Also available on Blu-ray

Conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker, Andris Nelsons presents a concert night which concentrates every conceivable passion: Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Trumpet Concerto “Nobody knows de trouble I see” performed with “technical perfection” (Kronenzeitung) by “the fantastic Håkan Hardenberger” (Salzburger Nachrichten) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor “Resurrection”. “Nelsons proved to be delicate but hearty when interpreting Mahler.” (Wiener Zeitung) The conductor led the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to “enticingly beautiful sounds” (Die Presse). “High praise goes to the vocal soloists Ekaterina Gubanova, Lucy Crowe and the Bavarian Broadcasting choir.” (Salzburger Nachrichten) “Standing ovation”! (Kurier)

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REVIEW:

This is a pretty compelling performance of the ‘Resurrection’ Symphony. The orchestral playing is superb, as you’d expect, and the quality of the singing is no less fine. Andris Nelsons is in his element with this dramatic, highly charged work and he does full justice to Mahler’s amazingly imaginative score. Lest it be thought that this is simply a no-holds-barred performance, let it be remembered that the less theatrical inner movements come off very well too.

Throughout the Zimmermann Concerto the soloist plays almost continuously and though the duration is only just over 15 minutes Hardenberger looks physically drained at the end. Nelsons is an alert and watchful accompanist. The Salzburg audience received the performance very warmly indeed.

– MusicWeb International

Also available on Blu-ray

Haydn is generally seen as one of the main originators of the “Viennese sound”, the inimitable style of playing which is still very much alive today and is particularly cultivated by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. This orchestra has Haydn’s music in its blood, and its interpretation of his symphonies demonstrates a supreme confidence, musical sophistication and lightness of touch. As a noted American music critic remarked following a performance of the Oxford Symphony conducted by Leonard Bernstein: “Let’s have no further argument: the Vienna Philharmonic is the world’s greatest orchestra. Bernstein’s interpretations of the symphonies have consistently met with unreserved critical acclaim. He, of all conductors, possessed precisely the qualities which Haydn’s music requires: grace, charm and a generous measure of wit.” The present recording was recorded at Grosser Musikvereinssaal Wien in 1984 and 1985. This is truly documentation of a master at work.

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DETAILS:

Booklet: English, German, French
Run time: 111 minutes
Disc Format: DVD 9
Picture: NTSC 4:3
Audio: PCM Stereo
Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

Also available on Blu-ray

At Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, maestro Fabio Luisi gives “a superb performance” (Operawire) of Der Fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman), the forerunner of grand Wagnerian dramas. His Italian Richard Wagner debut is infused with energy and drive, under his direction the orchestra and chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, together with Coro Ars Lyrica, sparkle “in what was a five star performance” (Operawire). Thomas Gazheli stars as the Dutchman, who has been condemned to endlessly wander the seas until the day of Judgement. Marjorie Owens shines as his savior Senta.

Also available on Blu-ray

Fierrabras of 1823 is the last of Franz Schubert's stage works. Rarely performed to this day, this heroic-romantic opera has now been staged for the first time ever at the Salzburg Festival by famous director Peter Stein. The strong cast includes the "marvellously expressive miracle Dorothea Röschmann" (Die Zeit) and "Michael Schade, who exudes his exceptional tenor in Fierrabras's heroic arias" (Der neue Merker). Under the energetic baton of lngo Metzmacher, the Vienna Philharmonic unfold "the melos, the poetry, the sweetness and the dramatic force of Schubert's highly refined and atmospheric sound worlds" (Kleine Zeitung) in highly romantic fashion. Bonus: The Making of Fierrabras.

Franz Schubert
FIERRABRAS

König Karl - Georg Zeppenfeld
Emma - Julia Kleiter
Roland - Markus Werba
Eginhard - Benjamin Bernheim
Boland - Peter Kálmán
Fierrabras - Michael Schade
Florinda - Dorothea Röschmann
Maragond - Marie-Claude Chappuis

Vienna State Opera Chorus
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Ingo Metzmacher, conductor

Peter Stein, stage director
Ferdinand Wögerbauer, stage designer
Annamaria Heinreich, costume designer
Joachim Barth, lighting designer

Recorded live during the Salzburg Festival, 2014

Bonus:
- The Making of Fierrabras

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format:PCM Stereo / DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: German, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 164 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 2 (DVD 9)

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REVIEW:

Peter Stein's Salzburg Festival production sets Fierrabras more or less in its historical period. All four main roles are convincingly taken, with the palm going to Julia Kleiter's Emma, alluringly voiced and phrased, and soaring without shrillness into the stratosphere.

