Boerio: Bello tiempo passato - Comic Intermezzo from the ope
Dynamic
Blu-Ray
$36.99Jul 19, 2024
In the early 1670s, soon after Venetian opera became established in Naples, a series of comic figures began to inhabit secular but also sacred operas. These stock characters included the Neapolitan, the Calabrian and the Boy, and all three plus a fourth, 'The Spaniard', appear in a comic intermezzo inserted in the 1673 opera Il disperato innocente by the little-known Francesco Antonio Boero. This is the oldest surviving Neapolitan comic intermezzo, and, along with it's Prologue, seems to have been written by other authors. This video preserves a historically informed performance given by Antonio Florio with Pino de Vittorio that explores the tradition of the intermezzo in 17th century plots.
Best-known today as the librettist of Verdi’s final Shakespearean masterpieces, Otello and Falstaff, the multitalented Arrigo Boito was also a fine composer in his own right. Hugely ambitious in scope, and some 20 years in the making, his first (and only completed) opera, Mefistofele, sets out to encompass nothing less than the whole of Goethe’s vast poetic drama Faust (parts I and II), and is considered the very central work of his phase between Verdi and Puccini. Making his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper, director Roland Schwab (a protégé of the legendary Ruth Berghaus) plays devil’s advocate by setting the opera in a nightmarish atmosphere. The exceptional cast features Rene Pape, Joseph Calleja, Kristine Opolais, and Karine Babajanyan. “[Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais’s Margherita] shines with understated Grace Kelly elegance” (Opera Today). “[Conductor Omer Meir Wellber “holds all the musical textures together with admirable control” (BR Klassik).
A century after it's world premiere at Teatro all Scala under Arturo Toscanini, conductor Francesco Cilluffo opened the 2024 season of the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari with this acclaimed production of Arrigo Boito's rarely performed Nerone. Set in Rome and focusing on Nero during a time of conflict between belief in Roman Gods and Christianity, Boito's opera displays a forward-looking harmonic palette with an eloquent and masterly handling of large orchestral forces.
Napoli, a cornerstone of the Royal Danish Ballet, was created in 1842 by choreographer and ballet master, August Bournonville. This timeless tale is set in Naples and focus on Gennaro, a young fisherman, on his quest to rescue Teresina, his beloved, who has supposedly drowned at sea. For this production, the Company has chosen to set the scene in the 1950s, taking inspiration from Federico Fellini's early films. Maja Ravn has created elaborate sets and constumes and Nikolaj Hubbe and Sorella Englund bring striking new choreography to Bournonville's classic routines. An entirely new musical score has been created for Act II just for this production! Leading this cast is Alban Lendorf as Gennaro and Alexandra Lo Sardo as Teresina. Graham Bond conducts this fabulous ballet, recorded live in 2014 at the Royal Danish Ballet, Copenhagen.
Brahms: Academic Festival Overture - Violin Concerto - Symph
Belvedere Edition
Blu-Ray
$32.99Oct 26, 2018
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.
This is the complete video release of Brahms' chamber music with several reference recordings. Moreover, the 16 hours of SD-quality video materials presented here on a single Blu-ray disc are equivalent to about eight standard DVD releases. This edition features great performances by today's most outstanding artists showcasing their thrilling artistry in inimitable performances. A must for any Brahms aficionado!
A work of great depth and eloquence, and the longest work in Brahms’s œuvre, A German Requiem inspiration from Bach’s contrapuntal genius but avoids overt religious tradition. Brahms chose the texts himself, placing an emphasis on an affirmation of life with the suggestion that he would gladly have substituted ‘human’ for ‘German’ in the title. This release joins Antoni Wit’s ‘richly satisfying’ (Gramophone) recording of Brahms Choral Music [8.572694].
