The Exterminating Angel

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Thomas Adès The Exterminating Angel opera to libretto by Tom Cairns. Directed 2017 by Tom Cairns at the Metropolitan Opera. Stars Audrey Luna (Leticia Maynar), Amanda Echalaz (Lucía de Nobile), Sally Matthews (Silvia de Ávila), Sophie Bevan (Beatriz), Alice Coote (Leonora Palma), Christine Rice (Blanca Delgado), Iestyn Davies (Francisco de Ávila), Joseph Kaiser (Edmundo de Nobile), Frédéric Antoun (Raúl Yebenes), David Portillo (Eduardo), David Adam Moore (Colonel Álvaro Gómez), Rod Gilfry (Alberto Roc), Kevin Burdette (Señor Russel), Christian Van Horn (Julio), and John Tomlinson (Doctor Carlos Conde). Thomas Adès conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo). Set and costume design by Hildegard Bechtler; lighting design by Jon Clark; projection design by Tal Yarden; choreography by Amir Hosseinpour; music production by David Frost; recorded for TV by Gary Halvorson. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Onegin

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Onegin ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky arranged and orchestrated by Kurt-Heinz Stolze (various selections and not the music to Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin). Choreography by John Cranko. Filmed November 2017. Stars Friedemann Vogel (Onegin), Alicia Amatriain (Tatiana), David Moore (Lensky), Elisa Badenes (Olga), Jason Reilly (Prince Gremin), Melinda Witham (Madame Larina), and Marcia Haydée (Tatiana’s and Olga’s Nurse). James Tuggle conducts the State Orchestra Stuttgart. Set and costume design by Jürgen Rose; artistic supervision by Reid Anderson. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. (It appears this was shot in 4K but published in 2K.) Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

Cranko introduced today’s Onegin in Stuttgart in 1967 (after revising slightly the original 1965 version). It’s an extremely simplified, straight-forward telling of the lost-love story from Puskin’s poem with elaborate but easy-to-understand dancing and acting in a naturalistic style (no pantomime). It was an immediate hit and has been in the Stuttgart repertory ever since. It was quickly taken up by many dance companies around the world. With the exception of the great Tchaikovsky/Petipa works from the 19th century (Sleeping Beauty, etc.), Cranko’s Onegin may well have been seen by more people than any other ballet.

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The Frederick Ashton Collection: Volume One

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The Frederick Ashton Collection: Volume One Box Set released 2018. Below are the discs. Each of them has already been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:

  1. Ashton Celebration (with ballets La Valse, Meditation from Thaïs, Voices of Spring, Monotones I and II, and Marguerite and Armand). Grade: A.

  2. Ashton Rhapsody and The Two Pigeons. Grade: B for Rhapsody, C+ for The Two Pigeons)

  3. Ashton Triple Bill (with ballets Symphonic Variations, Marguerite and Armand, and The Dream). Grade: A for Symphonic Variations; A- for Marguerite and Armand; C+ for Dream.

Total Grade: B+.

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Bernstein Celebration

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Bernstein Celebration ballet collection. The Royal Ballet, for the centenary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth, performed a triple bill of ballets set to different pieces by Bernstein. Directed 2018 by Kevin O’Hare. The performances are as follows:

  1. Yugen. Set to Chichester Psalms. Choreographed by Wayne McGregor. Stars Federico Bonelli, William Bracewell, Harry Churches, Melissa Hamilton, Francesca Hayward, Chisato Katsura, Paul Kay, Sarah Lamb, Calvin Richardson, Joseph Sissens, and Akane Takada. Koen Kessels conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Co-Concert Master Sergey Levitin; Assistant Concert Master Melissa Carstairs) and Members of the Royal Opera Chorus and Extra Chorus (Chorus Director William Spaulding).

