Handel Theodora opera to libretto by Thomas Morell. Directed 2022 by Katie Mitchell at the Royal Opera. Stars Julia Bullock (Theodora), Jakub Józef Orliński (Didymus), Ed Lyon (Septimius), Gyula Orendt (Valens), Joyce DiDonato (Irene), and Thando Mjandana (Marcus). Harry Bicket conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Master William Spaulding). Actors/dancers are Holly Weston and Kelly Vee. Other actors are Aquira Bailey-Browne, Ben Clifford, Sarah Northgraves, and David Rawlins. Set design by Chloe Lamford; costume design by Sussie Juhlin-Wallén; lighting design by James Farncombe; movement direction by Sarita Piotrowski. Directed for TV by Peter Jones. Sung in English. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C
Theodora is usually considered an oratorio or a dramatic oratorio. But if you bring in Katie Mitchell, it’s going to be an opera. Mitchell’s modern-times overlay was controversial, but most critics who saw this live were ecstatic about the cast and the music. Handel wrote an Organ Concerto in G Minor for performance with Theodora. The organ piece was usually performed by Handel as a bonus extra, perhaps at an intermission. The Royal Opera here cuts the Organ Concerto.
Katie Mitchell likes to divide her stage into little boxes that get shifted around . . .
Read MoreJean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville Titon et l’Aurore (Tithonus and Aurora) opera to a libretto by Claude-Henri de Fusée. Directed 2021 by Basil Twist at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Stars Reinoud Van Mechelen (Titon), Gwendoline Blondeel (L’Aurore), Emmanuelle de Negri (Palès), Marc Mauillon (Éole), Julie Roset (Amour), Renato Dolcini (Prométhéé) as well as Virginie Thomas, Maud Gnidzaz, and Juliette Perret (Nymphes). William Christie conducts Les Arts Florissants. Set and puppet design by Basil Twist; video design by Daniel Brodie; lighting design by Jean Kalman. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in French. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+
When Italian singers in 1752 got a hit staging Pergolesi’s La serva padrona in Paris, the War of the Clowns broke out. The French counterattack was Mondonville’s Titon et l’Aurore. It premiered in Paris in 1753 (the year George Washington turned 21). The audience was mostly French soldiers. They packed the best seats to defend the local performers from partisans of Italian opera, who were forced into the upper galleries . . .
Read MoreStefano Landi La morte d’Orfeo opera to a libretto by an anonymous author. Directed 2018 by Pierre Audi at the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam. Stars Cecilia Molinari (Teti/Nisa/Lincastro/Euridice/Euretti), Renato Dolcini (Fato/Fileno), Alexander Miminoshvili (Ebro/Giove), Gaia Petrone (Aurora/Fosforo), Rosina Fabius (Euretti), Juan Francisco Gatell (Orfeo), Kacper Szelążek (Mercurio/Bacco), Emiliano Gonzales Toro (Ireno/Apolline), Salvo Vitale (Furore/Caronte), and Magdalena Puta (Calliope/Euretti). Christophe Rousset conducts Les Talens Lyriques. Set design by Christof Hetzer; costume design by Robby Duiveman; lighting design by Bernd Purkrabek; dramaturgy by Klaus Bertisch. Directed for TV by Misjel Vermeiren. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Landi’s La morte d’Orfeo was first performed in 1619, just 12 years after Monteverdi composed his L’Orfeo. Landi takes up the story where Monteverdi left off with Orfeo mourning the second death of his wife . . .
Read MoreVerdi Simon Boccanegra opera to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and later revised by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2020 by Andreas Homoki at the Opernhaus Zürich. Stars Christian Gerhaher (Simon Boccanegra), Jennifer Rowley (Amelia Grimaldi), Christof Fischesser (Jacopo Fiesco), Otar Jorjikia (Gabriele Adorno), Nicholas Brownlee (Paolo Albiani), Brent Michael Smith (Pietro), Siena Licht Miller (Amelia’s Maid), and Savelii Andreev (Captain). Fabio Luisi conducts the Philharmonia Zürich, the Chor der Oper Zürich, and the Statistenverein am Opernhaus Zürich. Set and costume design by Christian Schmidt; lighting design by Frank Evin; dramaturgy by Fabio Dietsche. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer; produced by Paul Smaczny. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
If you are not a Verdi expert, you may find this opera hard to follow. For help, see my synopsis at the end of this review. You have to be sharp to follow the plot (even with help). I hope my screenshots will help you learn who is who . . .