One of our day’s most legendary performers, pianist Rudolph Buchbinder has been appearing on stages all over the globe for the last fifty years. Later this year, in celebration of his 70th birthday, he will be honored in numerous concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Berliner Philharmonie. The Kurier newspaper described this performance with rave reviews. “It is not every day that Brahms sounds so perfect as this.” (Kurier) They also praised Buchbinder as a “phenomenal piano virtuoso.” In the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, under the baton of Maestro Zubin Mehta, Buchbinder performs for this release the First and Second Piano Concertos of Johannes Brahms. These works demand a soloist with a wide range of both interpretal refinement and technical skill, both of which Buchbinder brings to the table. “What Rudolph Buchbinder, the Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Zubin Mehta delivered at the Musikverein easily deserves the accolade ‘milestone’.” (Kurier)
Picture Format: 1080i, 16;9 Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DTS-HD MA 5.0 Region Code: 0 (Worldwide) Running Time: 96 mins
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. When Brahms set out to write his first symphonies, the pressure was high. Critics and audiences expected him to follow directly behind Beethoven. Some even called Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 “Beethoven’s Tenth.” Although it took Brahms quite a number of years to present these works, the first three of his symphonies, recorded here in live performances, do not disappoint.
Before moving into the Elbphilharmonie, chief conductor Thomas Hengelbrock and his NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester performed a “Brahms Marathon” with all four symphonies of the Hamburg-born composer in the historic Laeiszhalle. Brahms’ music has always played an important role in the history of the orchestra, whose defining interpretations of the symphonies by Brahms and Bruckner have become the ensemble’s artistic hallmark. The orchestra, founded in 1945, was led by outstanding conductors such as Günter Wand, Christoph Eschenbach and Christoph von Dohnanyi. Since 2011, chief conductor Thomas Hengelbrock is in charge of continuing the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester’s history. In the bonus program ''Discovering Brahms'', Thomas Hengelbrock offers interesting background information on all four symphonies. “The evening was more than worth it” (Hamburger Abendblatt).
Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Tragic Overture / Welser-Most, Bronfman, Cleveland Orchestra [Blu-ray]
Belvedere Edition
Blu-Ray
$32.99Sep 14, 2018
This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.
Also available on standard DVD 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. The Second Piano Concerto, completed in 1881, is the work of a composer who has become skilled in the manipulation of large forms. Brahms treats the soloist as an equal partner with the orchestra. Yefim Bronfman has the uncanny ability to play large without stridency, to handle the most delicate passages without losing presence, and to play everything in between with a ravishing sense of tonal color. Welser-Möst and Bronfman brought pulsing energy to the concerto’s second movement, a Scherzo, setting up an oasis of calm for the third that segued immediately into the genial finale, whose last chords were nearly obliterated by roars of approval from the audience. Laced into his forceful performance of Piano Concerto No. 1 was a surprising element of fury, as if the pianist had come unhinged momentarily. And yet Bronfman was also wholly present, taking time in relaxed passages to savor every second. Which of the two concertos Bronfman knocked further out the park is impossible to say. Both scores the pianist seized by their very hearts, drawing forth all the majesty, raw power and exquisite beauty that each contains.
Britten: Billy Budd / Bolton, Teatro Real de Madrid [Blu-ray]
BelAir Classiques
Blu-Ray
$36.99Sep 14, 2018
800 liters of water, two sails, thirty pulleys, sixty hammocks : for the Bicentenary of the Teatro Real of Madrid, Deborah Warner coined a colossal production of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd. “Oh, what have I done?” Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, former commander of the H.M.S. Indomitable asks himself with horror at the beginning of the opera, before recounting the tragic events that took place aboard his ship in 1797. The story revolves around a young model sailor, Billy Budd, and John Claggart, the unscrupulous master-at-arms obsessed and crazed by Billy’s angelic beauty; and follows the characters in their fall down to the most infernal depths of perversion and psychosis, exploring the themes of innocence, culpability, individual responsibility and justice. In this ambiguous and symbolic tale, drawn from Herman Melville’s last masterpiece, the composer Benjamin Britten, who returns for the occasion to symphonic opera and its infinite possibilities, unsettles and disturbs us by revealing the complexity and universality of human experience. Far from writing the characters as allegories of Good and Evil, the opera shows us instead the remorseless logic followed by the surge of one’s darkest desires. But in this opera dominated by masculinity, Deborah Warner goes beyond the story of violence, jealousy and hatred and chooses to focus instead on the collateral beauty produced by comradeship, friendship and forgiveness. Tenor Jacques Imbrailo, who knows the title role perfectly, delivers a stunning rendition of the young sailor’s part, while British singers Toby Spence and Brindley Sherratt provide solid interpretations of Captain “Starry” Vere and of John Claggart. In the pit, Ivor Bolton masterfully deploys, along with the Orchestra of the Teatro Real, all the energy and power of Britten’s fifth opera.
