Tchaikovsky Symphonies box set with Symphonies 4, 5, and 6. Andris Nelsons conducts the Gewandhausorchester. You can get more details for each title by using the links provided:
Symphony No. 4. 2020. (Grade: NA) Also features Weinberg Trumpet Concerto.
Symphony No. 5. 2020. (Grade: NA). Also features Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto No. 1.
Symphony No. 6. 2020. (Grade: NA). Also features Mozart Symphony No. 40.
Mozart y Mambo concert with classical music, Latin jazz, and high-jinks by Sarah Willis. Maybe the most famous french horn player since Dennis Brain, Willis is a member of the Berlin Philharmoniker. She is not the principal horn player there, nor does she claim to be a horn concert soloist. So why is Sarah famous? Well, she is an exponent of the quantum theory of existence, which allow her to be many different places at the same time. Her true mission appears to be an ambassador for classical music to all peoples in all countries, and she does this with truly world-class use of jet airplanes and Internet social media. (We love her especially because she was a supporter of the Saito Kinen and the Mito Chamber Orchestras, which made some of our treasured recordings from NHK.)
In 2020, it was Cuba that got the Sarah Willis treatment when she recorded a 55 minute CD of classical music and Latin dance tunes at the Oratorio San Felipe Neri in Havana. Here’s the program . . .
Read MorePuccini Gianni Schicchi to libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. Directed 2019 by Denis Krief at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Bruno de Simone (Gianni Schicchi), Francesca Longari (Lauretta), Anna Maria Chiuri (Zita detta La Vecchia), Dave Monaco (Rinuccio), Antonio Garés (Gherardo), Costanza Fontana (Nella), Matteo Lantieri (Gheradino), Francesco Venuti (Betto di Signa), Eugenio Di Lieto (Simone), Min Kim (Marco), Giada Frasconi (La Ciesca), Enrico Marabelli (Maestro Spinelloccio/Ser Amantio di Nicolao), Shuxin Li (Pinellino), Adam Jon (Guccio), and Fabrizio Casagrande (Extra). Valerio Galli conducts the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Set, costume, and lighting design by Denis Krief. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreOffenbach Orphée aux enfers opera to a libretto by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. Directed 2019 by Barrie Kosky at the Salzburg Festival. Stars Joel Prieto (Orphée), Kathryn Lewek (Eurydice), Marcel Beekman (Aristée/Pluton), Martin Winkler (Jupiter), Max Hopp (John Styx), Anne Sofie von Otter (L’Opinion publique), Vasilisa Berzhanskaya (Diane), Lea Desandre (Vénus), Frances Pappas (Junon), Nadine Weissmann (Cupidon), Rafał Mawnuk (Mars), and Peter Renz (Mercure). Enrique Mazzola conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Vocalconsort Berlin (Chorus Master David Cavelius). Set design by Rufus Didwiszus; costume design by Victoria Behr; lighting design by Franck Evin; choreography by Otto Pichler; dramatic advisor was Susanna Goldberg. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Sung in French. Released 2020, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MorePuccini Il Tabarro opera to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami. Directed 2019 by Denis Krief at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Franco Vassallo (Michele); Angelo Villari (Luigi); Antonio Garés (Il “Tinca”); Eugenio Di Lieto (Il “Talpa”); Maria José Siri (Giorgetta); Anna Maria Chiuri (La Frugola); Dave Monaco (Song Peddler); Thalida Fogarasi and Leonardo Sgroi (Two Offstage Voices); Costanza Fontana and Claudio Zazzaro (Two Lovers); Maria Cristina Bisogni, Cristina Pagliai; Sarina Rausa, Elena Bazzo, Elisabetta Ermini, and Delia Palmieri (Midinettes), and Fabrizio Casagrande (Extra). Valerio Galli conducts the Ochestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set, costume, and lighting design by Denis Krief. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreThe Mother dance production inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Story of a Mother. Directed and choreographed in 2019 by Arthur Pita at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Original music composed and performed by Frank Moon and Dave Price. Stars Natalia Osipova in the role of the mother and Jonathan Goddard playing all other characters that appear, i.e., death, the babushka, the bramble bush, etc. Set and costume design by Yann Seabra; lighting design by David Plater; dramaturgy by Anna Rulevskaya. Stage production by Alexandrina Markvo (Bird&Carrot). Directed for TV by Gerald Fox; edited by Miranda Watts. Produced for TV by Justine Waddell, Alexandrina Markvo, and Gerald Fox. The keepcase booklet has a nice English translation of The Story of a Mother. Brief passages sung and spoken in Russian (no subtitles). Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
This may be the biggest risk Opus Arte ever took . . .
Read MoreBeethoven Leonore opera to libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner. (This is the 1805 version of “Leonore/Fildelio.”) Performed 2020 by Opera Lafayette as directed by Oriol Tomas at the Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College, New York. Stars Nathalie Paulin (Leonore/Fidelio), Jean-Michel Richer (Florestan), Stephen Hegedus (Rocco), Pascale Beaudin (Marzelline), Matthew Scollin (Pizarro), Keven Geddes (Jaquino), and Alexandre Sylvestre (Don Fernando). Ryan Brown conducts the Opera Lafayette Orchestra and Chorus. Set and costume design by Laurence Mongeau; lighting design by Rob Siler; hair and make-up design by Georgiana Eberhard; sound engineering by Marlan Barry. Directed for TV by Jason Starr. Sung in German. Released 2021, disc has PCM stereo sound only. Grade: NA
We usually don’t cover operas that are recorded in stereo sound only. But we make an exception because this fills in a gap in our coverage of Beethoven’s Leonore/Fidelio opera adventures. There are 3 versions of what we call “Leonore/Fidelio,” and this 1805 effort was the earliest of them. It’s offered here by the highly respected and specialized Opera Lafayette, which focuses mostly on French Baroque works. One of those French operas, Léonore; ou, L'amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, was the inspiration for Beethoven to do a German language version, and this was Beethoven’s first stab at it. Today the 1805 version is mostly ignored, but some experts say it’s better than Beethoven’s later revisions in 1806 and 1814.
