Handel Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt) opera to libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym. Directed 2021 by Keith Warner at the Theater an der Wien. Stars Bejun Mehta (Giulio Cesare), Louise Adler (Cleopatra), Christopher Dumaux (Tolomeo), Patricia Bardon (Cornelia), Jake Arditti (Sesto), Simon Bailey (Achilla), Konstantin Derri (Nireno), and Joni Österlund (Pompeo). Ivor Bolton conducts Concentus Musicus Wien. Set and costume design by Ashley Martin-Davis; lighting design by Mark Jonathan; choreography by Mandy Demetriou; video design by David Haneke; co-stage director was Katharina Kastening; co-set designer was Jeremy Daker. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreVerdi Gustavo III opera to libretto by Antonio Somma. Directed 2021 by Jacopo Spirei on a project by Graham Vick at the Teatro Regio di Parma. Stars Piero Pretti (Gustavo III), Anna Pirozzi (Amelia), Amartuvshin Enkhbat (Il Conte Gian Giacomo Anckastrom), Anna Maria Chiuri (Ulrica), Giuliana Gianfaldoni (Oscar), Fabio Previati (Cristiano), Fabrizio Beggi (Ribbing), Carlo Cigni (Dehorn), Cristiano Olivieri (Il ministro di giustizia), and Federico Veltri (Un servo del Conte). Roberto Abbado conducts Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini - Orchestra Rapsody, and the Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma (Chorus Master Martino Faggiani). Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; sound recording, editing and post-production by Elfride Foroni - BHaudio. Released 2022, this disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMonteverdi L'Orfeo opera to a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. Directed 2021 by Pauline Bayle at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Stars Luciana Mancini (La Musica / Euridice), Marc Mauillon (Orfeo), Sara Mingardo (Messaggiera), FMarianne Beate Kielland (Speranza / Proserpina), Furio Zanasi (Apollo), and Salvo Vitale (Caronte / Plutone). Jordi Savall conducts La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations. Set design by Emmanuel Clolus; costume design by Bernadette Villard; lighting design by Pacal Noel. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreFrancesco Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur opera to libretto by Arturo Colautti. Directed 2021 by Frederic Wake-Walker at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Martin Muehle (Maurizio), Alessandro Spina (Prince de Bouillon), Paolo Antognetti (Abbé de Chazeuil), Nicola Alaimo (Michonnet), Davide Piva (Quinault), Antonio Garés (Poisson), Michele Gianquinto (Major-domo), Maria José Siri (Adriana Lecouvreur), Ksenia Dudnikova (Princess de Bouillon), Chiara Mogini (Mademoiselle Jouvenot), and Valentina Corò (Mademoiselle Dangeville). Also stars dancers Anna Olkhovaya, Chiara Ferrara, Erika Rombaldoni, Giulia Mostacchi, Sebastiano Marino, and Matteo Zorzoli. Daniel Harding conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Set design by Polina Liefers; costume design by Julia Katharina Berndt; lighting design by Marco Faustini; choreography Anna Olkhovaya. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released in 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreJanáček Jenůfa opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2021 by Claus Guth at the Royal Opera House. Stars Asmik Grigorian (Jenůfa), Elena Zilio (Grandmother Buryjovka), Nicky Spence (Laca Klemeň), Yarita Véliz (Jana), David Stout (Foreman at the Mill), Saimir Pirgu (Števa Buryja), and Karita Mattila (Kostelnička Buryjovka). Henrik Nánási conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Principal Guest Concert Master Vasko Vassilev) and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Director William Spaulding). Designs by Michael Levine; costume design by Gesine Völlmi; lighting design by James Farncombe; choreography by Teresa Rotemberg. Directed for TV by Rhodri Huw. Sung in Czech. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRimsky-Korsakov The Golden Cockerel (Le coq d’or) opera to a libretto by Vladimir Belsky. Directed 2021 by Barry Kosky at the Opéra National de Lyon. Stars Dmitry Ulyanov (Tsar Dodon), Nina Minasyan (The Queen of Shemakha), Andrey Popov (The Astrologer), Margarita Nekrasova (Amelfa), and Mischa Schelomianski (General Polkin). Daniele Rustioni conducts the Orchestre et Chœurs de l’Opéra National de Lyon. Set design by Rufus Didwiszus; costume design by Victoria Behr; lighting design by Frank Evin; choreography by Otto Pichler; dramaturgy by Olaf A. Schmitt. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in Russian. Released in 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Der Fliegende Holländer opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2021 by Dmitri Tcherniakov at the Bayreuth Festival. Stars John Lundgren (The Dutchman), Asmik Grigorian (Senta), Georg Zeppenfeld (Daland), Eric Cutler (Erik), Marina Prudenskaya (Mary), and Attilio Glaser (The Steersman). Oksana Lyniv conducts the Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele. Stage design by Dmitri Tcherniakov; costume design by Elena Zaytseva; lighting design by Gleb Filshtinsky; dramaturgy by Tatjana Werestchtschagina. Sung in German. Directed for TV by Andy Sommer. Released 2022. (Preliminary information needs confirmation.) Grade: NA
Another Tcherniakov deconstruction project, this time to excellent Wagner music at the Bayreuth big house. Oksana Lyniv is the first female conductor to appear at the Bayreuth Festival. Jim Pritchard saw this live and wrote an exhaustive review (July 2021) for seenandheard-international.com. He includes a lengthy synopsis of the Tcherniakov vision, without which most of us would be completely lost. This title is for Wagner experts only. But even poor I can see that the line-up of singers is superb. Pritchard flips out for Grigorian calling her “one of the leading singing actors of her generation.”
