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PERGOLESI Adriano in Siria. Livietta e Tracollo 1 • Ottavio Dantone, cond; Marina Comparato ( Adriano ); Lucia Cirillo ( Emirena ); Annamaria dell’Oste ( Farnaspe ); Nicole Heaston ( Sabina ); Stefano Ferrari ( Osroa ); Francesca Lombardi ( Aquilio ); 1 Monica Bacelli ( Livietta ); 1 Carlo Lepore ( Tracollo ); Accademia Bizantina • OPUS ARTE OA 1065D (2 DVDs); OA BD7098D (Blu-ray: 190:00 + 12:00) Live: Jesi 2010


Adriano in Siria is a Baroque opera and a prime example of the genre of opera seria , a stylized form that was to dominate Italian opera production for nearly the entire first half of the 18th century. Handel and Vivaldi both composed opera seria but were good enough musicians and smart enough theater professionals not to let the conventions rule them; they made numerous changes to the format to suit their own audiences. Adriano has a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, as many other operas of the period do. His poetry dominated the era and his librettos were set over and over again by many different composers. Adriano had been written only two years previously when Giovanni Batista Pergolesi set it for Naples in 1734, and it had already been set by two other composers and would be set by many more to follow. Pergolesi was from the town of Jesi in the Italian Marches near the Adriatic coast, but was sent to Naples as a boy to study at one of the music academies. When he graduated he was talented enough to find a patron there. His entire short career (he died at 26, it is thought from tuberculosis) was spent in the orbit of the then-dominant Naples music establishment. Pergolesi wrote eight surviving works for the stage as well as his well-known Stabat Mater and other sacred works. In 2010 the Pergolesi Spontini Foundation in Peri announced it would be helping to underwrite the production and video recording of all of Pergolesi’s operas and intermezzos, the first two of which are seen here. Interpolated between the three acts of Adriano is the short comedic intermezzo Livietta e Tracollo.


To say the libretto is by Metastasio is a bit misleading, since many of the arias were rewritten by local poets to suit the particular singers. In the case of Adriano, seven of the 27 musical numbers provided by Metastasio were jettisoned, and of those remaining, 10 were rewritten. The stars of the original production were the castrato Caffarelli and the soprano known as “La Droghierina,” both of whom later appeared with Handel in London. Two additional arias are cut here, which seems a bit odd if one reason for recording the work is to save it for posterity. A new critical edition of the score prepared by Dale E. Monson is used. The story involves the Roman Emperor Hadrian (yes, the same guy who built the wall in Great Britain to keep out the wild Scots from the north). He is in Antioch after defeating the Parthians and their king, Osroa. He holds captive Osroa’s daughter, Emirena, with whom he is falling in love. Farnaspe, a Parthian army leader and Emirena’s beloved, comes to plead for her release. To complicate the situation Adriano’s own intended, Sabina, shows up from Rome wondering what’s going on, and Osroa, the defeated king, is also present in disguise. After quite a bit more opera and many musical numbers, Adriano does the noble thing, pardoning all the Parthians, giving the king back his kingdom, and reuniting Farnaspe and Emirena, pledging his own love for Sabina.


This production from the small regional opera house in Jesi is quite charming. Although Pergolesi’a opera calls for six scene changes, there is only one set here, an open area surrounded by broken columns and fallen large building stones as if in the ruins of a great castle. Chains come down from above to form a cell door when a prison scene is needed. Of the four male roles three are taken here by women; only Osroa is a male, and unusually, a tenor King! All of the six young singers seen on the video sing exceptionally well in this music, though Pergolesi apparently doesn’t really challenge the singers in these roles like Mozart or Handel were wont to do. Annamaria dell’Oste, who plays the soldier Farnaspe, suffers from rather amateurish makeup and her costume does nothing to hide her rather voluptuous female curves. The acting is a bit stilted, as one would expect from young singers, and many of the arias are stand-and-deliver, but that is partly the nature of opera seria . The small Baroque pit band propels the action well but doesn’t show much flexibility in tempos to accommodate the singers; it just keeps chugging along. The intermezzo seen between acts of the main opera is quite charming as well. Two singers, including the only one here I’d ever heard of before, mezzo Monica Bacelli, drive the comedic action of this piece. It is not as good or funny as the only other intermezzo Pergolesi wrote, the famous La Serva Padrona , but it makes a refreshing break from the more serious opera.