Gustav von Aschenbach - John Graham Hall Traveller / Elderly Fop / Gondolier / Barber / Hotel Manger / Player / Dionysus - Andrew Shore Apollo - Tim Mead Tadzio - Sam Zaldivar The Polish Mother - Laura Caldow Two Daughters - Mia Angelina Mather / Xhuliana Shehu The Governess - Joyce Henderson Jaschiu - Marcio Teixeira
English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra Edward Gardner, conductor Deborah Warner, stage director
Recorded live at the London Coliseum, June 2013
Picture format:1080i High Definition Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Subtitles: English, French, German, Korean Running time: 153 mins No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)
Britten: Death In Venice / Bartoletti, Miller, Riga, Hendricks [blu-ray]
Dynamic
Blu-Ray
$26.99Jun 25, 2013
This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players. Also available on standard DVD
Benjamin Britten’s last opera Death in Venice is based on the novella by Thomas Mann. It was first performed in England in 1973. The astringent score is marked by some haunting soundscapes of 'ambiguous Venice'. The boy Tadzio is portrayed by a silent dancer, gamelan-like percussion accompaniment. The music of the opera is precise, direct and movingly understated. Britten had been contemplating the novella for many years and began work in September 1970 with approaches to Piper and to Golo Mann, son of the author. Because of agreements between Warner Brothers and the estate of Thomas Mann for the production of Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film, Britten was advised not to see the movie when it was released. According to Colin Graham, director of the first production of the opera, some colleagues of the composer who did see the film found the relationship between Tadzio and Aschenbach "too sentimental and salacious". This contributed to the decision that Tadzio and his family and friends would be portrayed by non-speaking dancers. Themes in the work of "formalism in art and the perilous dignity of the acclaimed artist" have been noted.
Marlin Miller, tenor – Gustav von Aschenbach; Scott Hendricks, baritone – Traveller and other roles;François Bittar, countertenor – Voice of Apollo; Allessandro Riga, dancer – Tadzio; La Fenice Theatre Orchestra and Chorus; Bruno Bartoletti, conductor DIRECTION & COSTUMES: Pierluigi Pizzi CHOREOGRAPHY: Gheorghe Iancu
Recorded Live at Teatro La Fenice, Venice 2008 NTSC; All Regions Running time 155 min. Sung in English Subtitles: Italian, German, French, Spanish
Britten: Death in Venice / Perez, Daszak, Teatro Real [Blu-ray]
Naxos AudioVisual
Blu-Ray
$34.99Oct 12, 2018
This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.
Also available on standard DVD Adapted from Thomas Mann’s 1912 novella, Death in Venice was Benjamin Britten’s last opera, the composer insisting on its completion while delaying badly needed heart surgery. The starkly simple narrative of a famous but failing novelist travelling to Venice to seek inspiration only to find unhealthy infatuation and deadly cholera, is given a chamber-like precision and clarity through Britten’s score, becoming a haunting drama filled with musical symbols, disquieting mystery and richly evocative atmospheres of Venice and its strange characters. Willy Decker’s Teatro Real production was described as ‘one of his most brilliant stage works… a remarkable technical feat.’
Part of Royal Opera's Britten centenary celebrations • 'Susan Bullock is an awe-inspiring Gloriana... Toby Spence, as Essex, has regained all his pristine vocal lustre' The Independent • 'Director Richard Jones... staging... is both moving and surprising... ' The Daily Telegraph • Extra features: Inside Rehearsals, Gloriana Behind the Scenes, cast gallery.