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The Nutcracker

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The Nutcracker ballet. Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to a libretto by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann and Marius Petipa. Choreographed by Valery Kovtun and filmed at the National Opera of Ukraine in 2018. Stars Oleksiy Kovalenko (Stahlbaum); Liudmyla Melnyk (His Wife); Iuliia Moskalenko (Clara, their Daughter); Ielizaveta Gogidze (Fritz, Clara’s Brother/Chinese Doll); Iaroslav Tkachuk (Drosselmeyer/Russian Doll); Ielizaveta Cherniak (The Nutcracker Doll); Mykyta Sukhorukov (The Nutcracker/The Prince); Ruslan Avramenko (Mouse King); Sergii Kliachin (Harlequin/Indian Doll); Ganna Muromtseva (Columbine); Marjia Nelen (She-Devil/Russian Doll); Volodymyr Kutuzov (He-Devil); Raisa Betancourt and Oleksandr Shapoval (Spanish Dolls); Anastasiia Shevchenko(Indian Doll); Mykyta Hodyna (Chinese Doll); and Lina Volodina, Oksana Sira, Vladyslav Romashchenko, and Maksym Bilorkynytskyi (French Dolls), and dancers from the Ballet Company of the National Opera of Ukraine. Oleksiy Baklan conducts the Orchestra the National Opera of Ukraine. Directed for TV by Bertrand Normand; produced by François Duplat. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. [Preliminary information needs confirmation.] Grade: NA

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Orphée et Eurydice

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Christoph Gluck Orphée et Eurydice opera to libretto by Pierre-Louis Moline. Directed 2018 by Hofesh Shechter & John Fulljames at the Teatro alla Scala. Stars Juan Diego Flórez (Orphée), Christiane Karg (Eurydice), and Fatma Said (L’Amour). Michelle Mariotti conducts the Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala (Chorus Master Bruno Casoni). Set and costume design by Conor Murphy; lighting by Lee Curran (revived by Andrea Giretti); choreography by Hofesh Shechter. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in French. Released 2018, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Cinderella

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Alma Deutscher Cinderella opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed by Brad Dalton at the Opera San José in 2017. Stars Vanessa Becerra (Cinderella), Jonas Hacker (Prince), Nathan Stark (The King), Stacey Tappan (Griselda), Karin Mushegain (Zibaldona), Mary Dunleavy (Stepmother), Claudia Chapa (Emeline), Brian Games Myer (Minister), and Helen Deutscher (Flower Girl). Features the composer Alma Deutscher on violin, piano, and organ. Jane Glover conducts the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House and the Opera San José Orchestra and Chorus. Released 2018. Grade: NA

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Lessons in Love and Violence

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George Benjamin Lessons in Love and Violence opera to a libretto by Martin Crimp. Directed 2018 by Katie Mitchell (with associate director Joseph Alford) at the Royal Opera House. Stars Stéphane Degout (King), Barbara Hannigan (Isabel), Gyula Orendt (Gaveston/Stranger), Peter Hoare (Mortimer), Samuel Boden (Boy/Young King), Ocean Barrington-Cook (Girl), Jennifer France (Witness 1/Singer 1/Woman 1), Krisztina Szabó (Witness 2/Singer 2/Woman 2), and Andri Björn Róbertsson (Witness 3/Madman). The composer himself conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Co-Concert Master Sergey Levitin). Designs by Vicki Mortimer; lighting by James Farncombe; movement direction by Joseph Alford. Directed for TV by Margaret Williams. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade NA

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Mayerling

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Mayerling ballet. Choreography by Kenneth MacMillan. Music by Franz Liszt as arranged and adapted by John Lanchbery. Performed 2018 at the Royal Opera House. Stars Steven McRae (Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary), Sarah Lamb (Baroness Mary Vetsera, Rudolph’s mistress), Meghan Grace Hinkis (Princess Stephanie, Rudolf’s wife), Gary Avis (Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, Rudolf’s father), Kristen McNally (Empress Elisabeth, Rudolf’s mother), Laura Morera (Baroness Marie Larisch, Rudolf’s ex-mistress), Elizabeth McGorian (Baroness Helena Vetsera, Mary’s mother), James Hay (Bratfisch, Rudolph’s driver and entertainer), Ursula Hageli (Archduchcess Sophie, mother of Franz Joesph), Mayara Magri (Mitzi Caspar, a high-class prostitute and Rudolph’s regular mistress), Nehemiah Kish (Colonel ‘Bay’ Middleton, Elizabeth’s lover), Catherine Carby (Katherina Schratt, a friend of the Emperor), Marcelino Sambé, Reece Clarke,Tomas Mock, Calvin Richandson (four Hungarian officers), Paul Stobart (Alfred Grünfeld, a pianist), Alastair Marriott (Count Taafe, Prime Minister of Austria-Hungary), Nicol Edmonds (Count Hoyos, Rudolph's friend), Anna Rose O’Sullivan (Princess Louise, Stephanie's sister), Johnathan Howells (Prince Philipp of Coburg, husband of Princess Louise and friend of Rudolf), Olivia Cotley o(Princess Gisela, Rudolf's elder sister), Camille Bracher (Princess Valerie, Rudolf's younger sister), Ashley Dean (Princess Valerie as a child), Sarah Lamb (Mary Vetsera as a child); David Yudes (Loschek, Rudolf's valet), Thomas Whitehead (Count Larisch), and other artists of the Royal Ballet. Koen Kessels conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Vasko Vassilev). Designs by Nicholas Georgiadis; scenario by Gillian Freeman; lighting design by John B. Read. Directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