Adriano is not really compelling drama; apparently most of the Italian patrons already knew the story, ignored the recitatives, and only paid attention when the most florid singing was occurring. Otherwise they chatted, ate, or played cards. Tough crowd. This production is, however, a fascinating glimpse of a genre long dead, performed and sung well in a setting not unlike one where it may have been performed nearly 300 years ago. It is much more compelling visually in the Blu-ray format. I enjoy it; you just might as well. Conductor Ottavio Dantone talks about the opera, the composer, and this production in the interesting bonus feature.


FANFARE: Bill White


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Adriano Marina Comparato
Emirena Lucia Cirillo
Farnaspe Annamaria Dell’Oste
Sabina Nicole Heaston
Osroa Stefano Ferrari
Aquilio Tribuno Francesca Lombardi

Accademia Bizantina

Director Ignacio García
Conductor Ottavio Dantone

Recorded live from the Teatro Comunale Pergolesi, Jesi, 2010

Extra features:
Interview with Ottavio Dantone
Cast gallery

Duration: 188 mins
Regions: All regions
Picture Format: 1080i High Definition
Sound Type: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian

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Peter and the Wolf, Prokofiev’s musical fairy tale, has been delighting children since 1936. Nearly 60 years later, in 1995, the young choreographer Matthew Hart created a witty choreographed version for the Royal Ballet School with designs by Ian Spurling. Described as ‘an utterly delightful ballet and a perfect showcase for the younger students,’ by the Royal Ballet’s Director, Monica Mason, it was staged again and recorded for this DVD.

"...Matthew Hart’s Peter and the Wolf is one of the most beguiling children’s ballets around.” - The Telegraph

Matthew Hart, choreographer
The Wolf – Sergei Polunin
Grandfather – Will Kemp
Peter – Kilian Smith
Duck – Charlotte Edmonds
Bird – Laurine Muccioli
Cat – Chisato Katsura

The Royal Ballet School
Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Paul Murphy, conductor

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, 16 and 18 December 2010.

Bonus:
- Cast gallery
- Documentary feature on rehearsing Peter and the Wolf

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Running time: 38 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)

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Svetlana Zakharova, Sergei Filin, Gennady Yanin, Maria Aleksandrova (dancers)

Soloists of the Bolshoï Ballet & Orchestra of the Bolshoï Theatre, Alexander Sotnikov

Choreographer: Pierre Lacotte after Marius Petipa.

For the first time in Blu-ray, Bel Air Classiques present Petipa’s extravaganza, The Pharaoh’s Daughter, in the stunning production by Pierre Lacotte. This Russian ballet enjoys a special place in history. Premiered in 1862, this grand spectacle, which lasted four hours and featured a cast of 400, was Petipa’s first truly successful ballet and secured his future in St Petersburg, where he went on to become the most influential choreographer of the 19th century. Until recently, The Pharaoh’s Daughter was also one of Petipa’s lost ballets; it hadn’t been performed since 1928. In 2000 the French choreographer Pierre Lacotte premièred a restored version at the Bolshoi Theatre, after much research into the original, resulting in a shorter although still sumptuous extravaganza. Ballet scenarios don't come much sillier than The Pharaoh's Daughter, which turns on the story of British Egyptologist Lord Wilson who, after a reckless hit of opium, dreams himself back to the time of the pharaohs. Wilson falls in love with Aspicia, the ballet's titular heroine, and when she throws herself into the Nile to avoid being married off to the King of Nubia, Wilson is left to face death by snakebite. Tragedy is averted by the Nile's underwater king who restores Aspicia to Wilson's arms.

