energy and threatening darkness; and Stephen Costello, whose sensitive, elegant Cassio reminds us that this young American tenor is already singing Donizetti at the Metropolitan Opera. Leading the vocal ensemble and the Wiener Philharmoniker with commanding presence is the great Riccardo Muti, whose conducting is "the motor of this Verdi opera" (Wiener Zeitung).
With its "enlightened realism" (Die Welt), Stephen Langridge's...
Poplavskaya's Desdemona shares the limelight on the stage of Salzburg's Grosses Festspielhaus with her partner Aleksandrs Antonenko, an up-and-coming Latvian tenor with an impressive stage presence and a light, heady timbre that gives his Otello a youthful note.
Particularly noteworthy are Carlos Alvarez, a powerful, charismatic baritone who infuses his manipulating Iago with criminal energy and threatening darkness; and Stephen Costello, whose sensitive, elegant Cassio reminds us that this young American tenor is already singing Donizetti at the Metropolitan Opera. Leading the vocal ensemble and the Wiener Philharmoniker with commanding presence is the great Riccardo Muti, whose conducting is "the motor of this Verdi opera" (Wiener Zeitung).
With its "enlightened realism" (Die Welt), Stephen Langridge's...
Verdi was over seventy when he set about raising Italian opera to a whole new level, succeeding magnificently in combining two traditions in his penultimate masterpiece. Based on Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Otello not only sumps up the history of Italian opera since Rossini but at the same time looks far into the future.
The winnder of the Campoamor Prize as best 2015 production, this Otello - a Macerate Opera Festival and Festival Castell de Peralada coproduction - was entrusted to a star of the current direction firmanent, the Spanish director and set designer Paco Azorin, and conducted by Riccardo Frizza.
Frizza gives back to this Verdi score all of its beauty, its refined orchestral and harmonic writing, at the same time leading with confidence the singers: the solid Othello of the American tenor Stuart Neill, an imposing figure and a very interesting voice, rich in nuances; the lyrical Desdemona of Jessica Nuccio, debuting in this role; and the excellent Jago of Roberto Frontali, a fine Sferisterio, also thanks to an inspiring use of lighting and projections
Frizza gives back to this Verdi score all of its beauty, its refined orchestral and harmonic writing, at the same time leading with confidence the singers: the solid Othello of the American tenor Stuart Neill, an imposing figure and a very interesting voice, rich in nuances; the lyrical Desdemona of Jessica Nuccio, debuting in this role; and the excellent Jago of Roberto Frontali, a fine Sferisterio, also thanks to an inspiring use of lighting and projections
Verdi's drama of revenge, in its stunning new production by David McVicar, is filled with some of the composer's most celebrated music. Edward Downes conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House with a cast which includes Marcelo Alvarez, Christine Schäfer and Paolo Gavanelli. Contains nudity.
Bonus features :
- Illustrated synopsis
- Verdi through the looking glass - a BBC documentary
- Director David McVicar talks about his production of Rigoletto
Bonus features :
- Illustrated synopsis
- Verdi through the looking glass - a BBC documentary
- Director David McVicar talks about his production of Rigoletto
Renaissance Italy has never been portrayed more opulently and more realistically than in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's film of Verdi's Rigoletto , the composer's first true masterwork for the stage. Towering over the production is Luciano Pavarotti as the cynical, dissolute Duke of Mantua, one of the famed tenor's greatest vocal and dramatic roles. Rigoletto is magnificently portrayed by the Swedish baritone Ingvar Wixell. His beautiful daughter Gilda is interpreted by Edita Gruberova, one of the leading coloratura sopranos of our time. Director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, "whose stage and television work has brought a new and grandly colorful vitality to opera interpretation" (The New York Times), acclaimed Italian cameraman Pasqualino de Santis (Death in Venice) and architect Gianni Quaranta have created a spellbindingly unique atmosphere.
The drama unfolds with a powerful authenticity highlighted by the historic locations in which it was filmed: Parma's Teatro Farnese of 1628, Mantua's Palazzo Te, famed for its frescoes by Giulio Romano, and the Palladian-style Teatro Olimpico in Sabbioneta. Riccardo Chailly's vibrant interpretation of Verdi's score, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra responding magnificently to his conducting, is a perfect complement to Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's...
The drama unfolds with a powerful authenticity highlighted by the historic locations in which it was filmed: Parma's Teatro Farnese of 1628, Mantua's Palazzo Te, famed for its frescoes by Giulio Romano, and the Palladian-style Teatro Olimpico in Sabbioneta. Riccardo Chailly's vibrant interpretation of Verdi's score, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra responding magnificently to his conducting, is a perfect complement to Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's...
For Verdi, Victor Hugo's play Le roi s'amuse was arguably the greatest drame of the present day. But many of his contemporaries were scandalized by this tale of corpses, jesters, cripples and a king addicted to venal love. And yet this no doubt helps to explain why Rigoletto turned out to be Verdi's second great success and laid the foundations for his emergence as Italy's leading opera composer.
None of Verdi's other operas was subjected to as radical a series of revisions as Simon Boccanegra . The initial version of 1857 was not a success, so that in 1880/81 Verdi not only rewrote large sections of the score but together with his new librettist Arrigo Boito also reworked the libretto. The result was a sombre work full of overwhelming sound pictures. This second version proved a great and lasting success.
In 14th-century Genoa, where different political fractions are at war. Paolo Albiani has the valiant corsair Simone Boccanegra , a righteous and sage man, elected Doge.
The political conspiracies, in the opera's plot, are closely knit together with the tragic events in Simone's life: he has lost both the love of his life and their daughter, and must constantly defend himself from his enemies' attacks. The true protagonists of Verdi's opera, however, are not the social and political events: but rather a pervading sense of tragedy and melancholy, and the characters' intricate psychology.
The political conspiracies, in the opera's plot, are closely knit together with the tragic events in Simone's life: he has lost both the love of his life and their daughter, and must constantly defend himself from his enemies' attacks. The true protagonists of Verdi's opera, however, are not the social and political events: but rather a pervading sense of tragedy and melancholy, and the characters' intricate psychology.
The wife of a Protestant preacher as an adulteress - problems with the censor were inevitable from the outset with Verdi's opera Stiffelio , which was premiered in November 1850. Even today the finale seems astonishingly bold: superficially it deals with forgiveness and reconciliation, but the orchestral writing is in such striking contrast that Verdi appears to be tolling the death knell of the protagonists' marriage.
Giuseppe Verdi's Stiffelio is a tense moral drama in which a Protestant minister learns of his wife's betrayal and is torn between a thirst for revenge and his religious duty of forgiveness. These themes of adultery and divorce were social taboos in 1850, and Stiffelio was met with such censorship and disapproval that it was soon withdrawn.
Today we can appreciate both the title character's significance as the first true Verdi tenor, and the many wonderful moments in this 'most unjustly neglected of Verdi's operas'.
Today we can appreciate both the title character's significance as the first true Verdi tenor, and the many wonderful moments in this 'most unjustly neglected of Verdi's operas'.
Verdi's Stiffelio is a tense moral drama in which a Protestant minister learns of his wife's betrayal and is torn between thirst for revenge and his religious duty of forgiveness. These themes of adultery and divorce were social taboos in 1850, and Stifellio was met with such censorship and disapproval that it was soon withdrawn. Today we can appreciate both the title character's significance as the first true Verdi tenor, and the many wonderful moments in this 'most unjustly neglected of Verdi's operas'. The unique and dynamic production from Parma was acclaimed for taking us to 'a whole new theatrical world' (Huffington Post), and as 'nothing short of a coup' (bachtrack.com).
We all identify Traviata with the corrupt, led-astray heroine of Verdi's opera; with those women whose fatal sensuality incriminated families, threatening the social order, and compromising a morality where desire, with its subversive powers, was to be eliminated.
However, every myth benefits from a fresh perspective. And from the bedside of a repentant Madeleine, the guilty conscience of the XIXth century's hypocritical honesty, Peter Mussbach sees this myth differently. He sees it from a closer perspective. Perhaps his very contemporary vision of this past era can shed some
light on our vision of the modern woman.
The only performance from the eventful 2003 Festival d'Aix, this Traviata is carried all the way through by a radiant Mireille Delunsch, who, as always, pushes the limits of her art. Appearing in a wedding dress, evoking the sacrificed icon reminiscent of both Marylin and Lady Di, trapped by tragedy, Mireille Delunsch is Violetta.
Filmed by Don Kent, a master in the domain, Peter Mussbach's brilliant production is one long flashback, which leaves the spectator breathless. A truly remarkable director of actors, Mussbach focuses on the psychology of the opera's characters, and knows how to get the best out of his singers. For him, La Traviata is "written...
However, every myth benefits from a fresh perspective. And from the bedside of a repentant Madeleine, the guilty conscience of the XIXth century's hypocritical honesty, Peter Mussbach sees this myth differently. He sees it from a closer perspective. Perhaps his very contemporary vision of this past era can shed some
light on our vision of the modern woman.
The only performance from the eventful 2003 Festival d'Aix, this Traviata is carried all the way through by a radiant Mireille Delunsch, who, as always, pushes the limits of her art. Appearing in a wedding dress, evoking the sacrificed icon reminiscent of both Marylin and Lady Di, trapped by tragedy, Mireille Delunsch is Violetta.
Filmed by Don Kent, a master in the domain, Peter Mussbach's brilliant production is one long flashback, which leaves the spectator breathless. A truly remarkable director of actors, Mussbach focuses on the psychology of the opera's characters, and knows how to get the best out of his singers. For him, La Traviata is "written...
Although not a success like the La Traviata when it premiered on 6th March 1854, Verdi's Rigoletto is considered, in Italy at least, as by far his most popular opera up to this date. With the text written by Francesco Maria Piave , the plot found much of its interest and its emotive impact on the public in the fact that the events it related were "real life" of the day.
