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BUCHBINDER PLAYS BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTOS (Blu-ray Disc Version)


Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos 1–5 Rudolf Buchbinder, piano and conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Recorded live at the Goldener Saal der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna on 5–8 May 2011

Bonus: - Buchbinder's Beethoven – A musical conversation between Rudolf Buchbinder and Joachim Kaiser

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles (bonus): English, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean Running time: 186 mins (concertos) + 29 mins (bonus)

No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)

In the late 1960s Leonard Bernstein caused a stir in London’s Royal Albert Hall when he played Ravel’s G major Piano Concerto whilst at the same time conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. We were not used to this sort of thing at the time. So that Bernstein could have maximum contact with his players, he turned the piano such that he was in amongst them, facing the orchestra with his back to the audience. He also removed the piano lid; in these ways his gestures could be seen clearly by the orchestral players and he could also maintain eye contact, an essential part of the conductor’s art. I remember a pretty stunning and immaculate performance on that occasion, but since then, most soloists have preferred to concentrate on their own music and leave the orchestra under the direction of someone else.
 
Buchbinder is one of the exceptions, preferring to direct the orchestra himself from the keyboard. He retains the normal soloist’s position with his profile to the audience and he has the piano lid raised. Considering this, the ensemble is remarkably good and mostly very tight, but there are times when there are imprecisions in togetherness, not only in rhythm but also in homogeneity of tone and colour. Sometimes I can hear less string sound at the start of a note, for example. So although there are great advantages in having one musician ‘in charge’ of a performance, I am largely in favour of using the services of a conductor as well as a soloist, especially in recorded music when a performance will be heard repeatedly and imprecise ensemble can become irritating.
 
That said, these performances are deeply felt and as the talk on the disc confirms, very thoroughly researched by Buchbinder who compares many different editions of the works he is performing.
 
I particularly liked the finales where there is real rhythmic vitality, combined in the third and fifth concertos with excitement and drama. The first concerto finale has wonderful wit and humour, but the opening of the fourth concerto finale is marred by poor ensemble caused by lack of a conductor. A really clear gesture must be given here to ensure precision and clarity.
 
Some movements are a little slow and heavy by modern standards. For example in the first movement of Concerto No.1, Stephen Kovacevich and Colin Davis on CD give a much lighter and more deft performance. Buchbinder chooses to play the first of Beethoven’s three cadenzas, slightly adapted towards the end, and he plays it superbly. Most players, including Kovacevich, play the longer and more dramatic third cadenza, whilst Argerich plays the second. It would be interesting to know why Buchbinder chose the first cadenza. The enclosed booklet talks about Buchbinder’s career and gives us some information about his study of the many editions that have appeared since Beethoven’s time, but more details of the results of his studies would have been welcome. However, the bonus interview on the disc with Joachim Kaiser is very interesting and stimulating.
 
The first movement of Concerto No.3 is hardly allegro con brio and the first movement of Concerto No.4, marked to be played allegro moderato is much more moderato than allegro. A little more rhythmic life would not come amiss in these movements. In Concerto No.4 Buchbinder gradually moves the pace forwards as the music progresses, but for me this is one of the less successful movements. Although the sound is often beautiful, the performance is sometimes sluggish and there are tiny imperfections in ensemble and intonation. In the second movement, Buchbinder’s orchestra plays the opening theme really staccato, as marked in the two editions of Beethoven’s score that I own, to telling effect.
 
The high point of these performances for me is the Emperor, which I enjoyed immensely. It really takes fire, has great rhythmic energy and verve in the outer movements, and Buchbinder produces some beautiful tone and the subtlest of rubato in the slower sections. Magnificent playing all round with some incisive and vigorous playing.
 
It must have been a great occasion to hear these performances live and this is a fine record of the event. The playing is highly efficient and thoughtful with some wonderful, poetic moments, but somehow the performances do not achieve the greatest heights.
 
On a lighter note, I would not recommend buying this disc as an introduction to classical music for youngsters. There are many close-ups of the players, but sometimes they look so middle-aged, often miserable and grey. I wish the Vienna Philharmonic would cheer up a bit. As a music teacher, I think this could put a beginner off classical music for life! For children, maybe it is better to turn off the picture and just listen to some fine music making. But for the rest of us, this is a disc well worth seeing as well as hearing.
 
