Tebaldi offers a forthright, lusty account of Mascagni's piece of blood and thunder and has the distinction of three excellent soloists. She is most moving in Voi lo sapete and the rich firmness of Bastianini's baritone is beautifully caught. As always, Bj�rling shows himself the most intelligent of tenors [Penguin Guide]

The first staging of this opera in 43 years is powerful, thanks to the voices of Matthew Polenzani and Isabel Leonard. (Houston Chronicle) Premiered in 1892 and based on Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther, the tragic opera about unrequited love returns to Houston Grand Opera for the first time since 1979 with this production from French director Benoit Jacquot, making his HGO debut. This opera features four artists making their long-anticipated Houston debuts: three-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, as Charlotte; tenor Matthew Polenzani, one of the most gifted performers of his generation, as Werther; soprano Jasmine Habersham, as Charlotte's sister Sophie; and baritone Sean Michael Plumb, a 2021 Tucker Grant recipient.

Luciano Pavarotti -"Pavarotti: The Lost Concert - Live at Llangollen 1995" [Blu-ray] Marking the 40th anniversary of winning a singing competition as part of a choir from his hometown of Modena in 1955, Luciano Pavarotti returns to North Wales to give a special gala concert at the 1995 Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. Joining him that evening is the BBC Philharmonic, the modern-day Corale Gioachino Rossini, Modena and, for the finale, Japanese soprano Atzuko Kawahara. The program combines popular operatic arias & choruses, Neapolitan songs, one of Pavarotti's own compositions, orchestral overtures & interludes, and a special duet for the finale. The final moments of an unforgettable event are made even more emotional by the singer's departing words. "You don't know what this is for me, what it is for me to try to concentrate for myself tonight, in what I am doing, with my music - while a million of memories come to my mind. For forty years, I was looking for this day... thank you for the beautiful night that you gave to me." Blu-ray with 20-page booklet.

in 1952 Kathleen Ferrier made her last and perhaps greatest record... four arias each of Bach and Handel. The (engineers) ensured the utmost fidelity (Penguin Guide Rosette) "This is a recording that honours all concerned and in which Ferrier shows the English art of oratorio singing at it's finest. She is in superb voice and is accompanied with scrupulous artistry by Boult and the L.P.O.... The finest thing of all is All is Fulfilled... The hushed way (she) sings "This mournful night" and the sudden broken utterance "It is finished", dwell long in the memory. Having listened to contraltos singing Return, O God of Hosts at competitions, I can pay no higher compliment to Ferrier than to say I felt I was hearing it for the first time... It is rare that a disc gives such satisfaction in almost every respect" (Gramophone)

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
As the primary creative force in Pink Floyd after the departure of Syd Barrett in 1968, Rogers Waters helped turn that band into one of the most successful rock acts of the '70s with his dramatic sense of sonic and conceptual scale. After leaving Pink Floyd for a solo career in the '80s, Waters continued the epic themes he'd pioneered on albums like THE WALL, a trend that continued to 2005, when he released CA IRA, an opera set during the French Revolution.
Unlike THE WALL, CA IRA is not rock music. Instead, it draws inspiration from traditional opera; it is set to a full orchestra, and features impassioned performances from soprano Ying Huang, tenor Paul Groves, and baritone Bryn Terfel. Based on a libretto by Etienne and Nadine Roda-Gil about the brewing revolution against a tyrannical nobility, the work is ambitious and grandiose in true Waters fashion, and comes complete with a 60-page booklet and a DVD about the making of the opera.
REVIEWS:
Rolling Stone (No. 985, p.81) - 3 out of 5 stars - "...[I]t's hard not to be impressed somehow by Roger Waters' CA IRA..."

Music from Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah"; Symphony No. 2, "Age of Anxiety"; Symphony No. 3, "Kaddish"; Chichester Psalms for Chorus and Orchestra ; songs from on the Town; Peter Pan; Fancy Free and Candide ; the original Broadway recording of West Side Story, and more!

