VERDI Luisa Miller • Donato Renzetti, cond; Fiorenza Cedolins (Luisa); Marcelo Alvarez (Rodolfo); Leo Nucci (Miller); Giorgio Surian (Count Walter); Rafal Siwek (Wurm); Francesca Franci (Federica); Katerina Nikolic (Laura); Teatro Regio Parma O & Ch • C MAJOR 722904 (Blu-ray: 147: 00 + 10:00 bonus) Live: Parma 2007

& Introduction to Luisa Miller

Some commentators say Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Luisa Miller represents a transition in his work from the use of traditional musical forms seen early in his career to the more innovative style of his great middle period works beginning with Rigoletto and continuing with Il Trovatore and La traviata. That very well may be true, but another trend I can attest to is that with this opera Verdi’s music is getting noticeably better. Perhaps it is not consistently better throughout the opera, but certainly notable in the ensemble pieces, the finales of acts I and II and the extended duet which ends the last act. The arias for both tenor and soprano are also well conceived, if not as catchy as “Caro nome” or “La donna è mobile.” Verdi’s Luisa overture is one of the best from his pen until La traviata comes along. All of this fine music unfortunately is a bit wasted on another of Frederich Schiller’s rather dreary romantic tragedies, but the opera has proved popular enough to remain in the repertoire of houses both big and small, particularly on the continent of Europe,

The story is of the love between peasant Luisa and Rodolfo, son of the local count (although Luisa doesn’t know that at first). Their match is opposed by both fathers, who know it means trouble, and by the Count’s principal retainer, Wurm, who wants the girl for himself. Miller père challenges the Count after he insults Luisa, and Miller is thrown in jail. Wurm tells Luisa that in order to free her father she must write a letter denying her love of Rodolfo and saying she is in love with Wurm himself. She does so under duress and the father is freed, but Rodolfo takes the letter seriously amiss. He shows up at the Miller house to confront Luisa, who is honor bound not to explain her actions. Rodolfo, in despair, gives them both poison, so they can expire slowly together while singing a love duet. Rodolfo still has enough strength left to get the Wurm before he dies himself. Oh, and there’s a stray Countess around somewhere that Rodolfo is supposed to marry who gets to sing in a set piece or two.

The Parma production seen here from 2007 is a pretty good one. It is one of the sets in the Tutto Verdi project, and one of the better I have seen in that series. Tutto Verdi aims to record all of Verdi’s operas and his Requiem on high definition Blu-ray disc for release this year to honor the composer’s 200th birthday. Stage Director Denis Krief has done a clever job of providing stylized yet evocative sets of time and place which can be changed quite quickly and easily, sometimes in full view of the audience. The Millers’ humble village domicile, with wooden walls contrasts with a backdrop of geometric shapes meant to represent the Count’s much grander quarters. Video projections of swaying trees mark one or two of the outdoor scenes. Krief also uses the costumes to emphasize the difference between peasants and aristocrats so crucial to the story line. All the denizens of the Count’s estates seem to be wearing plush finery while the peasants are dressed as . . . well, peasants. Stage action is blocked quite naturally and the video direction provides a good account of it. Although a bit stylized, the whole production has a traditional feel which I enjoy.

Unlike some other Verdi operas, this one requires six solid principal singers to be performed really successfully. Here we get five, which is above average for the Tutto Verdi series, at least in the early operas. Only the bass of Giorgio Surian as the Count really disappoints. His heavy vibrato has developed a beat which he doesn’t control, and it disfigures any attempts at lyrical singing, even noticeable in the ensembles. It is refreshing to hear a really first class tenor like Marcelo Alvarez singing here. I have always liked Argentinean Alverez’s voice, he adds a touch of vocal class to any role, and here his dramatic involvement nearly matches his fine singing. Almost the same can be said of Fiorenza Cedolins in the lead soprano role of Luisa. Her voice is just a bit heavy for the lyric agility Verdi asks for in Luisa, but Cedolins still outsings a bevy of other sopranos cast in these early Tutto Verdi productions and her high range is very enjoyable. She can also act, and if she and Alvarez are a bit more than callow youths, they still provide a properly satisfying couple in their duets together. Then we come to 65-year-old Leo Nucci, who has been a staple in several of these C Major sets. Nucci performs quite well here as Miller, and for once he is not asked to sing more than his aging stamina allows. Mezzo Francesca Franci sings the Countess and bass-baritone Rafal Siwek the role of Wurm to round out the principal singers. Both perform well, although Siwek’s vocal tone sounds too similar to the other lower voices in some of the duets and ensembles. Donato Renzetti leads the Parma orchestra members in one of their better outings, and we video viewers actually get to watch them playing during the Overture for a change.

