Love conquers all, ruthlessly and irresistibly, as Emperor Nero and his mistress Poppea remove the obstacles to their union. At Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu David Alden's visually sumptuous production, with it's suggestions of a giant game of chess, puts the opera's potent blend of sex and politics in a context that sets ancient against modern, just as the action juxtaposes scurrilous comedy and stark drama. Monteverdi's magnificent score, meanwhile, accommodates intrigue, wit, nobility, tragedy and sensuality, and, led by the intense Sarah Connolly and the delectable Miah Persson, the cast brings both drama and music startlingly to life.

The "Scherzi Musicali a tre voci di Claudio Monteverde, raccolti da Giulio Cesare Monteverde suo fratello, et nuovamente posti in luce" ("collected by his brother Giulio Cesare Monteverde and revealed again"), were published in 1607 by Ricciardo Amadino in Venice, and dedicated to "Serenissimo S. Don Francesco Gonzaga Prencipe di Mantova, et si Monferrato." These are 18 compositions selected and edited by Giulio Cesare Monteverdi: 17 "Scherzi," strophic songs written by Claudio, except for the last two by Giulio Cesare himself, and a wider concluding ballet, "De la bellezza le dovute lodi." Even with light and schematic compositions such as "Scherzi," the rules of the "Seconda Prattica" do not fail: new polyphonic technique, innovative use of dissonance, original concertation and, above all, great importance to the lyrics, with a strong dramatic power, before harmony and rhythm. The set is a masterpiece of the history of music of that time, in the mark of eternal quarrel between ancient and modern. The EsaEnsemble, a female vocal group directed by Sergio Chierici and accompanied by the instrumental ensemble Baschenis, effectively deals with this important work by the great genius of the Renaissance, in a colorful variety of vocal and instrumental organics supported by a wide use of period instruments.

Classical Music

Classical Music

MONTEVERDI: Vesperae de Confessore

Classical Music

Classical Music

This DVD is accompanied by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen's  audio recording of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 (COR16126). In the BBC documentary, actor and former chorister Simon Russell Beale invites us into the heart of the Vespers and the world of their creator. It is the story of a Renaissance Duke and the composer who worked for him - and how their volatile relationship would create one of the most revolutionary and beautiful collections of music ever published: The Monteverdi Vespers of 1610.

Classical Music

Orfeo, first performed in 1607, is considered the first opera in history. The Grand Theatre of Liceu, Barcelona, hosts the spectacular period performance directed by Jordi Savall, recorded in 2002, with Furio Zanasi, Montserrat Figueras, Sara Mingardo, Gloria Banditelli, Antonio Abete, Daniele Carnovich, Fulvio Bettini, Gerd Türk, Francesc Garrigosa and Carlos Mena. Savall directs La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations.

Extra features include:
* Production designer Gilbert Deflo at the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, where the opera was first performed, on the backgrounds of this stunning production.

Includes English subtitles.

DETAILS:

Sound: DTS Surround; LPCM Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Anamorphic
Subtitles: EN

Pierre Audi's Monteverdi Cycle Box Set

Includes:

L'INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA
Cynthia Haymon, Brigitte Balleys, Michael Chance, Claron McFadden, Heidi Grant Murphy, Ning Liang
Les Talens Lyriques / Christophe Rousset

IL RITORNO D'ULISSE IN PATRIA
Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Graciela Araya, Toby Spence, Jaco Huijpen, Christopher Gillet, Brian Asawa
Baroque Ensemble / Glen Wilson

L'ORFEO
John Mark Ainsley, Juanita Lascarro, Michael Chance, David Cordier, Mario Luperi, Brigitte Balleys
Tragicomedia and Concerto Palatino / Stephen Stubbs

PLUS BONUS DISC:
IL COMBATTIMENTO DI TANCREDI E CLORINDA
Lorna Anderson, Maarten Koningsberger, Adrian Martin
ASKO Ensemble / David Porcelijn

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 Anamorphic
Sound format: DTS Surround / LPCM Stereo
Region code: 0 (All Regions)
Menu Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch
Running time: 9 hours 30 minutes

Extras:
Each opera has an insightful introduction, directed by Roeland Hazendonk, featuring interviews with Pierre Audi, the musical director and members of the cast.

