Bull's eye, Carl Maria von Weber triumphantly wrote to his librettist Friedrich Kind after the enthusiastically received world premiere of Der Freischutz in 1821 in Berlin. With it's emotional and gripping music, it soon became the epitome of German Romantic opera. As one of the most popular operas in the German-speaking world, Der Freischutz has now been staged on the Seebuhne for the first time under the lead of director and stage designer Philipp Stolzl and conductor-in-residence Enrique Mazzola. The two teamed up again in Bregenz following their phenomenal success with Verdi's Rigoletto. "The staging is overwhelming" (Suddeutsche Zeitung). "A small theatre miracle is taking place in Bregenz" (Der Tagesspiegel). BONUS: A Winter's Tale: Inside 'Der Freischutz' at Bregenzer Festspiele

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Weber was at the forefront of the rise of German Romantic opera and sought to dethrone Rossini from his position as the leading operatic composer in Europe. In his breakthrough and most popular opera Der Freischütz (‘The Marksman’) composed in 1821, he succeeded in his aim of establishing a truly German form. Turning to the folklore and folk songs of his native land he took a story of a marksman who makes a pact with the Devil, vesting it with powerful intensity – not least in the famous Wolf’s Glen scene – and an astonishing control of orchestral color and atmosphere.

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REVIEW:

Goodness, but Der Freischütz is a problematic opera for today! You can’t ignore it because it’s instrumental in the development of German musical Romanticism; several scholars would even call it its progenitor. Schumann, Mendelssohn, Wagner and Strauss would have been unthinkable without it, and even Beethoven, who was no friend of Weber’s, was impressed. However, it poses an all but insoluble problem in staging it for modern audiences. Its setting is so grounded in the Romantic German Forest that any attempts to remove it from there or to update its setting invariably fall flat or seem reductive (or simply indulgent). However, staging it in its original setting risks seeming like a parody of blood-and-soil National Socialism. This dilemma means that, more often than not, it’s one of those works where you’re far better to retreat into the pictures of your own mind’s eye, and happily we have lots of good CD recordings to help us do that, most notably those from Keilberth, Kleiber, Harnoncourt and Davis.

This 2017 La Scala production is a game-changer, however, and it does the best job I’ve yet seen of putting the opera on stage in a way that is neither daft nor wilfully obstructive. Matthias Hartmann goes for a mixture of the specific and the abstract. There are plenty of trees to put us in the forest, but well-placed strips of lighting suggest the church, the hut and the mountainscape behind. The costumes are a quirky mix of national dresses – ranging from Scotland to the Balkans – but, more importantly, Hartmann also gets into the work’s dark psychological possibilities, wondering whether Max’s obsession with the magic bullets is a mirror for his wider insecurities. He doesn’t shun the supernatural, however: various devils appear to direct Kaspar’s actions, and occasionally we see demonic creatures that might have been lifted out of a painting by Hieronymus Bosch. Importantly, this eclecticism works. It poses many questions and gives every facet of the opera its due without getting trapped in any of them, and that alone makes this the opera’s most successful outing on film to date.

The musical performances are excellent too. Who would have thought that the La Scala orchestra would be so good at this cornerstone of the German repertoire? Their playing of the overture is one of the best you’ll hear, with dark, suggestive strings at the opening, a heart-stopping quartet of horns, and a crackling sense of drama in the main Allegro. Myung-Whun Chung is a natural with the whole score, too, shaping the unfolding drama with an unfailingly right sense of where it is going and how it is going to get there.

The singers are top-notch. Julia Kleiter is radiant, luxuriously beautiful in her two big arias without a hint of simpering, and Eva Liebau’s Ännchen is a delightfully light-hearted contrast. Both are fully comfortable in the tessitura and are a joy to listen to as well as to watch. Michael König has a tiny touch of abrasion in his Heldentenor voice, but I could forgive him for his heroic tone, and Stephen Milling does a wonderful deus ex machina as the Hermit. Best of all, though, is Günther Groissböck, whose Kaspar sets the stage alight, almost literally so in the Wolf’s Glen scene. He’s a powerhouse to watch, and he uses his big bass voice with agility and athleticism to bring the part to life.

I approached this with a good degree of scepticism, but I found it completely compelling and was totally won over. To my great surprise, it solves the problems of staging Der Freischütz for our time. With its compelling production and its brilliant musicianship, it is now a clear first choice for Der Freischütz on film, and it’s by some margin the best opera film I’ve seen in 2019 so far.

