Siegfried

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Wagner Siegfried to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2012 by Plamen Kartaloff at the National Opera and Ballet in Sofia, Bulgaria. Stars Martin Iliev (Siegried), Krasimir Dinev (Mime), Biser Georgiev (Alberich) Martin Tsonev (The Wanderer/Wotan), Petar Buchkov (Fafner), Rumyana Petrova (Erda), Bayasgalan Dashnyam (Brünnhilde), and Lyubov Metodieva (Forest Bird). Pavel Baleff conducts the Orchestra of the Sofia Opera and Ballet (Concertmaster Teodora Hristova). Set and costume design by Nikolay Panayotov; lighting design by Andrej Hajdinjak. Directed for TV by Plamen Kartaloff; sound engineer was Yordan Tomov; video editing by Angel Hristov. Sung in German. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: D

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Don Quichotte

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Massenet Don Quichotte opera to libretto by Henri Caïn. Directed 2019 by Mariame Clément at the Bregenz Festival. Stars Gábor Bretz (Don Quichotte), David Stout (Sancho), Anna Goryachova (Dulcinée), Léonie Renaud (Pedro), Vera Maria Bitter (Garcias), Paul Schweinester (Rodriguez), Patrik Reiter (Juan), Elie Chapus (Chief of the Bandits), and Felix Defèr (A Man). Daniel Cohen conducts the Wiener Symphoniker and the Prague Philharmonic Choir (Chorus Master Lukáš Vasilek). Set and costume design by Julia Hansen; lighting design by Ulrik Gad; choreography for fight scenes by Ran Arthur Braun; dramaturgy by Olaf A. Schmitt. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Sung in French. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Juan Diego Flórez - Mozart Arias

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Juan Diego Flórez - Mozart Arias concert. Performed 2019 at the Cuvilliés Theatre, Munich. Riccardo Minasi conducts the Orchestra la Scintilla. Directed for TV by Hans Hadulla; produced by Bernhard Fleischer. Sung in German and Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Here is the all Mozart program:

  • “Un’aura amorosa” from Così fan tutte.

  • “Si spande al sole in faccia” from Il re pastore.

  • “Overture” from Don Giovanni.

  • “Dalla sua pace” from Don Giovanni.

  • “Il mio tesoro” from Don Giovanni.

  • “Overture” from Le nozze di Figaro.

  • Ich baue ganz auf deine Stärke” from Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

  • “Misero! O sogno . . . Aura, che intorno spiri,” a concert aria.

  • “Overture” from La clemenza di Tito.

  • “Se all’impero” from La clemenza di Tito.

  • Overture” from Idomeneo.

  • Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön” from Die Zaumberflöte.

  • “Fuor del mar” from Idomeneo.

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Coppélia

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Coppélia ballet. Music by Léo Delibes. Libretto by Charles Nuitter and Arthur Saint-Léon after E.T.A. Hoffmann. Choreography and production by Ninette de Valois after Lev Ivanov and Enrico Cecchetti. Recorded 2019 at the Royal Opera House. Stars Marianela Nuñez (Swanilda), Vadim Muntagirov (Franz), Gary Avis (Dr. Coppélius), Ashley Dean (Coppélia), Christopher Saunders (The Burgomaster), Enrico Montes (The Innkeeper), Mayara Magri (Peasant Girl), Lukas Bjørneboe Brændsrød (The Duke), Claire Calvert (Aurora), and Annette Buvoli (Prayer). Barry Wordsworth conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Designs by Osbert Lancaster; lighting design by John B. Read; staging by Christopher Carr. Directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-

We already have an A+ version of the traditional Coppélia from the Bolshoi Ballet. Now the ROB weighs in with a competing take. See our Bolshoi review for general information about this story. In this review we will try to stack up the London show against the Moscow juggernaut.

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Missa Solemnis

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Beethoven Missa solemnis concert. Performed 2018 at Alpirsbach Abbey in Baden-Württemberg. Frieder Bernius conducts the Kammerchor Stuttgart and the Hofkapelle Stuttgart. Soloists are Johanna Winkel (soprano), Sophie Harmsen (alto), Sebastian Kohlhepp (tenor), and Arttu Kataja (bass). Also includes the hour-long documentary Von Herzen - Moge es Wieder - Zu Herzen Gehn! (From the Heart - May it Go - To the Heart!) by Uli Aumüller about the preparation for the performance. Released 2020, disc has stereo sound. Grade: NA

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Carmen (Ballet)

