John Williams Violin Concerto No. 2. In 2021, the composer conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, the summer home of the orchestra. Guest artist is violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. Here’s the program, all composed by Williams:
Violin Concerto No. 2
Across the Stars (Love Theme) from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Theme from The Long Goodbye
Han Solo and the Princess from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Marion’s Theme from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
We don’t cover titles that are primarily movie music. But Williams, perhaps the most successful movie music mogul of all time, is also highly respected as a classical composer. And getting Mutter on board for Violin Concerto No. 2 is the clincher. Released 2022. Grade: NA
Read MoreVerdi Falstaff opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2021 by Sven-Eric Bechtolf at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Nicola Alaimo (Sir John Falstaff), Simone Piazzola (Ford), Matthew Swensen (Fenton), Christian Collia (Dr. Cajus), Antonio Garés (Bardolfo), Gianluca Buratto (Pistola), Ailyn Pérez (Mrs. Alice Ford), Francesca Boncompagni (Nannetta), Sara Mingardo (Mrs. Quickly), and Caterina Piva (Mrs. Meg Page). John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set design by Julian Crouch; costume design by Kevin Pollard; lighting design by Alex Brok; video design by Josh Higgason. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; video production by Metis; sound recording by MASClassica Audio Recording, Claudio Speranzini, and Antonio Martino. Sung in Italian. Released in 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMieczysław Weinberg The Passenger (German: Die Passagierin) opera to libretto by Alexander Medvedev after a novel of the same name published in 1962 by concentration camp survivor Zofia Posmysz. Directed 2021 by Nadja Loschky at the Oper Graz, Austria. Stars Dshamilja Kaiser (Lisa), Will Hartmann (Walter), Nadja Stefanoff (Marta), and Markus Butter (Tadeusz). Roland Klutting conducts the Grazer Philharmoniker and the Chor der Oper Graz (Chorus Master Bernhard Schneider). Set design by Etienne Pluss; costume design by Irina Spreckelmeyer; lighting design by Sebastian Alphons; dramaturgy by Marlene Hahn and Yvonne Gebauer; video by Christian Weißenberger. Directed for TV by Alex Stummer. Sung in German, Polish, French, Czech, Yiddish, Russian, and English. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreDonizetti La fille du régiment opera to libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François-Alfred Bayard. Directed 2021 by Luis Ernesto Doñas (assisted by Vanessa Codutti) at the Teatro Donizetti Bergamo. Stars Adriana Bignagni Lesca (La Marquise de Berkenfield), Paolo Bordogna (Sulpice), John Osborn (Tonio), Sara Blanch (Marie), Cristina Bugatty (La Duchesse de Krakenthorp), Haris Andrianos (Hortensius), Adolfo Corrado (Un caporal), and Andrea Civetta (Un paysan). Michele Spotti conducts the Orchestra Donizetti Opera and Coro dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala (Chorus Master Salvo Sgrò); features percussionist Ernesto López Maturell. Set design by Angela Sala (assisted by Denia Gonzalez); costume design by Maykel Martínez; lighting design by Fiammetta Baldisserri (assisted by Emanuele Agliati); choreography by Laura Domingo; playwright was Stefano Simone Pintor. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti; recorded by Rino Trasi and Slilvano Landonio; editing and post production by Rino Trassi. Sung in French. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreAlfredo Catalini La Wally opera to libretto by Luigi Illica. Directed 2021 by Barbora Horáková Joly at the Theater and der Wien. Stars Izabela Matula (Wally), Leonardo Capalbo (Giuseppe Hagenbach), Jacques Imbailo (Vincenzo Gellner), Ilona Revolskaya (Walter), Alastair Miles (Stromminger), Zoltán Nagy (Il Pedone), and Sofia Vinnik (Afra). Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts the Wiener Symphoniker and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus Master Erwin Ortner). Set and costume design by Eva-Maria Van Acker; video design by Tabea Rothfuchs; lighting design by Michael Bauer; dramatic advisor was Bettina Auer. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Tristan und Isolde opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2018 by Dmitri Tcherniakov at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Stars Andreas Schager (Tristan), Anja Kampe (Isolde), Stephen Milling (King Marke), Ekaterina Gubanova (Brangäne), and Boaz Daniel (Kurwenal). Daniele Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Herren des Staatsopernchores (Chorus Master Raymond Hughes). Costume design by Elena Zaytseva; lighting design by Gleb Filshtinksy; video design by Tieni Burkhalter; dramaturgy by Tatiana Vereschagina and Detlef Giese. Sung in German. Released 2022. Grade: NA