Read MoreLeoncavallo Zazà opera to libretto by the composer and Carlo Zangarini. Directed 2020 by Christof Loy at the Theater an der Wien. Stars Svetlana Aksenova (Zazà), Enkelejda Shkosa (Anaide), Dorothea Herbert (Floriana / Madame Dufresne), Juliette Mars (Natalia), Nikolai Schukoff (Milio Dufresne), Vittoria Antonuzzo (Totò Dufresne), Christopher Maltman (Cascart), Tobias Greenhalgh (Bussy), Paul Schweinester (Courtois), Ivan Zinoviev (Duclou), Johannes Bamberger (Augusto / Concierge at Dufresne), Patrick Maria Kühn (A Gentleman); Ena Topčibašić (Claretta), Liliya Namisnyk (Simona), Anna Possarnig and Elias Morales (Two Spanish Dancers), Beatriz Delgardo Flores and Elvis Grezda (Two Clowns), Carina Nopp and Diego Federico (Two Artists), Lilo Besold (Dresser), and Fabio Coutinho (Fireman). Stefan Soltész conducts the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus Master Erwin Ortner). Set design by Raimund Orfeo Voigt; costume design by Herbert Barz-Murauer; lighting design by Reinhard Traub; choreography by Thomas Wilhelm; dramatic advisor was Klaus Bertisch. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2021, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+ with the 💓 designation.
Read MoreErich Wolfgang Korngold Die tote Stadt opera to a libretto by the composer and his father, Julius Korngold, under the collective pseudonym of Paul Schott. Directed 2019 by Simon Stone at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich. Stars Jonas Kaufmann (Paul), Marlis Petersen (Marietta/Die Erscheinung Mariens [The Apparition of Marien]), Andrzej Filończyk (Frank/Fritz), Jennifer Johnston (Brigitta), Mirjam Mesak (Juliette), Corinna Scheurle (Lucienne), Manuel Günther (Gaston/Victorin), and Dean Power (Graf Albert). Kirill Petrenko conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and the Chorus and Children’s Chorus of the Bayerische Staatsoper (Chorus Master Stellario Fagone). Sets by Ralph Myers; costumes by Mel Page; lighting by Roland Edrich. Directed for TV by Myriam Hoyer; produced by Dr. Roland Schwab and Guido Gärtner. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A
This title created more excitement and critical praise than any other in 2021. It’s hard to imagine anyone doing better by Korngold’s libretto and score. But for me, the best thing about this title is that it led to my reading of the book behind it: Bruges-la-Morte by the symbolist poet and novelist George Rodenbach. Finally, it was exciting to see our new super-nova videographer, Myriam Hoyer, at work on a recent important opera production. So in this review, I’ll tell you about . . .
Read MoreEmilio de’ Cavalieri Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo (Portrayal of the Soul and the Body) opera to libretto by Agostino Manni. First performed in 1600, Cavalieri believed this to be the first opera. Directed 2021 by Robert Carson at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria. Stars Georg Nigl (Time/The World/Damned Soul), Cyril Auvity (Intellect), Anett Fritsch (The Soul), Daniel Schmutzhard (The Body), Florian Boesch (Councilor), Margherita Maria Sala (Peace), Michal Marhold and Matus Simko (Companions of Peace), Carlo Vistoli (Guardian Angel), Giuseppina Bridelli (Mundane Life/Blessed Soul). Giovanni Antonini conducts the Arnold Schoenberg and Il Giardino Armonico. Sets by Robert Carson and Luis Carvalho; costumes by Luis Carvalho; lighting by Robert Carsen and Peter van Praet; choreography by Lonera Randi; dramaturgy by Ian Burton. Directed for TV by Paul Landsmann and Peter Landsmann. Sung in Italian. Released 2023, disc has stereo sound only. Grade: NA
Experts today argue whether Cavalieri wrote an oratorio or an opera. And if it’s an opera, was he the the first as he claimed? Well, he was for sure around at the beginning. The music is available in CDs. There are a surprisingly large number of streamed videos of this music on YouTube and other Internet providers including what appears to be a full version of the music by Il Giardino Armonico. But Carsen is the first to produce a video of this music performed as an opera published in Blu-ray for home theaters . . .
