Blu-Rays
57 products
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SaleThe Original Three Tenors - In Concert, Rome 1990 / Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti, Mehta [Blu-ray]
C Major Entertainment · Sep 2021Blu-Ray$35.99$17.99 -
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SaleVerdi: Alzira / Kuhn, Facini, Gazheli, Lindsay, Hirano, Tsuchizaki [blu-ray]
C Major Entertainment · Jan 2013Blu-Ray$37.99$18.99 -
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SaleVerdi: Attila / Catana, Cremonini, Branchini, Battistoni, Teatro Regio Di Parma [blu-ray]
C Major Entertainment · Nov 2012Blu-Ray$37.99$18.99 -
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SaleVerdi: Falstaff - Salzburg Festival 1982 / Taddei, Panerai, Aranza, Ludwig, Karajan
C Major Entertainment · Jan 2023Blu-Ray$45.99$22.98 -
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SaleVerdi: Luisa Miller / Renzetti, Surian, Franci, Alvarez, Cedolins [blu-ray]
C Major Entertainment · Feb 2013Blu-Ray$37.99$18.99 -
SaleVerdi: Macbeth / Conlon, Domingo, Los Angeles Opera [Blu-ray]
Sony Masterworks · Aug 2017Blu-Ray$19.98$9.99 -
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SaleVerdi: Messa da Requiem / Karajan, Vienna Philharmonic
C Major Entertainment · Jul 2023Blu-Ray$45.99$22.98 -
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SaleVerdi: Messa Da Requiem / Theodossiou, Ganassi, Aronica, Zanellato, Temirkanov [blu-ray]
C Major Entertainment · Sep 2013Blu-Ray$37.99$18.99 -
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SaleVerdi: Stiffelio / Aronica, Guanqun, Frontali, Mangione, Battistoni [blu-ray]
C Major Entertainment · Mar 2013Blu-Ray$37.99$18.99 -
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SaleVolpini: The Lover's Garden (Il Giardino degli Amanti)
C Major Entertainment · Jan 2018Blu-Ray · DVD$32.99$22.98 -
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SaleWagner: Die Walkure / Van Zweden, Skelton, Melton, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra [Blu-ray Audio]
Naxos AudioVisual · Nov 2016Blu-Ray$16.99$8.49 -
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SaleZemlinsky: Der Zwerg / Runnicles, Deutsche Oper Berlin [Blu-ray]
Naxos AudioVisual · May 2020Blu-Ray$34.99$17.49
The Original Three Tenors - In Concert, Rome 1990 / Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti, Mehta [Blu-ray]
This very special release includes the legendary concert of the Original Three Tenors - José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, conducted by Zubin Mehta at the Terme di Caracalla, Rome 1990 on the eve of the Football World Cup in Italy, watched by 1.6 billion spectators worldwide. For the first time available on Blu-ray, digitally remastered! This edition includes the new documentary The Three Tenors - From Caracalla to the World featuring recent interviews with José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Zubin Mehta, Pavarotti‘s widow Nicoletta Mantovani, Lalo Shifrin, Brian Large, Mario Dradi, Paul Potts, Sir Bryn Terfel, Norman Lebrecht, Didier de Cottignies and many more. Previously unpublished backstage material shows the tenors unadorned and offers a fascinating insight into what takes place beyond the spotlight in Rome, 1990 and the sequel in Los Angeles, 1994. The film takes a completely new look at the concert legends. For the first time, they talk about José Carreras‘ struggles with leukemia, their rivalries and friendships, their spectacular contract poker and life as an opera star.