Read MoreArrigo Boito Nerone opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2021 by Olivier Tambosi at the Bregenz Festival. Stars Rafael Rojas (Nerone), Lucio Gallo (Simon Mago), Brett Polegato (Fanuèl), Svetlana Aksenova (Asteria), Alessandra Volpe (Rubria), Miklós Sebestyén (Tigellino), Taylan Reinhard (Gobrias), Ilya Kutyukhin (Dositèo), Katrin Wundsam (Cerinto / Pèrside), Hyunduk Kim (Primo Viandante), and Shira Patchornik (Voce di Donna). Dirk Kaftan conducts the Wiener Symphoniker and the Prague Philharmonic Choir (Chorus Master Lukáš Vasilek). Set design by Frank Philipp Schlössmann; costume design by Gesine Völlm; lighting design by Davy Cunningham. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Parsifal opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2020 by Graham Vick at the Teatro Massimo Palermo. Stars Tómas Tómasson (Amfortas), Alexei Tanovitski (Titurel), John Relyea (Gurnemanz), Julian Hubbard (Parsifal), Thomas Gazheli (Klingsor), and Catherine Hunold (Kundry). Omer Meir Wellber conducts the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo, Coro del Teatro Massimo (Chorus Master Ciro Visco), and Coro di Voci Bianche del Teatro Massimo (Chorus Master Salvatore Punturo). Stage design by Timothy O’Brien; costume design by Mauro Tinti; lighting design by Giuseppe di Iorio; movement direction by Ron Howell. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in German. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreOlga Neuwirth Orlando opera to libretto by the composer and Catherine Filloux. Directed 2019 by Polly Graham at the Wiener Staatsoper. Starring Kate Lindsey (Orlando), Anna Clementi (Narrator), Eric Jurenas (Guardian Angel), Constance Hauman (Queen / Purity / Friend of Orlando’s Child), Margaret Plummer (Modesty), Agneta Eichenholz (Sasha / Chastity), Leigh Melrose (Shelmerdine / Greene), Marcus Pelz (Dryden), Carlos Osuna (Addison), Wolfgang Bankl (Duke), Christian Miedl (Pope), Justin Vivian Bond (Orlando’s Child), Nicolas Rudner/Emil Lang (Putto). Wolfram Igor Derntl (Doctor 1), Hans Peter Kammerer (Doctor 2), Ayk Martirossian (Doctor 3), Lucas Niggli (Drummer), and Katie La Folle (Orlando’s Girlfriend / Lead Singer). Matthias Pintscher conducts the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, the Chor der Wiener Staatsoper, and the Opernschule der Wiener Staatsoper (Chorus Masters Thomas Lang, Stefano Ragusini, and Svetlomir Zlatkov). Set design by Roy Spahn; video design by Will Duke; costume design by Comme des Garçons; hair styling by Julien D’Ys; make-up design by Comme de Garçons and Stephen Jones; lighting design by Ulrich Schneider; live electronics and sound design by Markus Noisternig, Gilbert Nouno, Clement Cornuau, and Olga Neuwirth; live sound engineer was Julien Aléonard; movement direction by Jenny Ogilvie; dramaturgy by Helga Utz. Directed for TV by Jasmina Eleta. Sung in English. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
This colossal 3-hour work (nearly 40 solo performers) is inspired by the Virginia Wolf novel Orlando. Orlando begins as a man in the court of Queen Elizabeth of England and later turns into a woman who experiences world history right up to Don Juan Trump as President of the United States . . .
Read MoreJohann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concertos 1-6. Václav Luks conducts Collegium 1704 in 2021, using historical instruments, at the Hall of Mirrors at Köthen Castle. Directed for TV by Ute Feudel; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreUmberto Giordano Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria opera to libretto by Giacomo Badoaro. Directed 2021 by Robert Carsen at the Teatro della Pergola as part of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Charles Workman (Ulisse), Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani (Telemaco), Delphine Galou (Penelope), John Daszak (Iro), Francesco Milanese (Il Tempo), Marina De Liso (Guinone), Eleonora Bellocci (La Fortuna), Gianluca Margheri (Giove), Guido Loconsolo (Nettuno), Arianna Vendittelli (Minerva), Konstantin Derri (Amore), Andrea Patucelli (Antinoo), Pierre-Antoine Chaumien (Anfinomo / L’Humana fragilità), James Hall (Pisandro), Miriam Albano ( Melanto / L’Humana fragilità); Hugo Hymas (Eurimaco); Mark Milhofer (Eumete / L’Humana fragilità), and Natascha Petrinsky (Ericlea). Ottavio Dantone conducts the Accademia Bizantina. Assistant direction by Jean-Michel Criqui; set design by Radu Boruzescu; assistant set direction by Catalina Delta;; lighting design by Robert Carsen and Peter van Praet; costume design by Luis Carvalho; assistant costume design by Edoardo Russo; playwright was Ian Burton. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; video produced by Metis; sounds recording, editing, and post-production by MASClassica Audio Recording, Claudio Speranzni, and Antonio Martino. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Così fan tutte opera to libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Directed 2021 by Sven-Eric Bechtolf at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Valentina Nafornița (Fiordiligi), Vasilisa Berzhanskaya (Dorabella), Benedetta Torre (Despina), Mattia Olivieri (Guglielmo), Matthew Swensen (Ferrando), and Thomas Hampson (Don Alfonso). Zubin Mehta conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Set design by Julian Crouch; costume design by Kevin Pollard; lighting design by Alex Brok; video by Josh Higgason. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreJanáček Jenůfa opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2021 by Damiano Michieletto at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin. Stars Hanna Schwarz (Grandmother Buryjovka), Stuart Skelton (Laca Klemeň), Ladislav Elgr (Števa Buryja), Evelyn Herlitzius (Kostelnička Buryjovka), Camilla Nylund (Jenůfa), Jan Martiník (Foreman), David Oštrek (Mayor), Natalia Skrycka (Mayor's Wife), Evelin Novak (Karolka), Aytaj Shikhalizada (Herdswoman), Adriane Queiroz (Barena), Victoria Randem (Jano), and Anna Kissjudit (Auntie). Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Martin Wright). Set design by Paolo Fantin; costume design by Carla Teti; co-costume designers were Giulia Giannino and Carsta Köhler; lighting design by Alessandro Carletti; choreography by Thomas Wilhelm; dramatic advisor was Benjamin Wäntig. Directed for TV by Beatrix Conrad. Sung in Czech. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
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