-- Geoffrey Molyneux, MusicWeb International

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In choreographic episodes, combining dream, memory, premonition and reality John Neumeier’s ballet Tatiana, with music by Lera Auerbach, brings to life the story of Tatiana, a young girl brought up in the Russian countryside and her first great love. When considering Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin as a plot for a ballet, it was obvious that Neumeier would not be content with a simple story line. He was more interested in the complex strands of Tatiana’s destiny, the influence of her early life, her experience and evolution into womanhood. As I read Pushkin’s verse novel, I realised that I was fascinated by the role of Tatiana Larina. She became more profound and more interesting with every paragraph, every page that I read. And so I had the idea to explore her role and her perspective in more detail through my ballet”, says Neumeier. “Nearly nobody else besides John Neumeier can tell story with the bodies of his dancers. Tatiana is three hours of danced poetry.” Hamburger Morgenpost. - C Major


Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles (bonus): English, German, French, Japanese Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 135 mins (ballet) + 34 mins (bonus: Tatiana - Back to Pushkin)

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A remarkable concert, splendidly captured on DVD.

This concert, given in the splendid modern concert hall of the Culture and Congress Center, was recorded live at the 2011 Lucerne Festival. I’ve previously seen several DVDs of Claudio Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and I can give this present DVD no higher praise than to say that the music making preserved here is of the same exalted standard that I’ve experienced from Abbado.
 
The programme is a little odd and the rather superficial note by Barbara Eckle is of little help beyond suggesting vaguely that Nelsons wished to contrast the extrovert pieces by Wagner and Strauss with the “sublimation of emotion” - whatever that may mean - in the Shostakovich. However, let’s not waste time trying to discern a shape behind the programming. The Wagner is done very well. It’s evident from his facial expressions that Nelsons delights in the Rienzi’s Prayer theme, which he takes pretty broadly - though the sumptuous, aristocratic playing of the Concertgebouw’s string choir justifies that indulgence. There’s not a lot one can do with the tub-thumping, Weber-esque allegro music except to play it for all it’s worth and Nelsons does just that. He leads a vivid, red-blooded account of the Dance of the Seven Veils, helped by some colourful and suitably seductive paying by the orchestra: the principal flute and oboe players offer particularly delightful contributions. Again, it’s evident that the conductor is relishing the music and the response of the Concertgebouw’s players.
 
Smiles are absent from Nelsons’ face at the start of the symphony, and rightly so; this is music with a very serious, indeed grim countenance. Right from the outset of the massive first movement - which plays for 25:35 in this performance - Nelsons exerts the control that is vital in this spare, intense music. The long, glacial opening paragraphs, dominated by the strings, are sustained with supreme concentration. Gradually Nelsons and his players ratchet up the tension as the music moves inexorably towards the first climax. This is a gripping account of the movement; one’s attention is held and never slips. When it arrives the towering main climax, underpinned by menacing drum rolls, is shattering, as the composer intended. The extended baleful cor anglais threnody that follows - superbly played here - maintains the tension even though the decibel count has reduced to minimal levels; that’s a remarkable achievement by Shostakovich. Eventually the movement peters out in exhaustion. 

The motor rhythms in the second movement are splendidly executed. This is blatant, strutting music, surely depicting sardonically a war machine. The bite and vigour of the Concertgebouw’s playing under Nelsons’ committed direction realises the composer’s intentions to perfection. The brutal menace of the third movement is conveyed no less successfully and the trumpet-led galop in the middle of the movement is expertly done. When the colossal climax arrives one has the sense that the runaway music has run at full tilt into a forbidding rock face and then the momentum drains away and we are left to contemplate the bleak, forbidding wastes of the impassive passacaglia that follows. This is a movement that requires utmost control of dynamics and total concentration on the part of the conductor and all the players. That’s exactly what happens here. The music is almost imperceptible at times, so hushed is the playing. In fact, both individually and collectively, the RCO is superb in the way the players sustain the soft dynamics. There’s some tremendously sensitive playing by the principal horn and by the clarinettists. The performance is quite breathtaking as Nelsons and his players summon up a vision of a wasteland comparable to the one that can be experienced in the last movement of Vaughan Williams’ Sixth Symphony.
 
