Classical, Original recording Berliner Philharmoniker Puccini

Burkhard Fritz, Laurent Naouri, Brindley Sherratt, Mikhail Petrenko, Maija Kovalevska, Philippp Stoezl, and Kate Aldrich star in this Vienna State Opera/Vienna Philharmonic production of the Berlioz opera conducted by Valery Gergiev.

Also available on standard DVD

With his affinity for the 16th-century sculptor Benvenuto Cellini’s advocacy of artistic and personal freedom, Hector Berlioz went straight for the grand gesture with his first completed opera. Returning to it years after initial production debacles, Berlioz stated that he would ‘never again find such verve and Cellinian impetuosity, nor such a variety of ideas.’ The plot revolves around Cellini’s wooing of Teresa, a match frustrated at every opportunity by his rival, the cowardly Fieramosca. Benvenuto Cellini is a pithy work combining romance, excitement, violence, comedy and spectacle; the perfect stage for Terry Gilliam’s stylishly colorful and larger than life directing.

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DETAILS:

Format: NTSC
Language: French
Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean
Dubbed: None
Region: All Regions
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Run Time: 180 minutes

Drawing on the adventures of Byron’s Childe Harold and the composer’s own Italian experiences as a Prix de Rome winner, Harold en Italie was intended for the great violinist Paganini who, having initially rejected the work, later repented, giving it his highest praise. + The brilliant concert overtures Benvenuto Cellini and Le carnaval romain are among Berlioz’s most popular works. + Quickly taken up by several celebrated violinists of the time, the elegant Rêverie et Caprice is his only work for solo violin and orchestra. + Leonard Slatkin’s Lyon recording of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (8.572886) has been acclaimed as “quite simply one of the best on disc” by MusicWeb International.

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Hector Berlioz
LES TROYENS

Énée – Lance Ryan
Chorèbe – Gabriele Viviani
Panthée – Giorgio Giuseppini
Narbal – Stephen Milling
Iopas – Eric Cutler
Ascagne – Oksana Shilova
Cassandre – Elisabete Matos
Didon – Daniele Barcellona
Anna – Zlata Bulycheva

Valencia Regional Government Choir (Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana)
Valencian Community Orchestra (Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana)
Valery Gergiev, conductor

La Fura dels Baus, staging
Carlus Padrissa, stage director
Ronald Olbeter, stage designer
Peter van Praet, lighting designer
Chu Uroz, costume designer

Recorded live from the Palau de les Arts “Reina Sofia”, Valencia, Spain, 2009.

Bonus:
- The making of Les Troyens

Picture format: 1080p High Definition
Sound format: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: French, English, German, Spanish, Chinese, Korean
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 240 mins (opera) + 21 mins (documentary)
No. of Discs: 2

"Ancient myth meets Star Wars, and the eye is constantly engaged with images ranging from space-age technology to details of soccer uniforms." The New York Times

"This is a worthy and compelling, glittering version of a sublime work." International Herald Tribune

BERLIOZ: SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

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The Royal Ballet celebrates the centenary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth with this all-Bernstein collection. The Company’s three associate choreographers respond to the varied styles of Bernstein’s music in ballets that are lyrical, beautiful, exuberant and moving. Wayne McGregor’s ‘Yugen’ is set to Chichester Psalms. In ‘The Age of Anxiety’ Liam Scarlett responds to Bernstein’s eclectic Second Symphony, itself a response to W.H. Auden's poem. ‘Corybantic Games’ by Christopher Wheeldon responds to the Serenade after Plato’s ‘Symposium’. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true SS. ‘‘…one of the most beautifully achieved dances of his career.’’ (The Guardian- ‘Yugen’) ‘‘…a cascade of showstopping, kaleidoscopic configuration.’’ (The Guardian – ‘Corybantic Games’) ‘‘…moments that catch at the heart.’’ (The Arts Desk – ‘The Age of Anxiety’)

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BEST OF VERDI ARIAS

Giuseppe Verdi:
La traviata: E strano! … Ah, fors e lui … Sempre libera / De’ miei bollenti spiriti / Di Provenza il mar, il suol
Rigoletto: Questa o quella / Caro nome che il mio cor / La donna e mobile
Don Carlo: Io la vidi e al suo sorriso / O don fatale
Aida: Celeste Aida / Numi, pietà del mio soffrir!
Il trovatore: Stride la vampa! / Ah! sì, ben mio … Di quella pira I vespri siciliani: Mercé, dilette amiche
Un ballo in maschera: Ma se m’è forza perderti
La forza del destino: Pace, pace mio Dio! / O tu che in seno agli angeli
Otello: Piangea cantando nell’erma landa / Ave Maria, piena di grazia / Niun mi tema

featuring
Nino Machaidze, soprano
Daniela Dessì, soprano
Dimitra Theodossiou, soprano
Marcelo Álvarez, tenor
Francesco Meli, tenor
Leo Nucci, baritone