There are several sets of Luisa Miller available on DVD; I have only seen the one from Venice, recorded in 2006. That set features another strong soprano performance by Darina Takova; she rivals Cedolins on this set but only the Count of Alexander Vinogradov tops the group of male leads seen and heard here. The Venice production is also quite traditional, but I like the Parma sets and costumes better. In an earlier review Fanfare colleague Bob Rose recommends the 1979 Met production with Scotto, Domingo, Milnes, and Morris, which I have not seen, but despite the strong cast, that video technology is nearly 35 years old, and this C Major set is in breathtaking Blu-ray video and high definition sound. It is better than satisfactory, it is quite good, and I recommend it.

FANFARE: Bill White    

Also available on Blu-ray

Based on a Romantic tragedy by Zacharias Werner, Attila is set in the 5th century AD. The opera takes as its starting point Attila’s plans to storm Rome with his army of Huns and the Roman’s 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.

Giuseppe Verdi
ATTILA

Attila – Giovanni Battista Parodi
Ezio – Sebastian Catana
Odabella – Susanna Branchini
Foresto – Roberto de Biasio
Aldino – Cristiano Cremonini
Leone – Zyian Atfeh

Parma Teatro Regio Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Martino Faggiani)
Andrea Battistoni, conductor

Pier Francesco Maestrini, stage director
Carlo Salvi, set and costume designer
Bruno Ciulli, lighting designer

Recorded live from the Teatro Verdi di Busseto, 2010

Bonus:
- Introduction to Attila

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
Booklet notes: English, French, German
Running time: 118 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

R E V I E W:

VERDI Attila • Andrea Battistoni, cond; Giovanni Battista Parodi ( Attila ); Sebastian Catana ( Ezio ); Susanna Branchini ( Odabella ); Roberto De Biasio ( Foresto ); Cristiano Cremonini ( Uldino ); Zyian Atfeh ( Leone ); Teatro Regio di Parma O & Ch • C MAJOR 721608 (DVD); 721704 (Blu-ray) (118:00 + 10:00) Live: Busseto 10/2010


Attila (1846) was Verdi’s ninth opera, preceding Macbeth by almost exactly one year. It had a slow start, but became quite popular through the 1860s, after which interest in it began to diminish. Though not again a repertory piece, it has had a number of modern revivals and there are a number of recordings of it.


Its libretto is a bit confused, almost certainly because the writer of the first part, Temistocle Solera, departed for Spain before he had finished and Francesco Maria Piave was recruited to finish it. Solera and Piave had almost opposing ideas of what an opera libretto was and so, what some have called the “oratorio” style of Solera ends in the more enclosed style of Piave. Its two principal characters, however, Attila and Odabella, his captive, wife, and assassin, are drawn with some force.


Briefly, the Huns arrive at the gates of Rome and Odabella, whose father the Huns have killed, is brought in and announces how brave she is and Attila, impressed, strikes off her chains and gives her his sword. The Roman general Ezio arrives and offers Attila the entire empire if he will just leave Rome alone. Attila refuses and we meet Foresto, who is leading a band of refugees from the Huns. This is the easy part, and it’s all in the prologue. After framing the situation and the characters, we might expect that there would be a series of actions which might cause something to happen. What we get is a series of arias and duets, with occasional choral support, in which the principals either talk about what they are going to do or bemoan the fact that things have gone badly. This dramatic stasis is brought to an end only just before the final curtain, when Odabella kills Attila. That leaves the music.


This is good Verdi. If it doesn’t have the edge of, say, Traviata , or the power of Otello , there are many good moments. Yet, one of the interesting things about it is that it is fairly even all the way through. Though each of the principals gets at least one big musical moment, there is none that overpowers the others, though Ezio’s lament over Rome comes close.


This production comes from the Teatro Verdi in Busseto, Verdi’s hometown. The theater was opened in 1868, but Verdi apparently never set foot in it. Though he gave money to finish its construction, he called it “small, indecent, and almost unusable.” Nonetheless, Toscanini conducted many of Verdi’s operas in it, and Riccardo Muti and Plácido Domingo have also led Verdi there. It has been thoroughly restored and is a shining jewel, with one huge drawback. It is absolutely tiny. Its main floor and three balconies can seat in total 300 people. How Franco Zeffirelli managed to put Aida into it in 2002, I cannot imagine.