– MusicWeb International (Simon Thompson)

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Weber’s ‘great heroic-romantic’ opera Euryanthe premiered in Vienna in 1823. It concerns the wronged Euryanthe, victim of a plot to establish her unfaithfulness, but her love imbues her with colossal strength which Weber characterizes with acute psychological insight. Through-composed and dispensing with spoken dialogue, its chivalric plot provides opportunities for a series of arias, ariosos, duets, cavatinas and choruses that contain some of his greatest operatic music. This production employs the opera’s original version with a few, very minor cuts.

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Leocadia Begbick - Jane Henschel
Fatty "the Bookkeeper" - Donald Kaasch
Trinity Moses - Willard White
Jenny Smith - Measha Brueggergosman
Jim Maclntyre - Michael König
O’Brien/Higgins - John Easterlin
Bank-Account Bill - Otto Katzameier
Alaska-Wolf Joe - Steven Humes

Conductor: Pablo Heras-Casado
Stage Direction : Alex Ollé, Carlus Padrissa – La Fura dels Baus

A hard-hitting new production of Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by the Catalan collective La Fura dels Baus at the Teatro Real de Madrid.

Composed in the 1930s by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, this is a mordant satire on capitalism and the inexorable industrialisation of a society in which the ultimate crime is not having money. In twenty scenes the authors tell the story of a city lost in the middle of a desert and run by three thugs; in Mahagonny food, sex, gambling and violence rule supreme.

The production by Alex Ollé and Carlus Padrissa, both of La Fura dels Baus, combines enormous inventiveness, joy and energy with awe-inspiring ferocity.

Perfect casting brings together a group of singers – Measha Brueggergosman, Michael König, Jane Henschel and Willard White – who are also marvellous actors.

The Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus are directed by young Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, who actually began his career at the Teatro Real. In November 2010, he received the “El Ojo Crítico” prize, awarded annually to Spain’s most outstanding artists in the classical music field.

Director: Andy Sommer
Length: 138 min
Subtitles: French / English / German / Spanish
Zones: All Zones - 1 disc

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Kurt Weill wrote Street Scene shortly after fleeing Nazi Germany to the United States. When he discovered the vitality of the American musical scene, his focus became to reconcile the Broadway “musical” with European traditional opera, jazzy and North-American tunes with an almost Puccinian-like lyricism. In his mind, opera had to embrace and reclaim its own theatricality : thus he wrote his Street Scene, meant to be a truly American opera, half-way between his Brechtian Threepenny’s Opera and Bernstein’s later West Side Story and drawing from the famous play by Elmer Rice (recipient of the Pulitzer Prize when it was published in 1928). The main plot of this rampant collection of scenes from the streets of the lower East Side of New York revolves around Frank and Anna Maurant and their daughter Rose. A violent and tough character, Frank fails to see his wife’s growing despair due to his lack of affection. When he discovers her with her lover, he shoots them both and goes to jail, leaving behind a heartbroken Rose who, after having experienced relentless harassment by two aggressive suitors, misses her one true chance at love. The opera ends by showing the streets of New York City moving on from these mundane events in total indifference. Under Tim Murray’s vivid and precise baton, this superb production by John Fulljames perfectly renders the vitality and energy released by the streets of New York, that proved to be a great inspiration to the theatrical mind of the composer.

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The contemporary face of The Royal Ballet is shown in works from three of today's leading choreographers. Christopher Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour is based around seven couples separating and intermingling, to music by Vivaldi and Ezio Bosso and lit with the rich colours suggested by sunset. In Flight Pattern, Crystal Pite combines Górecki's haunting “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” with a large dance ensemble to create a poignant and passionate reflection on migration. Between them, Medusa is new work inspired by the Greek myth, created for The Royal Ballet by the acclaimed choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which juxtaposes Purcell arias with an electronic score by Olga Wojciechowska.