Verdi's best-loved work is performed here by a star cast in a revival of Richard Eyre's highly acclaimed 1994 production. Music Director Antonio Pappano conducts La traviata for the first time at Covent Garden. American soprano Renée Fleming returns to Covent Garden to sing Violetta for the first time with The Royal Opera. La traviata was first performed at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice in March 1853.
Within only a few years, Anna Netrebko has become one of the most acclaimed performers of our time, whose popularity transcends by far the boundaries of classical music. With her CDs garnering phenomenal sales and her stage appearances causing worldwide box-office stampedes, Anna Netrebko is on her way to becoming the new diva assoluta.
This recording of Verdi's La Traviata from the 2005 Salzburg Festival – the uncontested and hopelessly sold-out highlight of the festival season – captures the triumphal performance not only of Anna Netrebko as Violetta Valery, but also of Rolando Villazon as her lover Alfredo. The glamorous Russian soprano and the heartthrob Mexican tenor have become the new dream team of the opera world.
The international press was unanimous in praising the singers' phenomenal range, heavenly timbre, musical finesse and powerful, charismatic stage presence. Portraying Alfredo's father is one of the leading baritones of our time, Thomas Hampson. The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation's (ORF) simultaneous telecast of the premiere scored a phenomenal 29% market share. Willy Decker's stark, elegantly stylish stage production makes Anna Netrebko the center of attention at all times. The sets and costumes are by Wolfgang Gussmann. La Traviata...
This recording of Verdi's La Traviata from the 2005 Salzburg Festival – the uncontested and hopelessly sold-out highlight of the festival season – captures the triumphal performance not only of Anna Netrebko as Violetta Valery, but also of Rolando Villazon as her lover Alfredo. The glamorous Russian soprano and the heartthrob Mexican tenor have become the new dream team of the opera world.
The international press was unanimous in praising the singers' phenomenal range, heavenly timbre, musical finesse and powerful, charismatic stage presence. Portraying Alfredo's father is one of the leading baritones of our time, Thomas Hampson. The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation's (ORF) simultaneous telecast of the premiere scored a phenomenal 29% market share. Willy Decker's stark, elegantly stylish stage production makes Anna Netrebko the center of attention at all times. The sets and costumes are by Wolfgang Gussmann. La Traviata...
A fascinating production of La Traviata formed this year's opera highlight at one of Europe's most important open-air festivals: the Opera Festival St. Margarethen. The dazzling production, set in a rustically romantic Roman quarry, already boasts 100,000 visitors this season. Recorded live in July 2008, this video captures the beauty of the open-air production. Stage designer Manfred Waba sets the tragic story about the demi-mondaine Violetta Valéry and her admirer Alfredo Germont in an evocative replica of the Parisian Opéra Garnier. His and Robert Herzl's unique interpretation is intelligent and effective. In the lead roles, Austria's promising opera talent Kristiane Kaiser and Jean-François Borras, a young French tenor, provide for a musically and visually attractive viewing.
La traviata is Verdi's most popular opera and one of the best loved of all stage works. Romance, tragedy and unforgettable tunes - this opera has it all. But modern audiences have largely lost sight of the fact that its plot was altogether unprecedented at the time of the work's composition: with the tale of high-class prostitute dying of consumption, Verdi raised his fondness for daring subjects to a whole new level.
From Marie Duplessis to Marguerite Gautier and then Violetta Valery lies the rift that separates the real life from the work of art, the news story from the myth. The rift originates with a pseudonym (Marie Duplessis was in fact named Alphonsine Pessis), grows with a nickname (the famous 'Lady of the Camellias') and produces a noun, a word as melodic as it is cutting: La Traviata . Literally 'the fallen woman', the word denotes the woman who has left the path of social convention and bourgeois hypocrisy, the figure of the courtesan who incited both fear and desire in the Nineteenth Century.
Using the word as the title for an opera based on the novel by Alexander Dumas fils, Verdi and his librettist Piave produced the quintessential melodrama, that of a courtesan who is the victim of true love. The courtesan's tragic destiny is rendered through a score replete with irresistibly vacillating emotions, carefree toasts, heart-rending duos and lyrical elegies.
Using the word as the title for an opera based on the novel by Alexander Dumas fils, Verdi and his librettist Piave produced the quintessential melodrama, that of a courtesan who is the victim of true love. The courtesan's tragic destiny is rendered through a score replete with irresistibly vacillating emotions, carefree toasts, heart-rending duos and lyrical elegies.
La traviata is one of the works that mark the entrance of realism in Italian opera. Although, as can be expected, some of the more scabrous moments that deal with prostitution are toned down (a toning down already made by Dumas in his passage from novel to play), it is significant that the libretto, initially entitled Amore e morte (Love and death) was renamed by Verdi La traviata .
In spite of the fact that he had to accept moving the story to an earlier age, there is no doubt that the opera speaks of contemporary society, of the mundane world of the bourgeoisie, emphasizing its vulgarity and exposing its hypocrisy.
In spite of the fact that he had to accept moving the story to an earlier age, there is no doubt that the opera speaks of contemporary society, of the mundane world of the bourgeoisie, emphasizing its vulgarity and exposing its hypocrisy.
A gigantic blood-red monster, made of steel and flames, floating on the still waters of Lake Constance - this is Robert Carsen's unconventional vision of the setting of Verdi's masterpiece Il Trovatore for the 60th anniversary of the Bregenz Festival. In this threatening set of fire and metal, designed by Paul Steinberg, the characters burn with the passions they experience ?EUR" love, hatred, sexual desire and revenge ?EUR" and which eventually destroy them. The live recording of this most spectacular outdoor production combines astonishing images, relevant reflections on today's world and superb musical expression from the soloists and the world-renowned Wiener Symphoniker Orchestra, inspired by musical director Thomas Rosner.
Bonus features:
- A Stage on a Lake - a documentary including interviews with the stage director and set designer
- Illustrated Synopsis
Bonus features:
- A Stage on a Lake - a documentary including interviews with the stage director and set designer
- Illustrated Synopsis
After the success of Rigoletto, Verdi called on librettist Salvadore Cammarano in 1851 for his new opera Il Trovatore , based on the eponymous play by Spanish playwright Antonio Garcia Gutierrez. Verdi takes us to 15th century northern Spain to witness the tragic destiny of those under the control of the gypsy Azucena, who seeks to avenge the death of his mother. The first percussion notes are solemn, setting the tone for Verdi's masterpiece, whose main themes include abandonment, passion, power, love for one's parents and vengeance. The music is sometimes tender and sensuous, with exceptional energy and force, revealing daring and mastery in its musical and vocal language.
This production marked the debut of Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov at La Monnaie and the first Verdi interpretation by Marc Minkowski.
This production marked the debut of Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov at La Monnaie and the first Verdi interpretation by Marc Minkowski.
Jose Cura leads the star cast of Verdi's blazingly passionate opera in Elijah Moshinsky's new Royal Opera House production co-produced with Teatro Real Madrid, with sets by the noted Italian film designer Dante Ferretti. With Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Count di Luna, Veronica Villarroel as Leonora, and Yvonne Naef as Azucena, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, is conducted by Carlo Rizzi.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- The cast and their characters
- Designing Il Trovatore
- All about Schläger duelling
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- The cast and their characters
- Designing Il Trovatore
- All about Schläger duelling
Love and revenge are fatally interwoven in Il trovatore , and barely any of the characters survives the sombre action. Based on a Spanish play in the tradition of gothic horror, the work was written in 1851-52 and proved to be a triumph for Verdi. Within only a few years it had been performed in major opera houses all over the world and remains one of the most popular operas in the international repertory.
Written for exceptional singers, Il Trovatore has remained popular ever since its first performance at the Teatro Apollo in Rome on 19 January 1953, when even the toughest critics were convinced of its place in the repertoire. People are attracted to Il Trovatore because of its rousing melodies, its brutal, powerful plot, and its simple structure: elements that make it one of the best examples of Verdi's theatre pieces.
After the great success that Il Trovatore received in Paris, Verdi was proposed to compose a French version of the opera to suit the tastes of the local public. The original work, based on the Spanish play El trovador by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez, had a libretto by Cammarano, which was translated into French by Emilien Pacini.
Le Trouvere was first staged in Brussels in 1856 and premiered at the Paris Opera in 1857. In this new version the composer added some music in act 3 for the gypsie ballet scene, extended the finale of act 4 and made several other revisions. The plot is highly dramatic and captivating: Verdi portrays strong characters who deal with war, obsession and revenge.
To use director Robert Wilson's words "this is a family tragedy, and in many ways, it is a very contemporary story." Wilson's approach to the opera aims at preserving its emotional strength by using a very essential decor, whose main element is light: "As a director, when I design the stage and lighting, I think about if what I see can help me hear better. Le Trouvere requires a tremendous amount of concentration, so the set I designed is abstract in order to create a space for the music in the Farnese. I have designed an environment in concrete, creating a juxtaposition to the theatre's...
Le Trouvere was first staged in Brussels in 1856 and premiered at the Paris Opera in 1857. In this new version the composer added some music in act 3 for the gypsie ballet scene, extended the finale of act 4 and made several other revisions. The plot is highly dramatic and captivating: Verdi portrays strong characters who deal with war, obsession and revenge.
To use director Robert Wilson's words "this is a family tragedy, and in many ways, it is a very contemporary story." Wilson's approach to the opera aims at preserving its emotional strength by using a very essential decor, whose main element is light: "As a director, when I design the stage and lighting, I think about if what I see can help me hear better. Le Trouvere requires a tremendous amount of concentration, so the set I designed is abstract in order to create a space for the music in the Farnese. I have designed an environment in concrete, creating a juxtaposition to the theatre's...
Les vêpres siciliennes , like the similarly epic Don Carlos , was conceived as a grand opéra for Paris and is driven by the tensions between private passions and public politics. Originally set during SicilyEUR(TM)s 13th-century uprising against French rule, in Christof LoyEUR(TM)s staging for the Netherlands Opera the action is transposed to a 1940s world of sudden violence and shadowy double-dealing. Imaginatively cast and idiomatically conducted, the performance presents this magnificent score in its entirety, including the allegorical ballet The Four Seasons .