"Whatever doubts are raised by Lacotte's choreography, his designs are deliriously extravagant - and with these, at least, we're guaranteed a taste of the blockbusting opulence that enthralled St Petersburg and Moscow 140 years ago." -- Judith Mackrell, The Guardian

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To mark the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth, two leading Russian pianists tackle the great Romantic composer’s two piano concertos: Evgeny Kissin plays the F minor Concerto op. 21, a key work in Chopin’s output, while Nikolai Demidenko performs the E minor Concerto op. 11, a virtuoso display vehicle of the first rank. They are accompanied by the Warsaw Philharmonic under the direction of Antoni Wit. Enthusiastically acclaimed by the audience at Warsaw’s Philharmonic Hall on 27 February 2010, this memorable concert has been captured in first-class sound and picture quality.

Recorded live at the Filharmonia Narodowa, Warsaw, 26-27 February 2010.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 97 mins
No. of Discs: 1

This is the world's first full length Blu-ray 3D disc of solo piano music shot specifically for release on Blu-ray 3D and was recorded in REAL HD-Audio at 96 kHz, 24-bit PCM presented in DOLBY TrueHD shot. The disc is completely compatible with both 2D and This is the world's first full length Blu-ray 3D disc of solo piano music shot specifically for release on Blu-ray 3D and was recorded in REAL HD-Audio at 96 kHz, 24-bit PCM presented in DOLBY TrueHD shot. The disc is completely copatible with both 2D and 3D Blu-ray players and TVs.

The world's first Blu-ray disc of chamber music featuring the Chamber Music Palisades Ensemble-one one of the oldest performing chamber music groups in LA. 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: 5.1 "Stage", 5.1 "Audience" & 2.0 Channel Stereo Disc contains bonus features including channel identification tones, a photo gallery, liner notes and musicians bios.

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Isabelle van Keulen is a top Dutch violinist who performs all over the world as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles. She heard an Astor Piazzolla LP at the tender age of six, and has been a tango music lover ever since. Isabelle has long wanted to play this music in an ensemble, and now her dream comes true with not only an SACD but also a DVD and Blu-ray, which both include a moving film by director Hans Pannecoucke as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary on the project.

The tunes on this release aim to awaken the listener’s imagination. From a small boat rocking helplessly on the waves, to unhatched chicks dancing in their shells, the listener experiences every second. These works by Modest Mussorgsky and Maurice Ravel are frequently performed, well loved, and are presented here in a new guise by Markus Schiermer. Markus Schirmer is a professor of concert piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz. He recently received the Music Manual Award at the International Music Convention, and the Karl-Bohm Interpretationspreis.

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What a pompous and exquisite gala to celebrate opera legend Plácido Domingo in the breathtaking Arena di Verona! 50 years ago the young Madrilenian singer Plácido Domingo gave his debut at the ancient open-air theatre: the beginning of a lasting and exceptional relationship. To mark the anniversary, Domingo presents a programme entirely dedicated to Verdi, performing three of his most complex and majestic baritone roles. No effort was spared to create an unforgettable evening in a unique atmosphere in the completely sold-out amphitheatre, which has been at the heart of Italian entertainment for almost 2,000 years. Whether as Babylonian king Nabucco, Scottish general Macbeth or as Doge Simon Boccanegra: Domingo’s versatility and aura is more than impressive, with “top phrasing and articulation, his baritone with full and sonorous intonation and a unique timbre – all this substantiates his exceptional position” (Das Opernglas). At the side of Domingo shines an excellent cast including Anna Pirozzi and Arturo Chacón-Cruz, supported by a perfectly rehearsed ballet under the baton of conductor Jordi Bernàcer who sovereignly leads the Orchestra of the Arena di Verona from scene to scene. A triumphal, almost historic moment for Domingo and the Arena di Verona!

This Op�ra de Paris staging of Jean-Philippe Rameau's burlesque on the vicissitudes of love, is a pure joy from start to splashing finish" (Wall Street Journal Europe). Laurent Pelly's staging of Plat�e is an exhilarating display of gags and West Side S

This performance of Coolidge with an 11 piece band was shot specifically for Blu-ray 3D. This disc is compatible with both 2D and 3D Blu-ray players and TVs. Music recorded in REAL HD-Audio at 96 kHz/24-bit PCM and presented in DOLBY TrueHD and 96/24 PCM. Users can select from 3 different audio mixes. Bonus features and material also included.