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Virginia Woolf defied the false order of narrative conventions to depict a heightened, startling and poignant reality. Woolf Works recreates the synaesthetic collision ofform and substance in her writings. Each of the three acts springs from one of Woolf’s landmark novels: Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and The Waves – but these inspirations are also enmeshed with elements from her letters, essays and diaries. Woolf Works expresses the heart of an artistic life driven to discover a freer, uniquely modern realism, and brings to life Woolf’s world of ‘granite and rainbow’, where human beings are at once both physical body and uncontained essence. Woolf Works (2015) was Wayne McGregor’s first full-length work for The Royal Ballet. "At its creation in 2015, Woolf Works felt like a breakthrough for choreographer Wayne McGregor, adding a new emotional weight to his athletic force and fascination with technology. In this first revival, it’s even stronger, with Alessandra Ferri luminous as the Virginia Woolf figure… It’s a thoughtful, heartfelt performance in a ballet that is both intelligent and tender." (The Independent 4 Stars)‘‘Since its premiere in 2015, Wayne McGregor’s first full-length ballet has won the 2015 Critics’ Circle award for best classical choreography and the 2016 Olivier Award for best new dance production, while its star, the fiftysomething ballerina Alessandra Ferri, has won an Olivier for outstanding achievement in dance. No wonder the Royal Ballet decided to revive Woolf Works as part of the celebrations marking McGregor’s tenth anniversary as resident choreographer." (The Times 4 Stars)

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A modern Opera adaptation by Charles Wuorinen based on Annie Proulx's short sorty previously adaptated by Ang Lee for the Oscar-winning film Brokeback Mountain.

Brokeback Mountain marks Wuorinen's return to the opera stage with one of the major works of his career, equally ambitious in its beauty and momentous tragedy. Brokeback is the story of ranch hand Ennis del Mar and rodeo cowboy Jack Twist, two young men who meet and fall in love on the fictional Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming in 1963. Wuorinen says "It's a story of doomed love, in this case a complex homosexual relationship taking place in a very homophobic society."
In a decidedly different approach than the film adaptation, Wuorinen creates a grittier atmosphere. The story and characters have been tightly condensed by Proulx. In reference to the genesis of the story Proulx has written "'Brokeback' was constructed on the small but tight idea of a couple of home-grown country kids, opinions and self-knowledge shaped by the world around them, finding themselves in emotional waters of increasing depth. I wanted to develop the story through a kind of literary sostenente."
In approaching the work for the stage Wuorinen writes "The music of Brokeback Mountain conveys the harsh magnificence of the Mountain where the protagonists first meet. Visiting Annie in Wyoming, seeing the land where the story is set and the characters shaped was invaluable, and it made a deep impression on me. Sometimes the score evokes the icy clarity of the high-altitude freedom the characters enjoy there. But the Mountain also breathes and storms, and the music projects this turbulence as well - especially when it transfers into the interior lives of the characters and their interactions in the human world. And the tragedy of the two principals, their doomed love, calls forth the most lyrical flights in the score."
With bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch and tenor Tom Randle. Staged by Ivo van Hove and conducted by Titus Engel.

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“There had never been a communicator about music with anywhere near Bernstein’s brilliance, humor, energy, reach and importance.” (The New York Times) “Leonard Bernstein did this better than anyone. He was brilliant - as a musician and as an ambassador for music.” (Whoopie Goldberg) Young People’s Concerts Vol. 1 comprises 17 episodes of the legendary series, which remains unmatched until today. Awarded three Emmys and hailed by Variety as “a rare moment in the symbiosis of the arts and broadcasting”, Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts left their mark on television history. Aired at prime-time on CBS from 1958 to 1972, 52 one-hour programs were written and hosted by Leonard Bernstein, “certainly the most influential American maestro of the 20th century” (The New York Times). With the New York Philharmonic and guest artists providing the live music, these programs brought musical concepts and music history to life for generations of viewers. Volume 1 includes 17 Episodes - The Concerts Nos. 1-14 plus Young Performers Nos. 1-3 (featuring Seiji Ozawa and Lynn Harrell)

This is the world's first country music Blu-ray 3D disc. It is compatible with both 2D and 3D Blu-ray players and televisions. The music was recorded in REAL HD-Audio at 96 kHz/24-bit PCM and is presented in DOLBY TrueHD®. Users can select from 3 different audio mixes. Disc contains bonus features including channel identification tones, additional video, a photo gallery, liner notes and musician bios. BD-ROM section contains pre-ripped audio files at 96/24 stereo, 320 kbps MP3 and 48 kHz/24-bit Headphones [xi] ™.

A 2020 Grammy nominee for best opera recording!

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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)

Zoraida di Granata, a stirring tale of love, betrayal and reconciliation, set in the Moorish kingdom of Granada in Andalusia in 1480, gave the 24-year-old Donizetti his first major operatic triumph. It marked his establishment as a true musical dramatist with a sure sense of craftsmanship and a flair for the dramatic. The opera's virtuosic central roles, fine choruses and powerful set-pieces show Rossini's unavoidable influence, though it is more a presence rather than imitation. This performance of the 1822 edition, not the 1824 revision, is performed on original instruments by Gli Originali and conducted by Alberto Zanardi.