– Gramophone

Also available on Blu-ray

Vienna has long been a hub of European music. The Austrian city attracted the likes of famed composers Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert. The concert featured on this release joins together works from these three outstanding composers, all of which were composed during the beginnings of their Vienna careers. Sir Andras Schiff is at the fore of the Capella Andrea Barca in this recording. Hungarian born Schiff has achieved great acclaim as a conductor and pianist, including a Grammy, Gramophone Award, and Mozart Medal. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014. Critics have written of this concert recording, “Sensitively supported by the rich and supple tone of the strings, Schiff’s pianistic virtuosity explores the length and breadth of Beethoven’s early work, from the opulent to the playful, with a palpable delight rarely found in such measure in a pianist.” (Salzburg Press)

Picture Format: NTSC 16:9
Sound Formats: PCM 2.0, DTS 5.1
Region Code: 0 (Worldwide)
Running Time: 109 mins

Also available on Blu-ray

“The cast is a dream team,” wrote the Financial Times after the premiere of this production of Verdi’s La forza del destino at the Wiener Staatsoper. Verdi’s 1862 opera is regularly performed and the overture is part of the standard repertoire for orchestras, but this production stands apart from the rest. Powerful performances by Nina Stemme, who gives a fullblooded portrayal of Leonora, Alastair Miles as her father, Salvatore Licitra as Alvaro, Carlos Álvarez as Don Carlo and Nadia Krasteva as Preziosilla resulted in one of the Viennese ensemble’s most celebrated achievements of recent years. Zubin Mehta leads the Staatsoper Orchestra with agility, subtleness and relaxed mastery, and right from the start David Pountney establishes an atmosphere of entrapment by fate. “A perfect utopia.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).

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REVIEW:

Tenor Salvatore Licitra as Don Alvaro in La forza del destino, captured in Vienna 10 years ago - his singing is admirably clean, his tone noble. Alongside him, Nina Stemme is a gutsy Leonora, assiduously following the score’s markings, Carlos Álvarez an outstanding Don Carlo, Alistair Miles a firm and cleanly- sung Padre Guardiano.

– Opera Now

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DETAILS:

Subtitles: Italian, Eng., Ger., Ff., Sp., Kr,Cn
Booklet: English, German, French
Run time: 161 minutes
Disc Format: DVD9
Picture: NTSC 16:9
Audio: PCM Stereo, PCM 5.1
Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony shows the culmination of the composer’s career. The concert recorded in this landmark live performance was part of The Mahler Project, in which friends and conductors Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez tackled all of Mahler’s symphonies with the Staatskapelle Berlin. A documentary from Christoph Engel accompanies the concert, in which a diverse selection of statements and conversations from both conductors is featured.

This release gives listeners a chance to witness an iconic masterpiece of American dance. Alvin Ailey's Revalations has been described by The New york Times as "one of the great works of the human spirit." This stunning, soulful tour de foce draws on African-American spirituals, song-sermons, gospel songs and holy blues. The wide-ranging influences and irrepressible passion of Revalations are evident across the rest of this electrifying program, which features Wayne McGregor's sumptuous Chroma, set to a score by Joby Talbot with orchestrations of songs by The White Stripes, Ronald K. Brown's Grace, a powerful meeting of modern and West African dance with a soundtrack by Duke Ellington, Roy Davis and Fela Kuti and Robert Battle's humorous, high-flying Takadem.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Salzburg Festival, C Major presents this brilliant box set that features 10 outstanding Operas from the Salzburg Festival history including Simon Boccanegra, Salome, L'italiana in Algeri, Pique Dame, Die Zauberflöte, Otello, Der Rosenkavalier, Vec Makropulos, Fierrabras and Theodora. The Salzburg Festival (German: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The festival was initially a counterpart to the Prussian-North German uncompromising worldview, and emphasized the centuries-old Habsburg principles of “live and let live” with regard to ethnic groups, peoples, minorities, religions, cultures, and languages. It was officially inaugurated on August 22, 1920 with Reinhardt’s performance of Hofmannsthal’s Jedermann on the steps of the Salzburg Cathedral. The first festival hall was erected in 1925.

