C Major

Anna Karenina

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Anna Karenina ballet. Choreographed 2017 by John Neumeier to music from Tchaikovsky, Alfred Schnittke, and Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam. Inspired by the Tolstoy novel but set in modern times. Recorded 2022 at the Hamburg State Opera. Stars Anna Laudere (Anna Karenina); Edvin Revazov (Alexie Vronski); Ivan Urban (Alexie Karenin); Aleix Martínez (Levin); Emilie Mazoń (Kitty); Marià Huguet (Seryozha); Karen Azatyan (A Muzhik); Patricia Friza (Dolly); and Florian Pohl (Stiva). Nathan Brock conducts the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra. Staging, sets, costumes, and lighting by John Neumeier; Anna Karenina dressed by Akris-Albert Kriemler; video and graphic designs by Kiran West; assistant set designer was Heinrich Tröger. Directed for TV by Myriam Hoyer. Especially good bonus feature. Ballet runs 225 minutes and Bonus runs 67 minutes. Released 2023, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+.

Forget about our usual desire to see long ballet clips showing the whole stage and whole bodies of the dancers. Here Neumeier and film director Myriam Hoyer set out to make a motion picture to be shown first on TV. This show has many details that will please those who know Tolstoy’s novel or do their homework. If you get this under control, you can take reading Anna off your bucket list and move on to something like Brothers Karamazov . . .

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Sommernachts Traum

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Ein Sommernachtstraum (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) ballet. Recorded music of Mendelssohn, Ligeti, and traditional tunes for organ grinder. Staged and choreographed 2021 by John Neumeier at the Hamburg Ballet. Stars Anna Laudere (Hippolyta/Titania), Edvin Revazov (Theseus/Oberon), Alexandr Trusch (Philostrate/Puck), Hélène Bouchet (Helena), Madoka Sugai (Hermia), Karen Azatyan (Demetrius), Jacopo Bellussi (Lysander), and Marc Jubete (Bottom/Pyramus) as well as many other dancers in the Hamburg Ballet. Stage design and costumes by Jürgen Rose; lighting by John Neumeier. Directed for TV by Myriam Hoyer. Incudes The Artist’s Privilege, an interview with Neumeier about this production. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the most famous stage comedy in the Western tradition. Artists of every ilk have tried to adapt it including—believe it or not—synchronized swimmers. It’s a complicated play. To turn Shakespeare’s play with many interwoven plots lines into a ballet, Neumeier had to simplify and add his own twists . . .

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Nerone

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Arrigo Boito Nerone opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2021 by Olivier Tambosi at the Bregenz Festival. Stars Rafael Rojas (Nerone), Lucio Gallo (Simon Mago), Brett Polegato (Fanuèl), Svetlana Aksenova (Asteria), Alessandra Volpe (Rubria), Miklós Sebestyén (Tigellino), Taylan Reinhard (Gobrias), Ilya Kutyukhin (Dositèo), Katrin Wundsam (Cerinto / Pèrside), Hyunduk Kim (Primo Viandante), and Shira Patchornik (Voce di Donna). Dirk Kaftan conducts the Wiener Symphoniker and the Prague Philharmonic Choir (Chorus Master Lukáš Vasilek). Set design by Frank Philipp Schlössmann; costume design by Gesine Völlm; lighting design by Davy Cunningham. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Parsifal

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Wagner Parsifal opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2020 by Graham Vick at the Teatro Massimo Palermo. Stars Tómas Tómasson (Amfortas), Alexei Tanovitski (Titurel), John Relyea (Gurnemanz), Julian Hubbard (Parsifal), Thomas Gazheli (Klingsor), and Catherine Hunold (Kundry). Omer Meir Wellber conducts the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo, Coro del Teatro Massimo (Chorus Master Ciro Visco), and Coro di Voci Bianche del Teatro Massimo (Chorus Master Salvatore Punturo). Stage design by Timothy O’Brien; costume design by Mauro Tinti; lighting design by Giuseppe di Iorio; movement direction by Ron Howell. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in German. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Orlando (Neuwirth)