Not until 1855 did Verdi have a chance to try his hand at the genre of French grand opera. A setting of a libretto by Eugene Scribe, Les Vepres siciliennes proved a success in Paris despite the problematical nature of the its subject matter, which deals with the Sicilian uprising against occupying French forces in Palermo in 1822. Today, the opera is usually given in the Italian version of 1861 as I Vespri siciliani .
Les vepres siciliennes , a five-act opera on a libretto by Eugene Scribe and Charles Duveyrier with music by Giuseppe Verdi , was first staged at the Paris Opera on 13th June 1855. The subject of the opera was nothing other than an adaptation of a libretto that Scribe had written some years before. At first the opera was greeted with great success, even Hector Berlioz , usually far from kind to Italian musicians, exalted the grandeur of its conception and its masterly composition. However its Parisian success was to be short lived, and after 1865 Les vepres siciliennes disappeared from the repertoire of the Opera.
The spectacular opening production of London's newly restored Royal Opera House, first broadcast live on BBC television in December 1999, brings a riot of colour to Verdi's great Shakespearean masterpiece. Bryn Terfel as Sir John Falstaff and Barbara Frittoli as Alice Ford lead a star cast with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House under the direction of Bernard Haitink, in a spectacular new production by Graham Vick.
Once regarded as Verdi's lost opera because of early censorship and controversy, Stiffelio has now established its rightful place in Verdi's canon. In this 1993 recording from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Jose Carreras, as the Protestant minister whose faith is shattered when he discovers his wife's adulterous liaison with a family friend, leads a fine cast that includes Catherine Malfitano, Gregory Yurisich, Gwynne Howell and Robin Leggate under the baton of Edward Downes.
Partenope with the maiden was one of the three sirens defeated by Ulysses, whose body washed ashore in the spot where Naples was founded. Or was she the Greek princess of the libretto. who founded a city that took her name and successfully defended it against the neighbouring Cumaeans? Set to music by a number of composers - such as Caldara, Hasse, Sarro, Handel and Vivaldi - the myth of Partenope was very popular and known in as many as sixteen different versions. Neapolitans, even today, call themselves "partenopei", "children of Parthenope". A rich and colourful production, entrusted to world-renowned specialists of the Baroque repertoire and with the added value of the some very comic intermezzi, as was customary in 18th-century music theatre.
The world premiere performance of a lost Vivaldi masterpiece, Ercole su'l Termodonte reconstructed by Alessandro Ciccolini and edited by Alan Curtis, directed and designed by John Pascoe for the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi.
Il Farnace is the most written and re-proposed of Antonio Vivaldi's operas, it's like a beloved child who worries his father, and to whom the parent always wants to give the best. Versions of Farnace , two in 1727 and one each in 1730, 1731 and 1732, had been conceived and adapted to the different circumstances for Venice, Prague, Pavia and Mantua, always with a cast to Vivaldi's satisfaction and with the composer in control of the production.
The greatest appreciation of Vivaldi's operatic music was expressed in a letter by a spectator of the 1727 Carnival season, the abbot Antonio Conti . He wrote to Madamde de Caylus that of all the operas of the Venice season he like best Farnace because its music was very varied, "between the sublime and the tender", and because Vivaldi's pupil worked wonders.
The greatest appreciation of Vivaldi's operatic music was expressed in a letter by a spectator of the 1727 Carnival season, the abbot Antonio Conti . He wrote to Madamde de Caylus that of all the operas of the Venice season he like best Farnace because its music was very varied, "between the sublime and the tender", and because Vivaldi's pupil worked wonders.
L'incoronazione di Dario is a musical drama in three acts that Vivaldi wrote in 1717 with a libretto by Adriano Morselli. The intricate plot is about the conflict between Dario, Oronte and Arpago for the succession to the throne after Ciro, king of the Persians. Having faced deceptions, betrayals and subterfuge, only Dario succeeds in becoming the new king of the Persians, and thus at the same time, crowning his love for Statira, daughter of Ciro and sister of the treacherous Argene, a dangerous princess ready to do anything to satisfy her thirst for power.
Directing the Complesso Barocco and a vocal cast of specialists, Alan Curtis, one of the world's greatest experts on Vivaldi operas, brings a recently rediscovered masterpiece of the Red Priest's, offered here for the time. Motezuma , first staged at the Teatro Sant'Angelo in Venice in autumn 1733, is one of the operas of Vivaldi's full maturity. The score was long thought lost, but the fortunate rediscovery in 2002 of a large majority of the original music, some of it in fragmentary form, has allowed the expert Alessandro Ciccolini to produce a reconstruction that is reliable and true to the Venetian composer's original intentions.
It tells the gripping stories of Mitrena and Montezuma, and of Teutile and Ramiro, and particularly the trials of Fernando Cortez in conquest, set against Montezuma's love for his own people, stimulated the imaginations of many composers.
It tells the gripping stories of Mitrena and Montezuma, and of Teutile and Ramiro, and particularly the trials of Fernando Cortez in conquest, set against Montezuma's love for his own people, stimulated the imaginations of many composers.
Many consider Claude Vivier the greatest composer Canada has yet produced. Gyorgy Ligeti once called him 'the finest French composer of his generation'. A pupil under Gilles Tremblay and Karlheinz Stockhausen, he soon created his own dazzling vocal and orchestral language, profoundly marked by his travels to the Far East. The interweaving of his personal and professional life, of the real and the imaginary, reveals a compelling global awareness, deep human compassion and a universal quest for ultimate enlightenment. Vivier himself pursued this journey of discovery, until his tragic murder in Paris at the age of thirty-four.
The two parts of Reves d'un Marco Polo are like shadow and light, forming a dreamlike ritualistic experience and encompassing stage productions of his finest compositions. Pierre Audi's superb and moving staging is complemented by refined, passionate musical direction from Reinbert de Leeuw, leading the soloists, the Asko Ensemble and the Schonberg Ensemble to great heights.
Bonus features:
- Claude Vivier - a spellbinding and insightful 60-minute documentary by Cherry Duyns, from his acclaimed contemporary composer portrait series, on the life and work of Claude Vivier, including rare footage, interviews with conductor Reinbert de Leeuw and people...
The two parts of Reves d'un Marco Polo are like shadow and light, forming a dreamlike ritualistic experience and encompassing stage productions of his finest compositions. Pierre Audi's superb and moving staging is complemented by refined, passionate musical direction from Reinbert de Leeuw, leading the soloists, the Asko Ensemble and the Schonberg Ensemble to great heights.
Bonus features:
- Claude Vivier - a spellbinding and insightful 60-minute documentary by Cherry Duyns, from his acclaimed contemporary composer portrait series, on the life and work of Claude Vivier, including rare footage, interviews with conductor Reinbert de Leeuw and people...
In the course of Franco Corelli's long artistic career, year 1971 was an important one. The tenor, then at the apex of his international fame, turned fifty, twenty years of which had been spent busily active on stage. Few opera singers, in the 20th century, could compare with him for passion, variety of repertoire and quality of interpretation. These short but memorable performances wish to trace the most important stages his incredible artistic parabola, during which the Italian singer appeared beside the all the greatest protagonists of the operatic world
Edgardo the Duke of Mantua, Federico, Werther, Des Grieux, Hoffmann, Romeo: the aroas of this Las Palmas recital are flashbacks of a career, of a style and an interpreter that were out of the ordinary.
At the age of 69 the voice of Alfred Kraus is unchanged; time has only dimmed a few notes. His still flawless technique and dedication to the repertoire, which he has built up and preserved with determination, allow him to tackle demanding pieces with results to absolute excellence.
At the age of 69 the voice of Alfred Kraus is unchanged; time has only dimmed a few notes. His still flawless technique and dedication to the repertoire, which he has built up and preserved with determination, allow him to tackle demanding pieces with results to absolute excellence.
The tetralogy of four operas that form Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) explores the conjunction of love and power in a mythic landscape in which true power resides in possession of the Ring. Composed over more than a quarter of a century, monumental in scale, and structured after the precedent of Greek drama, the cycle was first performed in 1876. Staged by the award-winning director Stefan Herheim, this innovative new production from Deutsche Oper Berlin features a leading international cast conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles.
Great romantic opera in three acts in one adaptation for children
Prince Arindal meets the fairy Ada during the nocturnal hunt. Both fell in love immediately. Arindal decides to stay with Ada forever in the fairy kingdom. However, the Fairy King warns that if Arindal Ada ever left alone for more than a year, it would turn to stone. But war broke out in Arindal's kingdom. His sister Lora longs for the return of the missing brother since seven years. She urges Arindal to return to his threatened homeland, where he has since become king after the death of his father. With a heavy heart Arindal Ada must leave to follow his duty in the human world. He vows to return to the fairy realm even before the year has passed.
Will Arindal meet the deadline? Or will Ada turn into a stone because Arindal could not keep his promise?
Prince Arindal meets the fairy Ada during the nocturnal hunt. Both fell in love immediately. Arindal decides to stay with Ada forever in the fairy kingdom. However, the Fairy King warns that if Arindal Ada ever left alone for more than a year, it would turn to stone. But war broke out in Arindal's kingdom. His sister Lora longs for the return of the missing brother since seven years. She urges Arindal to return to his threatened homeland, where he has since become king after the death of his father. With a heavy heart Arindal Ada must leave to follow his duty in the human world. He vows to return to the fairy realm even before the year has passed.
Will Arindal meet the deadline? Or will Ada turn into a stone because Arindal could not keep his promise?