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
This is a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording

This complete performance of Rigoletto from 1964 includes not only the Duke's second-act cabaletta, but more gloriously, the cadenza that Verdi composed (and not an abbreviation or ad libitum) for the Duke and Gilda before the "Addio" duet, a lovely moment that sounds like the joyous intertwining of a flute and an oboe. Georg Solti's leadership is very in-your-face, with the brass blaring and tempos generally fast, and while this attitude tends to underplay the opera's pathos, it does make for great excitement. Robert Merrill's Rigoletto is pretty much by-the-numbers with no deep insights, but it's well sung, with exactly the type of Italianate sound Verdi wanted. Alfredo Kraus was in peak form in 1964 and his Duke is by turns elegant, amorous, and biting. He caps "Possente amor" with a brain-splitting high-D. Anna Moffo has some bad habits--she scoops her way into notes in a manner that's supposed to be girlish, but is in fact irritating--but she sings with great warmth and attention to the text when Solti's tempos allow. And in the end, she's very touching. Despite Solti's somewhat brutal approach and Merrill's generic rendering of the title role, this is recommended.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

RCA's "Rediscovered" series has given us important, previously unreleased recitals by such major artists as Richter, Horowitz, and Heifetz. Jussi Björling is to singers what those luminaries were to their instruments, among the best of the best. Much of his September 14, 1955 Carnegie Hall recital was issued on LP, and some selections have found their way onto CD. But this is the first issue in any format of the complete recital, encores and all, including some of the tenor's title announcements. Only some of the applause has been excised to keep the disc from spilling over onto a second CD, thus sparing us the annoyance of sitting through whistles and stomps from long-gone strangers, though enough is left to preserve the "live" atmosphere. Nine selections never have been issued before, and producer Jon Samuels has done the requisite detective work to slot them into their proper sequence, no small task since Björling inserted encores at various points of the prepared program, not just at the end.

Björling fans most likely will have the majority of these songs and arias in their collections, many in multiple versions. But if they want the complete 1955 recital--and they should, as should all lovers of great singing--they'll need this welcome disc. The nine new items include arias from Cavalleria rusticana (Addio alla madre), Andrea Chenier (Come un bel di), La Bohème (Che gelida manina), and songs by Grieg, Sibelius, and Sjöberg. Whether this or that selection is the "best" available by Björling is a moot point; those made in the 1930s featured a lighter, ravishing voice, the later ones an instrument with more depth and body. Later often equals more subtle interpretations, as this 1955 Beethoven song "Adelaide" demonstrates, with its sophisticated use of rubato and changes in tonal color that reflect textual nuances, not to mention the added fervor of a singer projecting into Carnegie's vast space.

The Schubert group is highlighted by a tender "Ständchen" and an intense, pull-out-all-the-stops "Die böse Farbe". Björling's gorgeous middle voice and silvery top pay dividends in Mozart's "Il mio tesoro", where he negotiates the coloratura well and makes Don Ottavio less of a wimp than usual. As in any Björling recital, the usual suspects are here, but since he was really "on" that night, they're as thrilling as ever--a "Flower Song" from Carmen both tender and ardent, the ravishing "La Rêve" from Manon, and "Amor di vieta", among others. The latter aria should be heard by benighted individuals who subscribe to the strange notion that Björling was a "cool" singer in the Italian repertoire. The Scandanavian set is another of the many highlights, beautiful songs sung with elegance. And has Stephen Foster's "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair" ever sounded more lovely? Björling's lightly accented English, wide vocal range, and respect for his material, coloring words as if they were a Schubert song, make it irresistible.