The finale finds Shostakovich in enigmatic mode. Surely, the Soviet authorities were expecting their leading symphonist to come up with a symphony whose conclusion celebrated the heroic Soviet military and their repulse of the Nazi invasion. Instead what they got was the desolate passacaglia followed by a movement which, while ostensibly lighter in tone at times is still very far from a victory celebration. The music begins in what might seem a relaxed vein after the rigours of the fourth movement but peer beneath the surface veneer and there’s little genuine optimism. To make matters worse - for those seeking optimism - eventually Shostakovich arrives at an anguished and extended reprise of the grinding climax from the first movement. What, then, is the listener to make of the sardonic passage for bass clarinet and solo violin that follows immediately afterwards? Talk about “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”. It’s interesting to see the impish look on the face of Andris Nelsons as he launches into that bass clarinet/violin passage; I wonder what he makes of it? Whatever the meaning may or may not be, the passage is marvellously delivered by the two RCO players, which is entirely in keeping with the superb standard of solo playing on display throughout the whole performance. The symphony ends on a questioning, uncertain note and this strange, hushed music comes over most atmospherically here; thankfully the audience maintain their collective concentration and there’s a long silence after the music has died away before the well-merited ovation begins.
 
This is a gripping, magnetic account of one of Shostakovich’s finest symphonic utterances. From start to finish the RCO offers peerless playing that seems completely in tune with their conductor’s vision of the piece. As for Nelsons, this is another significant achievement in his recording career. Up to now I’ve only seen him conduct when sitting in the stalls - in other words, he’s had his back to me. Seeing him now from the front it’s fascinating to watch how he communicates with the orchestra through gestures and facial expressions. This concert offers further confirmation that Andris Nelsons is a major talent. The audiences in Birmingham should make the most of him for surely it will not be too long before one of the world’s leading orchestras snaps him up.
 
It only remains to say that the camera work is excellent, offering unobtrusive but very interesting and varied perspectives on the performers. The sound quality is very good and people who play DVDs through their hi-fi system will get even better results than I did, I’m sure. In short, the technical presentation is fully worthy of this remarkable concert.
 
-- John Quinn, MusicWeb International

The composer's great-granddaughter was keen to stage Cord Garben's abridged version of the cycle at the Teatro Colin in Buenos Aires, but in the event things turned out rather differently. The present documentary provides a thrilling and visually memorable account of the long journey taken by this version from it's inception to the first night.

Also available on Blu-ray

This film is a journey with the famous pianist Yuja Wang. With more than 120 performances a year, she lives a nomadic lifestyle. The exploration of Yuja’s wanderings is a travelogue of exciting venues, glitzy cities and encounters with extraordinary artists, such as Gustavo Dudamel, Gauthier Capucon and Leonidas Kavakos and personalities of other professional horizons but there is also a downside: fatigue, jet lag, pressure, doubts, hostilities, disorientation, and loneliness. With a bittersweet reference to the transience of life, the film reveals the invisible that complements the visible and shows us this artist in a very personal way. “Pianists have to be alone all the time, and it’s hard, it’s lonely. Being a musician is almost like a very isolated life, and the only time you actually get to communicate is on stage with music. It’s not a bad thing. I think being solitary, it really allows us to think about life and to think about why people write this music. [...] It makes you start to wonder about things that are beneath the surface.” (Yuja Wang)

DETAILS:

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Filmed in: High Definition
Sound: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Languages/Subtitles: English; Ger, Fr, KOR, JPN
Region: 0 (Worldwide)

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Richard Strauss
DER ROSENKAVALIER

Feldmarschallin - Krassimira Stoyanova Baron Ochs - Günther Groissböck
Octavian - Sophie Koch
Faninal - Adrian Eröd
Sophie - Mojca Erdmann
Leitmetzerin - Silvana Dussmann
Valzacchi - Rudolf Schasching
Annina - Wiebke Lehmkuhl
Sänger - Stefan Pop

Salzburg Festival Children’s Chorus
(chorus master: Wolfgang Götz)
Vienna State Opera Chorus
(chorus master: Ernst Raffelsberger)
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

Harry Kupfer, stage director
Hans Schavernoch, set designer
Yan Tax, costume designer
Jürgen Hoffmann, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 08–14 August 2014

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese Running time: 146 mins
No. of DVDs: 2 (DVD 9)

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This scintillating opera gala offers you the chance to experience the Odeonsplatz Concert 2013 with Rolando Villazón, Thomas Hampson and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in all its glory, featuring opera arias, duets, overtures and choruses by Verdi and Wagner.