Peter Grimes – John Graham Hall Boy – Francesco Malvuccio Ellen Orford – Susan Gritton Captain Balstrode – Christopher Purves Auntie – Felicity Palmer First Niece – Ida Falk Winland Second Niece – Simona Mihai Bob Boles – Peter Hoare Swallow – Daniel Okulitch Mrs. Sedley – Catherine Wyn-Rogers Rev. Horace Adams – Christopher Gillett Ned Keene – George von Bergen
Milan La Scala Chorus and Orchestra Robin Ticciati, conductor
Richard Jones, stage director
Recorded live at the Teatro alla Scala, June 2012
Bonus: - Interviews with cast and crew
Picture format: 1080i High Definition Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean Running time: 168 mins No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)
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REVIEW:
Robin Ticciati brings transparency and detail to the score, director Richard Jones focuses on Grimes the outsider and the entire cast gives a magnificent performance.
Benjamin Britten THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA (Blu-ray Disc Version)
Lucretia – Sarah Connolly Tarquinius – Christopher Maltman Bianca – Catherine Wyn-Rogers Lucia – Mary Nelson Junius – Leigh Melrose Collatinus – Clive Bayley Female Chorus – Orla Boylan Male Chorus – John Mark Ainsley
English National Opera Orchestra Paul Daniel, conductor
David McVicar, stage director
Recorded live at the Aldeburgh Festival, The Maltings, Snape, 2001
Bonus: - Cast gallery
Picture format: 1080i High Definition Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean Running time: 120 mins No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)
R E V I E W: 3761210.az_BRITTEN_Rape_Lucretia_Paul.html BRITTEN The Rape of Lucretia • Paul Daniel, cond; Sarah Connolly (Lucretia); Christopher Maltman (Tarquinius); John Mark Ainsley (Male Chorus); Orla Boylan (Female Chorus); Clive Bayley (Collatinus); Leigh Melrose (Junius); Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Bianca); Mary Nelson (Lucia); O of the English Natl Op • OPUS ARTE 7135 (Blu-ray: 120:00) Live: Aldeburgh 6/2001
Premiered at Glyndebourne in July of 1946, The Rape of Lucretia was Britten’s first stage work after Peter Grimes, and the first he called a “chamber opera.” It was composed for just eight singers and a chamber ensemble of 12 instrumentalists, but a good performance of Lucretia packs at least as much of an emotional wallop as Peter Grimes or Billy Budd, and this performance is indeed a good one. A mood of dread and tense expectation is established in the opening scene for the Roman generals—Collatinus, Junius, and the depraved Tarquinius—that hardly lets up for the entire work. Four of the singes are truly top-notch: John Mark Ainsley and Orla Boylan as the Male and Female Chorus, Sarah Connolly in the title role, and Christopher Maltman (officially a “Barihunk,” who gets to take his shirt off for the rape scene) portraying Tarquinius. The other singers also cover their roles quite effectively. For example, the peaceful oasis in act I, scene 2, where the servants Bianca and Lucia wordlessly accompany the Female Chorus, is especially lovely.
As is frequently the case for this artist, stage director David McVicar questions, clarifies, and reconsiders. In a brief “Extra Feature,” McVicar explains that he actively rebelled against Britten’s specific instructions that the Male and Female Chorus should comment on the action, but not participate in it. Here, the two interact on stage with the other six singers, which makes the production considerably more theatrical and much less stylized. One reason, McVicar offers, is that Lucretia’s relationship with the Female Chorus can counter the typical “objectification” of the character—we can more easily understand her as something other than a sexual target. Lucretia’s costume is almost frumpish; she’s no fancier in her dress than her servants. She sports a plain, short hairstyle and wears very little jewelry. This wife of a powerful Roman general is certainly no temptress. This effort to de-glamorize the character may further confuse the already confused matter as to why Lucretia feels any sense of blame for her violation, why she won’t accept her husband’s absolution and kills herself. McVicar doesn’t seem to have much trouble with the opera’s “Christian” epilog, which was added (perhaps, it’s been said, at the urging of Peter Pears) to soften the harsh tragedy of Lucretia’s death by invoking the suffering and sacrifice of Christ. The director reminds us that the work was introduced just following World War II, when the world was attempting to come to grips with the senseless horror of the Holocaust. But a listener certainly won’t feel warm and fuzzy after the final blackout: This production maintains plenty of the moral ambiguity inherent to the score and libretto.