Read MoreThe Monteverdi Trilogy consists of three titles previously reported here:
All these titles are concerts with a few props. They are not opera performances. I maybe should have excluded these titles. But Gardiner is one of the most famous conductors of early music, so I list them out of respect for him. I give a D to these recordings. This doesn’t mean they are bad. It just means don’t buy this unless you know what you are doing . . .
Read MoreRichard Strauss Capriccio opera to a libretto by Clemens Krauss and Richard Strauss. Directed 2021 by Jens-Daniel Herzog at the Semperoper Dresden. Stars Camilla Nylund (The Countess), Christoph Pohl (Flamand), Daniel Behle (Olivier), Nikolay Borchev (La Roche), Morten Frank Larsen (The Count), George Zeppenfeld (Director of a Theatre), Christa Mayer (Clairon), Tuuli Takala and Beomjen Kim (Italian Singers), Frank Blümel, Friedrich Darge, Alexander Födisch, Torsten Schäpan, Norbert Klesse, Thomas Müller, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Jörg Reißmann (Servants), Torben Jürgens (Majordomo), and Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (Monsieur Taupe). Christian Thielemann conducts the Sächsische Staatskaapelle Dresden and the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master André Kellinghaus). Set design by Mathis Neidhardt; costume design by Sibylle Gädeke; lighting design by Fabio Antoci; choreography by Michael Schmieder and Ramses Sigl; dramaturgy by Johann Casimir Eule. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in German. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
The artwork on the front of the Blu-ray keepcase is strangely ugly and uninformative . . .
Read MoreWagner Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle directed by Stefan Herheim in 2021 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Sir Donald Runnicles directs the Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Set designs by Silke Bauer and Stefan Herheim; costumes by Uta Heiseke; lighting by Ulrich Niepel; video projections by Torge Moller, William Duke, and Dan Trenchard; dramaturgy by Alexander Meier-Dörzenbach and Jörg Königsdorf. Directed for TV by Götz Filenius. Sung in German. Released 2020, this is a box set of 4 Blu-ray discs with the entirety of the Ring and extras. Grade: D
See the artwork for the back of the box set above for some additional information (this is a cropped image from the DVD box, but the information will be the same for the Blu-ray box).
Preliminary reports about this project suggest that Deutsche Oper Berlin did not have the valkyriepower to pull this off. The marketing of this by Naxos and the vendors is as atrocious as anything I have seen . . .
Read MoreVerdi La Traviata opera to libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Directed 2021 by Davide Livermore at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Nadine Sierra (Violetta Valéry), Francesco Meli (Alfredo Germont), Leo Nucci (Giorgio Germont), Caterina Piva (Flora Bervoix), Luca Bernard (Gastone de Letorières), Catherine Meldolesi (Annina), Francesco Samuele Venuti (Baron Douphol), William Corrò (Marchese d'Obigny), Emanuele Cardaro (Dr. Grenvil), Alfio Vacanti (Giuseppe, Servant of Violetta), Giovanni Mazzei (Commissionario), and Egidio Massimo (Un domestico di Flora). Zubin Meta conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set designs by Giò Forma; costume designs by Mariana Fracasso; light designs by Antonio Castro; video designs by D-wok. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Video Production by Metis. Sound by MASClassica Audio Recording—Claudio Speranzini and Antonio Martino. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
This is the hard-edge Swinging Sixties update to La Traviata . . .