THE ODEONSPLATZ CONCERT – Verdi and Wagner
Klassik am Odeonsplatz

Giuseppe Verdi:
Les vêpres siciliennes (I vesperi siciliani): Overture
Don Carlos: Autodafé / Dio, che nell’alma infondere
L’esule (arr. L. Berio)
Il trovatore, Act II: Vedi, le fosche notturne, “Anvil Chorus”
Il corsaro, Act III: Alfin questo corsaro … Cento leddiadre vergini
Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio, Act II: Ciel, che feci!
Nabucco, Act III: Vá pensiero, “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves”

Jules Massenet:
Hérodiade, Act II: Ce breuvage pourrait … Vision fugitive
Le Cid, Act III: Ah! tout est bien fini … Ô souverain, ô juge, ô pere
Maurice Ravel: La valse (version for orchestra)

Richard Wagner:
Lohengrin: Preludes to Acts I & III
Tannhäuser: O du mein holder Abendstern / Entry of the Guests on the Wartburg

Rolando Villazón, tenor
Thomas Hampson, baritone

Bavarian Radio Symphony Chorus
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Recorded live at Odeonsplatz, Munich, 2013

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Japanese
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 111 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

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

Also available on standard DVD

VVerdi�s opera Attila takes as it's starting point Attila's plans to storm Rome with his army of Huns and the Romans' attempts to prevent him. As with Nabucco and I Lombardi, Verdi spiced up the action with a number of patriotic choruses, guaranteeing that - against the background of the Italian movement for unification - the opera was a great success. "Michele Mariotti owes much to the fact that this evening became a celebration of voices"(Opern-Kritik). Ildebrando D�Arcangelo is "perfect for the serious Verdi roles", Fabio Sartori has a voice of immense brilliance" (Opern-Kritik), "Simone Piazzola was an impressive Ezio" (theoperacritic. Com) and "the real warrior of this Attila is the soprano Maria Jose' Siri... with her voice, touching each primordial sentiment in every note of the opera, she commanded 'Attention' from everybody. " (La Repubblica)

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Former Music Director Mariss Jansons returns to Amsterdam to conduct Pique Dame at the Dutch National Opera with “his” Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He encounters a noteworthy cast and under his baton the orchestra sounds “brilliant and splendid“ (Der Tagesspiegel). Renowned director Stefan Herheim staged Tchaikovsky’s much-loved opera about a young man who, for the prospect of earthly wealth, gambles away his chance for love and happiness. Herheim, whose stagings are famous for their multi layered levels of interpretation, attempts to reflect on the composer’s hidden love for men. “The Latvian maestro, the intriguingly performing orchestra, the smartly-chosen soloists, and director Stefan Herheim have succeeded in staging an extraordinary production” (Die Presse). “Stefan Herheim makes a great picture show out of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pique Dame’” (NMZ). “A masterpiece” (Der Standard).

REVIEW:

Superimposing the composer’s biography on to arguably his greatest opera works ingeniously. Musically, standards are extremely high, led by Mariss Jansons’s inspired presence in the pit. Aksenova sings a steely Lisa. Diadkova is remarkable as the Countess – singing rather than growling her role.

– Gramophone

DETAILS:

Format: NTSC
Language: Russian
Subtitles: English, German, French
Dubbed: English, French, German, Korean
Region: All Regions
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

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When it comes to Mozartian perfection on the opera stage, one needn't always seek it in Milan, Vienna, Salzburg or New York! At the Sferisterio Opera Festival in the central Italian city of Macerata, a rapt audience was treated to a production of Don Giovanni "that will enter the annals of opera" (ForumOpera. Com). This magnificent reading of Mozart's timeless masterpiece sweeps the viewer into a libertine, 18th- century society dominated by sensuality and erotic impulses. They are acted out on the stage's main prop, a large, unmade bed, not only by Don Giovanni, but also by just about everyone else in the "nearly faultless cast" (ForumOpera. Com). In his role debut as the title hero, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo is "incandescent" (Gazzetta die Parma) and "doesn't do Don Giovanni; he is the Don. Unsurpassable"(24 Ore).

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Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden turn to the symphonic work of Johannes Brahms.

Bonus features include: an extensive 52 minute interview with Christian Thielemann on Brahms’ Symphonies and provides and in-depth look into his interpretation of Brahms.

Recorded live from the Semperoper Dresden (Nos. 2 and 4) and the NHK Hall, Tokyo (Nos. 1 and 3)

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.0 / DTS 5.1 Surround
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Language (bonus): German
Subtitles (bonus): English, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 208 mins (symphonies) + 52 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 3

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).