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Olga Neuwirth Orlando opera to libretto by the composer and Catherine Filloux. Directed 2019 by Polly Graham at the Wiener Staatsoper. Starring Kate Lindsey (Orlando), Anna Clementi (Narrator), Eric Jurenas (Guardian Angel), Constance Hauman (Queen / Purity / Friend of Orlando’s Child), Margaret Plummer (Modesty), Agneta Eichenholz (Sasha / Chastity), Leigh Melrose (Shelmerdine / Greene), Marcus Pelz (Dryden), Carlos Osuna (Addison), Wolfgang Bankl (Duke), Christian Miedl (Pope), Justin Vivian Bond (Orlando’s Child), Nicolas Rudner/Emil Lang (Putto). Wolfram Igor Derntl (Doctor 1), Hans Peter Kammerer (Doctor 2), Ayk Martirossian (Doctor 3), Lucas Niggli (Drummer), and Katie La Folle (Orlando’s Girlfriend / Lead Singer). Matthias Pintscher conducts the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, the Chor der Wiener Staatsoper, and the Opernschule der Wiener Staatsoper (Chorus Masters Thomas Lang, Stefano Ragusini, and Svetlomir Zlatkov). Set design by Roy Spahn; video design by Will Duke; costume design by Comme des Garçons; hair styling by Julien D’Ys; make-up design by Comme de Garçons and Stephen Jones; lighting design by Ulrich Schneider; live electronics and sound design by Markus Noisternig, Gilbert Nouno, Clement Cornuau, and Olga Neuwirth; live sound engineer was Julien Aléonard; movement direction by Jenny Ogilvie; dramaturgy by Helga Utz. Directed for TV by Jasmina Eleta. Sung in English. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

This colossal 3-hour work (nearly 40 solo performers) is inspired by the Virginia Wolf novel Orlando. Orlando begins as a man in the court of Queen Elizabeth of England and later turns into a woman who experiences world history right up to Don Juan Trump as President of the United States . . .

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Jenůfa

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Janáček Jenůfa opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2021 by Damiano Michieletto at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin. Stars Hanna Schwarz (Grandmother Buryjovka), Stuart Skelton (Laca Klemeň), Ladislav Elgr (Števa Buryja), Evelyn Herlitzius (Kostelnička Buryjovka), Camilla Nylund (Jenůfa), Jan Martiník (Foreman), David Oštrek (Mayor), Natalia Skrycka (Mayor's Wife), Evelin Novak (Karolka), Aytaj Shikhalizada (Herdswoman), Adriane Queiroz (Barena), Victoria Randem (Jano), and Anna Kissjudit (Auntie). Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Martin Wright). Set design by Paolo Fantin; costume design by Carla Teti; co-costume designers were Giulia Giannino and Carsta Köhler; lighting design by Alessandro Carletti; choreography by Thomas Wilhelm; dramatic advisor was Benjamin Wäntig. Directed for TV by Beatrix Conrad. Sung in Czech. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Idomeneo

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Mozart Idomeneo opera to a libretto by Giovanni Battista Varesco. Directed 2019 by Kasper Holten at the Wiener Staatsoper. Stars Bernard Richter (Idomeneo), Rachel Frenkel (Idamante); Irina Lungu (Elettra); Valentina Naforniță (Ilia); Pavel Kolgatin (Arbace); Carlos Osuna (High Priest of Neptune); Peter Kellner (Voice of the Oracle); Dritan Luca and Ion Tibrea (Two Trojan Men); Thomas Köber and Michael Wilder (Two Cretan Men); and Seçil Ilker and Arina Holecek (Two Cretan Women). Tomáš Netopil conducts the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper and the Chor der Wiener Staatsoper (Chorus Master Martin Schebesta). Set design by Mia Stensgaard; costume design by Anja Vang Kragh; lighting and video design by Jesper Kongshaug; movement direction by Signe Fabricius; dramaturgy by Adrian Mourby. Directed for TV by Jakob Pitzer and Hans Hadulla. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Der Freischütz

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Carl Maria von Weber Der Freischütz opera to libretto by Johann Friedrich Kind. Directed 2018 by Christian Räth at the Wiener Staatsoper. Stars Adrian Eröd (Ottokar), Clemens Unterreiner (Cuno), Camilla Nylund (Agathe), Daniela Fally (Ännchen), Alan Held (Caspar), Andreas Schager (Max), Albert Dohmen (Hermit), Gabriel Bermúdez (Kilian), and Hans Peter Kammerer (Samiel). Tomáš Netopil conducts the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper and the Chor der Wiener Staatsoper (Chorus Master Thomas Lang). Set and costume design by Gary McCann; lighting design by Thomas Hase; video design by Nina Dunn; choreography by Vesna Orlic. Directed for TV by Agnes Méth. Sung in German. Released 2022, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Rusalka