In keeping with the modest musical forces employed, Yannis Thavoris’s set and costume design is simple, attempting no profound commentary of its own. The recorded sound is good, with excellent detail to reveal Britten’s imaginative use of the small orchestra. Subtitle choices are English, French, German, Japanese, and Korean.
Six-disc set includes: Brigadoon (1954)While on a hunting trip in Scotland, New Yorkers Tommy Albright (Gene Kelly) and Jeff Douglas (Van Johnson) stumble upon the magical village of Brigadoon, which appears for one day every 100 years. And when Tommy falls in love with beautiful enchantress Fiona (Cyd Charisse), he must decide if he should stay or return to his humdrum life. With Elaine Stewart, Barry Jones. The classic Lerner and Loewe score includes "From This Day On," "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean," "The Heather on the Hill." 108 min. C/Rtg: G Guys And Dolls (1955)Damon Runyon's colorful gangsters come to life in this lavish film adaptation of Frank Loesser's beloved Broadway musical. Frank Sinatra is Nathan Detroit, proprietor of "the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York," and Marlon Brando is high-rolling gambler Sky Masterson; with Jean Simmons, Vivian Blaine, Stubby Kaye. The score includes "Luck Be a Lady," "Adelaide's Lament," "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat." 149 min. C/Rtg: NR The Pajama Game (1957)Labor relations take on a whole new meaning in George Abbott and Stanley Donen's filming of the hit Broadway musical, itself based on the 1953 novel "7 1/2 Cents," with garment worker activist "Babe" Williams (Doris Day) and factory foreman Sid Sorokin (John Raitt) playing the enemies-turned-lovers. "Steam Heat," "Hey There," and "I'm Not at All in Love" are among the memorable Adler/Ross tunes enhanced by Bob Fosse's choreography. With Carol Haney. 102 min. C/Rtg: NR Damn Yankees (1958)A lifelong and long-suffering Washington Senators fan makes a deal with the devilish Mr. Applegate (Ray Walston) and is transformed into young slugger Joe Hardy (Tab Hunter), ready to lead his club to the pennant, in this hit adaptation of the Broadway musical comedy from George Abbott (who co-directed with Stanley Donen). Gwen Verdon is Lola, Applegate's sultry sidekick; look for choreographer Bob Fosse as a mambo dancer. The score includes "Heart," "Whatever Lola Wants." 111 min. C/Rtg: NR Gypsy (1962)Smash musical about the life of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. Natalie Wood plays the vaudeville singer-turned-burlesque star, with Rosalind Russell as her abrasive stage mother. The Stephen Sondheim-Jule Styne score includes such gems as "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "Small World," and "You Gotta Have a Gimmick." With Karl Malden, Ann Jillian. 143 min. C/Rtg: NR The Boy Friend (1971)Director Ken Russell spoofs and salutes Hollywood musicals of the '30s in this heartfelt film. When the leading lady (Glenda Jackson) of a small-time theater company injures her ankle, she's replaced by a lowly assistant stage manager named Polly (Twiggy). Their show gets really wild when a big-time movie director comes recruiting, and Polly falls for her co-star (Christopher Gable). Classic show tunes and grand dance numbers highlight this production of Sandy Wilson's play. 136 min. C/Rtg: G
On the occasion of the Bruckner bicentenary; the Vienna Philharmonic recorded its first ever complete Bruckner cycle with a single conductor; Christian Thielemann. In addition to the well-known canon of nine symphonies; the two earliest Bruckner symphonies in F minor and D minor were also recorded for the first time in the orchestra’s history. This uniquely complete edition from the Musikverein and Salzburg Festival; featuring 11 symphonies also includes extensive conversations with Christian Thielemann about each symphony and insights into his rehearsal work.