Jon Samuels' transfers easily eclipse all other releases of this material, giving us not only the incomparable sound of Björling's voice, but also a realistic rendering of the important way in which Frederick Schauwecker's piano supports and interacts with that voice, along with a sense of hall ambience rare for monophonic recordings. This disc offers 80 minutes of bliss. Get it.
--Dan Davis, ClassicsToday.com

Douglas Moore's opera Giants in the Earth receives it's world premiere recording with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra under the music direction of Delta David Gier. Set on the stark, uninhabited Dakota plains, the drama follows Beret and Per Hansa, whose deep love is tested by isolation and the harsh realities of pioneer life. Moore's text-driven vocal lines flow with natural expression, weaving short, expressive ariosos into a seamless melodic tapestry. Central to the story, Beret's ornate Norwegian chest serves as altar, refuge, and symbol of home, underscoring the opera's themes of memory, tradition, and human longing. Moore's tonal score contrasts strength and fragility through vocal ranges, building tension toward Beret's fateful choices amid blizzards and loss. Every nuance is vividly realized, from intimate lyrical passages to the opera's devastating climax. This landmark recording illuminates the emotional intensity, psychological depth, and lyrical beauty of a work long awaited in full, making it an essential addition for lovers of American opera. The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra excavated, engraved, and revived the opera in Sioux Falls on April 26, 2025.

Taking it's title, Nessun Dorma, from the greatest tenor hit of them all, Pene Pati's second album balances favourite numbers with operatic rarities - two of them in world premiere recordings. In addition to Puccini, the Italian composers are Verdi, Donizetti, Mascagni and Mercadante, while the French school is represented by Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Gounod, Massenet, Halevy and Guiraud. Joining the Samoan tenor on the album are his soprano wife, Amina Edris, his tenor brother Amitai Pati, conductor Emmanuel Villaume, the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and the Choeur de l'Opera National de Bordeaux. In the words of the Telegraph, Pene Pati possesses an "extraordinary gift for producing a golden thread of sound that can swell without strain to magnificence," while Opera magazine has lauded his "distinctively clear, marvellously sunny timbre, innate musicality and exceptionally vivid textual projection". For the tenor himself, Nessun Dorma "showcases my love of the art of storytelling and the emotions it can elicit... As you listen to the album, I hope it takes you on an emotional journey."

An invocation - a prayer, plea, appeal, entreaty or supplication - can take many forms. So can Elsa Dreisig, praised by Gramophone as "one of her generation's most eloquent and engaging singers". Since 2015, when she first gained international attention, the Paris-born soprano has given ample proof of the breadth and diversity of her talent, in the opera house and concert hall, and with her recordings for Erato. On Invocation she sings 15 arias and two songs - from 'greatest hits' to rarities - written by 14 composers to texts in six languages. She performs with conductor Massimo Zanetti and the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova.

With his powerful voice and unmistakable stage presence, Anthony Clark Evans presents a dazzling panorama of the great 19th-century baritone repertoire on this recording. The program ranges from the passionate drama of Italian verismo to the elegance of French opera and the exalted sound world of Richard Wagner. Evans opens with Leoncavallo's famous Prologue from Pagliacci, a programmatic manifesto of verismo, and continues with Giordano's searing denunciation "Nemico della patria" from Andrea Chenier and Puccini's dark scene from Il Tabarro. Donizetti and Offenbach provide melodic refinement and brilliant color from the Italian and French traditions, while Thomas's drinking song from Hamlet adds charm and lightness. Particular highlights are the Wagner arias - the intimate "Song to the Evening Star" from Tannhauser and the great scene of the Dutchman - where Evans's voice reveals both lyrical depth and dramatic radiance. The program concludes with central Verdi roles, from Rigoletto to Il Trovatore and Luisa Miller, showcasing the full range of Italian bel canto drama.

Includes complete libretto

Violanta was Korngold’s second opera, composed after the comedy "Der Ring des Polycrates" when the composer was only 17 years old. It was given a double bill premiere with Der Ring in 1916 at the Munich Court Theatre under Bruno Walter, with Maria Jeritza in the title role.

The libretto, by Viennese playwright Hans Müller, has definite echoes of verismo. The opera is set during the Renaissance, in the Venetian Republic. Simone, military commander of the Republic is married to the beautiful Violanta, who has sworn revenge against Alfonso, Prince of the Republic. Violanta’s sister, Nerina, committed suicide after being seduced by Alfonso. Violanta’s plan is to lure Alfonso from the Carnival into her quarters, then have him killed by Simone, after being promised that his marital privileges will resume once Alfonso is dead. Once Alfonso is in Violanta’s quarters, she realizes that she’s in love with him as Alfonso is with her. She hesitates to give Simone, who is hiding, the signal to come out and kill him. Simone becomes impatient and comes out, finding the lovers in embrace. As Simone is about to strike Alfonso, Violanta gets in the way, receiving the blow and dying in Simone’s arms.