For his production of The Flying Dutchman , premiered in 1978, Harry Kupfer chose the original Dresden version of 1843, which has a rougher, more muscular texture than the subsequent editions. When The Flying Dutchman was performed in Zurich and Munich, Wagner himself revised the work, softening the instrumentation and appending the "redemption" conclusions to the overture and the third act. What was the reason for the heated disputes which took place between the conservative Bayreuth Wagnerians and the more progressive lovers of the composer's music? Harry Kupfer's production presents the entire story of the Flying Dutchman as a hallucination, a figment of Senta's disturbed imagination. She is seen by the director as a highly neurotic, even schizophrenic young girl, whose yearning for the eternally wandering Dutchman puts her into a trance-like state, in which her own internal drama is acted out in the form of a vision. By having the character leap through the window to her death at the end of the opera, Harry Kupfer has placed a highly personal interpretation on Wagner's notion of "redemption".
Austrian director Martin Kušej's pioneering vision brings a challenging and provoking insight to Wagner's opera of love and redemption, with his singular ability to connect characters and their actions to the score. Martin Zehetsgruber's spacious, multi-layered sets define the settings through which Daland (Robert Lloyd), Senta (Catherine Naglestad), The Dutchman (Juha Uusitalo) and the chorus move to great effect fulfilling the fine conducting of Hartmut Haenchen, who elicits from the orchestra an unmatchable performance of detail and clarity.
In 1988, conductor Daniel Barenboim, stage director Harry Kupfer, set
designer Hans Schavernoch and costume designer Reinhard Heinrich came to Bayreuth to realize their vision of Wagner's Ring. They firmly turned away from the work's time of origin and set their sights on a "critique of the history of mankind and of the entire evolution of culture, the destruction of which we are actively furthering"(Kupfer). While Wagner's "critique of mankind's destructive frenzy,its coldness and alienation" (Kupfer) was rooted in Germanic mythology, Kupfer's team locates its Ring in a present that also embraces the past and the future. The place where present, past and future converge is the "road of history", which sets the scene for struggles of power and love, and takes us straight into the depths of the human psyche.
"Harry Kupfer has created a production of great coherency, hard, cutting, transparent, which will delight those who see in Wagner a contemporary and will displease those who consume Wagner like some consecrated artifact in a museum. The entire mythological apparatus is demolished bit by bit: what remains is what Wagner himself wanted: the 'pure humanity' of the myth. [...] The entire 'Ring' unfolds like an intellectual adventure that provokes unforgettable emotions." (La...
designer Hans Schavernoch and costume designer Reinhard Heinrich came to Bayreuth to realize their vision of Wagner's Ring. They firmly turned away from the work's time of origin and set their sights on a "critique of the history of mankind and of the entire evolution of culture, the destruction of which we are actively furthering"(Kupfer). While Wagner's "critique of mankind's destructive frenzy,its coldness and alienation" (Kupfer) was rooted in Germanic mythology, Kupfer's team locates its Ring in a present that also embraces the past and the future. The place where present, past and future converge is the "road of history", which sets the scene for struggles of power and love, and takes us straight into the depths of the human psyche.
"Harry Kupfer has created a production of great coherency, hard, cutting, transparent, which will delight those who see in Wagner a contemporary and will displease those who consume Wagner like some consecrated artifact in a museum. The entire mythological apparatus is demolished bit by bit: what remains is what Wagner himself wanted: the 'pure humanity' of the myth. [...] The entire 'Ring' unfolds like an intellectual adventure that provokes unforgettable emotions." (La...
"This production quite possibly shows us the path that musical theater will be taking in the future" (Die Zeit). Indeed, the Catalan city of Valencia is setting new accents in 21st-century opera not only with its spectacular, futuristic opera house, the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofía" designed by Santiago Calatrava, but also with the visually transfixing production of Wagner's Ring staged there by Carlus Padrissa and his theater group La Fura dels Baus. The Barcelona-based Fura became known internationally when it designed and carried out the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and made its breakthrough in the classical world with its production of Berlioz's La damnation de Faust at the 1999 Salzburg Festival.
The Fura's trademark is its spellbinding fusion of movement, sound, music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. In the world of opera, the ensemble has defined its personal style through its exploitation of large-screen projections, the extraordinary mobility of the performers, and the magical use of human beings to create organic structures that evoke objects such as Valhalla (in this Ring production). Indeed, La Fura was predestined for Wagner's visionary world: his dream...
The Fura's trademark is its spellbinding fusion of movement, sound, music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. In the world of opera, the ensemble has defined its personal style through its exploitation of large-screen projections, the extraordinary mobility of the performers, and the magical use of human beings to create organic structures that evoke objects such as Valhalla (in this Ring production). Indeed, La Fura was predestined for Wagner's visionary world: his dream...
This recording of Gotterdammerung forms the fourth and final part of Wagner's masterpiece, his epic Ring Cycle. The Stuttgart Opera gave it revolutionary treatment in a staging by Peter Konwitschny, a celebrated interpreter of Wagner, whose opera stagings have always been regarded as trendsetters within the Wagner community. He chooses to ignore the wider myth-bound associations of the work and concentrates on the immediate motivations, emotions and obsessions of the characters. Gone are the gods awaiting nightfall in their imposing hall; the action instead is set on a simple wooden stage of a touring theatre company. The performances of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle in Stuttgart created a sensation unheard of since the monumental "century" Ring in Bayreuth in the late seventies. "Four operas ?EUR" four stage directors" was the artistic idea behind the 1999/2000 cycle under the musical direction of Lothar Zagrosek. Appreciating the individual operas of Der Ring des Nibelungen without having to relate to previous or subsequent storylines enabled the stage directors ?EUR" handpicked among the successful Stuttgart Opera team surrounding Artistic Director Klaus Zehelein ?EUR" to express their individual insights into the well-known drama of Siegfried and Wotan. In 2002 German...
Das Liebesverbot is one of Wagner's earliest operas - and yet, a central motive of many other works such as Tristan and Isolde is already clearly visible: The overpowering force of love and lust, that no law - manmade or otherwise - can tame.
In this co-production of the Teatro Real Madrid, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden of London and the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires, we watch Isabella as she strives to free her brother from a cruel death penalty and the city of Palermo from the puritanical, joy-forsaking rule of a German bureaucrat.
In this co-production of the Teatro Real Madrid, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden of London and the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires, we watch Isabella as she strives to free her brother from a cruel death penalty and the city of Palermo from the puritanical, joy-forsaking rule of a German bureaucrat.
"[Munich's] National Theater was filled with pure, exquisite Wagnerian vocal bliss; the Bavarian State Opera was a Valhalla on earth" (Die Welt). With Jonas Kaufmann's long-awaited role debut as Lohengrin and Anja Harteros as Elsa, Wagner's epic of love and loss was not only the opening premiere of the Munich Opera Festival, but its uncontested highlight as well. Which is why the performance was followed not only by a long-sold-out house, but also by tens of thousands of spectators at a live public viewing event in Munich and Vienna.
Under General Music Director Kent Nagano, the ensemble of the Munich Opera triumphantly confirmed that, with this production at the latest, it belongs in the pantheon of the great Wagner houses of our time. Commanding the public's attention with every note, especially in the incredible pianissimi of the Grail Narrative, tenor Jonas Kaufmann gave eloquent proof of his reputation as "one of the most important, and versatile, singers of our age" (The Times). Fully matching Kaufmann's consummate artistry is Anja Harteros, an imposing, charismatic beauty who has been at home on the world's largest stages since her spectacular Met debut. Renowned director Richard Jones "gives each character the required psychological depth" (La Libre Belgique).
Under General Music Director Kent Nagano, the ensemble of the Munich Opera triumphantly confirmed that, with this production at the latest, it belongs in the pantheon of the great Wagner houses of our time. Commanding the public's attention with every note, especially in the incredible pianissimi of the Grail Narrative, tenor Jonas Kaufmann gave eloquent proof of his reputation as "one of the most important, and versatile, singers of our age" (The Times). Fully matching Kaufmann's consummate artistry is Anja Harteros, an imposing, charismatic beauty who has been at home on the world's largest stages since her spectacular Met debut. Renowned director Richard Jones "gives each character the required psychological depth" (La Libre Belgique).
As Lohengrin, Peter Hofmann gives a performance that is dazzling in every gesture and every tone. Karan Armstrong replies with a very lyrical timbre and applies expressionistic means to convey sorrow, wonder and the bitterness of leave-taking. This production by Gotz Friedrich was recorded at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1982.
Ostensibly Richard Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg tells a humorous tale about artistically inclined craftsmen. Goldsmith Veit Pogner promises his daughter Eva's hand in marriage to the winner of a song contest, to which three men are potentially eligible. But upon closer inspection, what is at first glance a harmless farce in a middle-class setting emerges as a profound social analysis. Wagner uses his protagonists to show how a community deals with tradition and those who break with it and just how much innovation and deviation from the norm it can tolerate ?EUR" as well as to examine what value society places, and should place, on art.
Bonus features :
- The Making of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg
Bonus features :
- The Making of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg
Wagner's Meistersinger is a festive opera in its own right, but at the reprise of the work at the Vienna State Opera in January 2008, the festive spirit literally leapt out into the audience as well. Vienna's dailies exploded with praise such as "A feast of singers" (Der Standard), "A feast ... grandiose" (Die Presse) and "Nearly six hours of pure enjoyment" (Kurier). The plaudits applied to all the singers, from Hans Sachs to the night watchman, as well as to the chorus and orchestra.
Conductor Christian Thielemann deserves a great deal of the credit for fashioning a multi-faceted drama that is anything but black-and-white in its musical depiction of the characters. Innate in Thielemann is both the grand gesture, the broad arch and sweep of a scene, as well as a meticulous attention to subtle details. Since his Bayreuth Festival debut in 2000 with this very work, Thielemann has established himself as one of the world's leading Wagner conductors. Among the vocal surprises of this live recording is Adrian Erod as Beckmesser, a fully fleshed-out character whose every gesture and every note reflects a well-rounded concept of the usually unsympathetic role of the critic. Erod is on a par with the great Wagner baritone Falk Struckmann as Hans Sachs, who injects earthy humor into...