Still reeling from the previous night’s concert I was eager to hear Nelsons and the Concertgebouw in this mix of Classical and Romantic pieces. They are joined by the Israeli-American pianist Yefim Bronfman, who I’ve not heard in a very long time. I tend to associate him with the Russians – notably Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich – but he has recorded a fine version of the Beethoven concerto with David Zinman and his Zurich band (Arte Nova). As for the Rimsky, it’s one of those showpieces that seldom fails to please; and if the sonics of that earlier Blu-ray are anything to go by it should be a knock-out.
 
The Ruins of Athens, written to accompany August von Kotzebue’s play of the same name, is hardly a Beethovenian staple, but when it’s played with such affection it’s hard to understand why. Right from those opening figures on the double basses it’s clear this is going to be a performance of spontaneity and spirit, the camera cutting to key players when they get the chance to shine. And shine they do, the Concertgebouw as animated as they were the night before. On the podium Nelsons is equally alert, his boyish grin a sign that he’s having fun.
 
And who wouldn’t, with such thoroughbreds between the shafts? As for the concerto, a warhorse that seldom gets the performance it deserves, it’s played with tremendous brio. Bronfman fingerwork is clear and unmannered, and the orchestra responds with alacrity to Nelsons’ firm tug of the reins. Balances are generally fine, although the brass and woodwinds tend to leap out in the tuttis – some unnecessary knob-twiddling, perhaps – and the bass is not as firm as I’d like. Otherwise the Allegro is both passionate and elegant, and tempi are well judged; there’s plenty of thrust too, although at times momentum does flag.
 
Such lapses are rare though, Nelsons’ whipping his wayward steeds into line quickly enough. That said, the Adagio and Rondo-Allegro are more problematic. In the former the flute passage before the piano’s first entry is absurdly out of proportion – more intervention, perhaps – and Nelsons moulds the music far too much for my tastes. Yes it is beautiful, but it’s cloying and comes close to limpidity overload; as for Bronfman, his phrasing at the start of the Rondo is less easeful than usual. Even more distracting is the fitful progress, the music lacking the cumulative weight and growing tension one hears in other – more compelling – performances. It seems the audience have no such qualms though, demanding an encore. Bronfman duly obliges with a coruscating rendition of Chopin’s Etude in F major.
 
I so wanted to wallow in this concerto but alas I’m not likely to return to it in a hurry. At least there’s a consolation prize in the form of Scheherazade, whose terrifying start nearly blew me out of my seat. Having set the volume to a comfortable level for the Beethoven I was not prepared for such an assault on my senses; goodness, this really is Rimsky for the IMAX age, the brass- and timp-drenched climaxes simply crushing. The quieter moments are just as arresting, the Sultana’s beguiling narrative superbly evoked by the violin and harp.
 
As for ‘The Story of the Kalender Prince’ it’s packed with incident and colour, the many close-ups a reminder of just how virtuosic this piece is, and how exposed players are at times. There’s firm. characterful playing from the woodwinds, and the formidable battery of trombones sounds especially baleful. The big, bold recording handles these dynamic swings with aplomb, although anyone of a nervous disposition – or with unsympathetic neighbours – might want to reduce the volume by a couple of notches. As always, Nelsons is engrossed in the music, and it’s impossible not to succumb to his obvious and infectious enthusiasm.
 
That’s one of the unexpected joys of this concert; everyone is clearly having fun. What a change from those stiff-backed performers, stern of countenance, we see all too often. The tender music of ‘The Young Prince and the Young Princess’ is most eloquently done, and Nelsons shapes the dance-like episodes very persuasively. It’s the final movement, with its festival and shipwreck, that will take your breath away. The intimidating roar of this orchestra in full spate really confirms the sonic potential of Blu-ray; indeed, I’ve never heard that dash of spray, crack of sail and final cataclysm as powerfully realised as it is here. Those final, sinuous bars – as if enclosing these tales in parentheses – are simply overwhelming in their simplicity and charm.
 
Not surprisingly the audience demands – and gets – an encore in the shape of one of the Slavonic Dances from Dvor(ák’s Op. 46. It’s a polka, now winsome now trenchant, its storming conclusion a thrilling coda to an exhilarating concert. That said, Nelsons still looks as fresh as a daisy, and his players don’t seem to have wilted either. Despite the rather disappointing concerto I’m very impressed by this multi-talented Latvian; he can certainly batter one’s ear drums – the Rimsky is indeed a knock-out – but as the previous night’s Shostakovich Eighth and his 50th anniversary War Requiem so eloquently demonstrate, he can batter one’s heart as well.
 
