Verdi Le Trouvère (Il trovatore in the original Italian) opera to libretto by Salvadore Cammarano and Leone Emanuele Bardare and translated into French by Emilien Pacini. Directed 2018 by Robert Wilson at the Teatro Farnese, Parma, Italy (Co-Director Nicola Panzer; Assistant Director Giovanni Firpo). Stars Giuseppe Gipali (Manrique, Le Trouvère), Franco Vassallo (Le Comte de Luna), Marco Spotti (Fernand), Luca Casalin (Ruiz / Un Messager), Roberta Mantegna (Léonore), Nino Surguladze (Azucena, la Bohémienne), Tonia Langella (Inès), and Nicolo Donini (Un vieux Bohémien). Roberto Abbado conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma (Chorus Master Andrea Faidutti). Concept, set, and lighting design by Robert Wilson; collaborator for set design was Stephanie Engeln; collaborator for lighting design was Solomon Weisbard; costume design by Julia Von Lellwa; make-up design by Manu Halligan; video designs by Tomek Jeziorski; dramaturgy by José Enrique Macián. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in French. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreThe Frederick Ashton Collection: Volume Two Box Set released 2019. 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:
La fille mal gardée. Grade: A-
Tales of Beatrix Potter. Grade: A
Sylvia. Grade: A-
Total Grade: A
Read MoreThe Nutcracker ballet. Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to a libretto by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann and Marius Petipa. Choreographed by Peter Wright after Lev Ivanov. Staged 2018 by Christopher Carr at the Royal Opera House. Stars Gary Avis (Herr Drosselmeyer), Anna Rose O’Sullivan (Clara), Marcelino Sambé (Hans-Peter / The Nutcracker), Marianela Nuñez (The Sugar Plum Fairy), Vadim Muntagirov (The Prince), and dancers from The Royal Ballet. Barry Wordsworth conducts the Orchestra the Royal Opera House (Co-Concert Master Sergey Levitin). Designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman; lighting design by Mark Henderson. Directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: NA
Read MoreBruckner Symphony No. 2. Christian Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden. Performed 2019 at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Directed for TV by Alexander Radulescu. Released 2019, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Bruckner wrote 9 symphonies. Now with this HDVD of Bruckner S2, Thielemann has recorded HDVDs of all 9 Bruckner symphonies with the Staatskapelle Dresden. All of these were published by C Major except for Bruckner S7 — this came out under the Opus Arte label! We have done a basic story on all the Thielemann Bruckner HDVDs. Of course, all of these HDVDs were fine performances with good sound recording. We did a detailed review of the S9 and graded it B-. We gave the HDVD of S6 a D+. The weak grades were caused by the grave illness DVDitis.
According to Christian Hoskins, writing in the December 2019 Gramophone at page 68, no other conductor has managed to do
Read MoreRossini Ricciardo e Zoraide opera to libretto by Francesco Berio di Salsa. Directed 2018 by Marshall Pynkosky at the Rossini Opera Festival. Stars Pretty Yende (Zoraide), Juan Diego Flórez (Ricciardo), Sergey Romanovsky (Agorante), Victoria Yaravaya (Zomira), Nicola Ulivieri (Ircano), Xabier Anduaga (Ernesto), Sofia Mchedlishvili (Fatima), Martiniana Antone (Elmira), and Ruzil Gatin (Zamorre). Giacomo Sagripanti conducts the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Della Rai and the Coro del Teatro Ventido Basso (Chorus Master Giovanni Farina). Set design by Gerard Gauci; costume design by Michael Gianfrancesco; lighting design by Michelle Ramsay; choreography by Jeanette Lajeunesse Zingg. Directed for TV by Ariella Beddini. Sung in Italian,. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreNicola Vaccaj Giulietta e Romeo opera to libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2018 by Cecilia Ligorio at the Palazzo Ducale, Martina Franca, Italy as part of the Festival of the Valle d’Itria. Stars Leonor Bonilla (Giulietta), Raffaella Lupinacci (Romeo), Leonardo Cortellazzi (Capellio), Paoletta Marrocu (Adela), Vasa Stajkic (Tebaldo), and Christian Senn (Lorenzo). Sesto Quatrini conducts the Orchestra Academy of the Teatro alla Scala and the Chorus of the Teatro Municipale, Piacenza (Chorus Master Corrado Casati). Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti. Sung in Italian, this is the only video available of this opera. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreDonizetti Enrico di Borgogna (Henry of Burgundy) opera to a libretto by Bartolomeo Merelli. Directed 2018 by Silvia Paoli at the Teatro Sociale in Bergamo, Italy as part of the Donizetti Opera Festival. Stars Anna Bonitatibus (Enrico), Sonia Ganassi (Elisa), Levy Sekgapane (Guido), Francesco Castoro (Pietro), Luca Tittoto (Gilberto), Lorenzo Barbieri (Brunone), Federica Vitali (Geltrude), and Matteo Mezzaro (Nicola). Alessandro De Marchi conducts the Academia Montis Regalis and the Coro Donizetti Opera (Chorus Master Fabio Tartari). Set design by Andrea Belli; costume design by Valeria Donata Bettella; lighting design by Fiammetta Baldiserri; assistant direction by Tecla Gucci. Directed for TV by Adriano Figari and Matteo Ricchetti; sound recording by Rino Trasi and Giuseppe Famularo. Sung in Italian. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MorePuccini Le Villi opera to a libretto by Ferdinando Fontana. Directed 2018 by Francesco Saponaro at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Elia Fabbian (Guglielmo Wulf), Maria Teresa Leva (Anna), Leonardo Caimi (Robert), and Tony Laudadio (Narrator). Marco Angius conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Also stars dancers from Compagnia Nuovo BallettO di ToscanA and special extras Elena Barsotti, Gaia Mazzeranghi, and Paolo Arcangeli. Set design by Francesco Saporano; costume design by Chiara Aversano; lighting design by Pasquale Mari; choreography by Susanna Sastro; assistant direction by Veronica Bolognani; assistant set design by Lucia Imperato. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti; video editing by Adriano Figari; sound recording by Rino Trasi, Vera Zanotti, and Giuseppe Famularo. Sung in Italian. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreThe Roman Plays box set has four Shakespeare plays produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and previously published by Opus Arte. Two of them have already been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:
Released 2019, discs have 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound.
Read MoreHDVD stands for “High-Definition Video Discs” and also for “High-Definition Video Download (Including Streaming).” Voices of Music is a non-profit performance project focused on early music (mostly before 1800) based in San Francisco. Their main activity is giving live performances in California. But thanks to co-director David Tayler, they are also taking a lead in making recordings of early music available to all. Their most important recording initiative is to publish YouTube videos, most of which run from 2 to 15 minutes. Typically, a video is devoted to a single piece of music. The musical forces playing range from soloists to complete chamber orchestras. Usually, each video is supported by a donor who underwrites expenses.
Of the YouTube videos published by May 2019, about 100 were in 4K!