Conductor Christian Thielemann deserves a great deal of the credit for fashioning a multi-faceted drama that is anything but black-and-white in its musical depiction of the characters. Innate in Thielemann is both the grand gesture, the broad arch and sweep of a scene, as well as a meticulous attention to subtle details. Since his Bayreuth Festival debut in 2000 with this very work, Thielemann has established himself as one of the world's leading Wagner conductors. Among the vocal surprises of this live recording is Adrian Erod as Beckmesser, a fully fleshed-out character whose every gesture and every note reflects a well-rounded concept of the usually unsympathetic role of the critic. Erod is on a par with the great Wagner baritone Falk Struckmann as Hans Sachs, who injects earthy humor into...
Triumphantly premiered in 1868, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg evokes the singing guilds of mid-16th-century Nuremburg, a focal poing of the Northern European Renaissance. Wagner's only mature comic opera concerns the young knight Walther von Stolzing's love for Eva whom the town clerk Beckmesser also covets. Against the background of a singing contest, cobbler-singer Hans Sachs' nobility ensures the reconciliation of youth and age, and tradition and innovation. Deutsche Oper Berlin's provocative new staging was considered 'entertaining throughout' and 'thought-provoking' by BR Klassik.
Audiences around the world have always found Die Meistersinger to be a life-enhancing celebration of wisdom, art and song. So it proves in David McVicar's production - the first at Glyndebourne - which is updated to the early 19th century of Wagner's childhood. At the centre of a true ensemble cast is Gerald Finley, a 'gleamingly sung', 'eminently believable' Sachs (The Independent Sunday), supported by the dynamic conducting of Vladimir Jurowski which like McVicar's production, uses Glyndebourne's special intimacy to bring sharp focus to bear on the subtlely of Wagner's musical and dramatic counterpoint.
Parsifal is a strange and enigmatic work. At the end of his life, did Wagner wish to celebrate asceticism, which he himself had never practised? Did he fall upon his knees before the Cross, as claimed by Nietzsche? And what does the secret society of knights based on pure blood signify, desperately waiting for the saviour to regenerate it? What is the true nature of the opposition between the worlds of Klingsor and the Grail? What can Parsifal tell us today? In his artistic will and testament, Wagner condenses his moral idea of the world and returns to the roots of love and religion - to the very heart of art according to him.
With the participation of conductor Hartmut Haenchen who is passionately in love with the score, Italian stage director Romeo Castellucci proposes an original reading of this brilliant work and explores the essence of Wagnerian 'Kunstreligion' in a different light.
With the participation of conductor Hartmut Haenchen who is passionately in love with the score, Italian stage director Romeo Castellucci proposes an original reading of this brilliant work and explores the essence of Wagnerian 'Kunstreligion' in a different light.
Parsifal is Wagner's last opera. He named it "Consecration Play for the Stage," and in so doing, tried to give the proper framework to what is in almost all aspects a sacred Christian play with music. Wagner also included mythology, mysticism and ancient Indian ideas in this work, whose origins he drew from Wolfram von Eschenbach's famous courtly epic Parsival . But even earlier sources related to the legend of the Holy Grail were used by Wagner as a source for his poetic work. For 30 years no theater other than Bayreuth was allowed to perform Parsifal by order of Wagner. Only in 1914 did the work spread across the globe.
Wagner achieved the essentially sacred atmosphere of the music through an instrumentation that evokes organ registration and often uses the instruments in groups (woodwinds, brass, strings). The leitmotivic work is less dense in Parsifal than in the Ring of the Nibelung. The brilliant songfulness of the world of the Grail is set against chromatic harmonies which, e.g. in the prelude to the third act, anticipate the twelve-tone music of the New Vienna School. The musical direction of this performance from the Bayreuth Festival is in the hands of Horst Stein; the stage director is Wolfgang Wagner, who also designed the sets. In the lead roles are...
Wagner achieved the essentially sacred atmosphere of the music through an instrumentation that evokes organ registration and often uses the instruments in groups (woodwinds, brass, strings). The leitmotivic work is less dense in Parsifal than in the Ring of the Nibelung. The brilliant songfulness of the world of the Grail is set against chromatic harmonies which, e.g. in the prelude to the third act, anticipate the twelve-tone music of the New Vienna School. The musical direction of this performance from the Bayreuth Festival is in the hands of Horst Stein; the stage director is Wolfgang Wagner, who also designed the sets. In the lead roles are...
Richard Wagner's mystic masterpiece Parsifal at Staatsoper Berlin staged by Dmitri Tcherniakov and conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
Last Wagner's opera, Parsifal is a medieval epic story marked by Christian, Buddhist and esoteric references. It is about redemption and renewal, but this new production by Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov adds a jarring note: revenge.
This Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage is similar to a Medieval epic, a blend of metaphysical dreams and obscure battles with constant spiritual references. Besides Barenboim, this new production is also performed by an international cast of excellent singers: Andreas Schager, Anja Kampe, Wolfgang Koch, Rene Pape, Tomas Tomasson and Matthias Holle.
Last Wagner's opera, Parsifal is a medieval epic story marked by Christian, Buddhist and esoteric references. It is about redemption and renewal, but this new production by Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov adds a jarring note: revenge.
This Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage is similar to a Medieval epic, a blend of metaphysical dreams and obscure battles with constant spiritual references. Besides Barenboim, this new production is also performed by an international cast of excellent singers: Andreas Schager, Anja Kampe, Wolfgang Koch, Rene Pape, Tomas Tomasson and Matthias Holle.
World of the gods EUR" world of the earthly elements: Herbert von Karajan has succeeded in forcefully underscoring the contrast between the world of the gods and the earthly realm. The Rhinegold already bears within it a foreboding of the Gotterdammerung . In the Prelude, man EUR" the hero EUR" does not yet appear; what checks the power of the gods are the earthly elements: fire, water and earth. Wotan only appears to be victorious when he enters Valhalla with his fellow gods. The actual victor is Loge.
Based on a production from the Salzburg Easter Festival, Georges Wakhevitch has produced stage settings and transformations that support Karajan's concept with every possible means. The depths of the Rhine are dynamic and full of natural motion, but the inside of the earth EUR" Nibelheim EUR" with its corridors and vaults which lead to Alberich's realm, also has something organically proliferating about it. With his singers EUR" foremost among them Peter Schreier EUR" Karajan has an ensemble that fully conforms to his intentions. Thomas Stewart is a nobly singing Wotan. Next to him is the grandiose Brigitte Fassbaender as Fricka, a profoundly embittered figure.
Based on a production from the Salzburg Easter Festival, Georges Wakhevitch has produced stage settings and transformations that support Karajan's concept with every possible means. The depths of the Rhine are dynamic and full of natural motion, but the inside of the earth EUR" Nibelheim EUR" with its corridors and vaults which lead to Alberich's realm, also has something organically proliferating about it. With his singers EUR" foremost among them Peter Schreier EUR" Karajan has an ensemble that fully conforms to his intentions. Thomas Stewart is a nobly singing Wotan. Next to him is the grandiose Brigitte Fassbaender as Fricka, a profoundly embittered figure.
In 1988, conductor Daniel Barenboim, stage director Harry Kupfer, set
designer Hans Schavernoch and costume designer Reinhard Heinrich came to Bayreuth to realize their vision of Wagner's Das Rheingold . They firmly turned away from the work's time of origin and set their sights on a "critique of the history of mankind and of the entire evolution of culture, the destruction of which we are actively furthering" (Kupfer). While Wagner's "critique of mankind's destructive frenzy, its coldness and alienation" (Kupfer) was rooted in Germanic mythology, Kupfer's team locates its Ring in a present that also embraces the past and the future. The place where present, past and future converge is the "road of history", which sets the scene for struggles of power and love, and takes us straight into the depths of the human psyche.
designer Hans Schavernoch and costume designer Reinhard Heinrich came to Bayreuth to realize their vision of Wagner's Das Rheingold . They firmly turned away from the work's time of origin and set their sights on a "critique of the history of mankind and of the entire evolution of culture, the destruction of which we are actively furthering" (Kupfer). While Wagner's "critique of mankind's destructive frenzy, its coldness and alienation" (Kupfer) was rooted in Germanic mythology, Kupfer's team locates its Ring in a present that also embraces the past and the future. The place where present, past and future converge is the "road of history", which sets the scene for struggles of power and love, and takes us straight into the depths of the human psyche.
Richard Wagner's tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen , in which Power and Love are presented as mutually exclusive ideas, is always a huge challenge for any opera house. Das Rheingold is the opening of this extraordinary production of The Ring from Het Muziektheater Amsterdam, with the orchestra taking its place both in the pit and on the astonishing stage.
The fantastic stage direction by Pierre Audi succeeds in forging a profound unity combining the lyrical, mythical and philosophical qualities of Wagner's work. Breathtaking sets by George Tsypin, superb costumes by Oscar-winner Eiko Ishioka and the passionate performances of the soloists and Residentie Orchestra under the inspired guest conductor Hartmut Haenchen all contribute to an intense total experience that will leave a permanent impression. This production of The Ring of the Nibelungen is based on the new collected works of Richard Wagner.
Bonus features:
- The forging of the Ring - a documentary introduction to Wagner's Ring from Het Muziektheater Amsterdam, including interviews with Hartmut Haenchen, Pierre Audi and the principal cast
- Illustrated Synopsis
The fantastic stage direction by Pierre Audi succeeds in forging a profound unity combining the lyrical, mythical and philosophical qualities of Wagner's work. Breathtaking sets by George Tsypin, superb costumes by Oscar-winner Eiko Ishioka and the passionate performances of the soloists and Residentie Orchestra under the inspired guest conductor Hartmut Haenchen all contribute to an intense total experience that will leave a permanent impression. This production of The Ring of the Nibelungen is based on the new collected works of Richard Wagner.