A delightful overture, a competent concerto, and a Scheherazade to die for.
 
-- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International

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

Also available on standard DVD

With an outstanding cast including Daniela Dessi, Fabio Armiliato, Alessandro Luongo, and Alida Berti, this incomparable performance is Puccini at his finest.; Directed by Ettore Scola, who has created a great number of award-winning films, this performance is from the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago.; One of the most represented operas in history, becoming the inspiration for many works to come, La Boheme is a rich, grandiose opera, which is wonderfully represented in this recording.

Picture Format: 1080i, 16:9
Sound Formats: PCM Stereo, DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: Italian, German, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Region: All
Total Running Time: 123 mins

Also available on Blu-ray

Premiered in Milan on 6 March 1831, La Sonnambula is regarded as Bellini’s first true masterpiece. The opera teils the story of Amina, who is to marry Elvino, but sleepwalks into the room of Count Rodolfo the night before her wedding. Upon hearing of this deplorable incident, Elvino calls off the wedding. Although Rodolfo confirms her innocence, Elvino remains steel-hearted, until Amina sleepwalks again… This new production of La Sonnambula dazzles with lovingly detailed and imaginative sets which repro­duce a Swiss alpine resort in the 1930s (Bellini himself set the action in a Swiss village). Complete with a majestic mountain panorama, a cable car and a grand salon, not to mention the colorfully dressed resort guests, the settings deploy an enchanting picture book of visual surprises. Director Bepi Morassi interweaves subtle details that reflect the social realities of today, such as a marriage contract.

Vincenzo Bellini
LA SONNAMBULA

Count Rodolfo – Giovanni Battista Parodi
Teresa – Julie Mellor
Amina – Jessica Pratt
Elvino – Shalva Mukeria
Lisa – Anna Viola
Alessio – Dario Ciotoli
A Notary – Raffaele Pastori

Teatro la Fenice Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Claudio Marino Moretti)
Gabriele Ferro, conductor

Bepi Morassi, stage director
Massimo Checchetto, set designer

Recorded live from the Teatro La Fenice, 2012

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 132 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

Also available on Blu-ray

Recorded live from the Royal Concertgebouw, April 2012

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Latin, German, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 99 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

Axel K�hler's production of Der Freisch�tz at the Dresden State Opera was described by Die Presse as "a minor miracle in Dresden". In the words of the Salzburger Nachrichten, K�hler "scored a bulleye" with his sombre and satanic interpretation of Weber's Romantic opera about love, temptation, souls sold to the Devil, obsession and faith. According to the Financial Times, Christian Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle conjured up a sense of "mortal terror from the orchestra pit. [...] Thielemann is in command of every detail. That makes for utterly gripping listening."

In his 'new life' as a baritone, Pl�cido Domingo has triumphed in the role of Francesco Foscari in Los Angeles, London and Vienna. Now he takes to the role to La Scala, Milan, the theatre that is the symbol of Italian opera. I due Foscari, premiered in 1844, famously one of Verdi's darkest operas, is staged by Alvis Hermanis, who made such an impact at the Salzburg Festival with "Die Soldaten" and "Il trovatore". Domingo is joined by two of Italy's most exciting singers, the soprano Anna Pirozzi and the tenor Francesco Meli, and the acclaimed Italian conductor Michele Mariotti. The Financial Times was deeply moved by Domingo's performance, calling his interpretation of the role "sublime".

Praise for the Bayerische Staatsoper's new Ballo in Maschera: “A formidable vocal feast” (Bayerische Staatszeitung). Ten years after stepping down as music director of the Bavarian State Opera, a “grand Zubin Mehta“ (Bayerischer Rundfunk) returned to Munich in March 2016 to celebrate his 80th birthday conducting Verdi’s masterpiece for the first time in a staged production. His cast features some of today’s finest Verdi singers: soprano Anja Harteros, singing Amelia for the first time and “filling every note with Verdian intensity”, tenor Piotr Beczala as a “visually and vocally dashing Riccardo” and George Petean as an “exemplary” Renato (Neue Musikzeitung). In director Johannes Erath’s musically super-sensitive new production, this historically-based tale of illicit love, conspiracy and betrayal unfolds in a surrealistic, shadowy setting transformed by lighting and projections. Special praise was showered by the enthusiastic critics on Maestro Mehta, who “creates concentrated musical connections, miraculously guiding his orchestra and unsurpassable voices the way a thermal lifts a paraglider ... Musically the performance was a dream” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). “A total triumph” (La Razón). “This production shows what a utopia opera can be” (Abendzeitung).