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Dvořák Rusalka opera to libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil. Directed 2020 by Christof Loy at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Stars Asmik Grigorian (Rusalka); Eric Cutler (The Prince); Karita Mattila (The Foreign Princess), Maxim Kuzmin-Karavaev (Vodnik), Katarina Dalayman (Ježibaba); Sebastià Peris ( The Hunter), Manel ESteve (The Forester), Juliette Mars (The Kitchen Boy), and Julietta Aleksanyan, Rachel Kelly, and Alyona Abramova (Three Nymphs). Ivor Bolton conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Real (Chorus Master Andrés Máspero). Set design by Johannes Leiacker; costume design by Ursula Renzenbrink; lighting design by Bernd Purkrabek; choreography by Klevis Elmazaj. Directed for TV by Xavi Bové. Sung in Czech. Released 2021, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Falstaff

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Verdi Falstaff opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2018 by Mario Martone at the Berlin Staatsoper under den Linden. Stars Michael Volle (Sir John Falstaff), Alfredo Daza (Ford), Francesco Demuro (Fenton), Jürgen Sacher (Dr. Caius), Stephan Rügamer (Bardolfo), Jan Martiník (Pistola), Barbara Frittoli (Mrs. Alice Ford), Nadine Sierra (Nannetta), Daniela Barcellona (Mistress Quickly), and Katharina Kammerloher (Mrs. Meg Page). Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatkapelle Berlin and the Staasopernchor (Chorus Master (Martin Wright). Set design by Margherita Palli; costume design by Ursala Patzak; lighting design by Pasquale Mari; choreography by Raffaella Giordano; dramaturgy by Menjamin Wäntig. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released in 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Mario Martone's Falstaff is not a fat and impoverished member of the aristocracy seeking to maintain his status with a class he admires. Martone portrays Falstaff as an aging hippy forced to ingratiate himself with the upper class he used to despise. But, per Wikipedia, the key to both figures is their sense of "sublime self-conceit."

Picking on an aging champion of counterculture sounds a bit cruel rather than funny, but Hugo Shirley, who saw this live, says that Volle’s comic chops and charisma makes it work . . .

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Le Corsaire

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Le Corsaire ballet. Choreographed by Anna-Marie Holmes after Marius Petipa and Konstantin Sergeyev. Music by Adolphe Adam, Cesare Pugni, Léo Delibes, Riccardo Drigo, and Peter von Oldenburg—all orchestrated by Kevin Galiè. Staged 2018 at La Scala. Stars Nicoletta Manni (Medora); Martina Arduino (Gulnare); Timofej Andrijashenko (Conrad); Marco Agostino (Lankendem); Antonino Sutera (Birbanto); Mattia Semberboni (Ali, the slave); Antonella Albano (Zulmea); Virna Toppi, Maria Celeste Losa, and Alessandra Vassallo (Three Odalisques); Alessandro Grillo (Pasha); Emanuela Montanari, Mariafrancesca Garritano, Christian Fagetti, and Massimo Garon (Two Corsair couples); as well as dancers from the Ballet Company of Teatro alla Scala and the Ballet Academy Teatro alla Scala. Patrick Fournillier conducts the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala. Assistant to the choreographer was Natalia Akhmarova; sets and costumes by Luisa Spinatelli with assistant Monia Torchia; lighting by Marco Filibeck. Directed for TV by Arnalda Canali. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+

Le Coursaire is not considered a great ballet, but it’s popular because it has a fun story with lots of action and tons of characters and opportunities to get everybody in the corps out on the stage. And there are lots of slave girls and concubines for the men . . .

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Andrea Chénier

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Umberto Giordano Andrea Chénier opera to libretto by Luigi Illica. Directed 2017 by Mario Martone at La Scala. Stars Yusif Eyvazov (Andrea Chénier), Anna Netrebko (Maddalena Di Coigny), Luca Salsi (Carlo Gérard), Riccardo Fassi (Major-Domo), Annalisa Stroppa (Bersi), Mariana Pentcheva (Contessa Di Coigny), Costantino Finucci (Pietro Fléville), Manuel Pierattelli (The Abbé), Francesco Verna (Mathieu), Carlo Bosi (An Incroyable), Gabriele Sagona (Roucher), Judit Kutasi (Madelon), Gianluca Breda (Fouquier-Tinville), and Romanno Dal Zovo (Schmidt). Riccardo Chailly conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala (Chorus master Bruno Casoni). Sets by Margherita Palli; costumes by Ursula Patzak; lighting by Pasquale Mari. Directed for TV by Patrizia Carmine. Sung in Italian. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Andrea Chénier, popular with true fans of Italian verismo opera, is about a free-thinking member of the French aristocracy who lost his head to the guillotine just days before the end of the Reign of Terror. His poetry was little known during his life, but he was increasingly venerated when his posthumously published Romantic works became popular