Read MoreBeethoven Fidelio opera (1806 version) to libretto by Joseph Ferdinand von Sonnleithner and Stephan von Breuning. Directed 2020 by Christoph Waltz at the Theater an der Wien, Austria. Stars Nicole Chevalier (Leonore), Eric Cutler (Florestan), Gábor Bretz (Don Pizarro), Christof Fischesser (Rocco), Mélissa Petit (Marzelline), Benjamin Hulett (Jaquino), Károly Szemerédy (Don Fernando), Johannes Bamberger (First Prisoner), and Dumitru Mădăraşăn (Second Prisoner). Manfred Honeck conducts the Wiener Symphoniker and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus Master Erwin Ortner). Set design by Barkow Leibinger; costume design by Judith Holste; lighting design by Henry Braham. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Sung in German. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Beethoven wrote 3 versions of what I call “Leonore/Fidelio”:
1805, now often if not usually called “Leonore 1”
1806, now often if not usually called “Leonore 2”
1814, now usually called “Fidelio”
It’s now December 25, 2020 (yes, this is my Christmas present to you). We already have two versions of the 1814 Fidelio in HDVD on our Alphalist (one on Opus Arte from Opernhaus Zürich and another on Sony from the 2015 Salzburg Festival).
Now subject title brings us a rendition of Leonore 2 from the Teater an der Wien. Of course, life being inherently complicated, Unitel calls it “Fidelio (1806)” instead of “Leonore 2.” (The person to blame for all this is not I but Beethoven, who was a rather complicated guy himself.)
Read MoreAdolphe Adam Le Postillon de Lonjumeau opera to a libretto by Adolphe de Leuven and Léon-Lévy Brunswick. Directed 2019 by Michel Fau at the Opéra Comique, Paris. Stars Michael Spyres (Chapelou/Saint-Phar), Florie Valiquette (Madeleine/Madame de Latour), Franck Leguérinel (Le Marquis de Corcy), Laurent Kubla (Biju/Alcindor), Michel Fau (Rose), Yannis Ezziadi (Louis XV), and Julien Clément (Bourdon). Sébastien Rouland conducts the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie, the accentus (sic) choir, and the Opéra de Rouen Normandie choir. Set design by Emmanuel Charles; costume design by Christian Lacroix; lighting design by Joël Fabing; make-up design by Pascale Fau. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in French. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMahler Symphonies 1-2 and 4-9 Box Set. All of Mahler’s symphonies (except No. 3) performed at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig by the Gewandhausorchester conducted by Riccardo Chailly. Grade for the box: D.
The musical performances of these symphonies are excellent as is the sound. If the price drops enough, this becomes competitive with CD boxes of these symphonies. Then the video aspects of the box would become irrelevant—just play the discs in pure audio mode.
But if you are interested in good video of classical music, all the titles in this box comprise a colossal disaster and utter waste of the human spirit.
Why such a harsh opinion? Well, to start, the box is missing Symphony No. 3. We did extensive reviews of 6 of the titles in this box. Two titles got a C+, and the rest graded lower. We found evidence of DVDitis in every title we reviewed . . .
Read MoreMahler Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” concert. Performed 2019 with Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Münchner Philharmoniker, Orfeó Català, and Cor de Cambra del Palau de la Música Catalana (Artistic Director Simon Halsey; Chorus Masters Pablo Larraz and Xavier Puig). Features soprano Chen Reiss and mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford. Directed for TV by Corentin Leconte. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreSunwook Kim plays a recital consisting of Beethoven piano sonatas No. 30, No. 31, and No. 32. Recorded 2020 at the Kunstkraftwerk, Leipzig. Directed for TV by Ute Feudel; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
This seems to be a pricey offering for 74 minutes of music. It better be good!
Read MoreBruckner Symphonies 1-9 Box Set. All of Bruckner’s symphonies performed at 4 different venues by the famous Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by the famous Christian Thielemann. Grade for the box: D+.
The musical performances of these symphonies are excellent as is the sound. If the price drops below, say, $80, this becomes competitive with CD boxes of these symphonies, which can be had for $40 to $60. The video aspects of the box would become irrelevant—just play the discs in pure audio mode.
But if you are interested in good video of classical music, all the titles in this box comprise a colossal disaster and utter waste of the human spirit. No one has even begun the task of making high-quality Blu-ray recordings by one orchestra of all the Bruckner symphonies.
We found evidence of DVDitis for all of the titles in this box. We did extensive reviews with screenshots
Read MoreMozart Così fan tutte opera to libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Directed 2014 by Felix Breisach at the Theater an der Wien. Stars Mari Eriksmoen (Fiordiligi), Katija Dragojevic (Dorabella), Andrè Schuen (Guglielmo), Mauro Peter (Ferrando), Elisabeth Kulman (Despina), and Markus Werba (Don Alfonso). Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the Concentus Musicus Wien and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus Master Erwin Ortner). Costume design by Doris Maria Aigner. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Sung in Italian. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
This video was made 6 years ago—a bad sign. There’s no director because this is an un-staged concert production of the opera. The package does credit Felix Breisach for “scenic arrangement.” That means, I think, that . . .
Read More