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Performed in 1981 by Rudolf Nureyev and re-created specifically for the Bolshoi Ballet by French choreographer Pierre Lacotte, “Marco Spada, or the Bandit’s Daughter” is a grandiose and unique ballet on both a technical and dramatic level: complex choreography, five lead roles created for five principals, several changes in scenery, the participation of nearly all the Corps de ballet and even the presence of animals on stage. The American soloist David Hallberg stars as Marco Spada with Evguenia Obraztsova, Olga Smirnova, Semion Chudin and the Corps de ballet of the Bolshoi Ballet.

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In 2000, seventeen years after George Balanchine’s death, a rare and precious ballet arrived at the Paris Opéra: Jewels, a work first performed by the New York City Ballet in 1967. This alluring, abstract ballet, a triptych in which each piece sparkles with the brilliance of a precious stone, is a lyric tribute to women and to the capital cities of the great dance schools. Couturier, painter and craftsman Christian Lacroix created the glorious costumes and sets which, together with the outstanding performances of the dancers and the sensitive musical direction of Paul Connelly, results in a celebration of sumptuous splendour. Aurélie Dupont, Marie-Agnès Gillot, Agnès Letestu, Clairemarie Osta, Laëtitia Pujol, Jean-Guillaume Bart, Kader Belarbi, Mathieu Ganio

Ballet de L’Opéra national de Paris
Orchestre de L’Opéra national de Paris

Choreography: George Balanchine
Musical Director: Paul Connelly
Set & costume design: Christian Lacroix

Recorded live at the Opéra national de Paris, October & November 2005.

Repertoire:
Gabriel Fauré - Pelléas and Mélisande and Shylock
Igor Stravinsky - Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.3 in D major

Plus:
George Balanchine forever - A film by Reiner E. Moritz

Reviews:
"For Rubies nothing but delight. Aurélie Dupont, Marie-Agnes Gillot, Alessio Carbonne were electric, super charged, at the head of a fizzing cast, hard edged, hard driven, hard to beat." -- Financial Times

"A gem of dazzling brilliance." -- The Independent

Region code: 0 (all regions)
Picture: 1080i
Sound: 2.0 & 5.0 PCM Audio
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian

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BUCHBINDER PLAYS BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTOS (Blu-ray Disc Version)


Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos 1–5 Rudolf Buchbinder, piano and conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Recorded live at the Goldener Saal der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna on 5–8 May 2011

Bonus: - Buchbinder's Beethoven – A musical conversation between Rudolf Buchbinder and Joachim Kaiser

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles (bonus): English, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean Running time: 186 mins (concertos) + 29 mins (bonus)

No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)

In the late 1960s Leonard Bernstein caused a stir in London’s Royal Albert Hall when he played Ravel’s G major Piano Concerto whilst at the same time conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. We were not used to this sort of thing at the time. So that Bernstein could have maximum contact with his players, he turned the piano such that he was in amongst them, facing the orchestra with his back to the audience. He also removed the piano lid; in these ways his gestures could be seen clearly by the orchestral players and he could also maintain eye contact, an essential part of the conductor’s art. I remember a pretty stunning and immaculate performance on that occasion, but since then, most soloists have preferred to concentrate on their own music and leave the orchestra under the direction of someone else.
 
Buchbinder is one of the exceptions, preferring to direct the orchestra himself from the keyboard. He retains the normal soloist’s position with his profile to the audience and he has the piano lid raised. Considering this, the ensemble is remarkably good and mostly very tight, but there are times when there are imprecisions in togetherness, not only in rhythm but also in homogeneity of tone and colour. Sometimes I can hear less string sound at the start of a note, for example. So although there are great advantages in having one musician ‘in charge’ of a performance, I am largely in favour of using the services of a conductor as well as a soloist, especially in recorded music when a performance will be heard repeatedly and imprecise ensemble can become irritating.
 
That said, these performances are deeply felt and as the talk on the disc confirms, very thoroughly researched by Buchbinder who compares many different editions of the works he is performing.
 
I particularly liked the finales where there is real rhythmic vitality, combined in the third and fifth concertos with excitement and drama. The first concerto finale has wonderful wit and humour, but the opening of the fourth concerto finale is marred by poor ensemble caused by lack of a conductor. A really clear gesture must be given here to ensure precision and clarity.
 