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Carmen ballet. Choreography by Jiří Bubeníček. Music by Isaac Albéniz, Georges Bizet, Gabriele Bonolis, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Manuel de Falla adapted by Gabriele Bonolis. Recorded 2019 at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Stars Rebecca Bianchi (Carmen), Amar Ramasar (Don José), Alessio Rezza (Lucas), and the Corpo di Ballo of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. (No credits in the package for the supporting dancers.) Louis Lohraseb conducts the Orchestra of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Set and lighting design by Gianni Carluccio; costume design by Anna Biagiotti. Directed for TV by Claudia De Toma. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

Bubeníček’s Carmen ballet is based on the 1845 novella Carmen by Prosper Mérimée. It is not a danced version of Bizet’s Carmen opera. But Bubeníček does use music from the opera along with selections from 4 Spanish composers.

The novella Carmen was written in the then popular episodic style of fiction in which the author writes of events he claims to have personally experienced or learned of as a reporter. Picking up on this, Bubeníček puts on the stage a tall, thin “writer” character who represents . . .

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Dances & Dreams

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Berliner Philharmoniker Dances & Dreams 2012 New Year's concert (performed December 31, 2011.) Sir Simon Rattle conducts. Here is the program:

  • Dvořák - Slavonic Dance No. 1

  • Grieg - Symphonic Dance No. 2

  • Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor (Evgeny Kissin on piano)

  • Ravel - Alborada del gacioso

  • Strauss - "Dance of the Seven Veils" from Salome

  • Stravinsky - The Firebird (Danse infernale, Berceuse, and Finale)

  • Brahms - Hungarian Dance No. 1

  • Dvořák - Slavonic Dance No. 7

Directed for TV by Henning Kasten; Executive Producer was Bernd Hellthaler. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

We exclude most of the New Year's galas for having trivial (waltzes and polkas) content. But Dances and Dreams is an exception with 7 masterpieces by famous composers, Evgeny Kissin on piano, and our favorite Chancellor, Frau Merkel, in the audience. We start with maybe the prettiest image of the Brandenburger Gate we’ve seen

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Jonas Kaufmann - Du bist die Welt für mich

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Jonas Kaufmann - Du bist die Welt für mich concert. Features guest star Julia Kleiter (Soprano). In 2014, Jochen Rieder conducts the Rundfunksinfonieorchester Berlin (The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra). Directed for TV by Andy Sommer; produced by Bernhard Fleischer. Sung in German. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A

Here is the program for the live performance in Berlin called Du bist die Welt für mich:

  • Franz Lehár - Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert! from Giuditta

  • Emmerich Kálmán - Grüß mir mein Wien from Gräfin Mariza

  • Robert Stolz - Frag nicht, warum ich gehe from Das Lied ist aus

  • Hans May - Ein Lied geht um die Welt

  • Robert Stolz - Im Traum hast du mir alles erlaubt from Liebeskommando

  • Ralph Benatzky Es muss was Wunderbares sein from Im weißen Rössl

  • Richard Tauber - Du bist die Welt für mich from Der singende Traum

  • Mischa Spoliansky - Heute Nacht oder nie from Das Lied einer Nacht

  • Werner Richard Heymann - Irgendwo auf der Welt from Ein Blonder Traum

  • Franz Lehár - Hab' ein blaues Himmelbett from Frasquita

  • Franz Lehár - Gern hab' ich die Frau'n geküsst from Paganini

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Victoria

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Victoria ballet. Choreographed and directed by Cathy Marston. Music by Philip Feeney with additional orchestration by John Longstaff. Performed and recorded 2019 at the Northern Ballet. Stars Abigail Prudames (Victoria), Joseph Taylor (Albert), Pippa Moore (Older Princess Beatrice), Miki Akuta (Young Princess Beatrice), Mlindi Kulashe (John Brown), Sean Bates (Liko), Filipo di Vilio (Benjamin Disraeli), Riku Ito (Lord Melbourne), Gavin McCaig (William Gladstone & Uncle Leopold), Minju Kang (Victoire), and Matthew Topliss (Conroy). Jonathan Lo conducts the Northern Ballet Sinfonia. Set and costume design by Steffen Aarfing; lighting design by Alastair West; dramaturgy and scenario by Uzma Hameed. Directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+

The Northern Ballet, located in Leeds, England, primarily focuses on narrative works; they bill themselves as the world’s leading company of ballet artists who also act.