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English
Running time: 110 mins
No. of Discs: 1

Cruise line magnate T.F. Bellows (W.C. Fields) is certain his new ship will win a transatlantic race with his rival... but to be sure, he arranges for his ne'er-do-well jinx brother S.B. (Fields, again) to board the rival boat! Of course, S.B. gets on the wrong vessel, making for a comically bumpy voyage! Variety extravaganza co-stars Bob Hope (singing "Thanks for the Memories" in his feature debut), Martha Raye, Dorothy Lamour, Ben Blue. 91 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English (SDH).

Classically trained clarinetist Jeff Lambert (Bing Crosby) spent his New Orleans youth riffing on Basin Street, and the day came when he teamed with a trumpet player (Brian Donlevy) and a singer (Mary Martin) to try and make his mark playing Dixieland. Tuneful (if not always accurate) account of the beginnings of jazz co-stars Jack Teagarden, J. Carrol Naish, Eddie Anderson, Cecil Kellaway; Songs include "St. Louis Blues," "Memphis Blues," "Melancholy Baby." 87 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English (SDH).

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Harrison Birtwistle
THE MINOTAUR
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

The Minotaur – John Tomlinson
Theseus – Johan Reuter
Ariadne – Christine Rice
Snake Priestess – Andrew Watts
Hiereus – Philip Langridge
Ker – Amanda Echalaz

The Royal Opera Chorus
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Antonio Pappano, conductor

Stephen Langridge, stage director

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 25, 30 April and 3 May 2008.

Bonus:
- Documentary: Myth is Universal
- Illustrated synopsis and cast gallery

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0 and 5.0
Region code: 0 (All Regions)
Menu languages: English
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 175 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)

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Georges Bizet died at the tragically young age of 36 while Carmen was still in it's first run, and he never witnessed the huge international acclaim his opera received. Filled with jealousy and passion, the gripping and ultimately tragic narrative of Carmen initially shocked audiences, but with an abundance of memorable tunes, it remains unchallenged as one of the most popular operas ever written. Carmen received it's premiere at the Opéra Comique in Paris in 1875, and this internationally acclaimed production, performed on period instruments, represents a triumphant return to it's home theatre. 'Carmen has never sounded more revolutionary, romantic or thrillingly vibrant' (The Times, London).

REVIEW:

Ms. Antonacci comes across as a totally convincing Carmen, vocally and dramatically. Her Habanera is spicy, alluring and sung with utter confidence and swagger, while her Second Act Les tringles des sistres tintaient shows her displaying an exotic style quite perfect for this colorful number. Straight through the opera she is consistently excellent, conveying effectively every aspect of the conniving and manipulative side of seductress Carmen’s character. Andrew Richards is splendid as Don José, the soldier hopelessly enamored of Carmen and tortured by her rejections. His Second Act Flower Song (La Fleur Que Tu M’avais Jetée) is sung with tenderness and passion. His dramatic skills are impressive throughout: note how effectively he becomes a different Don José in the final act, degenerating to desperation and finally to a murderous level in answer to Carmen’s final rejection.

Anne-Catherine Gillet as Micaëla is also quite fine. She has an angelic soprano voice, which is especially beautiful and strong in the upper ranges. In the First Act Parle-moi de ma mere she sings with great passion and arresting innocence. Her Third Act Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante is also quite good even if at moments she veers toward stridency. Nicolas Cavallier as Escamillo is also impressive, and the rest of the cast is very convincing.

As suggested above, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his fine orchestra also deliver stellar work for their part. Gardiner’s tempos are brisk, and the orchestra’s playing is always spirited, precise and full of feeling. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard better phrasing and orchestral playing in any other recorded performance of Carmen. Try the Act II Overture and notice how subtly Gardiner shapes the music as it builds from its demure opening to a lively exotic dance and then transitions right into Carmen’s brilliantly sung Les tringles. Of course, the Prelude at the opera’s outset is brilliantly played too and all the accompaniments throughout the opera are consistently well done.

The costuming is historically accurate and quite realistic: clothes of the factory workers and smugglers appear worn and sometimes tattered, though Carmen’s attire is usually a cut or so above the others’. I wouldn’t necessarily associate the costuming with Spain but it is nevertheless quite fitting throughout the opera. Sets are rather sparse and the lighting is often faint, leaving dark scenery, which is generally quite effective here.