The Subscription Concert Series of the Wiener Philharmoniker from the Golden Hall of the famous Musikverein are special concerts reserved for subscribers. Due to the exceptional quality of the concerts and the limited offer, the average waiting time for subscribers is more than 10 years. With this series, these very special concerts are made available for the first time audiovisually to a wider audience worldwide. Mahler's unusually expansive five-movement Symphony No. 7 is among the composer's most ambiguous and enigmatic works, often regarded as his most challenging to perform. Andris Nelsons leads the orchestra in a new chapter of their Mahler cycle, reaffirming his stature as "one of the most celebrated conductors of our time" (Salzburger Nachrichten). Under his baton, the Seventh becomes "magic in the Golden Hall. [...] Rarely has one heard this work so finely chiselled, so dynamically balanced. An event." (Kurier). "Andris Nelsons and the Vienna Philharmonic bring total coherence to Mahler's Seventh Symphony." (Seen and Heard International)

The Subscription Concert Series of the Wiener Philharmoniker from the Golden Hall of the famous Musikverein are special concerts reserved for subscribers. Due to the exceptional quality of the concerts and the limited offer, the average waiting time for subscribers is more than 10 years. With this series, these very special concerts are made available for the first time audiovisually to a wider audience worldwide. Mahler's unusually expansive five-movement Symphony No. 7 is among the composer's most ambiguous and enigmatic works, often regarded as his most challenging to perform. Andris Nelsons leads the orchestra in a new chapter of their Mahler cycle, reaffirming his stature as "one of the most celebrated conductors of our time" (Salzburger Nachrichten). Under his baton, the Seventh becomes "magic in the Golden Hall. [...] Rarely has one heard this work so finely chiselled, so dynamically balanced. An event." (Kurier). "Andris Nelsons and the Vienna Philharmonic bring total coherence to Mahler's Seventh Symphony." (Seen and Heard International)

Also available on Blu-ray

Verdi composed I masnadieri, based on a play by Schiller, for Her Majesty’s Theatre, the Haymarket, in London. It was premiered in 1847 and was his first non-Italian commission—an honor that had not been bestowed on his three great predecessors, Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti. It was his sixth opera in four years, appearing just four months after Macbeth. The opera starred Jenny Lind, known as “The Swedish Nightingale”, probably the most famous soprano in the world at the time, in the opera’s only female role. Verdi did not compose cadenzas for her two arias—she was known to devise her own—and the opera was well received, with Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and the Duke of Wellington in attendance.

Despite it being chock-full of exciting, blood-boiling melodies and rhythms, with fine—if conventional—arias, duets, and ensembles, its initial success was never repeated, most likely due to its poor, and very depressing, libretto. Amalia, the Jenny Lind role, is a bore in every way except musically—all she does is complain and mourn—and the story is both a bummer and hard to relate to. The old Count Massimiliano Moor’s two sons are Carlo and Francesco: Carlo, the older, is courageous and intellectual (when we meet him in Act 1 he is quoting Plutarch!); Francesco is cruel and conniving. Carlo is away at university when he receives a letter purportedly from his father, which was actually written by the evil Francesco, telling him not to bother returning home. Furious, he convinces his fellow students to become bandits(!).

At home, Francesco has turned Massimiliano against Carlo and convinced an ally to claim that Carlo is dead so that he is now the heir apparent—there’s plenty of mustache twirling. Amalia, Carlo’s betrothed, is told that Carlo’s last wish was for her to marry Francesco. Massimiliano collapses and appears to be dead; when he is seen to be alive, Francesco hurls him into a dungeon. To make a long story short, Francesco is so evil and guilt-ridden that he dreams of the Last Judgment and asks a priest for forgiveness, which the priest denies; Carlo and his fellow thieves attack the castle; Carlo sets Massimiliano free, and Amalia is happy to see him but is miserable about him becoming a bandit and begs him to kill her, which he does, as Massimiliano watches and Carlo turns himself over to the authorities. When Francesco is last seen, he is railing against God. Huh? And the text itself, devised by librettist Andrea Maffei, is awkward and scans poorly.