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ROB Modern Program

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ROB Modern Program. Features three modern ballet performances. Andrew Griffiths and Jonathan Lo conduct the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Vasko Vassilev).

  1. Within the Golden Hour. Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon. Music by Ezio Bosso and Antonio Vivaldi. Directed by Christopher Saudners. Stars Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Vadim Muntagirov, Francesca Hayward, Valentino Zucchetti, Sarah Lamb, and Alexander Campbell. Costume design by Jasper Conran; lighting design by Peter Mumford.

  2. Medusa. Choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Music by Henry Purcell. Electronic Music by Olga Wojciechowska. Stars Natalia Osipova (Medusa), Olivia Cowley (Athena), Ryoichi Hirano (Poseidon), and Matthew Ball (Perseus). Also features soprano Ailish Tynan and counter-tenor Tim Mead. Concept and set design by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and ROH Production; costume design by Olivia Pomp; lighting design by Adam Silverman; associate choreography by Jason Kittelberger.

  3. Flight Pattern. Choreography by Crystal Pite.

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Pierre Boulez Saal Opening Concert

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The Pierre Boulez Saal Opening Concert. On March 4, 2017 the Pierre Boulez Saal opened with a festive concert of classical and modern music at the Barenboim-Said Akademie building in Berlin. About 600 notable (mostly German) musicians, politicians, and intellectuals attended. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Boulez Ensemble. Features Karim Said (Piano), Michael Barenboim (Violin), Yulia Deyneka (Viola), Kian Soltani (Violoncello), Jörg Widmann (Clarinet), Anna Prohaska (Soprano), and Daniel Barenboim (Piano). Here’s the program:

  1. Boulez Initiale

  2. Schubert Der Hirt auf dem Felsen

  3. Mozart Piano Quartet K493

  4. Alban Berg Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with 13 Wind Instruments

  5. Jörg Widmann Fantasie for Clarinet

  6. Boulez sur Incises

Directed for TV by Hennig Kasten. Released 2020, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

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Il barbiere di Siviglia

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Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia opera to libretto by Cesare Sterbini. Directed 2017 by Laurent Pelly at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris. Stars Florian Sempey (Figaro) Catherine Trottmann (Rosina), Michele Angelini (Il Conte Almaviva), Peter Kálmán (Bartolo), Robert Gleadow (Basilio), Annunziata Vestri (Berta), Guillaume Andrieux (Fiorello), and Stéphane Facco (Ambrogio). Jérémie Rhorer conducts Le Cercle de l’Harmonie and Unikanti (Chorus Master Gaël Darchen). Set and costume design by Laurent Pelly; associate set designer was Cléo Laigret; associate costume designer was Jean-Jacques Delmotte; lighting design by Joël Adam. Directed for TV by François Roussillon; executive producer was George Bruell. Sung in Italian. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

A great opera production requires excellence in all elements of the work: the orchestral music, singing, stage direction and movements, acting, sets, costumes, and props, etc. Each element needs to be coordinated to the overall concept of the conductor of the orchestra and the stage director. If everything is properly related, you can be successful with almost any “style” you dream up. Then you can also have a great video if you start working with the videographer early

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Salzburg Festival 100th Anniversary Box Set

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Salzburg Festival 100th Anniversary box set with ten operas. You can get more details for each title by using the links provided:

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Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 3

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Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 3 concert. Performed 2019 at the Concert Hall of KKL Luzern as part of the Lucerne Festival. Riccardo Chailly conducts the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Features pianist Denis Matsuev. The full program, all by Rachmaninoff, is as follows:

  • Piano Concerto No. 3

  • Études-Tableaux

  • Vocalise (Orchestral Version)

  • Symphony No. 3

Directed for TV by Ute Feudel; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Rusalka

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Dvořák Rusalka opera to libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil. Directed 2019 by Melly Still at the Glyndebourne Festival. Stars Sally Matthews (Rusalka); Evan LeRoy Johnson (Prince); Alexander Roslavets (Vadnick), Patricia Bardon (Ježibaba), Zoya Tsererina (Foreign Princess), Colin Judson (Gamekeeper), Alix Le Saux (Kitchen Girl), Vuvu Mpofu (First Wood Nymph), Anna Pennisi (Second Wood Nymph), Alyona Abramova (Third Wood Nymph), and Adam Marsden (Hunter). Robin Ticciati conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra and The Glyndebourne Chorus. Designs by Rae Smith; movement direction by Rick Nodine; lighting design by Paule Constable. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in Czech. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: NA

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