Read MoreLa Fresque (The Fresco) dance production based on a traditional Chinese folk tale. Music by Nicolas Godin with the collaboration of Vincent Taurelle. Choreographed and directed 2017 by Angelin Preljocaj at the Théâtre de la Criée, Marseille, France. Stars Clara Freschel, Nuriya Nagimova, Nagisa Shirai, Anna Tatarova, Yurié Tsugawa, Sergi Amoros Aparicio, Marius Delcourt, Antoine Dubois, Jean-Charles Jousni, and Fran Sanchez from Ballet Preljocaj with Mirea Delogu, Victor Martivez Caliz and Simon Ripert. Set designs and videos by Constance Guisset Studio; costumes by Azzedine Alaïa; lighting design by Éric Soyer. Directed for TV by François-René Martin. Produced by Antoine Perset and Denis Molière. Released 2019, disc has PCM stereo sound. Grade: B+
La Fresque is a fun show to watch. Preljocaj is a leading modern dance choreographer whom we admire for his Siddharte (Paris Opera Ballet) in Blu-ray. He has a refreshing style that mixes modern dance with military precision in larger formations and with unusual props and concepts. Above all, he is a genius at displaying feminine sexuality in a slick, tasteful way
Read MoreCharles Gounod La Nonne sanglante (The Bleeding Nun) opera to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. Directed 2018 by David Bobée at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Stars Michael Spyres (Rodolphe), Vannina Santoni (Agnès), Marion Lebègue (La Nonne), Jérôme Boutillier (Le Comte de Luddorf), Jodie Devos (Arthur), Jean Teitgen (Pierre l’Ermite), Luc Bertin-Hugault (Le Baron de Moldaw), Enguerrand De Hys (Fritz/Le Veilleur de nuit), and Olivia Doray (Anna). Laurence Equilbey conducts the Insula orchestra and the accentus choir. Set design by David Bobée and Aurélie Lemaignen; costume design by Alain Blanchot; lighting design by Stéphane Babi Aubert; video design by José Gherrak; make-up design by Amélie Lecul; dramaturgy by David Bobée and Laurence Equilbey; dramaturgical research by Anaëlle Lebovits-Quenehen and Catherine Dewitt; artistic collaboration by Corinee Meyniel. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in French. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MorePuccini Madama Butterfly opera to libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Directed 2018 by Annilese Miskimmon at Glyndebourne. Stars Olga Busuioc (Cio-Cio San), Joshua Guerrero (Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton), Michael Sumuel (Sharpless), Carlo Bosi (Goro), and Elizabeth DeShong (Suzuki). Omer Meir Wellber conducts the London Symphony Orchestra (Leader Pieter Schoeman) and the Glyndebourne Chorus (Chorus Master Nicholas Jenkins). Designs by Nicky Shaw; lighting design by Mark Jonathan; movement direction by Kally Lloyd Jones; video design by Ian William Galloway. Directed for TV by François Roussillon; produced by George Bruell. Sung in Italian. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRossini L'italiana in Algeri opera to a libretto by Angelo Anelli. Directed 2018 by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier at the Haus für Mozart as part of the Salzburg Festival. Stars Cecilia Bartoli (Isabella), Ildar Abdrazakov (Mustafà), Edgardo Rocha (Lindoro), Alessandro Corbelli (Taddeo), José Coca Loza (Haly), Rebecca Olvera (Elvira), and Rosa Bove (Zulma). Jean-Christophe Spinosi conducts the Ensemble Matheus and the Philharmonia Chor Wien (Chorus Master Walter Zeh). Set design by Christian Fenouillat; costume design by Agostino Cavalca; lighting design by Christophe Forey; video design by Étienne Guiol. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreAlfredo Casella La donna serpente opera to libretto by Cesare Vico Lodovici. Directed 2016 by Arturo Cirillo at at the Teatro Regio Torino. Stars Piero Pretti (King Altidòr), Carmela Remigio (Miranda, a Fairy), Erika Grimaldi (Armilla), Francesca Sassu (Farzana / Coryphaea), Anna Maria Chiuri (Canzàde), Francesco Marsiglia (Alditrúf), Marco Filippo Romano (Albrigòr), Roberto de Candia (Pantúl), Fabrizio Paesano (Tartagíl), Fabrizio Beggi (Tògrul), Sebastian Catana (Demogorgòn), Kate Fruchterman (Smeraldina / A voice), Donato Di Gioia (Badúr / Coryphaeus), and Emilio Marcucci (Herald / Magician Geònca’s voice). Also features dancers from Fattoria Vittadini with choreography by Riccardo Olivier. Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Orchestra Teatro Regio Torino and the Chorus Teatro Regio Torino (Chorus Master Claudio Fenoglio). Set design by Dario Gessati; costume design by Gianluca Falaschi; lighting design by Giuseppe Calabrò. Directed for TV by Ariella Beddini. Sung in Italian. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Grade: NA
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