As one can imagine, the space constraints on the stage are considerable, and the director, Pierfrancesco Maestrini, has opted for one high-tech solution, a bare stage with a bit of a hump on one side and films projected onto the screen at the back. For some reason, though, Attila makes his first entrance descending from the flies on a platter. There is almost no space to move around much and the singers mostly just stand, or recline on the helpful hump. Maestrini has one bizarre convention in the arias with cabalettas, during which the singer rushes off the stage after the first verse only to rush on again for the second. Oddly, perhaps just because the director cannot do much on this stage, he is forced to let the singers be singers.


It sounds as if I did not like this production, but that is not the case, for the singing is well done. If this is a sample of the current state of singing in provincial Italian opera houses, then opera in Italy is in good shape, indeed. Susanna Branchini is a fine and spirited Odabella and she always gets the fires going (and she has a lot of fires to keep going, which may be why she and not Attila is on the cover). The Attila of Giovanni Battista Parodi is good without being particularly exciting. Ezio has almost nothing to do, but his aria, “Dagl’immortali vertici,” is a fine one and Sebastian Catana was generously applauded. The conductor, Andrea Battistoni, kept the small orchestra moving along, though I wished there could have been a bit more energy now and then. All of this said, there was an evenness about this production that I appreciated.


This DVD is one part of a project called “Tutto Verdi,” apparently centered in Parma, to publish visual recordings of all of Verdi’s operas by the end of this (Verdi) year. It is of at least passing interest, therefore, to ask how many operas Verdi actually wrote. The surveys by Roger Parker and Julian Budden insist there are 28: The “Tutto Verdi” project asserts there are only 26. The disagreement comes over the status of Stiffelio , which Verdi reworked as Aroldo , and Jérusalem , his reworking for Paris of I lombardi . The project has apparently decided not to include Aroldo and Jérusalem (for both of which ArkivMusic tells me there is a DVD). As near as I can tell, of the 26, four have previously been reviewed here ( Ernani , James Miller, 29:6; Macbeth , Raymond Tuttle, 31:2; Otello , James A. Altena, 34:1; and Forza , Bill White, 35:6).


As I write, there are two other DVDs of Attila available, under Santi (Kultur) and Muti (Opus Arte), and one coming, under Sangiorgi (Dynamic). I have seen none of these. Of the CD versions, I rather like that under Muti (EMI), where Samuel Ramey brings Attila into his own. (NB: This is not the same performance as in Muti’s DVD.)


FANFARE: Alan Swanson

Also available on Blu-ray

World Premiere recording on Video! Church corruption, human violence and a daughter who plots revenge on her abusive father – Goldschmidt’s Beatrice Cenci has every ingredient for a gripping opera. At Bregenz, Johannes Erath brought Beatrice Cenci on stage for the first time. Although written 70 years ago, “one musically quickly associates Puccini or other Romantics“ (Neue Zurcher Zeitung), underlined by Goldschmidt´s own words, saying it became a real “Belcanto-Opera”. “Johannes Debus conducts the Wiener Symphoniker with true feeling for the score“. ”In the title role, Gal James is moving“ and ”the baritone Christoph Pohl has all the vocal charisma.” (The Telegraph). A “brilliantly focused staging of a neglected work“ (The Telegraph), a “great, wonderful evening“ (Deutschlandfunk Kultur).

-----

REVIEW:

Goldschmidt set out to write a latterday bel canto work, and his vocal lines are certainly always singable, over orchestral writing that references Mahler, Busoni and Schreker as well as standard 19th-century operatic models. The Bregenz cast, led by Gal James as Beatrice, with Dshamilja Kaiser as her stepmother Lucrezia and Christoph Pohl as the swaggering, monstrous Francisco Cenci, complete with diamante codpiece, is a very decent one, and Johannes Debus makes sure that Goldschmidt’s whirling, churning orchestral writing gets the attention it deserves.

– Guardian

Also available on Blu-ray

The foremost voices in Verdi interpretation today have gathered in the historic Teatro Regiotoday have gathered in the historic Teatro Regio di Parma to present I Lombardi, for the uninitiated a hidden treasure nestled in Verdi's vast catalogue. For the first time Blu-ray video and audio unite to bring this gem to sparkling new heights of picture and sound.