This is, of course, the same 2009 show we reviewed several years ago with Ed Watson as Prince Rudolf and Mara Galeazzi as Mary Vetsera. Mayerling is a modern costume/historical ballet first performed in 1978 at the Royal Opera

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Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra 50th Anniversary Concert

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Alfred Eschwé conducts the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra for its 50th Anniversary Celebration at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, 2016. The concert is as follows:

  • Johann Strauss II “Ouvertüre” zur Operette Waldmeister (“Overture” to the operetta Waldmeister [Woodruff)

  • Johann Strauss II “Neues Leben” (Polka) (“New Life”)

  • Johann Strauss II “Die Bajadere” (Polka) (“The Bayadere”)

  • Josef Strauss “Dorfschwalben aus Österreich” (Waltz) (“Village Swallows from Austria”)

  • Josef Strauss “Die tanzende Muse” (Polka Mazur) (“The Dancing Muse”)

  • Josef Strauss “Vélocipède” (Polka schnell) (“Velocipide”)

  • Josef Strauss “Transactionen” (Waltz) (“Transactions”)

  • Johann Strauss II “Ouvertüre” zur Operette Carneval in Rom (“Overture” to the operetta Carnival in Rome).

  • Johann Strauss II “Geschicten aus dem Wienerwald” (Waltz) (“Tales from the Vienna Woods”)

  • Johann Strauss II “Perpetuum mobile” (Musical Joke) (“Perpetual Motion”)

  • Johann Strauss II “Martha-Quadrille” (“Martha Quadrille”)

  • Johann Strauss II “Klipp-Klapp” (Galop) (“Click-Clack”)

  • Johann Strauss II “Kaiser-Walzer” (“Emperor Waltz’)

  • Johann Strauss II “Éljen a Magyár!”) (Polka schnell) (“Hurrah for Hungary”)

  • Johann Strauss I “Radetzky-Marsch” (“Radetzky March”)

Directed for video by Karina Fibich. Released 2019, the Blu-ray disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA

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Petrushka

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Stravinksy Petrushka concert. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker for the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden. Features Mezzo-Soprano Elīna Garanča. The entire concert is as follows:

  1. Strauss Don Juan

  2. Berg Sieben frühe Lieder

  3. Ravel Shéhérazade

  4. Stravinsky Petrushka

Released 2018, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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The Lovers' Garden

The Lovers' Garden ballet. Choreography by Massimiliano Volpini. Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 2016 Mauro Bigonzetti directs the Ballet Company of Teatro alla Scala at La Scala. Stars Nicoletta Manni (A Woman), Roberto Bolle (A Man), Marta Romagna (The Night’s Queen), Claudio Coviello (Don Giovanni), Christian Fagetti (Leporello), Mick Zeni (Il Conte di Almaviva), Emanuela Montanari (Contessa Rosina), Walter Madau (Figaro), Antonella Albano (Susanna), Valerio Lunadei (Guglielmo), Angelo Greco (Ferrando), Vittoria Valerio (Fiordiligi), and Marta Gerani (Dorabella). Features the following string quartet members and soloists of the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala: Francesca Manara and Daniele Pascoletti (violin), Simonide Braconi (viola), Massimo Polidori (cello), Andrea Manco (flute), Fabian Thouand (oboe), and Fabrizio Meloni (basset clarinet). Set and costume design by Erika Carretta; lighting design by Marco Filibeck. Directed for TV by Lorena Sardi. Released 2018, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-

A crazy ballet mash up of Mozart opera characters to 90 minutes of rather formal and severe Mozart chamber music—can Volpini and Bigonzetti pull this off? Well, not really, but it’s still

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