Read MoreMavra/Iolante by stage director Axel Ranisch is a creative combination of Igor Stravinsky’s one-act opera Mavra and Tschaikovsky’s one-act opera Iolanta. Recorded in 2019 at the Cuvilliés Theatre Munich. Mavra is a comedy about a clever and aggressive girl who blunders into losing her lover. Iolanta is a bittersweet story of a princess who finds love even though she was sheltered from life by the king and grew up ignorant that she was blind. The star singers are graduate students in the Opernstudio der Bayerischen Staatsoper. Alevtina Ioffe conducts the Chorus and Children’s Chorus of der Bayerischen Staatsoper (Chorus Master Stellario Fagone) and the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. Set, costume, and video designs by Falko Herold; lighting by Michael Bauer. Sung in Russian. Directed for TV by Corentin Leconte. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-MA Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Mavra has been performed rarely and has been recorded only a few times in CD collections of Russian music. Iolante is fairly well known—we have 2 HDVDs of it in our Alphalist. The two operas were written to vastly different styles of music. The charm will be to see how Ranisch bakes his cake . . .
Read MoreVerdi Rigoletto opera to libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Directed 2021 by Oliver Mears at the Royal Opera House. Stars Carlos Álvarez (Rigoletto), Liparit Avetisyan (Duke), Lisette Oropesa (Gilda), Brindley Sherratt (Sparafucile), Ramona Zaharia (Maddalena), Kseniia Nikolaieva (Giovanna), Eric Greene (Monterone), Dominic Sedgwick (Marullo), Egor Zhuravskii (Borsa). Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House (Chorus Master William Spaulding). Set design by Simon Lima Holdsworth; costume design by Ilona Karas; lighting design by Fabiana Piccioli; movement direction by Anna Morrissey. Directed for TV by Peter Jones. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc features 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
This new production from the Royal Opera House got mostly rave reviews from critics who saw it live. For example, Tim Ashley, writing in The Guardian, says “Álvarez is utterly compelling as Rigoletto. Oropesa makes a matchless Gilda, singing with an extraordinary beauty of tone and understated depth of feeling: this really is one of the truly great performances.” So this would probably be a good choice even though we already have . . .
Read MoreLuigi Nono Intolleranza 1960 opera to a libretto by the composer (based on texts from Henri Alleg, Bertolt Brecht, Paul Éluard, Julius Fučík, Wladimir Majakowski, Angelo Maria Ripellino, and Jean-Paul Sartre). Directed 2021 by Jan Lauwers at the Felseignriteschule as part of the Salzburg Festival. Stars Sean Panikker (A Migrant), Sarah Maria Sen (A Woman), Antonio Yang (An Algerian), Musa Ngqungwana (A Torture Victim), and Victor Afung Lauwters (The Blind Poet). Also features performers from Lauwers’ NEEDCOMPANY, dancers from the BODHI PROJECT, and members of the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. Ingo Metzmacher conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Konzertvereinigung of the Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Huw Rhys James), Soprano Leah Manning, and Anna-Maria Birnbauer (A Laughing Woman). Set and design by Jan Lauwers, costumes by Lot Lemm, lighting and video designs by Ken Hioco; sound design by Paul Juekendrup; dramatury by Elke Janssens and Kasia Tórz. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released in 2022, disc has PCM Stereo sound. Grade: NA
Nono was a life-long Italian communist who wrote electronic, serial, and aleatory (improvised or chance) music. Intolleranza is a musical and political statement. It has only been staged a few times, and at least two productions resulted in actual vandalism during performances by neo-nazis (in Italy) and members of the John Birch Society (in Boston).
Read MoreDonizetti L'elisir d'amore opera to libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2021 by Frederic Wake-Walker with assistant director Lorenzo Ponte at Teatro Donizetti Bergamo as part of the Donizetti Opera Festival. Stars Caterina Sala (Adina), Javier Camarena (Nemorino), Florian Sempey (Belcore), Roberto Frontali (Dulcamara), Anaïs Mejias (Giannetta), and Manuel Ferreira (Master of ceremonies). Ricardo Frizza conducts Orchestra Gli Originali and the Coro Donizetti Opera (Chorus Master Fabio Tartari). Fortepiano by Daniela Pellegrino. Puppets by Daniele Cortesi. Set designs by Federica Parolini with assistant set designer Marta Solari; costume designs by Daniela Cernigliaro with assistant costume designer Marta Solari; lighting by Fiammetta Baldisserri with assistant lighting designer Emanuele Agliati. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti. Sound recording by Rino Trasi and Vera Zanotti; editing and post-production by Rino Trasi. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Another pandemic production with the chorus wearing masks.
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