Verdi: Alzira / Kuhn, Facini, Gazheli, Lindsay, Hirano, Tsuchizaki [blu-ray]
Also available on standard DVD
Giuseppe Verdi ALZIRA
(Blu-ray Disc Version)
Alvaro – Francesco Facini
Gusmano – Thomas Gazheli
Ovando – Joshua Lindsay
Zamoro – Ferdinand von Bothmer
Ataliba – Yasushi Hirano
Alzira – Junko Saito
Zuma – Anna Lucia Nardi
Otumbo – Joe Tsuchizaki
Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento
(chorus master: Marco Medved)
Istituto Corale ed Orchestrale di Dobbiaco
Gustav Kuhn, conductor
Andreas Leisner, scenic concept
Recorded live at the Grand Hotel Centro Culturale, Dobbiaco, 13 and 15 September 2012, in a concert performance from the Alto Adige Festival
Bonus:
- Introduction to Alzira
Picture format: 1080i HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 107 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)
Verdi: Attila / Catana, Cremonini, Branchini, Battistoni, Teatro Regio Di Parma [blu-ray]
VERDI Attila • Andrea Battistoni, cond; Giovanni Battista Parodi (Attila); Sebastian Catana (Ezio); Susanna Branchini (Odabella); Roberto De Biasio (Foresto); Cristiano Cremonini (Uldino); Zyian Atfeh (Leone); Teatro Regio di Parma O & Ch • C MAJOR 721608 (DVD); 721704 (Blu-ray) (118:00 + 10:00) Live: Busseto 10/2010
A life of looting and pillaging may hold certain attractions, but after ravaging the countryside for long enough most of the inhabitants are driven off and there is no one left to grow new crops and raise new livestock. In the days of yore invading armies lived off the land, be they Romans, or Macedonians, or Huns and Visigoths, and without supplies for men and horses they could not sustain themselves. Such were the conditions in most of Northern Italy when the opera Attila opens. Attila and his barbaric tribes had already sacked and razed the substantial northern city of Aquileia in 452 A.D. and driven many of its surviving inhabitants into the nearby marshes (thereby creating the conditions for the founding of Venice). The victorious Hun leader then turned his sights on the much richer plum of a not yet totally defenseless Rome, as in the opera, and held parlays with several Roman envoys seeking desperately to broker peace, including Leo I, Bishop of Rome. In Verdi’s opera Attila’s forces are then turned upon in a sneak attack of Roman legions in consort with a group of surviving fighters from Aquileia. Attila himself is slain by the warrior Princess Odabella (also from Aquileia) whom he is about to wed, in revenge for the slaying of her own father. In actuality, the wily old Hun leader recognized there was simply not enough food available in the surrounding countryside to sustain an attack on Rome and took his forces safely back home to Germany. He died a year later, reportedly from overeating or overdrinking at a wedding feast. The city of Rome wasn’t spared for long, it was sacked and burned by other Germanic tribes just two years later.
One of the problems with this early Verdi opera is there is no one to like. The so-called good guys are all busy plotting with each other and doing underhanded things. Odabella makes nice to Attila in order to further her lust for revenge and actually prevents him from being poisoned at a celebration in his camp so she can do the dirty deed herself. Her boyfriend Foresto, leader of the remaining Aquileia forces, spends most of the three acts moaning about Odabella’s unfaithfulness (not true). He plots with the Roman general Ezio to set upon Attila’s forces even though their own men have been granted safe passage by the Huns. Ezio, with the only opposing professional soldiers in the area, first tries to cut a political deal with Attila to divvy up the territory, and with that rejected, schemes with Foresto to first poison Attila and then betray his honorable truce. So, who do we root for, Attila, the scourge of God on earth? Poor Hun, everyone’s out to get him. The opera itself hangs precariously off the edge of the standard repertoire, trotted out now and then because it has such a juicy role for a star basso. This particular production is a part of the “Tutto Verdi” project sponsored by the Regio di Parma Foundation in conjunction with C Major to perform all of Verdi’s operas and record them on Blu-ray disc.
The opera house and stage in Busseto are both very small. Stage Director Pierfrancesco Maestrini must find creative ways to use the small space to advantage. He generally does very well, foregoing heavy stage scenery for a few light props and appropriate videos on the rear backdrop that set the scene then freeze-frame as the action begins on stage. It helps that there are only four principal singers who can be grouped in tight tableaus, but things get a bit crowded when the chorus of Huns or refugees from Aquileia are called upon. Attila descends from on high on a platform surrounded by skulls in the Prologue and departs dead on the same platform to end act III. Costumes are a bit campy, perhaps fantasy Hun: animal skull headpieces, fierce face paint, and plenty of robes and animal skins. The Roman soldiers appear vaguely military, but not like Roman soldiers from the classic movies of the ’50s and ’60s, Ben Hur, Cleopatra, etc. Odabella, ostensibly a warrior, looks rather sexy in her outfit but she couldn’t possibly have been fighting in it. The Huns and Visigoths seem a pretty tame bunch for pillagers and rapists. Performances are a mixed bag here. Giovanni Batista Parodi provides a good bass voice and much fine singing in the lead role, but lacks the stage presence, gravitas, and acting skills to really bring off the critical role of Attila. Soprano Susanna Branchini brings a big voice into the small house and frankly, everything she sings sounds double forte. She also has trouble modulating in her top range, approaching shriek level to hit some of the notes. She sings much better in lower registers and she handles the young Verdi’s ornamentation quite competently. The Foresto of Italian tenor Roberto De Biasio and the Ezio of baritone Sebastian Catana are both very well sung and prove to be highlights of this set. It is hard to believe the Teatro Regio Orchestra from Parma can stuff enough bodies in that small orchestra pit to produce such a full sound, but they somehow manage to do it quite well under the leadership of conductor Andrea Battistoni. The smallish chorus sounds good too.