Giuseppe Verdi
I LOMBARDI ALLA PRIMA CROCIATA

Arvino – Roberto de Biasio
Pagano – Michele Pertusi
Viclinda – Cristina Giannelli
Giselda – Dimitra Theodossiou
Pirro – Roberto Tagliavini
Un priore – Gregory Bonfatti
Acciano – Valdis Jansons
Oronte – Francesco Meli
Sofia – Daniela Pini

Parma Teatro Regio Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Martino Faggiani)
Daniele Callegari, conductor

Lamberto Puggelli, stage director
Paolo Bregni, set designer
Santuzza Calí, costume designer
Andrea Borelli, lighting designer

Recorded live from the Teatro Regio di Parma, 2009

Bonus:
- Introduction to I Lombardi alla prima crociata

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: 144 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1

R E V I E W:

VERDI I Lombardi alla prima crociata • Daniele Callegari, cond; Dimitra Theodossiou ( Giselda ); Francesco Meli ( Oronte ); Roberto de Biasio ( Arvino ); Michele Pertusi ( Pagano ); Teatro Regio di Parma O & Ch • UNITEL CLASSICA 720608 (DVD: 154:00 Text and Translation) Live: Teatro Regio, Parma 1/2009


It takes some courage to produce this opera, whose title translates as “The Lombards at the first Crusade,” in these times of tensions between the worlds of Islam and those of Western religions. Portraying the Crusaders as heroes in their defeat of the infidel Muslims, and depicting with glory their taking of Jerusalem, could easily result in a fatwa being called down upon an impresario’s head. There is no doubt that I winced uneasily at moments during I Lombardi.


However, the element of religious war really serves as a backdrop to stories of love gone wrong, and to Verdi’s interest in character exploration. Verdi shows here, in only his fourth opera, an already highly developed talent for drawing strong character differences with the music he creates for each. He also shows here his strong melodic gift, and his imagination. For its time, I Lombardi is daring in the scope of its choral writing. Indeed, the chorus is a fifth principal in the opera. And then there is that remarkable trio at the end of the third act, with a concertante violin solo and a little orchestral prelude at its beginning. This is very innovative writing. So despite some basic dramatic silliness (all the key characters wind up at the same place, whether they have gone there to do battle or have been exiled; Giselda inexplicably is in love with the leader of the infidels, who at his death converts to Christianity for her!), the sweep and inspiration of Verdi’s music carries the listener/viewer along.


I am only aware of one other video, a 1984 La Scala production with José Carreras in one of the two lead tenor roles (Oronte). He is in great voice, but he is not enough to save the performance from the squally Ghena Dimitrova, thin-voiced Carlo Bini, and wooden singing of bass Silvano Carroli. Parma, on the other hand, assembled a first-rate cast, and conductor Callegari has both the moment-to-moment details and the long line in perfect balance. His ability to keep things moving, while lingering when lingering is needed, is one of the reasons for this performance’s success.


If one singer stands out in an excellent cast, it is Dimitra Theodossiou. The Greek soprano is onstage for much of the opera, and she dominates when she is. She reminds me, in her approach to this music, of Caballé, though she may lack the Spanish soprano’s remarkably distinct beauty of tone. Theodossiou floats glorious pianissimi , soars over the entire ensemble when required, sculpts long phrases naturally, and is deeply inside the character. Giselda may well be the opera world’s first anti-war activist, and we identify strongly with her horror at the mentality of the Crusaders. This is a truly triumphant performance, and marks the arrival of a major Verdi soprano for our time.


The remainder of the cast is very good, if not quite as outstanding as Theodossiou. One difficulty in casting I Lombardi is the need for two good tenors. Complicating things is the fact that the one with the smaller role gets the good aria! In Meli and De Biasio, Parma has found two good ones. Meli has the lighter color, de Biasio a bit more tonal richness. But both sing beautifully, using the full range of dynamics available to them, and both have strong top notes produced without strain. Michele Pertusi has a dual role—that of Pagano (Arvino’s brother) and then disguised as a hermit (who undergoes a dramatically absurd transformation from a vicious murderer to a man of peace). He starts off with a touch of tonal unsteadiness in his first scenes, but quickly warms up and gives a performance of great distinction. These three men, two tenors and a bass, share the load fairly equally, and it is a great strength of this performance that they are all very good.