This compilation of performances in March, 2012 from Naples’ San Carlo serves the music handsomely. Tenor Aquiles Machado, whom I’d previously seen only in a well-sung but warped production of Tales of Hoffmann from Bilbao, is a splendid Carlo. His voice has grown since then, and he sings with passion, strong, centered tone, freedom at all registers, and utter commitment. And if he tires in the last act, it may be Verdi’s fault—the role is long and difficult. He may not cut a particularly heroic figure, but Carlo is at least part intellectual, so it works.

Artur Rucinski, a singer new to me, is remarkable as Francesco, a true Verdi baritone role. He’s made to be lame—hunchbacked and stiff-legged—as if his inward appearance were visible, which is hardly a necessary addition. Rucinski carries it off well enough and his singing is vital and expressive. Lucrecia Garcia is a vocal find as Amalia. The voice is big, bright, and agile; she, on the other hand, seems to be performing by rote and without direction or any subtlety in her phrasing. She gets most of the trills and coloratura and rides over climaxes well, but she’s emotionally detached. Giacomo Prestia’s Massimiliano is nicely sung and well-acted; he is victimized and sympathetic. The cast’s other standout is the Priest of Dario Russo, a comprimario role that nonetheless shows off a fine voice.

Neither the stage direction by Gabriele Lavia nor Alessandro Camera’s sets are worthy of either the opera or the musical performance. The set looks something like a seriously ruined old home, with no roof, dirt and leaves all over the floor, and dangerous-looking planks of wood—sort of like a run-down neighborhood. What does that have to do with the aristocracy? Or robbers (“masnadieri”)? Andrea Viotti’s costumes also are anachronistic (anachronistic with everything else on stage as well, not only with the opera and its presumed settings), with the robbers in long leather coats, sunglasses, and red scarves, and women at Francesco’s castle in tutus with pointy punk haircuts. There is a huge backdrop of a skull that reads “freedom or death”, and for Amalia’s prayer, a huge wooden cross descends into the midst of this mess. The characters’ gestures are stock opera behavior, save for Francesco’s lameness. All entrances are made from the center rear of the stage. You get the impression that the director simply despised the opera.

Nicola Luisotti’s leadership is excellent, from the warm cello solo that is featured in the prelude, through the introspective moments, to the angry confrontations, and the chorus and orchestra shine throughout. Luisotti has a fine sense that this opera is neither one of the truly “early” works, like Oberto or Alzira, nor as sophisticated as, say, Ballo or Forza. It is a work filled with conventional forms, but imbued with the energy of a professional, rather than a brilliant, novice.

The verdict? Well, I suspect that another video version of this opera will not come along for a while, and musically it is more than worthwhile, so it gets my recommendation. Subtitles are in all major European languages plus Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.

-- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com



Giuseppe Verdi
I MASNADIERI

Massimiliano – Giacomo Prestia
Carlo – Aquiles Machado
Francesco – Artur Rucinski
Amalia – Lucrecia Garcia
Arminio – Walter Omaggio
Moser – Dario Russo
Rolla – Massimiliano Chiarolla

San Carlo Theatre Ballet School
San Carlo Theater Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Salvatore Caputo)
Nicola Luisotti, conductor

Gabriele Lavia, set director
Alessandro Camera, set designer
Andrea Viotti, costume designer
Carlo Netti, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, 21, 25, 27, 29, 31 March 2012

Bonus:
- Introduction to I Masnadieri

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 124 mins (opera) + 11 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

Originally commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal and the opening of Cairo’s new opera house, Verdi’s Egyptian epic Aida is here seen in a spectacular new staging in the Teatro Regio Torino by the Oscar-winning American film director William Friedkin, creator of such famous movies as The Exorcist and The French Connection. The cast features American soprano Kristin Lewis who has been heralded for her “remarkable voice, which she uses with powerful dramatic instinct” (La Stampa), and Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, whose Amneris “dominates the stage with her dark, rounded, irresistible voice and extraordinary stage presence” (La Gazzetta Musicale). Gianandrea Noseda leading the Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Regio Torino received accolaides from all: “he controls everything- orchestra, singers, chorus, dancers, acrobats- with an all-encompassing overview.” (La Stampa) “he knows exactly when it’s time to linger over a timbre, a color, an expressive chord.” (Corriere della Sera)