I Shardana is set in a free Sardinia, an island where rigorous rules are in force and it's people do not tolerate invasions or spiritual contamination, a time when - as Ennio Porrino (b. 1910) specifies in the score - shepherds were warriors and judges, "when man did not believe in one God but in the power of the stars, and worshipped the dead and the waters".The opera's first drafts date from 1934-35, but the work only debuted years later, on 21st March 1959, at the San Carlo theatre in Naples, with it's final title of I Shardana and Porrino himself conducting. The composer would die suddenly a few months later.

Classical Music

Susan Gritton, Sylvie Brunet, Soile Isokoski, Susanne Resmark, Helene Guilmette, Bernard Richter, and Alain Vernhes star in this Bayreuth production of the Poulenc opera conducted by Kent Nagano and directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov.

This set of three films provides an outstanding showcase for the artistry of dancer Roberto Bolle, a ballet star of our own time. For the 75th anniversary celebrations of The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia was restored to the splendor of its elegant and opulent three-act form. Casting Bolle as Aminta alongside Darcey Bussell in the title role, this is a wonderful showcase for virtuosity, invention and classical beauty. By contrast Roland Petit’s Notre-Dame de Paris exudes modernity, with its cool choreography and chic costumes by Yves Saint-Laurent. Here Bolle’s tragic Quasimodo, by turns fierce and tender, dances opposite Natalia Osipova as Esmeralda. In a second production from La Scala, the Ballet Corp’s traditional Grand Gala aligns with Milan’s tenure as host city of EXPO 2015, and Roberto Bolle, as one of La Scala’s étoiles, plays a central role in the stunning programme of excerpts. He performs the pas de deux from yet another Petit masterwork, dancing Don José to Polina Semionova’s Carmen, along with the mesmerizing contemporary solo Prototype.

Alain Vernhes, Martial Defontaine, Francois Le Roux, Serghei Khomov, Sandrine Piau, Anna Shafajinskaja, and Sir Willard White star in this de Nederlandse Opera production of the Prokofiev opera conducted by Stephane Deneve.

Christopher Wheeldon's acclaimed new Cinderella for the Dutch National Ballet is an imaginative interpretation of a much-loved classic. Inspired by the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Wheeldon gives the characters renewed depth and complexity, complementing Prokofiev's celebrated and colorful score. With sets and costumes by the renowned designer Julian Crouch, supported by stunning stage effects, this world premiere production is a truly magical experience, bringing an age-old fairy tale into the 21st century.

Marianela Nunez and Vadim Muntagirov star as Cinderella and The Prince in Frederick Ashton’s timeless reworking of Charles Perrault’s famous rags-to-riches story, showcasing the choreographer’s deft musicality and the beauty of Prokofiev’s transcendent score. A creative team steeped in the magic of theatre, film, dance and opera brings new atmosphere to Cinderella’s ethereal world of fairy godmothers and pumpkin carriages, handsome princes and finding true love

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Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” has inspired generations of artists to adaptations like scarcely any other work. In his colorful, passionate music, the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev brilliantly captured the clash of love and hatred, and the proximity of tenderness and violence. Inspired by Prokofiev’s vivid music and the timeless quality of Shakespeare’s tragedy, choreographer Christian Spuck and the Ballet Zurich narrate the most famous love story in world literature using strong images that are full of enthralling theatricality and touching emotion. Michail Jurowski, a true Prokofiev expert, is at the rostrum of the Philharmonia Zurich.

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Two lovers, united by fate but kept apart by an old family feud, who can only be together in death: Shakespeare’s timeless tale, set to ballet music by Sergey Prokofiev in 1935, needs no introduction. However, this production from the Ural Opera Ballet in Ekaterinburg, which won the prestigious Golden Mask Prize as “Best Ballet” in 2017, adds interesting twists to this well-known frame, as choreographer Vyacheslav Samodurov sets his performance in a dance studio, during a rehearsal of the Romeo and Juliet ballet. This way, the characters of the play are placed out of a specific country or era: the action could take place anytime and anywhere. It could even be happening in front of your window right now: it is not by chance that the dancers reminded the audience of today’s ‘boys and girls from the Uralmash district’, as some viewers have noted in social media. The motive of struggle between the two clans disappears from the performance – it does not matter which families the street fighters belong to. The concept of repetition and inexorability of the theatrical ritual plays a central part: a tragedy is about to happen and the lovers will die today, but afterwards everyone will go home, a new rehearsal will start tomorrow, and the story will be repeated again from the start. With outstanding performances from principals Ekaterina Sapogova and Alexandr Merkushev, choreographer Vyacheslav Samodurov creates an intricate and surprisingly modern choreographical language that draws from classical movements but also from pantomime to best express the feelings and the drama at play in this eternal masterpiece.