The stage production is extremely traditional—no “Eurotrash” here. We get simple backdrops that create the illusion of location (a castle, a cave, Jerusalem) and very elaborate and effective period costumes. There is no attempt, thank Heaven, to bring contemporary relevance to the opera by updating it into the current Mid-East cauldron. I don’t know if anyone was tempted, but we must all be grateful that they avoided that trap. This is probably I Lombardi as Verdi and his librettist, Solera, imagined it—although I doubt that they imagined a performance any better.


Special kudos to the unnamed concertmaster who plays the solo in the third act gorgeously. Tiziano Mancini’s direction for the camera would have benefited from a bit more patience. His camera shots jump from one to another too often—particularly during Giselda’s solos. He should have trusted the music to hold us. But this is only a minor annoyance in what is overall a DVD that any opera lover will want.


FANFARE: Henry Fogel

The eccentric and reclusive conductor Carlos Kleiber has achieved cult status in music circles and has built a loyal fan base. I Am Lost to the World tries to uncover some of the mysteries surrounding the maestro, such as: what were the real reasons he cancelled so often? The film sheds light on his relationships with his family, traces the developments of his career and covers the "mythologizing" that began during the maestro's lifetime. It includes never-before-seen film footage and interviews with Ricardo Muti, Otto Schenk, Dr. Otto Staindl (friend and attending physician of Carlos Kleiber), members of the Vienna Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Director Georg Wübbolt
Running Time Total: 60 minutes
Picture Format: 16:9
Audio Format: PCM Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Japanese

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

Also available on standard DVD

SOLTI – Journey of a Lifetime
Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Sir Georg Solti (Blu-ray Disc Version)

Featuring:
Valerie Solti
Valery Gergiev
Christoph von Dohnányi
Sir Peter Jonas
Clemens Hellsberg
Ewald Markl
and many more as interview partners as well as several musical excerpts conducted by Sir Georg Solti

Bonus:
Dmitry Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10
Sergey Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, “Classical”
Modest Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina: Prelude

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Georg Solti, conductor

1977 Video Production

Picture format: 1080i High Definition (documentary) / 4:3 (bonus)
Sound format: PCM Stereo
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Languages: English, German
Subtitles: French, Spanish, Korean
Running time: 52 mins (documentary) + 55 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)

On May 21, 2016 at the Bonn Opera House in Germany, the fifth Opera Gala for the German AIDS Foundation took place. At this performance, some of the world’s most illustrious vocalists performed, such as Simone Kermes, Roberto De Biasio, Marina Prudenskaya, and Robin Johannsen. This release features all of the very best highlights of that outstanding evening. Conducted by Stefan Blunier, music from Mozart, Gounod, Beethoven, Verdi, Delibes, Donizetti, Offenbach, and Rossini is included. This production was filmed in high definition and mastered from an HD source, and includes over an hour of music. This is the next best thing to being present at the fantastic concert.

Also available on Blu-ray

Stravinsky in Hollywood, a film by Michael Capalbo, tells the story of an "old school" European artist knocking heads with the brash New World. The documentary uses a combination of existing archival footage (some never before seen), interviews with Stravinsky and his assistant Robert Craft, and premieres several big studio film scenes of the 40s with music Stravinsky wrote for them.

Also available on Blu-ray

For the first time the opera “Mosè” by Gioachino Rossini is on stage inside a Cathedral in a semi-scenic performance at the Duomo di Milano. The Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano, in the wake of a centuries-old tradition of dialogue with the contemporary, chooses the most advanced technology to open up to the world and the public with an immediacy never achieved until now, including lights and colors effects that characterize the scenes of the show, with an evocative video mapping technique.

No. of Discs: 1
Run time: 102 minutes
Disc Format: DVD 9
Picture: NTSC, 16:9
Audio: PCM Stereo, PCM 5.1
Bonus Material: A documentary revealing the secrets of Milan Cathedral
Subtitles Bonus: Italian, English
Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

All the world's a joke, says Falstaff, and these words are truly given weight by Ambrogio Maestri, one of the finest Falstaffs of our time. The Italian baritone brings a powerful, versatile voice to his role, but also brings to his character a hilarious buffo quality. Daniele Gatti, one of the most acclaimed opera conductors working today, leads a stunning cast of singers, including Barbara Frittoli as Alice Ford. This boisterous production by stage director Sven-Eric Bechtolf delivers a Falstaff that is a fireworks display of high spirits. "Bechtolf turns Verdi's last opera "musically and dramaturgically into a feast of life and of love of life."