Read MoreVerdi Falstaff opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2021 by Sven-Eric Bechtolf at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Nicola Alaimo (Sir John Falstaff), Simone Piazzola (Ford), Matthew Swensen (Fenton), Christian Collia (Dr. Cajus), Antonio Garés (Bardolfo), Gianluca Buratto (Pistola), Ailyn Pérez (Mrs. Alice Ford), Francesca Boncompagni (Nannetta), Sara Mingardo (Mrs. Quickly), and Caterina Piva (Mrs. Meg Page). John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set design by Julian Crouch; costume design by Kevin Pollard; lighting design by Alex Brok; video design by Josh Higgason. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; video production by Metis; sound recording by MASClassica Audio Recording, Claudio Speranzini, and Antonio Martino. Sung in Italian. Released in 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMieczysław Weinberg The Passenger (German: Die Passagierin) opera to libretto by Alexander Medvedev after a novel of the same name published in 1962 by concentration camp survivor Zofia Posmysz. Directed 2021 by Nadja Loschky at the Oper Graz, Austria. Stars Dshamilja Kaiser (Lisa), Will Hartmann (Walter), Nadja Stefanoff (Marta), and Markus Butter (Tadeusz). Roland Klutting conducts the Grazer Philharmoniker and the Chor der Oper Graz (Chorus Master Bernhard Schneider). Set design by Etienne Pluss; costume design by Irina Spreckelmeyer; lighting design by Sebastian Alphons; dramaturgy by Marlene Hahn and Yvonne Gebauer; video by Christian Weißenberger. Directed for TV by Alex Stummer. Sung in German, Polish, French, Czech, Yiddish, Russian, and English. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreDonizetti La fille du régiment opera to libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François-Alfred Bayard. Directed 2021 by Luis Ernesto Doñas (assisted by Vanessa Codutti) at the Teatro Donizetti Bergamo. Stars Adriana Bignagni Lesca (La Marquise de Berkenfield), Paolo Bordogna (Sulpice), John Osborn (Tonio), Sara Blanch (Marie), Cristina Bugatty (La Duchesse de Krakenthorp), Haris Andrianos (Hortensius), Adolfo Corrado (Un caporal), and Andrea Civetta (Un paysan). Michele Spotti conducts the Orchestra Donizetti Opera and Coro dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala (Chorus Master Salvo Sgrò); features percussionist Ernesto López Maturell. Set design by Angela Sala (assisted by Denia Gonzalez); costume design by Maykel Martínez; lighting design by Fiammetta Baldisserri (assisted by Emanuele Agliati); choreography by Laura Domingo; playwright was Stefano Simone Pintor. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti; recorded by Rino Trasi and Slilvano Landonio; editing and post production by Rino Trassi. Sung in French. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreAlfredo Catalini La Wally opera to libretto by Luigi Illica. Directed 2021 by Barbora Horáková Joly at the Theater and der Wien. Stars Izabela Matula (Wally), Leonardo Capalbo (Giuseppe Hagenbach), Jacques Imbailo (Vincenzo Gellner), Ilona Revolskaya (Walter), Alastair Miles (Stromminger), Zoltán Nagy (Il Pedone), and Sofia Vinnik (Afra). Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts the Wiener Symphoniker and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus Master Erwin Ortner). Set and costume design by Eva-Maria Van Acker; video design by Tabea Rothfuchs; lighting design by Michael Bauer; dramatic advisor was Bettina Auer. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Tristan und Isolde opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2018 by Dmitri Tcherniakov at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Stars Andreas Schager (Tristan), Anja Kampe (Isolde), Stephen Milling (King Marke), Ekaterina Gubanova (Brangäne), and Boaz Daniel (Kurwenal). Daniele Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Herren des Staatsopernchores (Chorus Master Raymond Hughes). Costume design by Elena Zaytseva; lighting design by Gleb Filshtinksy; video design by Tieni Burkhalter; dramaturgy by Tatiana Vereschagina and Detlef Giese. Sung in German. Released 2022. Grade: NA
Read MoreArrigo 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
Read MoreWagner 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
Read MoreOlga 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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