Bonus features:
- The forging of the Ring - a documentary introduction to Wagner's Ring from Het Muziektheater Amsterdam, including interviews with Hartmut Haenchen, Pierre Audi and the principal cast
- Illustrated Synopsis
"This production quite possibly shows us the path that musical theater will be taking in the future" (Die Zeit). Indeed, the Catalan city of Valencia is setting new accents in 21st-century opera not only with its spectacular, futuristic opera house, the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofía" designed by Santiago Calatrava, but also with the visually transfixing production of Wagner's Ring staged there by Carlus Padrissa and his theater group La Fura dels Baus. The Barcelona-based Fura became known internationally when it designed and carried out the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and made its breakthrough in the classical world with its production of Berlioz's La damnation de Faust at the 1999 Salzburg Festival.
The Fura's trademark is its spellbinding fusion of movement, sound, music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. In the world of opera, the ensemble has defined its personal style through its exploitation of large-screen projections, the extraordinary mobility of the performers, and the magical use of human beings to create organic structures that evoke objects such as Valhalla (in this Ring production). Indeed, La Fura was predestined for Wagner's visionary world: his dream...
The Fura's trademark is its spellbinding fusion of movement, sound, music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. In the world of opera, the ensemble has defined its personal style through its exploitation of large-screen projections, the extraordinary mobility of the performers, and the magical use of human beings to create organic structures that evoke objects such as Valhalla (in this Ring production). Indeed, La Fura was predestined for Wagner's visionary world: his dream...
Not since the so-called "100-Year Ring" (Bayreuth, 1976-1980) has a performance of Richard Wagner's monumental cycle created such a sensation as the Stuttgart productions. "Four operas ?EUR" four stage directors" was the artistic idea behind the 1999/2000 cycle. Appreciating the individual operas of Der Ring des Nibelungen without having to relate to previous or subsequent storylines enabled the stage directors ?EUR" handpicked by the successful Stuttgart Opera team surrounding Artistic Director Klaus Zehelein ?EUR" to express their individual insights into the well-known drama of Siegfried and Wotan. In 2002 German critics voted Stuttgart's Staatsoper "Opera House of the Year" for the fourth time in five years. This recording pays tribute to the artistic and musical achievement of the Stuttgart Opera House and a cast of wonderful singers. Recorded live at the Stuttgart Staatsoper in 2002, it was directed by Joachim Schlomer.
Wagner's great epic compresses to two hours, dense, humorous and extremely exciting! Puppets meet actors and take us into a time tunnel of mythological entanglements.
The Salzburg Marionette Theater and the adjacent Landestheater put together a mammoth task: Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung was supposed to shrink from 16 hours to a compact two.
The tetralogy was not allowed to suffer any substantive lack, on the contrary, the version was to provide a common thread through the four operas. The basic structure of the work remained untouched and was only condensed. The staging casts a contemporary look on the fabric. The spectators will find themselves in more than 30 characters portrayed by puppets and people.
Music : excerpts from the famous Solti Ring cycle.
The Salzburg Marionette Theater and the adjacent Landestheater put together a mammoth task: Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung was supposed to shrink from 16 hours to a compact two.
The tetralogy was not allowed to suffer any substantive lack, on the contrary, the version was to provide a common thread through the four operas. The basic structure of the work remained untouched and was only condensed. The staging casts a contemporary look on the fabric. The spectators will find themselves in more than 30 characters portrayed by puppets and people.
Music : excerpts from the famous Solti Ring cycle.
The tetralogy of four operas that form Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) explores the conjunction of love and power in a mythic landscape in which true power resides in possession of the Ring. Composed over more than a quarter of a century, monumental in scale, and structured after the precedent of Greek drama, the cycle was first performed in 1876. Staged by the award-winning director Stefan Herheim, this innovative new production from Deutsche Oper Berlin features a leading international cast conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles.
The tetralogy of four operas that form Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) explores the conjunction of love and power in a mythic landscape in which true power resides in possession of the Ring. Composed over more than a quarter of a century, monumental in scale, and structured after the precedent of Greek drama, the cycle was first performed in 1876. Staged by the award-winning director Stefan Herheim, this innovative new production from Deutsche Oper Berlin features a leading international cast conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles.
The tetralogy of four operas that form Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) explores the conjunction of love and power in a mythic landscape in which true power resides in possession of the Ring. Composed over more than a quarter of a century, monumental in scale, and structured after the precedent of Greek drama, the cycle was first performed in 1876. Staged by the award-winning director Stefan Herheim, this innovative new production from Deutsche Oper Berlin features a leading international cast conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles.
...
In the third part of the epic cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen , Siegfried pursues his path to manhood. As parental love dissipates and is replaced by romantic love and desire, Wagner reflects on the experience of human life and the fact of mortality. This remarkable production of The Ring , from Het Muziektheater Amsterdam, in which Pierre Audi places the orchestra on the symbolically ring-shaped stage, blends the lyrical, mythical and philosophical qualities of Wagner's work into a profound unity. Astonishing sets by George Tsypin and fabulous costumes by Oscar-winning Eiko Ishioka, combined with passionate singing from the soloists and dramatic playing from the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under the rigorous control of Hartmut Haenchen, create an intense and highly memorable experience. This production of The Ring of the Nibelung is based on the new Complete Edition of the works of Richard Wagner.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Introduction to Siegfried - with presenter Michael Zeeman, composer Peter-Jan Wagemans and pianist Stefan Mickisch
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Introduction to Siegfried - with presenter Michael Zeeman, composer Peter-Jan Wagemans and pianist Stefan Mickisch
"This production quite possibly shows us the path that musical theater will be taking in the future" (Die Zeit). Indeed, the Catalan city of Valencia is setting new accents in 21st-century opera not only with its spectacular, futuristic opera house, the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofía" designed by Santiago Calatrava, but also with the visually transfixing production of Wagner's Ring staged there by Carlus Padrissa and his theater group La Fura dels Baus. The Barcelona-based Fura became known internationally when it designed and carried out the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and made its breakthrough in the classical world with its production of Berlioz's La damnation de Faust at the 1999 Salzburg Festival.
The Fura's trademark is its spellbinding fusion of movement, sound, music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. In the world of opera, the ensemble has defined its personal style through its exploitation of large-screen projections, the extraordinary mobility of the performers, and the magical use of human beings to create organic structures that evoke objects such as Valhalla (in this Ring production). Indeed, La Fura was predestined for Wagner's visionary world: his dream...
The Fura's trademark is its spellbinding fusion of movement, sound, music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. In the world of opera, the ensemble has defined its personal style through its exploitation of large-screen projections, the extraordinary mobility of the performers, and the magical use of human beings to create organic structures that evoke objects such as Valhalla (in this Ring production). Indeed, La Fura was predestined for Wagner's visionary world: his dream...
In this live recording of the third part of the tetralogy, Jon Fredric West's Siegfried is joined by Lisa Gasteen as Brunnhilde. Jossi Wieler's direction of the opera is set among designs by Anna Viebrock. The production is marked by the unprecedented power of suggestion in the gloomiest of all comedies; one which makes laughter die in the throat, and yet the only truly negative figure to emerge from the opera is the Wanderer, Wotan. The performances of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle in Stuttgart created a sensation unheard of since the monumental "century" Ring in Bayreuth in the late seventies. "Four operas - four stage directors" was the artistic idea behind the 1999/2000 cycle under the musical direction of Lothar Zagrosek. Appreciating the individual operas of "Der Ring des Nibelungen" without having to relate to previous or subsequent storylines enabled the stage directors handpicked among the successful Stuttgart Opera team surrounding Artistic Director Klaus Zehelein to express their individual insights into the well-known drama of Siegfried and Wotan. In 2002 German critics voted Stuttgart's Staatsoper "Opera House of the Year" for the fourth time in five years. This series was recorded live at revival performances in 2002 and 2003, and it pays tribute to the artistic...
Siegfried is the third in the tetralogy of music dramas that make up Der Ring des Nibelungen . It charts the progress of the young hero as he unshackles himself from the dwarf Mime, reforges his father's sword to kill the dragon Fafner, and thus takes possession of the Ring which he ultimately gives to Brunnhilde to symbolize his devotion. Siegfried contains imperishably beautiful passages such as the Forest Murmurs, the profound psychological landscape of the Prelude to Act III and the great duet between Siegfried and Brunnhilde. This performance from Sofia Opera features an acclaimed all-Bulgarian cast.
This is the first complete television production recorded at the annual Wagner Festival in Bayreuth. Director Gotz Friedrich sees the minstrel Tannhauser as a rugged artistic individualist, much as Wagner was himself, misunderstood by his contemporaries who seek to throttle his inalienable right of expression. He turns his back on a regulated, stifling society and retreats into the world of his own impossible dreams. Whereas other productions of Tannhäuser show the minstrel acutally biding time in the court of Venus, in Friedrich's version Tannhauser's harp triggers an imaginary Venusberg, in which the strings become a tangled web of pure sensuality. Tannhauser discovers that a completely anything-goes society is just as restrictive in the end, and he returns to the real world. But Tannhauser can't go home again. Once again he lashes out at his hypocritical associates, who condemn him. His only defender is the saintly Elisabeth, who in this production is played by the same soprano who sings Venus – two sides of the coin in the eternal feminine. She prays for her own death, so that thereby Tannhauser's soul leaves this restrictive world for a better one in which his genius is appreciated.
"Thunderous applause, elation", wrote the prestigious Germany daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Rome's La Repubblica noted the "triumphal success and storm of applause" that greeted Giuseppe Sinopoli and the ensemble at Tannhauser's 1989 Bayreuth Festival premiere. Directed by Wolfgang Wagner, Richard Wagner's grandson, this Tannhauser production was one of the high points of the Bayreuth Festival during the latter part of the 1980s. The abstract starkness of Wolfgang Wagner's production is underscored by the crystalline clarity and vigor of Giuseppe Sinopoli's conducting, which particularly highlights the progressive aspects of the score. This Tannhauser production gathers together some of the great Wagner singers of our time such as Cheryl Studer (Elizabeth), Wolfgang Brendel (Wolfram), Richard Versalle (Tannhauser) and Hans Sotin (Landgrave).
