GIOACHINO ROSSINI: Maria Bayo; Daniela Barcellona; Francesco Meli; Carlo Lepore; Prague Chamber Choir; Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia/Renato Palumbo;Jean-Louis Martinoty, director; NTSC All Region; DTS 5.1; PCM Sterio 2.0; Color; 16:9; 183 mins; Subtitled in Italian, English, Fr GIOACHINO ROSSINI: Bianca e Falliero.

Margherita D’Anjou was Giacomo Meyerbeer’s fourth opera in Italian and his first true success. After an absence from the stage of one and a half centuries, it returned at the 43rd Valle d’Itria Festival in an exemplary production: the ironical setting of the director Talevi- the War of the Roses takes place at the London Fashion Week- is perfectly matched by the elegant direction of Luisi, at the head of the Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia. The opera, which belongs to the semi-serious genre, moves from the warlike tones of Act One to the idyllic ones of Act Two, where both female protagonist appear: the queen, a soprano, and the wife, a contralto; both seeking the love of a heroic tenor equally daring in battle and in music.

For this outstanding two-disc set, the RSO Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Cornelius Meister, brings us two works by Anton Bruckner (1824-1896): his Symphony No. 9 in D minor WAB 109, and his Mass No. 3 in F minor WAB 28. One of the more popular choral works of late Romanticism, the Mass in F minor is said to have been a work of gratitude for the composer’s recovery from a persistent nervous illness. Soloists featured here are soprano Ruth Ziesak, alto Janina Baechle, tenor Benjamin Bruns, and bass Gunther Groissbock.

Nearly every music lover is acquainted with Der Freischutz, but the fewest are aware of Euryanthe. In the light of the musical quality of the opera, the disdain for it does not seem fitting. Euryanthe was Carl Maria von Weber’s most ambitious project, one that anything but backfired. The composition may certainly be termed ground-breaking and truly deserves more attention. “A chain of glittering jewels from the beginning to the end. All witty and ingenious,” (Robert Schumann in his critic about Euryanthe.) The present release features a live recording of the work, which was taken in December of 2018 and features the Arnold Schoenberg Chor and the Orf Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as a group of brilliant soloists.

Capriccio Encore is a series of re-releases of the most famous recordings from Capriccio’s back catalogue, fully re-mastered and competitively priced. The legendary recordings of artists such as Sandor Végh, Ton Koopman, Sir Neville Marriner and the Vienna Boys’ Choir also contain repertoire highlights that have a particularly special appeal, from the baroque to the present day. This installment in the series features Sir Neville Marriner conducting his Academy of St. Martin In the Fields as they perform ballet suites written by French Romantic composer Jules Emile Frederic Massenet. Massenet was a skilled orchestrator, and willingly wrote ballet episodes for his numerous operas as well as one stand-along ballet. His style with its graceful movement was perfectly suited to classical French ballet.

This release is entitled Donizetti Heroines because many of the composer’s operas are named after their female protagonists. Even in the few cases where they aren’t, they give musical portrayals of unforgettable female characters, tragic and passionate figures, often innocent victims of the infernal gears of power and therefore destined to a hapless fate. Between 1818 and 1843 Gaetano Donizetti composed some seventy operas, many of which became very popular in his day. His first success came in 1830 with Anna Bolena and from that moment he rivaled Bellini as the ‘leading operatic composer in Italy’, churning out works with the constant rhythm of a typical 18th-century composer. Some of Donizetti’s best works rank among the masterpieces of 19th-century opera. A few of them have remained in the repertoire worldwide since their debut, while others were to be revived only from the second half of the 1900s, in the wake of what has rightly been called the ‘Donizetti Renaissance’. Today operatic audiences are radically different from those of two hundred years ago and during the 2018/19 season Donizetti was placed fifth in the list of the world’s most represented composers. We believe that the credit for this goes to his splendid heroines and their great interpreters who, yesterday and today, brought them alive on stage and continue to do so. This collectors’ release offers a selection of nine operas featuring some of the most iconic and unforgettable Donizetti characters, performed by outstanding singers such as Mariella Devia, Jessica Pratt, Carmela Remigio, Patrizia Ciofi and Sonia Ganassi.

Throughout his entire life, Bruckner longed to return to the tranquility of the hilly woodland idyll that was his home in Upper Austria. That impression is perhaps most clearly expressed in his “Romantic” Symphony with its horn calls and the Landler-like dance tunes (in the clarinet) which recalled dance melodies of his childhood. Bruckner explained personally that this was the inspiration for the music for the “meal during the lunch break of the hunt”- and the chirruping of a bird “Zi-zi-bee” all of which combines to make the work a sensitive declaration of love for his childhood in that rural landscape near his birthplace of Ansfelden and the nearby Augustinian monastery of St. Florian. Founded by Prince Elector Moritz von Sachsen in 1548, the Staatskapelle Dresden is one of the oldest orchestras in the world and steeped in tradition. Over its long history many distinguished conductors and internationally celebrated instrumentalists have left their mark on this one time court orchestra. Previous directors include Heinrich Schutz, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Maria von Weber, and Richard Wagner, who called the ensemble his “miraculous harp.” Principal conductor since the 2012/2013 season has been Christian Thielemann.