Alessandro Scarlatti Griselda opera to libretto by Apostolo Zeno. Directed 2021 by Rosetta Cucchi at the Valle d’Itria Festival. Stars Raffaele Pe (Gualtiero), Carmela Remigio (Griselda), Francesca Ascioti (Ottone), Mariam Battistelli (Costanza), Krystian Adam (Corrado), Miriam Albano (Roberto), and Carlo Buonfrate (Everardo). Special Extras are Roberta Chirulli, Vanessa Liberto, and Serena Rizzi. Extras are Marco Chiatante, Fabio Convertini, Alberta Demita, Michela Desé, Donato Liberto, Lorenzo Sportelli, Antonella Trisciuzzi, and Alessandro Villanova. George Petrou conducts La Lira di Orfeo and the Coro Ghislieri (Chorus Master Giulio Prandi). Assistant directors are Davide Gasparro and Marco Fragneli; set design by Tiziano Santi (with assistant set designer Alessia Colosso); costume design by Claudia Pernigotti; lighting design by Pasquale Mari (with assistant lighting designer Gianni Bertoli); sound recording by Rino Trasi and Vera Zanotti; sound editing and mixing by Rino Trasi. Directed for TV by Marco Scalfi. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRichard Strauss Elektra opera to a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Directed 2020 by Krzysztof Warlikowski at the Felsenreitschule as part of the Salzburg Festival. Stars Aušrinė Stundytė (Elektra), Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Klytaemnestra), Asmik Grigorian (Chrysothemis), Michael Laurenz (Aegisth), Derek Welton (Orest), Tilmann Rönnebeck (Orest’s Tutor), Verity Wingate (The Trainbearer), Valeriia Savinskaia (The Confidante), Matthäus Schmidlechner (A Young Servant), Jens Larsen (An Old Servant), and Sonja Šarić (The Overseer). Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger). Set and costume design by Małgorzata Szczęśniak; lighting design by Felice Ross; video design by Kamil Polak; choreography by Claude Bardouil; dramatic adviser was Christian Longchamp. Directed for TV by Myriam Hoyer. Sung in German. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B
It’s summer 2020 during the pandemic. We are at the horrible Felsenriteschule stage for a Salzburg Festival opera. The director for Elektra is eurotrashmaster Krzysztof Warlikowski. No curtain, no fly, no turntable—it’s like being outside except you are in a cave. Since this was a stable for horses, it has plumbing . . .
Read MoreCharles Gounod Faust opera to libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. Directed 2019 by David McVicar at the Royal Opera House. Stars Michael Fabiano (Faust), Erwin Schrott (Méphistophélès), Irina Lungu (Marguerite), Germán E. Alcántara (Wagner), Stéphane Degout (Valentin), Marta Fontanals-Simmons (Siébel), and Carole Wilson (Marthe Schwertlein). Also features principal dancers Megan Griffiths and Yasset Roldan. Dan Ettinger conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Associate Concert Master Ania Safonova) and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Master William Spaulding). Set design by Charles Edwards; costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel; lighting design by Paule Constable. Directed for TV by Rhodri Huw. Sung in French. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
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Wagner Götterdämmerung to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2013 by Plamen Kartaloff at the Sofia Opera and Ballet, Bulgaria. Stars Kostadin Andreev (Siegfried), Atanas Mladenov (Gunther), Biser Georgiev (Alberich), Petar Buchkov (Hagen), Yordanka Derilova (Brünnhilde), Tsvetlana Bandalovska (Gutrune), Petya Tsoneva (First Norn), Dimitrinka Raycheva (Second Norn / Flosshilde), Flora Tarpomanova (Third Norn), Tsveta Sarambelieva (Waltraute), Milena Gyurova (Woglinde), and Silvia Teneva (Wellgunde). Erich Wächter conducts the Orchestra of the Sofia Opera and Ballet (Concertmaster Maria Evstatieva; Chorus Master Violeta Dimitrova). Assistant direction by Julia Krasteva; multimedia designs by Georgi Hristov and Vera Petrova; set and costume design by Nikolay Panayotov; lighting design by Andrej Hajdinjak. Directed for TV by Ruman Kovachev and Plamen Kartaloff; sound engineer was Yordan Tomov; video editing by Angel Hristov. Sung in German. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: D
Read MoreUmberto 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