Competing sets of this opera on video include a 1985 production from the Arena di Verona which I have not seen and a 1991 live production from La Scala in Milan that I have. The La Scala set features Samuel Ramey in the lead role when he was still singing well and the Odabella of Cheryl Studer in the midst of her very few peak seasons. Both are superior in their roles to the two on this C Major disc, Ramey bringing a major stage presence and gravity to the role of Attila that makes you really believe he is a grade-A scourge. The two Busseto singers get the nod over Giorgio Zancanaro as Ezio and Kaludi Kaludov as Foresto at La Scala, but the larger house in Milan has one of Italy’s finest orchestras and choruses. Sets and costumes are quite traditional at La Scala as well. The Blu-ray hi-def video and audio is a definite plus for this C Major production, but I would give the slight edge overall to La Scala, just for Ramey’s menacing presence and fine acting. This C Major set also provides a quite fine portrayal of Verdi’s opera and you won’t go wrong with either choice. Recommended.
FANFARE: Bill White
Verdi: Falstaff - Salzburg Festival 1982 / Taddei, Panerai, Aranza, Ludwig, Karajan
Based, in part, on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff is Verdi’s last work for the stage – and only his second comic opera. And yet the humor in this multilayered masterpiece is distinctly wry, for all the main characters exhibit an array of human weaknesses that are implacably exposed by Verdi and his librettist Arrigo Boito. In this legendary performance from the Salzburg Festival, Herbert von Karajan is not only leading a stunning cast of singers featuring the Wiener Philharmoniker, he too directed the opera, in the amazing set design of Günther Schneider-Siemssen.
Verdi: La battaglia di Legnano
Verdi: Luisa Miller / Renzetti, Surian, Franci, Alvarez, Cedolins [blu-ray]
VERDI Luisa Miller • Donato Renzetti, cond; Fiorenza Cedolins (Luisa); Marcelo Alvarez (Rodolfo); Leo Nucci (Miller); Giorgio Surian (Count Walter); Rafal Siwek (Wurm); Francesca Franci (Federica); Katerina Nikolic (Laura); Teatro Regio Parma O & Ch • C MAJOR 722904 (Blu-ray: 147: 00 + 10:00 bonus) Live: Parma 2007
& Introduction to Luisa Miller
Some commentators say Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Luisa Miller represents a transition in his work from the use of traditional musical forms seen early in his career to the more innovative style of his great middle period works beginning with Rigoletto and continuing with Il Trovatore and La traviata. That very well may be true, but another trend I can attest to is that with this opera Verdi’s music is getting noticeably better. Perhaps it is not consistently better throughout the opera, but certainly notable in the ensemble pieces, the finales of acts I and II and the extended duet which ends the last act. The arias for both tenor and soprano are also well conceived, if not as catchy as “Caro nome” or “La donna è mobile.” Verdi’s Luisa overture is one of the best from his pen until La traviata comes along. All of this fine music unfortunately is a bit wasted on another of Frederich Schiller’s rather dreary romantic tragedies, but the opera has proved popular enough to remain in the repertoire of houses both big and small, particularly on the continent of Europe,
The story is of the love between peasant Luisa and Rodolfo, son of the local count (although Luisa doesn’t know that at first). Their match is opposed by both fathers, who know it means trouble, and by the Count’s principal retainer, Wurm, who wants the girl for himself. Miller père challenges the Count after he insults Luisa, and Miller is thrown in jail. Wurm tells Luisa that in order to free her father she must write a letter denying her love of Rodolfo and saying she is in love with Wurm himself. She does so under duress and the father is freed, but Rodolfo takes the letter seriously amiss. He shows up at the Miller house to confront Luisa, who is honor bound not to explain her actions. Rodolfo, in despair, gives them both poison, so they can expire slowly together while singing a love duet. Rodolfo still has enough strength left to get the Wurm before he dies himself. Oh, and there’s a stray Countess around somewhere that Rodolfo is supposed to marry who gets to sing in a set piece or two.