Here we have a marvellous example of how the young prodigy achieved his distinctive style at this early age. The usual description given to Korngold’s music, as made of elements of Richard Strauss and Giacomo Puccini, while being for the most part only a useful pointer, applies here perfectly. However, as with all generalizations, it does not give the whole story. Yes, the combination of rich orchestration and beautiful melodies is there; but listen, for example, to the Vorspiel where the very first mysterious chord is played in arpeggio by pretty much the whole orchestra, which then transforms into the main motif, played in tutti: Pure and unmistakable Korngold.

There are other wonderful moments in the opera, including the duet between Violanta and Alfonso; a Tristan-esque affair that, in my humble opinion, has a sense of forward movement that the Bayreuth master only achieved in "Die Meistersinger".

Let’s now talk about this recording. It is, to my knowledge, the only recording of this opera. The Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra - the same one that recorded with Erich Leinsdorf the classic 1975 premiere recording of "Die Tote Stadt" - is, as in that recording, in wonderful form. The clarity and power of the brass, the richness of tone of the strings and the clarity of the woodwinds put it in the same class as the best in the world.

Marek Janowski’s pacing of the score is very appropriate. It doesn’t feel rushed at all, letting the inner drive of the music provide the impetus. This is something that I feel is critical to let Korngold’s music shine; Erich Leinsdorf in his Tote Stadt feels at times rushed. Listen instead to the Leif Segerstam recording of the same opera on Naxos; while there are many controversial points with his interpretation, his pacing sounds ideal. Janowski seems to agree in his approach to Violanta.

Walter Berry, in this recording is beginning to show a bit of strain, but, for the most part, his voice is a rich as ever. On the other hand, Eva Marton in the title role is at the height of her powers, handling the difficult role with aplomb. Siegfried Jerusalem, although an acquired taste for many, as Alfonso, has the right qualities for a role that is not very dissimilar to that of Siegmund in vocal requirements.

The recorded sound is excellent, spacious, with great balance between the singers and orchestra. This is a 1980 analogue recording; by then, the art of recording by analogue means had reached a pinnacle. It can be said that by then it was perfected. Along with this release, other releases of the late 1970s, early 1980s era, like Solti’s "Hansel und Gretel" and parts of his Mahler cycle, show how far the technology had progressed. The SPARS code for this release is ADD, indicating that re-mastering took place, although no information about it is provided.

A libretto in the original German is included, along with translations to English and French. The very useful and informative notes include a short biography of Korngold, a history and description of the opera and analytic commentary, all written by Christopher Palmer. The introduction is written by none other than Karl Böhm, reminiscing about hearing the opera for the first time and his experiences while coming in contact with the Korngolds. An introduction by Vienna State Opera executive producer Marcel Prawy is also provided.

In conclusion, a great recording of a great opera that is well worth tracking down. This is a must not only for Korngold fans, but to admirers of late-romantic German opera. By virtue of being the only recording, it is THE reference recording, but it’s hard to think that it could have trouble holding that place against possible new recordings. Still, record companies, please keep them coming!

-- Victor Martell, MusicWeb International

Akhnaten, Philip Glass's third opera, is a work of relatively compact dimensions but with all the qualities of epic about it. More a history than a story, it tells in Glass's characteristically elliptical fashion of the rise and fall of Akhnaten, sun-worshipper and monotheist, the 'man of religion' who complements in Glass's opera-trilogy the 'man of science' in Einstein on the Beach, and Gandhi, 'man of politics' in Satyagraha. Instead of a libretto there are texts and documents recovered by the Egyptologists, sung or spoken against an endlessly flowing line of orchestral background that symbolizes the passage of time.

