Wagner Lohengrin opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2018 by Yuval Sharon at at the Bayreuth Festival. Stars Georg Zeppenfeld (Heinrich), Piotr Beczala (Lohengrin), Anja Harteros (Elsa von Brabant), Tomasz Konieczny (Friedrich), Waltraud Meier (Ortrud), Egils Silins (Der Heerrufer des Königs or King’s Herald), Michael Gniffke (an Elder), Eric Laporte (an Elder), Raimund Nolte (an Elder), and Timo Riihonen (an Elder). Christian Thielemann conducts the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra & Chorus. Stage and costume designs by Neo Rauch and Rosa Loy; lighting by Reinhard Traub. Sung in German. Released 2019, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Preliminary info needs confirmation and completion. Grade: NA
Read MorePietro Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana to a libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzeti and Guido Menasci. Directed 2019 by Luigi Di Gangi & Ugo Giacomazzi at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Alexia Voulgaridou (Santuzza), Marina Ogii (Lola), Angelo Villari (Turiddu), Devid Cecconi (Compar Alfio), Elena Zilio (Mamma Lucia), and Cristina Pagliai (Una donna). Valerio Galli conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set design by Federica Parolini; costume design by Agnese Rabatti; lighting design by Luigi Biondi. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti; sound recording by Rino Trasi and Vera Zanotti. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBerthold Goldschmidt Beatrice Cenci opera to a libretto by Martin Esslin based on The Cenci by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Directed 2018 by Johannes Erath at the Bregenze Festival. Stars Christoph Pohl (Count Francesco Cenci), Dshamilja Kaiser (Lucrezia), Gal James (Beatrice), Christina Bock (Bernardo), Per Bach Nissen (Cardinal Camillo), Michael Laurenz (Orsino), Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger (Marzio), Sébastien Soulès (Olimpio), and Peter Marsh (Judge). Johannes Debus conducts the Wiener Symphoniker and the Prague Philharmonic Choir (Chorus Master Lukáš Vasilek). Stage design by Katrin Connan; costume design by Katharina Tasch; lighting design by Bernd Purkrabek; dramaturgy by Olaf A. Schmitt. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Sung in German. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreDvořák Rusalka opera to libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil. Directed 2012 by Kristina Wuss at the Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Stars Magdalena Polkowska (Rusalka); Tadeusz Szlenkier (Prince); Jacek Greszta (Water Gnome); Darina Gapicz (Witch); Katarzyna Nowak-Stańczyk (Foreign Princess); Pavlo Tolstoy (Gamekeeper); Victoria Vatutina (Turnspit); and Krystyna Nowak, Marta Ustyniak, Ewa Banasiak, Mariola Winkler-Kołtyś, Lidia Golińska, and Dorota Sobczak (Wood-sprites). Maciej Figas conducts Orchestra and Choir of the Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz (Choir Master Henryk Wierzchoń). Set and costume design by Mariusz Napierała; choreography by Iwona Runowska; multimedia productions by Krystian Drywa; light design by Maciej Igielski. Sung in Polish; subtitles in Polish, English, and German. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBerlioz Symphonie fantastique concert. Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts a Berlioz evening with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Performed 2018 at the Opéra Royal — Château de Versailles. The program:
Symphonie fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un artiste
Overture from Le Corsaire
La Mort de Cléopâtre cantata
“Chasse Royale e Orage” from Les Troyens
“Monologue et air de Didon” from Les Troyens
Features contralto Lucile Richardot. Directed for TV by Stéphan Aubé. Package contains both a DVD and a Blu-ray disc. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Die Zauberflöte (the Magic Flute) opera to libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. Directed 2018 by Lydia Steier at the Großes Festspielhaus as part of the Salzburg Festival. Stars Matthias Goerne (Sarastro), Mauro Peter (Tamino), Albina Shagimuratova (The Queen of the Night), Christiane Karg (Pamina), Adam Plachetka (Papageno), Maria Nazarova (Papagena), Michael Porter (Monostatos), Klaus Maria Brandauer (Grandfather), Tareq Nazmi (The Speaker), and the Wiener Sängerknaben (Three Boys). Constantinos Carydis conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger). Stage design by Katharina Schlipf; costume design by Ursula Kudrna; lighting by Olaf Freese. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Sung in German. Disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreTchaikovsky Pique Dame opera to a libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky. Directed 2018 by Hans Neuenfels at the Großes Festpielhaus as part of the Salzburg Festival. Stars Brandon Jovanovich (Hermann), Evgenia Muraveva (Lisa), Vladislav Sulimsky (Count Tomsky/Plutus), Igor Golovatenko (Prince Yeletsky), Hanna Schwarz (Countess), Alexander Kravets (Chekalinsky), Stanislav Trofimov (Surin), Gleb Peryazev (Narumov), Pavel Petrov (Chaplitsky), and Oksana Volkova (Polina/Daphnis). Mariss Jansons conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger), and the Salzburger Festspiele und Theater Kinderchor (Chorus Master Wolfgang Götz). Set design by Christian Schmidt; costume design by Reinhard von der Thannen; lighting design by Stefan Bolliger; video designs by Nicolas Humbert and Martin Otter. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Russian. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreGiuseppe Saverio Mercadante Didone Abbandonata opera to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. Directed 2018 by Jürgen Flimm at the Tiroler Landestheater, Innsbruck, Austria as part of the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music. Stars Viktorija Miškūnaitė (Didone), Katrin Wundsam (Enea), Carlo Vincenzo Allemano (Jarba), Pietro Di Bianco (Osmida), Diego Godoy (Araspe), and Emilie Renard (Selene). Alessandro De Marchi conducts the Academia Montis Regalis. Features Chiara Cattani on fortepiano. Set design by Magdalena Gut; costume design by Kristina Bell; lighting design by Irene Selka; choreography by Tiziana Colombo. Directed for TV by Götz Filenius. Sung in Italian. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreDonizetti Il castello di Kenilworth opera to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. Directed 2018 by Maria Pilar Pérez Aspa (with assistant director Federico Bertolani) at the Bergamo Teatro Sociale as part of the Donizetti Opera Festival. Stars Jessica Pratt (Elisabetta), Carmela Remigio (Amelia), Xabier Anduaga (Leicester), Stefan Pop (Warney), Dario Russo (Lambourne), and Federica Vitali (Fanny). Riccardo Frizza conducts the Orchestra Donizetti Opera and the Coro Donizetti Opera (Chorus Master Fabio Tartari). Set design by Angelo Sala; costume design by Ursula Patzak with assistant costume designer Nika Campisi; lighting design by Fiammetta Baldiserri. Directed for TV by Adriano Figari and Matteo Ricchetti. Sound recorded by Rino Trasi and Giuseppe Famularo. Sung in Italian. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreKorngold Das Wunder der Heliane opera to a libretto by Hans Müller-Einigen after Der Heilige by Hans Kaltneker. Directed 2018 by Christof Loy at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Stars Sara Jakubiak (Heliane), Brian Jagde (Der Fremde or the Stranger), Josef Wagner (Der Herrscher or the Ruler), Okka von der Damerau (Die Botin or the Messinger), Derek Welton (Der Pförtner or the Doorman), and Burkhard Ulrich (Der blinde Schwertrichter or the Chief Justice). Marc Albrecht conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Chorus Master Jeremy Bines). Set design by Johannes Leiacker; costume design by Barbara Drosihn. Directed for TV by Götz Filenius. Sung in German. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreSamuel Barber Vanessa opera to a libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti. Directed 2018 by Keith Warner at Glyndebourne. Stars Emma Bell (Vanessa), Virginie Verrez (Erika), Edgaras Montvidas (Anatol), Rosalind Plowright (The Old Baroness), Donnie Ray Albert (The Old Doctor), William Thomas (Nicholas), and Romanas Kudriašovas (Footman). Jakub Hrůša conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Leader Kevin Lin) and the Glyndebourne Chorus (Chorus Master Nicholas Jenkins). Designs by Ashley Martin-Davis; lighting design by Mark Jonathan; movement direction by Michael Barry; projection design by Alex Uragallo. Directed for TV by François Roussillon; produced by George Bruell. Sung in English. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreWoolf Works ballet. Original music by Max Richter. Directed and choreographed by Wayne McGregor. Staged 2017 at the Royal Opera House (revival of 2015 production). Stars Gary Avis, Matthew Ball, Federico Bonelli, Alessandra Ferri (special appearance), Francesca Hayward, Paul Kay, Sarah Lamb, Steven McRae, Natalia Osipova, Calvin Richardson, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Akane Takada, Eric Underwood, and Edward Watson supported by other members of the Royal Ballet and students of the Royal Ballet School (Christopher Powney Artistic Director). Features soprano Anush Hovhannisyan and speaker Gillian Anderson. Koen Kessels conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Vasko Vassilev). 3 separate works are presented, all related to the writings of Virginia Woolf:
I Now, I Then (based on the 1925 novel Mrs Dalloway), designed by Ciguë
Becomings (inspired by the 1928 novel Orlando), designed by We Not I [not to be confused with the name of Act 1above]
Tuesday (inspired by the 1931 novel The Waves), designed by Wayne McGregor
Read MoreHandel Agrippina opera to a libretto by Vincenzo Grimani. Directed 2016 by Robert Carsen at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna. Stars Patricia Bardon (Agrippina), Jake Arditti (Nerone), Danielle de Niese (Poppea), Filippo Mineccia (Ottone), Mika Kares (Claudio), Damien Pass (Pallante), Tom Verney (Narciso), and Christoph Seidl (Lesbo). Thomas Hengelbrock conducts the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble. Set and costume design by Gideon Davey; lighting design by Robert Carsen and Peter van Praet; video design by Ian Galloway; dramaturgy by Ian Burton. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-
Read MoreThis title has a double bill of Tchaikovsky works, an opera and a ballet:
Iolanta opera to a libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky. Stars Sonya Yoncheva (Iolanta), Arnold Rutkowski (Vaudémont), Alexander Tsymbalyuk (King René), Andrei Zhilikhovsky (Robert), Vito Priante (Ibn-Hakia), Elena Zaremba (Marta), Roman Shulakov (Alméric), Gennady Bezzubenkov (Bertrand), Anna Patalong (Brigitta), and Paola Gardina (Laura). Sung in Russian.
The Nutcracker ballet to a libretto by Dmitri Tcherniakov. Choreography by Arthur Pita, Édouard Lock, and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Stars Marion Barbeau (Marie), Stéphane Bullion (Vaudémont), Nicholas Paul (Drosselmeyer), Aurelien Houette (The Father), Alice Renavand (The Mother), Takeru Coste (Robert), and Caroline Bance (The Sister) supported by the Corps De Ballet de L’Opéra national de Paris.
Read MoreRiccardo Chailly conducts the Lucerne Festival Orchestra for a night of famous Ravel works. Recorded 2018 at the Lucerne Festival. The following music is performed:
Valses nobles et sentimentales
La Valse
Daphnis et Chloé - Suite No. 1
Daphnis et Chloé - Suite No. 2
Boléro
Directed by Ute Feudel; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
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