As part of the big musical concert, musical stars Carin Filipcic, Maya Hakvoort, Vanessa Heinz, and others perform the most beautiful melodies from the famous musicals Tanz der Vampire (Dance of the Vampires), Mozart!, Rebecca, Elisabeth, Schikaneder,and more in the impressive ambience of the Vienna Ronacher. (C Major)

In the wake of the beloved Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky's untimely passing in November 2017, tributes, memorials and musical event dedications have flowed non-stop. But none thus far has matched the sheer scope, power and sonic splendor of this all-Russian performance of Verdi's blockbuster Requiem Mass. The all-star cast of soloists- soprano Dinara Alieva, mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova, tenor Francesco Meli and bass Dmitry Belosselsky- sing their hearts out for Dmitri, under the baton of the vaunted Maestro Yuri Temirkanov leading the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bolshoi Theater Chorus. The result is an incredibly heartfelt and moving musical tribute to one of the greatest baritones who has ever lived.

If there is one work that has been crucial to Daniel Barenboim’s conducting career, it has to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde: he has been working on piercing its secrets for more than 35 years. In the pit of the newly renovated Staatsoper Berlin and at the head of his Staatskapelle, he once again makes magic happen. Entrusted with the stage direction, Dmitri Tcherniakov delves into the psychological aspects of the drama and gives a new realistic depth to this opus. Thanks to his demanding direction of the cast, but also to a clever use of video projections, he manages to craft intense images which effectively resonate with the rapturous and voluptuous enchantments of the score. To complete this high-level artistic crew, the Staatsoper called upon some of the finest Wagner experts: Andreas Schager, already a superb Parsifal and a regular guest at the Bayreuth Festival, is Tristan, Anja Kampe is an unforgettable Isolde, and Ekaterina Gubanova thrills as Brangäne.

Set in the artistic but impoverished milieu of early 19th-century Paris, the tragic love of the poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimì is one of the most affecting in all opera. La Bohème’s arias are also some of the most intensely passionate Puccini ever wrote, making it is one of the best-loved of all his works. In what Opera News called a ‘thorough rethinking and brilliant re-creation’ this exceptional Oslo production, strongly cast and conducted, and staged by internationally acclaimed director Stefan Herheim, explores the work as never before to create what The New York Times called an ‘ultimately haunting’ experience.

Review

The impressive cast includes Diego Torre as Rodolfo and the luscious-voiced Marita Sølberg, acting and singing beautifully as Mimi…This is a bold, innovative and thought-provoking production that challenges more conventional interpretations of Puccini’s best-loved opera.

--New Classics

The focus of Lorenzo Da Ponte’s libretto for Così fan tutte is on female infidelity, two partner-swapping couples and a wager. Its enigmatic ambiguity and lightness of touch, its razor’s edge balance between irony and empathy, detachment and involvement, and on-stage reality and illusion is structured with perfect Classical symmetry. More than any other opera it explores the depths and darker impulses of the experience of love. This production by director Sven-Eric Bechtolf was given in Florence with a staging that ‘holds a balance between philosophy and humour’ (bachtrack.com).

This is a Blu-ray Audio disc, playable on Blu-ray players only.

“In the Summer of 2019, we recorded our album Once Upon a Time, our first recorded version of a “story concert.” Although we had explored this concept for several years prior with storyteller Sarah Walker, Once Upon a Time was our first collaboration with Benedict Sheehan, who composed incidental music (almost like a choral movie score) to accompany Sarah’s dialogue and to connect the musical dots between existing works by an array of composers. That summer, it became clear that we had stumbled onto something unusual and special. First, the idea of a continuous choral story score – combining elements of classical performance, storytelling, film scoring, and theatricality – seemed to be a rich new idiom for choral performance art. Second, the collaborative team of the project seemed like a dream come true – there was a strong sense of mutual respect for everyone’s unique talents, and a rare ability for creative push and pull…” (Matthew Guard, Artistic Director)