Characters as such barely exist, indeed the very notion of 'characterization' is quite inapplicable to the elusive figures who pass through the music like ghosts or shadows. Religious fervour always excepted, everything is drained of human detail and emotion. Even the Act 2 duet between Akhnaten and Nefertiti has all the passion of a pair of scarab beetles mating, indeed, it comes as no surprise to find that the words of this domestic exchange are the same ones used just minutes earlier to address the sun-god Aten. Such is the manner of this solemn, ritualistic work. Decades pass; religions are set up and topple; always the orchestra, the ultimate protagonist, throbs underneath with its almost seamless weft of minor-mode arpeggios. Like Satie's Socrate, another piece of 'white music' and a score to which Akhnaten owes a great deal, this is a statuesque work of such earnestness that the term 'opera', with its implication of drama, fails to communicate the nature of the conception.

Akhnaten contains some of Glass's very best music. The Act I funeral scene, almost anthropo-logically observed with its terrifying drumming and the wild trumpet that accompanies the male chorus at the climax of the procession, strikes a chilling note from which the atmosphere never recovers. The final scene, sung wordlessly by the ghosts of Akhnaten, his wife and his mother in the ruins of their city, haunts the mind long after the music has ceased to play. Strangest and most wonderful of all is the ''Hymn to the Sun'', sung by Akhnaten himself at the centre of the opera, and addressed to the audience in its own language—English was chosen for the recording. It is one of the very few moments when we are invited to participate in Akhnaten's private world of belief, and with Glass's mesmeric music it's difficult not to be drawn in completely and utterly.

Success in the performance of Akhnaten relies more upon the orchestra than on voices, and here the Stuttgart State Opera (which commissioned the work) does a superb job. With relatively limited scope for interpretation, the soloists are to be judged more for the nature of their voices than for what they put into the playing of their parts, and in this regard I was slightly disappointed only by Paul Esswood, whose tense, tight-toned singing of the title-role turns Akhnaten into a colder, more remote figure than he need have been. The chorus is marvellous. Documentation, vital for an understanding of the story, is more than adequate, with full texts and translations from the Egyptian and Hebrew.

-- Gramophone, 02/1998

I'd quite forgotten what a marvellous performance this is—even though, when it comes to Bartok's speech-derived vocal inflexions, native Hungarians have the edge (and in that respect, Ferencsik's 1956 team is probably the best). Still, the crux of the drama, its emotional thrust and potent symbolic allusions, all are unequivocally realized by Siegmund Nimsgern, Tatiana Troyanos and Pierre Boulez. Troyanos's Judith has more credibility than most. For example, that wonderful passage 3'21'' into the ''First Door'', when Bluebeard asks Judith why she must open all the doors, and she responds with a confession of love—is seethingly intense, although the frenzied string writing that tails her candid ''because I love you'' rather loses focus in all the steam. Yet Boulez captures to perfection the ambiguous nature of Bartok's heated response, whether Judith really is in love—or just plain curious. Again, at the ''Third Door'' (''Now behold my spacious kingdom''), the impact is colossal, even though digital technology would have stretched the dynamic curve even further. Judith's triumphant, heroically sustained C sounds more genuinely wonder-struck than any other on record, while Boulez's pacing is ideally judged—in fact, throughout this memorable performance, he balances the constituent parts of Bartok's rich tonal palette with a meticulous ear, patiently scaling the score's many texturally complex climaxes. Nimsgern is a tortured, yet commanding Bluebeard, vocally excellent and interpretatively compelling, although the recording does sometimes lend his voice an untypically cavernous quality.

As to CD competition, I would single out the Bluebeards of Sawallisch, Dorati and Kertesz as the best alternative interpretations; and yet if pressured into choosing, I would probably opt for this latest reissue—not only because it seems to me the best sung, but also on account of Boulez's dramatic, psychological and musical perceptiveness. It is one of his finest recordings and if he ever decides to re-record it (say, as part of his current Bartok series for DG), then this Sony production will certainly prove a very hard act to follow. The actual recording is hugely accommodating within the sonic limitations of the period (there are occasional traces of over-modulation), and the CD comes complete with texts and translations. Very strongly recommended.

-- The Gramophone