Stage Director Adrian Noble clearly understands drama and the theater. Here he does not tamper with the essentials of the opera’s story or time period as so many other stage directors have lately done with this and other operas. That said, he does add—with good historical foundation though—a few touches that mostly enhance this production. For example, using the aforementioned Smith’s Edition Peters Urtext, he inserts a scene where Moralès looks out toward the audience and observes an incident along with fellow soldiers to his left and right. He wittily describes its action: a young wife is secretly handed a message from her lover while strolling with her oblivious older husband. This scene is employed instead of a pantomime, which was used in some early performances of Carmen but thereafter abandoned. In any event, this subtle tidbit helps fill out the picture of life in Carmen’s Seville. In the end, Noble’s treatment of Carmen must be judged an imaginative and fresh take on this warhorse opera.

The camera work, picture clarity and sound reproduction on this Blu-ray disc are excellent. As for the competition on video, not surprisingly it is plentiful. There are two splendid Franco Zeffirelli renditions from the Arena di Verona: one on TDK, from 2003, featuring the brilliant Marina Domashenko as Carmen and led by Alain Lombard; the other is on BelAir Classiques, from 2014, with Ekaterina Semenchuk in the lead and Henrik Nànàsi conducting. Of these two I would favor the earlier one. There is an excellent version, but updated to current times, on Unitel Classica, from 2010, featuring a star-studded cast of Béatrice Uria-Monzon and Roberto Alagna in the leads, and Marina Poplavskaya as Micaëla and Erwin Schrott as Escamillo. But Calixto Bieito’s staging won’t be to everyone’s taste, with its use of Mercedes Benz cars, flat screen televisions, simulated sex scenes and other added features. On purely musical grounds it is excellent and probably the equal of the Gardiner/Naxos, but it falls short owing to its sometimes wayward and somewhat incoherent production. The Lombard/TDK features a fine production, but so does this Naxos effort, and in the end its strengths outweigh the others’. The Gardiner/Naxos would thus be my first choice in video format.

– MusicWeb International

*** This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD or HD DVD players. ***

David McVicar’s exhilarating production, with Anne Sofie von Otter in the title role, restores the Opera Comique to Bizet’s masterpiece. Philippe Jordan, in his Glyndebourne debut, conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Glyndebourne Chorus and a cast which includes Marcus Haddock, Laurent Naouri and Lisa Milne.

Moralès: Hans Voschezang
Micaëla: Lisa Milne
Don José: Marcus Haddock
Zuniga: Jonathan Best
Carmen: Anne Sofie von Otter
Frasquita: Mary Hegarty
Mercédès: Christine Rice
Lillas Pastia: Anthony Wise
Escamillo: Laurent Naouri
Le Dancaïre: Quentin Hayes
Le Remendado: Colin Judson
Le Guide: Franck Lopez

The Glyndebourne Chorus
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Philippe Jordan
Stage Director: David McVicar

Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Opera House, Sussex, on 17th August 2002.

Plus:
Illustrated synopsis & cast gallery.
Costume design.
Choreographing Carmen.
How to fight on stage.
The Gardens of Glyndebourne.

Reviews:

"Under the shrewd direction of McVicar, Anne Sofie von Otter gave us a gypsy of mercurial temperament, a tease, a dangerous flirt, and a woman intensely conscious of her sexual magnetism and of her public notoriety." -- Daily Telegraph

"Violent, passionate, superbly played… Glyndebourne’s Carmen is simply gripping." -- The Sunday Times

Region code: 0 (all regions)
Picture: 1080i
Sound: 2.0 & 5.1 Dolby True HD
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Georges Bizet’s “Carmen”, one of the world’s most beloved operas and a staple of the operatic since its premiere a mere three months before the composer’s death in June, 1875 was staged at the world-famous Arena di Verona in June, 2014 in an opulent production directed by the flamboyant Franco Zeffirelli and filmed in High Definition. The cast is an international lineup of excellent singers: Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk (“This gorgeous mezzo-soprano is gifted with an amazing voice… captivating timbre and good pronunciation… - Operaclick), soprano Irina Lungu ([her] voice has the brightness you associate with most coloraturas, but also bloom and warmth, which are more unusual qualities…” – New York Times), tenor Carlo Ventre (“I regard Ventre as one of the finest spinto tenors singing today.” – Opera Warhorses) and baritone Carlos Álvarez (… ample, virile voice…” – Opera News). Conductor Henrik Nánási leads the Arena di Verona Orchestra and Chorus.

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This production of one of the world’s most popular operas, directed by Francesca Zambello, is a live performance from the Royal Opera House, June 2011. The Royal Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conducted by Constantinos Carydis, are joined by Christine Rice as Carmen, Bryan Hymel as Don Jose, Aris Argiris as Escamillo, and Maija Kovalevska as Micaela.

BLUE NOTE

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.

Joaquin Achucarro performs with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Colin Davis. Extras include documentary footage about Achucarro's 50th anniversary of his debut with the London Symphony featuring interviews.

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