Some movements are a little slow and heavy by modern standards. For example in the first movement of Concerto No.1, Stephen Kovacevich and Colin Davis on CD give a much lighter and more deft performance. Buchbinder chooses to play the first of Beethoven’s three cadenzas, slightly adapted towards the end, and he plays it superbly. Most players, including Kovacevich, play the longer and more dramatic third cadenza, whilst Argerich plays the second. It would be interesting to know why Buchbinder chose the first cadenza. The enclosed booklet talks about Buchbinder’s career and gives us some information about his study of the many editions that have appeared since Beethoven’s time, but more details of the results of his studies would have been welcome. However, the bonus interview on the disc with Joachim Kaiser is very interesting and stimulating.
 
The first movement of Concerto No.3 is hardly allegro con brio and the first movement of Concerto No.4, marked to be played allegro moderato is much more moderato than allegro. A little more rhythmic life would not come amiss in these movements. In Concerto No.4 Buchbinder gradually moves the pace forwards as the music progresses, but for me this is one of the less successful movements. Although the sound is often beautiful, the performance is sometimes sluggish and there are tiny imperfections in ensemble and intonation. In the second movement, Buchbinder’s orchestra plays the opening theme really staccato, as marked in the two editions of Beethoven’s score that I own, to telling effect.
 
The high point of these performances for me is the Emperor, which I enjoyed immensely. It really takes fire, has great rhythmic energy and verve in the outer movements, and Buchbinder produces some beautiful tone and the subtlest of rubato in the slower sections. Magnificent playing all round with some incisive and vigorous playing.
 
It must have been a great occasion to hear these performances live and this is a fine record of the event. The playing is highly efficient and thoughtful with some wonderful, poetic moments, but somehow the performances do not achieve the greatest heights.
 
On a lighter note, I would not recommend buying this disc as an introduction to classical music for youngsters. There are many close-ups of the players, but sometimes they look so middle-aged, often miserable and grey. I wish the Vienna Philharmonic would cheer up a bit. As a music teacher, I think this could put a beginner off classical music for life! For children, maybe it is better to turn off the picture and just listen to some fine music making. But for the rest of us, this is a disc well worth seeing as well as hearing.
 
-- Geoffrey Molyneux, MusicWeb International

The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its sovereign, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. It is Welser-Möst’s nimble alternation between smoothness and a sound that’s as “sharp-edged as a skyscraper” (The Telegraph after the Brahms’ First at the orchestra’s London Proms concert). That keeps the ensemble and the audience figuratively on its toes. Brahms’ Fourth and last Symphony could be said to glow with autumnal colors. Endowed with a strong undercurrent of subdued melancholy, it seems to pine for an irretrievable past. Franz Welser-Möst offers a “lean, propulsive performance” (The Plain Dealer) of this work with his highly concentrated Cleveland Orchestra. The swift pace of the symphony in Welser-Möst’s hands reflects the conductor’s quest for a distinctive, far-from-the-mainstream interpretation. Written nearly contemporaneously in the late 1870s, Johannes Brahms’ rousing Academic Festival Overture and Violin Concerto op. 77 bear witness to a composer at the height of his abilities, a mature master of large-scale masterpieces. The Violin Concerto demands extreme technical proficiency. As if to exemplify this, violinist Julia Fischer gears herself from the very start of this emotionally searing work to maintaining a restrained yet passionate tone.

Filmed at the Teatro del Silenzio (Theatre of Silence) in Lajatico over 3 nights in 2024 and marking his 30th year as an artist, this once-in-a-lifetime event sees classical star Andrea Bocelli appear in his home of Tuscany with a star-studded lineup of special guests performing songs that have been the pillars of his career. This 2-disc Blu-ray package features two shows - "The Celebration" and "30 Years of Musical Inspiration" and over 4 and a half hours of performances. With incredible staging, including a stunning sundial centerpiece in the middle of a lake, and 500 drones which lift into the sky in 3 breathtaking moments, Bocelli is joined by an 80-piece orchestra, a cast of over 200 musicians and family and friends including Ed Sheeran, Jon Batiste, Shania Twain, Brian May and more. It's a night that transforms both the landscape and beautiful Tuscan sky into something totally spectacular. The result: a mesmerizing and truly unforgettable concert. Digipak with 20-page booklet.