Read MoreHandel Rinaldo opera to a libretto by Aaron Hill and Giacomo Rossi. Directed 2020 by Pier Luigi Pizzi at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino after an original production by Pizzi at the Teatro Valli di Reggie Emilia dating back to 1985. Stars Carmela Remigio (Armida); Leonardo Cortellazzi (Goffredo); Francesca Aspromonte (Almirena); Raffaele Pe (Rinaldo); Andrea Patucelli (Argante); Shixun Li (A Herald); Marilena Ruta and Valentina Corò (A woman/Two mermaids); William Corrò (A Christian magician). Federico Maria Sardelli conducts the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Set and costume design by Pier Luigi Pizzi; assistant direction and lighting design by Massimo Gasparon. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; sound recorded, edited, and mixed by MASClassica Audio Recording (Claudio Speranzini, Antonio Martino). Sung in Italian. Released in 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreDonizetti Lucrezia Borgia opera to a libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2019 by Andrea Bernard at the Donizetti Foundation Theater in Bergamo, Italy. Stars Marko Mimica (Don Alfonso), Carmela Remigio (Donna Lucrezia Borgia), Xabier Anduaga (Gennaro), Varduhl Abrahamyan (Maffio Orsini), Manuel Pierattelli (Jeppo Liverotto), Alex Martini (Don Apostolo Gazella), Roberto Maietta (Ascanio Petrucci), Daniele Lettieri (Oloferno Vitellozzo), Rocco Cavalluzzi (Gubetta), Edoardo Milletti (Rustighello), Federico Benetti (Astolfo), Claudio Corradi (Usher), Alessandro Yague (Servant), and Francesca Verga (Princess Negroni). Riccardo Frizza conducts the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini, the stage band of the Conservatory of Bergamo, and the Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza (Chorus Master Corrado Casati). Sets by Alberto Beltrame; costumes by Elena Beccaro; lighting by Marco Alba; choreography by Marta Negrini; assistant direction by Tecla Gucci. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti. Sound recording by Rino Trasi and Giuseppe Famularo; sound editing and post-production by Rino Trasi. Sung in Italian. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreHandel Semele opera to libretto by William Congreve. Directed 2019 by Thomas Guthrie at the Alexandra Palace Theatre in London. This is a staged concert performance of the opera before a live audience. Stars Louise Alder (Semele), Hugo Hymas (Jupiter), Lucile Richardot (Juno/Ino), Carlos Vistoli (Athamas), Gianluca Buratto (Cadmus/Somnus), Emily Owne (Iris), Angela Hicks (Cupid), Peter Davoren (Apollo), Angharad Rowlands (Augur), and Christopeher Webb (High Priest). John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Sung in English. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: NA
Read MoreGluck 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
Read MoreMonteverdi L'Orfeo opera to a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. Co-directed 2017 by Sir John Eliiot Gardiner and Elsa Rooke at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Stars Krystian Adam (Orfeo), Hana Blažíková (La Musica / Euridice), Lucile Richardot (Messaggiera), Francesca Boncompagni (Proserpina), Gianluca Buratto (Caronte / Plutone), Kangmin Justin Kim (Speranza), and Furio Zanasi (Apollo). Sir John Eliot Gardner conducts the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir. Lighting design by Rick Fisher; costumes by Patricia Hofstede and Isabella Gardiner. Directed for TV by Sébastien Glas. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
This is a “staged” concert verison of L’Orfeo. It’s not an opera performance . . .
Read MoreMonteverdi Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria opera to a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro. Co-directed 2017 by Sir John Eliiot Gardiner and Elsa Rooke at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Stars Furio Zanasi (Ulisse), Lucile Richardot (Penelope), Krystian Adam (Telemaco), Hana Blažíková (Minverva / Fortuna), Gianluca Buratto (Tempo / Nettuno / Antinoo), Michał Czerniawski (Pisandro), Gareth Treseder (Anfinomo), and Zachry Wilder (Eurimaco). Sir John Eliot Gardner conducts the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir. Lighting design by Rick Fisher; costumes by Patricia Hofstede and Isabella De Sabata. Directed for TV by Sébastien Glas. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
This is a “staged” concert version of Il ritorno d’ulisse in patria. It’s not an opera performance. We ran into somethings similar in 2021 with the three Mozart/Da Ponte operas in concert versions presented by Harnoncourt. Concert versions of operas can be thrilling for opera experts. But they would be unsatisfactory if you want to see an actual opera. This website is aimed at folks just getting into the fabulous world of fine arts on HDVDs, so we only review real opera performances. We give a D to the staged concerts. This doesn’t mean the performance is bad. It just means “don’t buy this unless you have a special reason.”