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The Sleeping Beauty

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The Sleeping Beauty ballet. Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky to a libretto by Marius Petipa and Ivan Vsevolozskij. In 2019, choreography by Rudolf Nureyev is revived by Florence Clerc with the Ballet Company of Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Stars Polina Semionova (Princess Aurora), Timofej Andrijashenko (Prince Désiré), Alessandro Grillo (King Florestan XXIV), Marta Romagna (The Queen), Riccardo Massimi (Catalabutte), Emanuela Montanari (The Lilac Fairy), Beatrice Carbone (Carabosse), Deborah Gismondi (The Countess), Giuseppe Conte (The Duke), Federico Fresi (Puss in Boots), Antonella Albano (The White Cat), Claudio Coviello (Blue Bird), Vittoria Valerio (Princess Florine); Martina Arduino, Alessandra Vassalo, Gaia Andreanò, Caterina Bianchi, Agnese Di Clemente, Maria Celeste Losa, and Nicoletta Manni (Seven Fairies); Gabriele Corrado, Christian Fagetti, Andrea Risso, Andrea Crescenzi, Mattia Semperboni, Emanuele Cazzato, and Walter Madau (Seven Knights); Marco Agostino, Gioacchino Starace, Edoardo Caporaletti, and Nicola Del Freo (Four Princes); Vittoria Valerio, Alessandra Vassallo, Gaia Andreanò, Christelle Cennerelli, Marta Gerani, Caterina Bianchi, Alessia Auriemma, and Agnese Di Clemente (Princess’s Friends), as well as Virna Toppi, Nicola De Freo, Alessandra Vassallo, Giaia Andreanò, and Caterina Bianchi (Pas de cinq).
Felix Korobov conducts the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala. Set and costume design by Franca Squarciapino; lighting design by Marco Filibeck. Directed for TV by Arnalda Canali. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A

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4 / Live Double Bill

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4 / Live double bill ballet show—something old, and then something new:

  • Live. Music by Liszt. Choreographed by Hans van Manen in 1979 for the Nederlands Dans Theater, where Live has been an iconic part its repertory. Subject title is the first production of Live outside the Netherlands. Staged after Hans van Manen by Rache Beaujean. Stars dancers Olga Esina and Marcos Menha. There is also a role for a cameraman. This role was created at the NDT by the then young “videomaster” Henk van Dijk. Now the 42-years-older Henk appears as guest artist in Vienna with his trusty camcorder wired to transmit signals to a movie projector. Pianist is Shino Takizawa. Costumes by Keso Dekker; lighting by Bert Dalhuysen. Live is a warm-up of about 23 minutes.

  • 4 choreographed by Martin Schläpfer. Axel Kober conducts all of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper and soprano Slávka Zámečníková. Schläpfer became the new Director and Chief Choreographer for the Vienna State Ballet on September 1, 2020. He produced 4 about 3 months later with 89 dancers in the cast. Set design by Florian Etti; costumes by Catherine Voeffray; lighting by Thomas Diek.

Directed for TV by Myriam Hoyer. Shabby keepcase booklet in German with weak translation into English. There is no menu—you push PLAY and the whole show follows with Live first. The soprano sings in German and there are no subtitles in any language. The short titles of “4” and “Live” are hard to remember and index. At one point in the keepcase booklet and in other places the program is confusingly called Mahler, live! Sum up: this is the worst-crafted Blu-ray disc I’ve reviewed from a major publisher. However, SQ and PQ are OK. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Composite Grade: C+

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Alceste

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Gluck Alceste dance/opera to libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi (Paris Version 1776). Directed and choreographed 2019 by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Stars Charles Castronovo (Admète); Dorothea Röschmann (Alceste); Michael Nagy (The Grand-Priest of Apollon/Hercules); Manuel Günther (Évandre); Sean Michael Plumb (A Herald at Arms/Apollo); Anna El-Khashem, Noa Beinart, Caspar Singh, and Frederic Jost (Coryphées); and Callum Thorpe (An Oracle/A God of the Underworld). Also stars Dancers of Comapagnie Eastman, Antwerp, including Nicola Leahey, Josepha “Princess” Madoki, Acacia Schachte, Qing Wang, Ema Yuasa, Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern, Kazutomi “Tsuki” Kozuki, Morgan Lugo; Robert “Robbie” Moore, Mohamed Toukabri, Jonas Vandekerckhove, Pol Van den Broek, and Patrick Williams “Two Face” Seebacher. Antonello Manacorda conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and the Chorus of the Bayrische Staatsoper (Chorus Master Sören Eckhoff). Sets by Henrik Ahr; costumes by Jan-Jan Van Essche; lighting by Michael Bauer; dramatic advisor was Benedikt Stampfli. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in French. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

This is an opera performance with famous singers for the lead roles plus a substantial group of dancers, all directed by the famous choreographer Cherkaoui

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