“In this audiovisual edition Bruckner 11; the Vienna Philharmonic pays tribute to the symphonic works of the great Austrian composer Anton Bruckner; whose 200th birthday anniversary will be celebrated in 2024. The Vienna Philharmonic; perhaps more than any other ensemble; can look back on a shared history with Bruckner that was shaped by the composer’s great esteem for the orchestra and which was to have a decisive influence on Austrian musical culture. The premiere of the Symphony No. 2; for example; which Bruckner himself conducted in 1873; was a great success and; despite considerable opposition at the time; led to numerous performances and premieres. The close artistic and personal relationship between Anton Bruckner and the Vienna Philharmonic also contributed to the development of an unmistakable “Brucknerian” sound and style of playing which has had an enduring influence on the composer’s legacy up to the present day.This anniversary provides a welcome occasion to celebrate the music of Anton Bruckner.
For the first time in our orchestral history we have made a complete recording of all nine symphonies and two of his brilliant yet rarely performed early works with a single conductor. We enjoy a very close artistic partnership and friendship with Christian Thielemann; who is an acknowledged expert on the music of Anton Bruckner and one of the most influential contemporary conductors in this repertoire. In this recording; our long tradition comes alive in both sound and images. We hope it will encourage people to rediscover the treasures of Bruckner’s music; a legacy that the composer bestowed upon present and future generations of music lovers.” Prof. Daniel Froschauer; Chairman of the Wiener Philharmoniker
This release contains the international acclaimed Bruckner cycle of Christian Thielemann, a “magician of the Bruckner sound”(Kurier on Symphony No. 5) and the Staatskapelle Dresden, whose own Bruckner tradition dates back more than a century. Outstanding reviews emphasize the exceptionally high artistic quality of the concerts: “Once again Thielemann proved to be the unrestricted ruler on his ancestral territory, German Romantic repertoire” (Hamburger Abendblatt on Symphony No. 2). Christian Thielemann “displays the full musical maelstrom of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3” (Münchner Merkur). “Another Bruckner triumph for Dresden” (Sächsische Zeitung on Symphony No. 6). “… one would have to be hard-hearted not to be touched by this heartfelt music” (Der Tagesspiegel on Symphony No. 8).
Claudio Abbado formed the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in 2003 after his return to musical life following successful treatment for stomach cancer. His appearances each summer with this group, built upon the core of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra plus first-chair players from many top ensembles, are highly anticipated events. So, when Lucerne videos are released during the year following a festival, it’s like returning to a favorite summer vacation town. What’s the same? What’s changed? As the cameras scan the orchestra, we see that the older female cellist (Natalia Gutman) is missing, but many other familiar faces are back, including violist Wolfram Christ, flutist Jacques Zoon, and the eccentric-appearing principal trumpet (Reinhold Friedrich, who, for some reason, is permitted to wear an extravagant velvet jacket and as a result looks like a cross between Ben Franklin and a circa 1910 patent medicine salesman). Plus, as always, there is a healthy number of young musicians who must be marveling at their good fortune to be participating in such an extraordinary endeavor. Because of the degree of continuity from year to year, a strong sense of artistic purpose and, of course, the man on the podium, the orchestra consistently performs at a level equal to the very best permanent ensembles on earth, even though they are together only relatively briefly each summer.
Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5 is a work that can be condescended to. If a conductor begins with the premise that the Fifth is a piece that—however powerful and popular—is constructed from simplistic elements and lacking refinement, well … you’ll get a performance that’s simplistic and unrefined. Abbado finds layers and layers of nuance and meaning in the symphony. (Benjamin Zander is another conductor who shows the work a similar respect.) Any aura of ritual or of a grinding symphonic machine is banished and something much more organic is in evidence; it’s less a sonic cathedral (to use the standard Bruckner cliché) and more of a Beethovenian or Mahlerian evocation of the natural world. The chorales—strings in the second movement or the “11 apostles” in the Finale—are thankfully shorn of any Hollywood religiosity and just seem to blossom inevitably from musical seeds planted much earlier on. Abbado leads the Scherzo with exceptional lift and lightness, but still allows the obsessive quality to come through without nearly as much hard-headedness—the “country bumpkin” cliché—as is often the case. And then there are the felicities provided by all those world-class instrumentalists. For just one example, listen to the seamless manner with which phrases are passed from horn to oboe to flute at the very end of the second movement.
The sound is glorious in stereo and, especially, with multichannel—richly sonorous, dynamic, detailed, and dimensional. I’ve never witnessed a large audience listen so quietly before; everyone present in the Concert Hall of KKL Luzern for the two performances generating this video last August knew, I’m sure, that they were witnessing something special. They seem afraid to breathe, much less cough or fidget in their seats. As has become the custom, flowers rain down on the performers after the concert’s conclusion. The audience rises to its feet, something that doesn’t happen all that often in Europe (as opposed to the U.S., where every performance, however routine, typically gets a standing ovation). Abbado will be 80 next year and he looks well. Here’s hoping there are many more of these Blu-ray treasures to come.
Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden are continuing their internationally acclaimed Bruckner cycle with the Symphony No. 5. For Anton Bruckner, his Fifth Symphony was a glorious confrontation with the music of the past – from a personal, biographical angle, but also as a departure from the composition techniques he preferred up to this point. Not for nothing is this tremendous opus magnum regarded as Bruckner’s “contrapuntal masterpiece”. In this universally lauded performance, Christian Thielemann, already the leading Bruckner interpreter of our times, has once again proven himself to be a “magician of the Bruckner sound”. (Kurier)
Anton Bruckner SYMPHONY NO. 5 (Blu-ray Disc Version)
Dresden Staatskapelle Christian Thielemann, conductor
Recorded live at the Semperoper, Saxon State Opera, Dresden, 2013
Picture format: 1080i High Definition Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Subtitles: English, German, French Running time: 89 mins No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)
Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 9 D minor, WAB 109 Bamberger Symphoniker Herbert Blomstedt There is often an occasion for great concerts, but there are rarely several good reasons for a concert recording of an outstanding musical event. 2024 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner. For the Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt, Bruckner is a genius and the greatest symphonist since Beethoven. No composer is more closely associated with Herbert Blomstedt than Anton Bruckner. And no conductor has dealt with Anton Bruckner more intensively than Herbert Blomstedt. Probably the world's longest-serving conductor, with an eventful career spanning seven decades, Herbert Blomstedt celebrated his 97th birthday on July 11, 2024. Closely associated with him for years: the Bamberg Symphony, which he has conducted in almost 200 concerts in Germany and over 20 concerts abroad. In honor of Anton Bruckner and Herbert Blomstedt, the Bamberg Symphony planned a special gift to their honorary conductor. On July 11, 2024, the day of his 97th birthday, Blomstedt conducted Bruckner's 9th Symphony in the Basilica of St. Florian, a place to which Anton Bruckner held close ties throughout his life. The great symphonist began his musical career as a Florian choirboy and later continued there as organist of St. Florian. Anton Bruckner was repeatedly drawn back to the abbey, where he found his final resting place under the organ. Recorded live at the Basilica of St. Florian Monastery Contains two bonus films: A birthday serenade for Herbert Blomstedt's 97th birthday Herbert Blomstedt on Anton Bruckner
Choreographer Jirí Bubenícek's Carmen celebrates the incredible inspiration of Bizet's timeless music in a completely new two-act ballet that also includes music by Albéniz, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Falla, orchestrated and adapted by Gabriele Bonolis. The production emphasizes aspects of the original drama, heightening the erotic atmosphere of the cigar factory and Carmen's wild spirit, and including a spectacular on-stage horse. The sensational choreography closely depicts the storyline of Prosper Mérimée's original novella in a production that was hailed by critics as a triumph. The Corpo di Ballo of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma shines in this production, with Principal Dancers including Rebecca Bianchi in the role of Carmen, Amar Ramasar as Don Jose, and Alessio Rezza dancing the part of Lucas.