The Parma production seen here from 2007 is a pretty good one. It is one of the sets in the Tutto Verdi project, and one of the better I have seen in that series. Tutto Verdi aims to record all of Verdi’s operas and his Requiem on high definition Blu-ray disc for release this year to honor the composer’s 200th birthday. Stage Director Denis Krief has done a clever job of providing stylized yet evocative sets of time and place which can be changed quite quickly and easily, sometimes in full view of the audience. The Millers’ humble village domicile, with wooden walls contrasts with a backdrop of geometric shapes meant to represent the Count’s much grander quarters. Video projections of swaying trees mark one or two of the outdoor scenes. Krief also uses the costumes to emphasize the difference between peasants and aristocrats so crucial to the story line. All the denizens of the Count’s estates seem to be wearing plush finery while the peasants are dressed as . . . well, peasants. Stage action is blocked quite naturally and the video direction provides a good account of it. Although a bit stylized, the whole production has a traditional feel which I enjoy.
Unlike some other Verdi operas, this one requires six solid principal singers to be performed really successfully. Here we get five, which is above average for the Tutto Verdi series, at least in the early operas. Only the bass of Giorgio Surian as the Count really disappoints. His heavy vibrato has developed a beat which he doesn’t control, and it disfigures any attempts at lyrical singing, even noticeable in the ensembles. It is refreshing to hear a really first class tenor like Marcelo Alvarez singing here. I have always liked Argentinean Alverez’s voice, he adds a touch of vocal class to any role, and here his dramatic involvement nearly matches his fine singing. Almost the same can be said of Fiorenza Cedolins in the lead soprano role of Luisa. Her voice is just a bit heavy for the lyric agility Verdi asks for in Luisa, but Cedolins still outsings a bevy of other sopranos cast in these early Tutto Verdi productions and her high range is very enjoyable. She can also act, and if she and Alvarez are a bit more than callow youths, they still provide a properly satisfying couple in their duets together. Then we come to 65-year-old Leo Nucci, who has been a staple in several of these C Major sets. Nucci performs quite well here as Miller, and for once he is not asked to sing more than his aging stamina allows. Mezzo Francesca Franci sings the Countess and bass-baritone Rafal Siwek the role of Wurm to round out the principal singers. Both perform well, although Siwek’s vocal tone sounds too similar to the other lower voices in some of the duets and ensembles. Donato Renzetti leads the Parma orchestra members in one of their better outings, and we video viewers actually get to watch them playing during the Overture for a change.
There are several sets of Luisa Miller available on DVD; I have only seen the one from Venice, recorded in 2006. That set features another strong soprano performance by Darina Takova; she rivals Cedolins on this set but only the Count of Alexander Vinogradov tops the group of male leads seen and heard here. The Venice production is also quite traditional, but I like the Parma sets and costumes better. In an earlier review Fanfare colleague Bob Rose recommends the 1979 Met production with Scotto, Domingo, Milnes, and Morris, which I have not seen, but despite the strong cast, that video technology is nearly 35 years old, and this C Major set is in breathtaking Blu-ray video and high definition sound. It is better than satisfactory, it is quite good, and I recommend it.