From grand spectacles to poignant close-ups, experience Helgi Tomasson's bravura interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet like you've never seen it before. With passionate choreography, spine-tingling swordsmansip, and a celebrated score by Sergei Prokofiev, San Francisco Ballet's passionate retelling of the Bard's greatest tragedy has packed houses around the world. Romeo & Juliet is one of the Company's most popular and widely toured ballets and has been seen by more than 200,000 people since it premiered in 1994. Choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, with sets and costumes by Jens-Jacob Worsaae, this visually stunning production and the brilliant dancers of San Francisco Ballet bring this powerful and touching tragedy - and Renaissance-era Verona - vivdly to life. "Tomasson lifts Shakespeare's complex and familiar language off the gilded pages and translates it into lucid classical choreography that is visceral, fresh, and ultimately sublime" (Huffington Post).

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Sergey Prokofiev
ROMEO AND JULIET
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Romeo – Federico Bonelli
Juliet – Lauren Cuthbertson
Mercutio – Alexander Campbell
Tybalt – Bennet Gartside
Benvolio – Dawid Trzensimiech
Paris – Valeri Hristov
Lord Capulet – Christopher Saunders
Lady Capulet – Christina Arestis
Esclasus – Gary Avis

Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth, conductor

Kenneth MacMillan, choreographer

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, March 2012

Bonus:
- Documentaries on Kenneth MacMillan’s production
- Sharps, Points and Pirouettes – the famous sword fight scene
- Cast gallery

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles (bonus): French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese
Running time: 158 mins (ballet) + 15 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD50)

Kenneth MacMillan’s passionate choreography for Romeo and Juliet shows The Royal Ballet at its dramatic finest. Sergey Prokofiev’s famously evocative score is the driver for some of the most ardent pas de deux and powerful set pieces in ballet history. The vibrant crowd scenes with magnificent designs by Nicholas Georgiadis vividly recreate the color and bustle of 16th\-century Verona in this Royal Ballet classic. “Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball will hug their first Romeo and Juliet their whole lives. What a dream debut for these two youngsters…” (The Spectator) “Kenneth MacMillan was a consummate storyteller, and in Romeo and Juliet he came as close to perfection as it’s possible to get.” (Culture Whisper) “From the quarrelling townsfolk to the stately ball guests, this is a Romeo packed with life, the whole company caught up in the ballet’s unfolding tragedy.” (The Independent)

Prokofiev had written two symphonies as a student but his first numbered work in the genre was the Classical Symphony, completed in 1917. This evokes, melodically though not necessarily harmonically, the world of Haydn and Mozart, and it has remained one of his most popular works. The Second Symphony, by contrast, is a work of ‘iron and steel’ (in the composer’s words), a symphony of conscious modernity and visceral power. Dreams, a ‘symphonic tableau’, reveals the potent, early influence on Prokofiev of Scriabin. Of Marin Alsop and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra’s recording of the Fourth Symphony and The Prodigal Son [8.573186], International Record Review wrote: ‘Conductor and orchestra both shine with the excitement of a special relationship in the ascendant’.

Written in 1944, Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony is one of his greatest and most complete symphonic statements. At it's premiere he himself called it "a symphony of the grandeur of the human spirit". The first movement couples considerable strength with unexpected yet highly characteristic twists of melody. After a violent scherzo followed by a slow movement of sustained lyricism, with a fiercely dramatic middle section, the finale blazes with barely suppressed passion. The Year 1941 is another wartime work, a symphonic suite written in response to the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Marin Alsop has been Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2007, a relationship now extended to 2015. Currently Conductor Emeritus of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Laureate of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, since 1992 she has also been Music Director of California's prizewinning Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.