Read MoreHandel and Leonardo Leo Rinaldo opera to a libretto by Aaron Hill. This is the 1718 Naples version of Rinaldo as reconstructed by Giovanni Andrea Sechi. Directed 2018 by Giorgio Sangati at the Palazzo Ducale, Martina Franca, as part of the Festival della Valle d’Itria. Stars Carmela Remigio (Armida), Francisco Fernández-Rueda (Goffredo), Loriana Castellano (Almirena), Teresa Iervolino (Rinaldo), Francesca Ascioti (Argante), Dara Savinova (Eustazio), Valentina Cardinali (Lesbina), Simone Tangolo (Nesso), Dieli Hoxha (Argante’s Herald), Kim-Lillian Strebel (Spirit in the guise of a woman), and Ana Victória Pitts (Wiseman). Also features mimes Alessio Arzilli, Andrea Bellacicco, Alessandro Colaninno, Cristiano Parolin, Marco Risiglione, and Jacopo Sorbini. Fabio Luisi conducts the Orchestra La Scintilla. Set design by Alberto Nonnato; costume design by Gianluca Sbicca; lighting design by Paolo Pollo Rodighiero. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti; sound recorded by Rino Trasi and Giuseppe Famularo. Sung in Italian. Released in 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+
Read MoreHandel Rinaldo opera to a libretto by Giacomo Rossi. Directed 2011 by Robert Carsen at Glyndebourne. Stars Sonia Prina (Rinaldo), Anett Fritsch (Almirena), Luca Pisaroni (Argante), Brenda Rae (Armida), Varduhi Abrahamyan (Goffredo), Tim Mead (Eustazio), William Towers (Christian Magus), Oliver Mercer (Herald), Rhian Lewis (Woman), plus Charlotte Beament and Rebecca van den Berg (Sirens). Ottavio Dantone conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Leader Matthew Truscott). Harpsichord continuo Bernard Robertson; cello continuo Jonathan Manson; double bass continuo Chi-chi Nwanoku; theorbo continuo Elizabeth Kenny). Design by Gideon Davey; lighting by Robert Carson and Peter van Praet; movement direction by Philippe Giraudeau; dramaturgy by Ian Burton. Directed for TV by François Roussillon; sound supervision by Jean Chatauret. Good extras. Sung in Italian. No subtitles in Italian—sad for those learning opera Italian. Released in 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreVerdi La forza del destino opera to libretto by Francesco Piave. Directed 2021 by Carlus Padrissa (of La Fura dels Baus) at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Saioa Hernández (Leonora), Roberto Aronica (Don Alvaro), Amartuvshin Enkhbat (Don Carlo di Vargas), Annalisa Stroppa (Preziosilla), Ferruccio Furlanetto (Padre Guardiano), Nicola Alaimo (Fra Melitone), Alessandro Spina (Il Marchese di Calatrava), Leonardo Cortellazzi (Mastro Trabuco), Valentina Corò (Curra), Francesco Samuele Venuti (Un Alcalde), and Roman Lyulkin (Un chirurgo). Also stars extras Elena Barsotti, Maria Diletta Della Martina, Maria Novella Della Martira, Sara Silli, Giampaolo Gobbi, Emanuele Marchetti, Alessio Nieddu, and Gaetano Tizzano. Zubin Mehta conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Features chorus soloists Ferruccio Finetti, Leonardo Melani, and Luca Tamani. Assistant direction by João Aboim Carvalho; set design by Roland Olbeter; assistant set designer was Esterina Zarrillo; costume design by Chu Uroz; light and video design by Franc Aleu. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; video production by Metis; recording, editing, and post-production 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
Read MoreFranco Alfano Risurrezione opera to libretto by Cesare Hanau after the novel by Leo Tolstoy. Directed 2020 by Rosetta Cucchi at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Anne Sophie Duprels (Katerina Mihaylovna [Katyusha]); Matthew Vickers (Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Nehlyudov); Leon Kim (Simonson); Francesca Di Sauro (Sofia Ivanovna); Romina Tomasoni (Matryona Pavlovna/Anna); Nadia Pirazzini (An Old Maidservant); Ana Victoria PItts (Vera/Korablyova); Barbara Marcacci (Fenyichka); Filomena Pericoli (The Hunchback); Nadia Sturlese (The Redhead); Silvia Capra (A Woman); Lisandro Guinis (Kritzlov/Second Peasant); Gabriele Spina (Chief Guard); Giovanni Mazzei (Guard); Nicolò Ayroldi (Train-station Officer); Nicola Lisanti (Officer/First Peasant); Egidio Massimo Naccarato (Muzhik); Antonio Montesi (Cossack); Giulia Bruni (Fedia); Delia Palmieri (First Prisoner); Monica Marzini (Second Prisoner); Giovanna Costa (Third Prisoner); as well as Livia Sponton, Sabina Beani, Katja Da Sarlo, and Nadia Pirazzini (Other Prisoners). Francesco Lanzillotta conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Staging by the Wexford Festival Opera; sets by Tiziano Santi; costumes by Claudia Pernigotti; lighting by Ginevra Lombardo (based on original designs by D. M. Wood). Directed for TV by Davide Mancini; video editing by Metis; audio recording by Claudio Speranzini and Antonio Martino of MASClassica Audio Recording. Sung in Italian. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
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