FANFARE: Bill White
Verdi: Macbeth / Conlon, Domingo, Los Angeles Opera [Blu-ray]
This is L.A. Opera's latest production of Giuseppe Verdi's ''Macbeth'' featuring Placido Domingo in the title role alongside the Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk as Lady Macbeth. The opera is staged by Darko Tresnjak, who won a Tony Award for his direction of the Broadway music ''A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.'' ''Placido Domingo commands the stage and the music he sings...He was genuinely impressive.'' (Los Angeles Times) ''When I was a young tenor, I loved playing romantic or heroic leading roles. When I began to add baritone parts to my repertoire six years ago, I was particularly interested in playing fathers, as I could draw from my own experience as a family man. Macbeth is a completely different kind of role for me. He is a murderer, but I think that he is also something of a victim, drawn into his crimes by the witches and by Lady Macbeth.'' (Placido Domingo)
Verdi: Macbeth / Ferro, Teatro Massimo [Blu-ray]
Also available on standard DVD
Commissioned in 1846, Macbeth offered Verdi the opportunity to make a qualitative leap in his career and its premiere was triumphantly received by audiences. Yet the libretto had proved problematic and many Italian critics did not share the composer’s reverence for Shakespeare. Verdi surmounted all concerns with an opera that valued brevity but also preserved the play’s most important elements. The formidable final concertato stands as one of his greatest achievements thus far, his pacing and detailing of the opera as a whole far surpassing his previous works. This production preserves the preferred 1865 revision of the work, sung in Italian and retaining the original 1847 finale.
Verdi: Messa da Requiem
Verdi: Messa da Requiem / Karajan, Vienna Philharmonic
The history of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem’s interpretation is inextricably bound up with the name of Herbert von Karajan. He conducted the work on countless occasions and in this legendary concert he performed it with some of the greatest singers of that time: Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnès Baltsa, José Carreras, and José van Dam. Verdi wrote his Messa da Requiem in 1873/74, between Aida and Otello, for Alessandro Manzoni, a poet whom he much admired. Verdi’s Mass for the Dead is not intended for liturgical use but for the concert hall. In addition to its profound spirituality, this masterpiece brings together the finest qualities from Verdi’s operas: endless melodic lines and captivating musico-dramatic effects.
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem / Theodossiou, Ganassi, Aronica, Zanellato, Temirkanov [blu-ray]
Also available on standard DVD
Recorded live from the Teatro Regio di Parma, 8 October 2011
Bonus:
- Verdi’s Backyard – A documentary by Sergej Grguric
Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM 2.0 / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese (concert) / English, Italian (documentary)
Running time: 95 mins (concert) + 52 mins (documentary)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)
Verdi: Stiffelio / Aronica, Guanqun, Frontali, Mangione, Battistoni [blu-ray]
Also available on standard DVD
Giuseppe Verdi
STIFFELIO
(Blu-ray Disc Version)
Stiffelio – Roberto Aronica
Lina – Yu Guanqun
Stankar – Roberto Frontali
Raffaele – Gabriele Mangione
Jorg – George Andguladze
Federico di Frengel – Cosimo Vassallo
Dorotea – Lorelay Solis
Parma Teatro Regio Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Martino Faggiani)
Andrea Battistoni, conductor
Guy Montavon, stage director and lighting designer
Francesco Clacagnini, set and costume designer
Recorded live at the Teatro Regio di Parma, 18 and 24 April, 2012
Bonus:
- Introduction to Stiffelio
Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 117 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)
Volpini: The Lover's Garden (Il Giardino degli Amanti)
Wagner: Die Walkure / Van Zweden, Skelton, Melton, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra [Blu-ray Audio]
Launched by its prologue Das Rheingold (8660374-75), Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) - one of the supreme works in the history of music - continues with Die Walküre. Part II of the tetralogy centres on the young lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde, whose relationship angers Ficka, goddess of marriage, and on the disobedience of the Valkyrie Brünnhilde who is sent to carry out Fricka’s wishes. Performed by an all-star international cast, the work features thrilling set-pieces such as Wotan’s Farewell and the Ride of the Valkyries.
Wagner: Gotterdammerung
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
Zemlinsky: Der Zwerg / Runnicles, Deutsche Oper Berlin [Blu-ray]
A 2020 Grammy nominee for best opera recording!
This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.
Also available on standard DVD
Based on Oscar Wilde’s story The Birthday of the Infanta, Zemlinsky’s single-act opera Der Zwerg is the tragic tale of a dwarf who is presented at court, falls in love with the beautiful Donna Clara, but is ultimately forced to see himself as others see him and to die of a broken heart. Preceded by Schoenberg’s Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene, Op. 34 (1930), Zemlinsky’s Romantic score is full of psychological intrigue. Is Der Zwerg a critique of society’s superficiality? Is it the composer’s self-portrait in his doomed affair with Alma Schindler? Director Tobias Kratzer’s stunning, transparent production creates a space in which each character is thrown into sharp relief in this ‘fine, noble and melancholy work’. (Bachtrack.com)