The premiere of Tristan und Isolde production at the 1993 Bayreuth Festival was greeted with that "mixture of enthusiastic approbation and predictable condemnation" quoted by Wolfgang Wagner, which is the usual indicator of success in Bayreuth. Conducted by Daniel Barenboim with fire and sensitivity, the production was staged by the late German dramatist Heiner Muller. The sets were designed by Muller's longtime associate Erich Wonder, and the costumes by Japanese couturier Yohji Yamamoto. Siegfried Jerusalem as Tristan and Waltraud Meier as Isolde have consistently drawn enthusiastic acclaim for their performances, not only in the year of the premiere, but in subsequent years as well. Muller and Wonder have compressed the monumental story into a clear and fascinating geometry of love. Wonder created highly evocative spaces through projections of colors and forms which shift according to the mood. One widely noted example of Muller's elegant, restrained interpretation, in which small gestures replace sweeping displays of passion, is the famous love duet, in which Tristan and Isolde, instead of embracing rapturously, stand back to back and side by side and touch, ever so lightly, only the tips of their fingers.
Recorded live at the Bayreuth Festival in Summer 2009, this production marks the beginning of an exciting new long-term partnership between the Bayreuth Festival and Opus Arte. The prestigious music festival takes place each year in Northern Bavaria, Germany in a theatre for which Wagner personally supervised the design and construction. The festival has become a pilgrimage destination for Wagner enthusiasts, who often have to wait up to ten years to obtain a ticket! Katarina Wagner, the great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner, is currently co-director of the festival together with her sister Eva Wagner-Pasquier.
Tristan und Isolde was first performed in 1865 and provided inspiration to many composers, including Mahler, Strauss, Szymanowski and Berg. It is widely acknowledged as one of the peaks of the operatic repertoire and has been performed regularly since is premiere. This production by renowned director Christoph Marthaler stars leading Wagner exponents Robert Dean Smith and Iréne Theorin in the title roles, and they are supported by the Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Peter Schneider.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Cast gallery
- Kinder, macht was Neues! - The making of Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde was first performed in 1865 and provided inspiration to many composers, including Mahler, Strauss, Szymanowski and Berg. It is widely acknowledged as one of the peaks of the operatic repertoire and has been performed regularly since is premiere. This production by renowned director Christoph Marthaler stars leading Wagner exponents Robert Dean Smith and Iréne Theorin in the title roles, and they are supported by the Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Peter Schneider.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Cast gallery
- Kinder, macht was Neues! - The making of Tristan und Isolde
Peter Konwitschny's Tristan und Isolde proves to be refreshingly controversial in its interpretation of the piece. In his hand's the towering Richard Wagner opera becomes an optimistic work about two people who succeed in finding love.
Christian Thielemann, "by common consent the leading Wagner conductor of our time" (Die Presse), returns to Bayreuth for this radiant account of Die Walküre filmed at the 2010 Festival. Appearing on video for the first time, it provides the only audio-visual document of Tankred Dorst's Ring production, and follows the hugely successful release of the whole cycle on CD. Two new singers join the cast: Johan Botha as Siegmund, who was showered with praise by the press ("ideal vocal casting" in the words of the critic on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and Edith Haller, with her "beautiful, strong soprano voice" (Süddeutsche Zeitung) as his sister and lover Sieglinde.
Die Walkure is the second part of Richard Wagner's gargantuan tetralogy, Der Ring des Nibelungen, concerning the irreconcilable struggle between Power and Love. The originality of this production from Het Musiktheater Amsterdam more than meets the perennial challenge of staging The Ring. Pierre Audi's stage direction, in which the orchestra is placed on the ring-shaped stage, succeeds in forging a profound unity between the lyrical, mythical and philosophical qualities of Wagner's work, complemented by George Tsypin's astonishing sets and wonderful costumes by Oscar-winning Eiko Ishioka. Impassioned singing and intensely dramatic playing by the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra under the energetic baton of Hartmut Haenchen create a vigorous, almost intimate performance that will leave an indelible impression. This production of The Ring is based on the new collected works of Richard Wagner.
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Introduction to Die Walkure - with presenter Michael Zeeman, composer Peter-Jan Wageman and pianist Stephan Mickisch
Bonus features:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Introduction to Die Walkure - with presenter Michael Zeeman, composer Peter-Jan Wageman and pianist Stephan Mickisch
"This production quite possibly shows us the path that musical theater will be taking in the future" (Die Zeit). Indeed, the Catalan city of Valencia is setting new accents in 21st-century opera not only with its spectacular, futuristic opera house, the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofía" designed by Santiago Calatrava, but also with the visually transfixing production of Wagner's Ring staged there by Carlus Padrissa and his theater group La Fura dels Baus. The Barcelona-based Fura became known internationally when it designed and carried out the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and made its breakthrough in the classical world with its production of Berlioz's La damnation de Faust at the 1999 Salzburg Festival.
The Fura's trademark is its spellbinding fusion of movement, sound, music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. In the world of opera, the ensemble has defined its personal style through its exploitation of large-screen projections, the extraordinary mobility of the performers, and the magical use of human beings to create organic structures that evoke objects such as Valhalla (in this Ring production). Indeed, La Fura was predestined for Wagner's visionary world: his dream...
The Fura's trademark is its spellbinding fusion of movement, sound, music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. In the world of opera, the ensemble has defined its personal style through its exploitation of large-screen projections, the extraordinary mobility of the performers, and the magical use of human beings to create organic structures that evoke objects such as Valhalla (in this Ring production). Indeed, La Fura was predestined for Wagner's visionary world: his dream...
The performances of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle in Stuttgart created a sensation unheard of since the monumental century Ring in Bayreuth in the late seventies. "Four operas ?EUR" four stage directors" was the artistic idea behind the 1999/2000 cycle under the musical direction of Lothar Zagrosek. Appreciating the individual operas of Der Ring des Nibelungen without having to relate to previous or subsequent storylines enabled the stage directors ?EUR" handpicked among the successful Stuttgart Opera team surrounding Artistic Director Klaus Zehelein ?EUR" to express their individual insights into the well-known drama of Siegfried and Wotan. In 2002 German critics voted Stuttgart's Staatsoper "Opera House of the Year" for the fourth time in five years. This series was recorded live at revival performances in 2002 and 2003, and it pays tribute to the artistic and musical achievement of the Stuttgart Opera House and a wonderful cast of singers. The production was directed by the "psychoanalyst" Christoph Nel, who chose to reveal Wagner's characters, their ambivalences and their conflicts, using contemporary settings, situations and gestures ?EUR" excellently supported by the some of the best Wagner singer-actors of our time, including Angela Denoke in her role debut as Sieglinde.
A Die Walkure to be remembered: Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Aix-en-Provence Festival!
After the success of Das Rheingold , Stephane Braunschweig's staging of the second part of the tetralogy Die Walkure was a triumph in Aix's brand new Grand Theatre de Provence.
With a remarkable international cast - Sir Willard White, Robert Gambill, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Eva Johansson and Mikhail Petrenko - accompanied by the Berliner Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle brought almost unparalleled breadth to the work.
In opting for a movingly human approach to the drama unfolding on stage, director Stephane Braunschweig obtained superb performances from an extraordinary group of singers.
After the success of Das Rheingold , Stephane Braunschweig's staging of the second part of the tetralogy Die Walkure was a triumph in Aix's brand new Grand Theatre de Provence.
With a remarkable international cast - Sir Willard White, Robert Gambill, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Eva Johansson and Mikhail Petrenko - accompanied by the Berliner Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle brought almost unparalleled breadth to the work.
In opting for a movingly human approach to the drama unfolding on stage, director Stephane Braunschweig obtained superb performances from an extraordinary group of singers.
Der Kobold (The Goblin), the first filmed production of an opera by Siegfried Wagner, was recorded at the Stadttheater Fürth, Germany from 8 November to 3 December 2005, and at Stadthalle Bayreuth, Germany on 21 November 2005.
Bonus features:
- The Making of Der Kobold ?EUR" a film by Stephan Kelch (in German only)
- 3D animated version of the set model by Achim Bahr
Bonus features:
- The Making of Der Kobold ?EUR" a film by Stephan Kelch (in German only)
- 3D animated version of the set model by Achim Bahr
Weber's 'great heroic-romantic' opera Euryanthe premiered in Vienna in 1823. It concerns the wronged Euryanthe, victim of a plot to establish her unfaithfulness, but her love imbues her with colossal strength which Weber characterises with acute psychological insight. Through-composed and dispensing with spoken dialogue, its chivalric plot provides opportunities for a series of arias, ariosos, duets, cavatinas and choruses that contain some of his greatest operatic music. This production employs the opera's original version with a few, very minor cuts.
Weber was the forefront of the rise of German Romantic opera and sought to dethrone Rossini from his position as the leading operating composer in Europe. In his breakthrough and most popular opera Der Freischutz (The Marksman) composed in 1821, he succeeded in his aim of establishing a truly German form. Turning to the folklore and folk songs of his native land he took a story of a marksman who makes a pact with the Devil, vesting it with powerful intensity - not least in the famous Wolf's Glen scene - and an astonishing control of orchestral colour and atmosphere.
This production by Nikolaus Habjan is simple and interesting, and narrates the plot as a comedy, even if it isn't a buffo opera. The superb direction of both soloists and chorus is particularly noteworthy' and he manages to instill some liveliness in the long dialogues. Seen and Heard International
Oberon , Konig der Elfen is certainly less well known than Weber's classic Der Freischutz , but it's an enchanting piece. It's less ambitious than Mozart in sentiment and execution and certainly doesn't have the same musical genius or memorable pieces, but it has considerable character of its own, particularly when a good production like this shows its merits. OperaJournal
Oberon , Konig der Elfen is certainly less well known than Weber's classic Der Freischutz , but it's an enchanting piece. It's less ambitious than Mozart in sentiment and execution and certainly doesn't have the same musical genius or memorable pieces, but it has considerable character of its own, particularly when a good production like this shows its merits. OperaJournal
After his success with Freischütz , Weber wanted to write a grand romantic opera and in the end the subject of Euryanthe was chosen, a tale inspired by a legend going back to the thirteen century. Euryanthe is music of inspiration and originality such as is rarely found in the history of German opera in the first half of the nineteenth century. The Italianisms that are occasionally glimpsed in Freischütz are eliminated almost completely. Euryanthe is set to music in its entirety, with accompanied recitative passages that are often of great beauty. We may say that in an opera that has many experimental features Weber sought for the first and only time in his life to overcome the traditional dichotomy between spoken and sung parts, between recitative and closed numbers, creating a highly supple musical structure. The present production features a cast of specialists of German opera and the outstanding direction of Pier Luigi Pizzi.