Christian Thielemann has recorded Die Walküre more than once before, not least as part of his Ring cycles for both the Vienna State Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. This is a little different. For its 50th anniversary in 2017, the Salzburg Easter Festival mounted a recreation of Herbert von Karajan’s 1967 production of Die Walküre, which had opened the very first Easter Festival. Gunther Schneider-Siemssen’s sets were reconstructed and the booklet also refers to his original “sophisticated lighting concept” and the “impressive video backdrops inspired by the original glass paintings”. Karajan’s biographer Richard Osborne recorded the disputes between designer and conductor over lighting – Karajan liked things a bit darker it seems. Costumes and stage direction are new, but seem generally in harmony with the concept of the stage as a timeless world, a universe bounded by a proscenium arch.

Overall this production, designed originally and very specifically for the very wide stage of the Festspielhaus, impresses as a worthwhile piece of theatrical archaeology, for the initial production concept of the Ring as a whole cosmos, and its homage to the stripped-back aesthetic of Wieland Wagner’s Bayreuth, remain highly effective scenically. There are just enough long shots to remind us of the epic scale within which the intimate drama is unfolding. The giant tree that also forms Hunding’s hut in Act I, and the ring-shaped platform for Act II, still functions well – simple, effective design does not date. The chalked up listing of the cast of characters on the floor, then back wall, in Act II is an intelligent reminder that after Das Rheingold, the Ring is deeply engaged with its own back-story, like the Oresteia of Aeschylus that formed part of its genesis. One wonders what Karajan would have made of some new directorial details, such as Hunding’s nastily aggressive groping of Sieglinde’s crotch, but generally the characters and their situations are well served by the direction. There is little here to upset a traditionalist, for Brünnhilde even has a winged helmet and a spear for the great ‘annunciation of death’ scene with Siegmund in Act II. The filming, editing and sound recording do it all justice.

Karajan liked younger, fresher voices rather than what he called the “old Wagnerian cannons”. He would not have liked Siegmund’s ill-focussed barking of “Wälse, Wälse” in Act I, but for much of the part Peter Seiffert still makes a very good Walsung. Anja Harteros has the measure of his twin Sieglinde to a still greater degree, vocally bright and secure through the range, and looking the part. Christa Mayer as Fricka is outstanding too, imposing in her insistence on her moral stance, but in full command of her rich voice so that she is never shrill or shrewish, which gives her an authority that makes the drama more interestingly ambiguous. It’s not just a case here, as it sometimes is, of ‘Fricka wrong, Wotan right’. The Wotan of Vitalij Kowaljow is splendidly focussed of voice and suitably imposing in presence – not at all the sort of woolly-voiced veteran Wotan which is the undoing of too many recordings of this work. Anja Kampe is on top vocal form as Brünnhilde, whose interactions with Wotan are the emotional heart of this most human of the Ring dramas. Her wide experience in Wagner really tells, and she acts and sings those scenes with her father most affectingly. Her eight spear-voiced (and spear-carrying) Valkyrie sisters make a joyous noise in the opening to Act III.

Christian Thielemann’s pedigree could hardly be more auspicious for this enterprise, since as a young man he was an assistant to Karajan, as well as to Barenboim at Bayreuth. He even followed the traditional route of progressing through smaller German opera houses, learning his craft en route to his current eminence as one of the world’s leading Wagner conductors. His musical direction is superb, for he has the essential long-term perception of Wagner’s musico-dramatic structures, control of the broad tempi he often favours, and a truly magnificent orchestra in the Dresden Staatskapelle. Like Karajan, he understands that the drama is essentially in the pit. Perhaps too Thielemann was inspired by this reclamation of a classic production by his mentor. Karajan once said in a BBC interview “When I see staging and lighting that is right, the music runs out of my hand without effort”. So it does for Thielemann here, not least in the magnificent account of Wotan’s moving farewell to his favourite daughter that closes the opera.

– MusicWeb International (Roy Westbrook)

The sound of Thielemann’s orchestra, darker-sounding than usual from more Western-based orchestras and with plangent winds and an aggressively present timpani balance, is one of the pleasures of this set. Thielemann has long been a ‘stopgoer’ in Wagner with large tempo contrasts. Now, perhaps following his Bayreuth Tristan, he is even more daringly slow in his pointing up of love and suffering. For that and the cast this set is valuable.