So memorably described as ‘a dancer who slashes across space faster than anyone else, who lacerates the air with shapes so clear and sharp they seem to throw off sparks’ (Independent), Carlos Acosta has been at the forefront of contemporary ballet since his arrival at the Royal Ballet in 1998. Here he sparkles in three of his most celebrated roles: the young lover Colas in the joyfully bucolic La Fille mal gardée, which received five stars from the Guardian, Times and Mail on Sunday; the innocent but doomed Romeo in Prokofiev’s sumptuously-scored adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous play; and, acting as producer and choreographer for the first time, as Basilio in Don Quixote, a production that wowed audiences thanks to its ‘intelligent’ choreography and Acosta’s ‘titanic determination, bullet-proof charisma [and] delectably trusting and playful rapport’ with co-star Marianela Núñez (Daily Telegraph). These three compelling ballets showcase Carlos Acosta’s world-class reputation as a dancer and choreographer, bolstered by outstanding co-stars and artists of the Royal Ballet. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true Surround Sound.
CARLOS ACOSTA – Dances Royal Ballet Classics (3 Blu-ray Disc Box Set)
Ferdinand Hérold LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE
Lise - Marianela Nuñez Colas - Carlos Acosta Widow Simone - William Tuckett Alain - Jonathan Howells
Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Orchestra Anthony Twiner, conductor
Frederick Ashton, choreographer Osbert Lancaster, set designer
Sergey Prokofiev ROMEO AND JULIET
Romeo - Carlos Acosta Juliet - Tamara Rojo Mercutio - José Martin Tybalt - Thiago Soares Nurse - Sandra Conley Lord Capulet - Christopher Saunders Lady Capulet - Elizabeth McGorian Paris - David Pickering Benvolio - Yohei Sasaki Royal Ballet Royal Ballet Sinfonia Boris Gruzin, conductor
Kenneth MacMillan, choreographer Nicholas Georgiadis, costume designer John B. Read, lighting designer
Ludwig Minkus DON QUIXOTE
Kitri - Marianela Nuñez Basilio - Carlos Acosta Don Quixote - Christopher Saunders Sancho Panza - Philip Mosley Lorenzo - Gary Avis Gamache - Bennet Gartside Espada - Ryoichi Hirano Mercedes - Laura Morera
Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Orchestra Martin Yates, conductor
Carlos Acosta, choreographer (after M arius Petipa) Tim Hatley, set and costume designer Hugh Vanstone, lighting designer
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, 2 February 2005 (La fille mal gardée), 2007 (Romeo and Juliet) and October 2013 (Don Quixote)
Bonus: - Cast gallery and illustrated synopsis (La fille mal gardée) - Interviews with cast and crew (Don Quixote) - Introductions to Acts II and III (Don Quixote)
Picture format: 1080i High Definition Sound format: LPCM 2.0 (all) / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote) / Dolby Digital 5.1 (La fille mal gardée) Region code: 0 (worldwide) Menu language: English Subtitles: French, German, Spanish, Italian (La fille mal gardée) Running time: 6 hrs 15 mins (ballet) + 12 mins (bonus) No. of Discs: 3 (BD 50)
One of the first operas deserving of the name, Didone is our first surviving musical version of the famous episode in Virgil's Aeneid where the Trojan hero loves and then cruelly leaves the noble Dido. Cavalli learnt at the feet of Monteverdi, and his dramatic transformation of the story is all the more expressive for it's intimacy, worthy of the examples set by his master. At the centre of this bold and simple staging - the first opera production by comic actor Clement Hervieu-Leger - is the Queen of Carthage herself, sung with uncompromising intensity by Anna Bonitatibus. William Christie and his singers and players show themselves entirely attuned to the world of Cavalli, where meaning and music fuse.
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