A hard-hitting new production of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by the Catalan collective La Fura dels Baus at the Teatro Real de Madrid.
Composed in the 1930s by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, this is a mordant satire on capitalism and the inexorable industrialisation of a society in which the ultimate crime is not having money. In twenty scenes the authors tell the story of a city lost in the middle of a desert and run by three thugs; in Mahagonny food, sex, gambling and violence rule supreme.
The production by Alex Olle and Carlus Padrissa, both of La Fura dels Baus, combines enormous inventiveness, joy and energy with awe-inspiring ferocity.
Perfect casting brings together a group of singers - Measha Brueggergosman, Michael Konig, Jane Henschel and Willard White - who are also marvellous actors.
The Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus are directed by young Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, who actually began his career at the Teatro Real. In November 2010, he received the El Ojo Critico prize, awarded annually to Spain's most outstanding artists in the classical music field.
Composed in the 1930s by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, this is a mordant satire on capitalism and the inexorable industrialisation of a society in which the ultimate crime is not having money. In twenty scenes the authors tell the story of a city lost in the middle of a desert and run by three thugs; in Mahagonny food, sex, gambling and violence rule supreme.
The production by Alex Olle and Carlus Padrissa, both of La Fura dels Baus, combines enormous inventiveness, joy and energy with awe-inspiring ferocity.
Perfect casting brings together a group of singers - Measha Brueggergosman, Michael Konig, Jane Henschel and Willard White - who are also marvellous actors.
The Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus are directed by young Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, who actually began his career at the Teatro Real. In November 2010, he received the El Ojo Critico prize, awarded annually to Spain's most outstanding artists in the classical music field.
A tenement on the East Side of Manhattan is our window into a multitude of precarious lives pushed to the limits. Romance, disputes, gossip mongering, betrayals, and constant tension mark the routines of this community of neighbors in the socially conscious Street Scene , the first opera Kurt Weill composed in the United States after escaping Nazi persecution. The brilliance of the music complements a sparkling libretto by Elmer Rice - an adaptation of his Pulitzer-winning play of the same name - and lyrics by legendary Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes.
Weill sought to write an "American opera" drawing on Broadway musicals, blues, and jazz, all with an eye toward the European operatic tradition-recitatives, arias, ensemble - in which he had been immersed before crossing the Atlantic. The final product lies somewhere between Weill's Threepenny Opera (a collaboration with Brecht and the origin of the famous Mack the Knife ) and Bernstein's West Side Story : a masterful depiction of everyday life in a big city, brutally realistic but with a refined poetic sensibility.
Under Tim Murray's precise baton, this new production by John Fulljames, featuring a top-notch vocal cast, vividly renders the vitality and energy of the New York streets that inspired Weill's...
Weill sought to write an "American opera" drawing on Broadway musicals, blues, and jazz, all with an eye toward the European operatic tradition-recitatives, arias, ensemble - in which he had been immersed before crossing the Atlantic. The final product lies somewhere between Weill's Threepenny Opera (a collaboration with Brecht and the origin of the famous Mack the Knife ) and Bernstein's West Side Story : a masterful depiction of everyday life in a big city, brutally realistic but with a refined poetic sensibility.
Under Tim Murray's precise baton, this new production by John Fulljames, featuring a top-notch vocal cast, vividly renders the vitality and energy of the New York streets that inspired Weill's...
Continuing its tradition of unearthing little-known 20th-century operas, the Bregenz Festival presented the first staged production of Polish-Russian composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Passenger in 2010. Written in 1967/68, the opera relates the chance meeting of a former concentration camp guard and one of her former inmates on an ocean liner years after the war. Bringing the work to vibrant life are the Wiener Symphoniker under Teodor Currentzis; topping the cast are Michelle Breedt and Elena Kelessidi. The work is well served by David Pountney's stage direction and Johan Engels' two-level set, with the ocean liner above and the concentration camp below.
Mieczyslaw Weinberg's powerful Holocaust drama Die Passagierin channels his and his family's ordeals of wartime and Soviet persecution, applying them musically to Zofia Posmysz's autobiographical novel. The score was praised by Shostakovich for its 'beauty and greatness', with a narrative that unfolds on an ocean liner bound for Brazil on which a former Auschwitz guard and one of her Polish prisoners confront impossible moral conflict and harrowing flashbacks in music that is sparse, dark, sardonic and intermittently tender. This acclaimed Oper Graz production draws us movingly into the raw unimaginable madness of this imperishable moment in history.
Czech-born composer Jaromir Weinberger , best known for his opera Schwanda the Bagpiper , was forced to flee to America in order escape Nazi terror. Fruhlingssturme , staged in 1933 but soon closed down by the Nazi government, was the last operetta of the Weimar Republic. It is filed with cultural complexity, combining serious operatic style with light comedy, and presents a thrilling story involving a doomed love affair set against war between Japan and Russia. This lavish production is staged by the award-winning Australian director Barrie Kosky.
We are all familiar with Mozart's Magic Flute to the libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. What is far less well known, however, is the fact that Schikaneder wrote a sequel to The Magic Flute. In the year that marks the 200th anniversary of Emanuel Schikaneder's death, the Salzburg Festival presents this operatic rarity at the city's Residenzhof in the form of a glittering fairy-tale opera in which magic and ghostly events play a decisive role. Ivor Bolton conducts his Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra energetically, smoothly and elegantly, bringing out the best in Winter's charming music with its cleverly interwoven echoes of Mozart.
Riccardo Zandonai's Francesco da Rimini is a four-act opera set during the Renaissance period. The plot concerns an arranged marriage between Francesca and Giovanni, also known as Gianciotto, who is impersonated by his handsome brother Paolo, and with whom Francesca falls passionately in love. Sometimes referred to as the 'Italian Tristan', the opera ends in betrayal and a double murder. The production of the rarely performed opera from the Deutsche Oper Berlin proved to be a huge critical success.
Great excitement reigns in the royal hunting grounds. The prince has proclaimed his hunt and wants to bag wild pig, and receive a ceremonial maiden. The poaching community, so full of the love of life, are unable to provide both.
The royal master of the hunt, Baron Weps, is willing to present the prince with a tame pig and a widow for a high bribe. But the hunt is cancelled. The baron, who did not wish to return the money, presents his nephew as the prince.
The princess then arrives to catch her husband, in flagranti. At the same time, Adam the bird seller comes to visit his fiancee Christel. Christel wishes to ask the prince to give Adam a job.
A jolly play of mistaken identities, jealousy and love commences.
The royal master of the hunt, Baron Weps, is willing to present the prince with a tame pig and a widow for a high bribe. But the hunt is cancelled. The baron, who did not wish to return the money, presents his nephew as the prince.
The princess then arrives to catch her husband, in flagranti. At the same time, Adam the bird seller comes to visit his fiancee Christel. Christel wishes to ask the prince to give Adam a job.
A jolly play of mistaken identities, jealousy and love commences.
Based on Oscar Wilde's story The Birthday of the Infanta Zemlinky's single-act opera Der Zwerg is the tragic tale of a dwarf who is presented at court, falls in love with the beautiful Donna Clara, but is ultimately forced to see himself as others see him and to die of a broken heart. Preceded by Schoenberg's Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene, Op. 34 , Zemlinsky's Romantic score is full of psychological intrigue. Is Der Zwerg a critique of society's superficiality? Is it the composer's self-portrait in his doomed affair with Alma Schindler? Director Tobias Kratzer's stunnng, transparent production creates a space in which each character is thrown into sharp relief in this fine, noble and melancholy work' (Bachtrack.com).
Bernd Alois Zimmermann's opera Die Soldaten (The Soldiers) , the "highlight of the festival season" (Suddeutsche Zeitung), breaks all records! The style and structure of an opera, acknowledged as one of the 20th century's key works, its musical and dramatic collage technique take it to the limits of what is playable. Now, in Salzburg's Felsenreitschule, the opera has found the ideal performance venue and, with the Vienna Philharmonic under Ingo Metzmacher together with a top-flight cast of singers, its ideal performers too.
Everything in this production is on a massive scale: 170 musicians (around 50 of them in the side galleries) and 50 or so soloists on stage contribute to make this highly complex composition a direct and physically palpable experience for the audience. The sheer force of the music and its performance are reflected in the Latvian-born director Alvis Hermanis's staging: setting the scene on a 40-metre wide stage in the riding school and taking advantage of the room's full height, he portrays the individual episodes and stages of the plot in the simultaneity required by Zimmermann and condenses it into an exciting drama. Based on the play written by Reinhold Jakob Michael Lenz in 1776, and first performed in 1965, the work is moved to the period of the...
Everything in this production is on a massive scale: 170 musicians (around 50 of them in the side galleries) and 50 or so soloists on stage contribute to make this highly complex composition a direct and physically palpable experience for the audience. The sheer force of the music and its performance are reflected in the Latvian-born director Alvis Hermanis's staging: setting the scene on a 40-metre wide stage in the riding school and taking advantage of the room's full height, he portrays the individual episodes and stages of the plot in the simultaneity required by Zimmermann and condenses it into an exciting drama. Based on the play written by Reinhold Jakob Michael Lenz in 1776, and first performed in 1965, the work is moved to the period of the...