– Gramophone

Also available on Blu-ray

Premiered in 1900 with huge success, Puccini’s “melodramma” Tosca is a political thriller with a heart-breaking love story. With his gripping opening scene, stage director Michael Sturminger sets the tone for a cinematic, richly detailed Tosca which is set in the Mafiosi world of modern day Rome and which is “the perfect thriller … reminiscent of Scorsese’s ‘Goodfellas’” (Kleine Zeitung), a “film noir” (FAZ). In this production soprano Anja Harteros is “a phenomenal Tosca!” (Kurier), “unparalleled in the world” (Der Standard) and Aleksandrs Antonenko is “a Cavaradossi of superlatives” (Kieler Nachrichten). The Staatskapelle Dresden under Christian Thielemann „show again that he is not only a master of German repertoire but also strikes the right note in Italian repertoire.“ (Focus)

When more than 500,000 people gathered in New York's Central Park on 26 June 1993, they wanted to hear only one thing: The voice of the greatest tenor of the twentieth century: the voice of Luciano Pavarotti. A year earlier, Pavarotti had thrilled the crowds in London's Hyde Park - here, in New York, he confirmed once again that he is an undisputed world star. He is accompanied by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Leone Magiera, featuring the flutist Andrea Griminelli and The Boys Choir of Harlem, whose voices can be heard on albums of Michael Jackson, Kathleen Battle and many more. The recording of this concert, without doubt one of Pavarotti’s most celebrated performances, includes the famous Puccini arias Nessun dorma and E lucevan le stelle and Neapolitanian songs as 'O sole mio.' This legendary concert is now available for the first time on Blu-ray!

Star violinist David Garrett celebrates his ten-year spectacular crossover program with thousands of fans in the extraordinary atmosphere of the Arena di Verona, Italy. Performing his Greatest Hits of brilliant interpretations of rock classics like “We Are The Champions” or “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and world-famous pop songs like “Viva La Vida” or “Hey Jude” and his arrangements of classical melodies like Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, David Garrett left a thrilled audience in the Arena. Praised for pioneering the modern crossover trend as well as his exceptionally virtuous playing, David Garrett is equally at home at performing the most intricate classical compositions with the world’s leading conductors and orchestras as well as the most crowd-pleasing stadium rock hits. He combines rock star charisma with the kind of virtuosity innate only to the best instrumentalists of our time. Admired by all of his fans around the world, David Garrett has sold millions of tickets so far and earned 25 gold and 17 platinum awards in places as diverse as Hong Kong, Germany, Mexico, Taiwan, Brazil, Singapore, and many others.

This legendary concert of Luciano Pavarotti in Hyde Park, 1991, was held to mark the 30th anniversary of the start of Pavarotti's operatic career. The Guardian wrote that there had not been "such a brouhaha for a free concert" since the concert given by The Rolling Stones in 1969. Attended by 120,000 fans, including Lady Diana, Prince Charles, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Michael Caine, and premier John Major, this concert by Luciano Pavarotti thrilled the electrified audience with a popular program from Verdi to Puccini (Nessun Dorma), from Mascagni and Leoncavallo to Bixio (Mamma) and Di Capua (`O sole mio), which is now available for the first time available here, digitally remastered!

This Blu-ray box contains legendary concerts from 1977 – 1990 of Leonard Bernstein conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker, Orchestre National de France and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. The set also includes the Centennial Celebration Concert at Tanglewood, featuring John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, Andris Nelsons, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tony Yazbeck and many more, performing works by Bernstein, Williams, Mahler and Copland. Notable compositions include Jean Sibelius’s Symphonies 1, 2, 5, and 7, Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16, Haydn’s Missa in tempore beli, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, and many more.

The present release features three great performances from Arena di Verona, featuring some of opera’s finest artists including Luca Salsi, Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov, Irina Lungu, Marko Mimica, and many more. Each of these recordings has garnered critical acclaim. Of Carlos Alvarez’s performance as Don Giovanni, GP Opera wrote that Alvarez is “of beautiful voice” and L’ape musicale is “presumably today’s best Don Giovanni.” Das Opernglas writes of Simon Boccanegra “top phrasing and articulation, his baritone with full and sonorous intonation and a unique timbre.”

The history of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem’s interpretation is inextricably bound up with the name of Herbert von Karajan. He conducted the work on countless occasions and in this legendary concert he performed it with some of the greatest singers of that time: Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnès Baltsa, José Carreras, and José van Dam. Verdi wrote his Messa da Requiem in 1873/74, between Aida and Otello, for Alessandro Manzoni, a poet whom he much admired. Verdi’s Mass for the Dead is not intended for liturgical use but for the concert hall. In addition to its profound spirituality, this masterpiece brings together the finest qualities from Verdi’s operas: endless melodic lines and captivating musico-dramatic effects.