* Opus Arte is proud to present Pierre Audi's profound and refined productions of Monteverdi's opera masterpieces from the Amsterdam Muziektheater as a complete 9.5 hours box set, which explores the depths of human emotions in compelling music drama. The brilliant cast of the beautifully styled, evocative L'Orfeo, under the sophisticated musical direction of Stephen Stubbs, includes John Mark Ainsley, Michael Chance and David Cordier. Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria features Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Graciela Araya, both commanding and very moving under Glen Wilson's transparent and inspired musical direction. In L'incoronazione di Poppea Christophe Rousset and the musicians of his Les Talens Lyriques lead an all-star cast, including Brigitte Balleys, Cynthia Haymon, Claron McFadden and Dominique Visse, together reaching great heights in a highly evocative production. As a bonus disc, this box set includes the previously unreleased Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, starring Lorna Anderson and Maarten Koningberger, with the ASKO Ensemble led boldly by David Porcelijn.

R E V I E W S

"Strikingly staged, beautifully sung." -- New York Times

"A masterpiece of controlled timing and patience." -- Gramophone

"This is opera as music drama, and an experience not to be missed." -- New York Post

Classical Music

The present recording constitutes more than just a new version of the Vespers. It is the first recording of the Vespers in the alternative version proposed by the composer, without concertato instruments. It reveals the underlying matrix of the work we all know, the 'original version' to which Monteverdi added concertato instruments for use in large-scale performances. Respecting the structure of the Office of Vespers, Ludus Modalis has chosen to frame the psalms with the antiphons corresponding to a Marian ceremony. The interpretation proposed here is one influenced by the Renaissance tradition. It places the work in perspective in a musical world at the point of equilibrium between prima and seconda prattica, between the achievements of tradition and the contributions of modernity. Ludus Modalis is a professional ensemble of five to twelve singers formed around the tenor Bruno Boterf. The group focuses principally on polyphonic Renaissance and early Baroque repertoire, with incursions into contemporary music. Apart from the absence of a conductor in the standard sense, the ensemble's specificity and it's 'sound blend' are the fruits of thoroughgoing attention to the parameters of a cappella polyphony: the development of an intonation aimed towards achieving a clarity of harmonic intervals; the attention paid to the text on the basis of the declamation and historical pronunciation; and the richness of the sonority achieved through the use of a variety of vocal timbres and colors, as well as a subtle mix of female, male, and even children's voices.

Classical Music

The present album is a reissue of a legendary recording by a legendary ensemble, La Venexiana. Recorded at the 2005 Semana de Mu�sica Religiosa Festival in Cuenca, Spain, the ensemble's founding members (Rossana Bertini, Giuseppe Maletto, Sandro Naglia and Daniele Carnovich) are to be heard in the company of a select group of instrumentalists and singers, all of them under the direction of Claudio Cavina, for a memorable journey through the pieces contained in Claudio Monteverdi's Selva morale e spirituale. Rather than following the order of the printed edition, La Venexiana has preferred here to arrange the sequence of pieces into three substantial liturgical settings, each one equipped with it's own self-governing character. The first two albums contain one office of Vespers each, taking advantage of the fact that Monteverdi provided double (and sometimes even triple) versions of the Dixit Dominus, Confitebor, Beatus vir, Laudate pueri, Laudate Dominum, Magnificat and Salve Regina. The programme for the third album has essentially been created around the Messa a 4 and includes other free-standing mass sections. The effect is of constructing a grand Missa solemnis that perhaps might have been heard on November 21, 1631 in Saint Mark's to celebrate the cessation of the plague epidemic in Venice.