In 1986, the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who left his homeland 61 years ago, announced that he would return to the Soviet Union for the first time since 1925 to give recitals in Moscow and Leningrad. This sensational historic recital from Moscow includes works by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin, whom Horowitz knew both, Domenico Scarlatti, W.A. Mozart, Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann and Moritz Moszkowski. The disc too contains additional documentary footage with Horowitz. “Horowitz, playing with a clarity and dynamic range that friends said he had not matched in many years“ (New York Times) made an outstanding performance of musical, as well as political, significance.

Based, in part, on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff is Verdi’s last work for the stage – and only his second comic opera. And yet the humor in this multilayered masterpiece is distinctly wry, for all the main characters exhibit an array of human weaknesses that are implacably exposed by Verdi and his librettist Arrigo Boito. In this legendary performance from the Salzburg Festival, Herbert von Karajan is not only leading a stunning cast of singers featuring the Wiener Philharmoniker, he too directed the opera, in the amazing set design of Günther Schneider-Siemssen.

Based on Schiller’s play of the same name, Don Carlo is Verdi’s most ambitious work, written for the Paris Opéra in 1865–66 in the tradition of a French grand opera. This legendary production from the Salzburg Easter Festival is directed by Herbert von Karajan. With its extraordinary vocal cast, the wonderful set design and costumes it is truly one of the most memorable opera performances.

When Herbert von Karajan conducted Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival in 1987 featuring an outstanding cast of singers, the fantastic Wiener Philharmoniker and staged by Michael Hampe, it became a legendary performance of the highest artistic level. Samuel Ramey stars as the title character Don Giovanni, alongside Gosta Winbergh as Don Ottavio and Anna Tomowa-Sintow as Donna Anna. This dream of artistic collaboration made it one of the best opera performances, which now is available for the first time on Blu-ray.

The documentary Three Tenors – Voices for Eternity tells the story of the most successful concert in the history of classical music, featuring recent interviews with José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Zubin Mehta, Pavarotti‘s widow Nicoletta Mantovani, Lalo Schifrin, Brian Large, Mario Dradi, Paul Potts, Sir Bryn Terfel, Norman Lebrecht, Didier de Cottignies and many more. Behind-the-scenes-footage, showing the emotional highlights of the first concert and the sequel in Los Angeles offers a fascinating insight into what takes place beyond the spotlight, and includes excerpts from the legendary concert of the Original Three Tenors - José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti, conducted by Zubin Mehta at the Terme di Caracalla, Rome 1990 on the eve of the Football World Cup.

The Teatro La Fenice opened in 1792 and is one of the most renowned and most beautiful theaters in the world. "Amid mirrors, flowers and confetti, New Year's Eve at La Fenice is a ritual" (MusicPaper). The Teatro Fenice's Concerto di Capodanno - one of the world's most celebrated New Year's concerts - welcomes Daniel Harding back to the podium. After the monumental opening with Beethoven's Fifth, soloists Mariangela Sicilia and Francesco Demuro perform beloved arias by Rossini, Leoncavallo, Puccini, Wolf-Ferrari, Bizet, Gounod and Verdi. Interwoven with the concert are scenes of Aterballetto dancers, choreographed by Marcos Morau, performing in Venice's most iconic locations. The soloists' "perfect vocal blend" in Libiamo ne' lieti calici truly stands out (MusicPaper).

The Teatro La Fenice opened in 1792 and is one of the most renowned and most beautiful theaters in the world. "Amid mirrors, flowers and confetti, New Year's Eve at La Fenice is a ritual" (MusicPaper). The Teatro Fenice's Concerto di Capodanno - one of the world's most celebrated New Year's concerts - welcomes Daniel Harding back to the podium. After the monumental opening with Beethoven's Fifth, soloists Mariangela Sicilia and Francesco Demuro perform beloved arias by Rossini, Leoncavallo, Puccini, Wolf-Ferrari, Bizet, Gounod and Verdi. Interwoven with the concert are scenes of Aterballetto dancers, choreographed by Marcos Morau, performing in Venice's most iconic locations. The soloists' "perfect vocal blend" in Libiamo ne' lieti calici truly stands out (MusicPaper).