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

Also available on standard DVD

Royal Opera productions present three of Giacomo Puccini’s greatest operas. John Copley’s iconic La bohème brings the Paris of the 1830s to life in vivid detail; Jonathan Kent’s atmospheric and naturalistic Tosca evokes the turbulence of Rome in 1800; and Andrei Serban’s visually stunning Turandot is a glorious tribute to Puccini’s last and grandest creation. Featuring a host of international opera stars, this collection is brimming with the drama and sumptuous music that have made Puccini one of the world’s most popular opera composers. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true Surround Sound. ‘‘Lise Lindstrom is pretty much the ideal Ice Princess.’’ (BBC Music Magazine - Turandot) ‘‘Andris Nelsons conducts a well-paced performance.’’ (Gramophone - La bohème)

PUCCINI
(3-blu-ray disc set)
LA BOHÈME

Rodolfo - Teodor Ilincai
Mimì - Hibla Gerzmava
Marcello - Gabriele Viviani
Musetta - Inna Dukach
Colline - Kostas Smoriginas
Schaunard - Jacques Imbrailo
Benoît - Jeremy White
Alcindoro - Donald Maxwell

Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Renato Balsadonna)
Andris Nelsons, conductor

John Copley, stage director

TOSCA

Floria Tosca - Angela Gheorghiu
Mario Cavaradossi - Jonas Kaufmann
Baron Scarpia - Bryn Terfel
Cesare Angelotti - Lukas Jakobski
Sacristan - Jeremy White
Spoletta - Hubert Francis
Sciarrone - Zhengzhong Zhou
Shepherd Boy - William Payne
Gaoler - John Morrissey

Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Renato Balsadonna)
Antonio Pappano, conductor
Jonathan Kent, stage director

TURANDOT

Princess Turandot - Lise Lindstrom
The Unknown Prince / Calaf - Marco Berti
Liù - Eri Nakamura
Timur - Raymond Aceto
Ping - Dionysios Sourbis
Pang - David Butt Philip
Pong - Doug Jones
Emperor Altoum - Alasdair Elliott
Mandarin - Michel de Souza

Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Renato Balsadonna)
Henrik Nánási, conductor

Andrei Serban, stage director

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, December 2009 (La Bohème), 2013 (Tosca) and September 2013 (Turandot)

Bonus:
- Interviews with John Copley and Andris Nelsons (La Bohème)
- Cast gallery (La Bohème and Turandot)
- Introductions presented by Antonio Pappano (Tosca and Turandot)
- Documentary: Behind the Masks (Turandot)

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format:LPCM 2.0 / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian (La Bohème) / + Japanese (Tosca) / + Korean (Turandot)
Running time: 6 hrs 6 mins (opera) + 20 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 3

Classical Music

Puccini: La bohème – Tosca, S. 69

In the role Madama Butterfly the great Sena Jurinac reaches the apogee of her vocal and dramatic technique; her interpretation has become a universal benchmark.

PUCCINI Suor Angelica • Andris Nelsons, cond; Kristine Opolais ( Angelica ); Lioba Braun ( Princess ); Mojca Erdmann ( Genovieffa ); WDR SO & Ch Cologne • ORFEO C848121A (59:00 Text and Translation)


& PUCCINI Preludio Sinfonico in A


If you own and are satisfied with any of the truly excellent recordings of Suor Angelica already in the catalogue (Scotto/Horne with Maazel on Sony, Tebaldi/Simionato with Gardelli on Decca, or perhaps the classic of them all, de los Angeles/Barbieri with Serafin on EMI and/or Regis), you probably don’t need this new recording. One cannot claim that it is superior to those, each of which has its own unique strengths. But if you are a curious opera lover who is interested in the present and future, and in hearing a different take on the opera that is actually capable of being mentioned in the same breath as those recordings, this should be of interest.


To make Suor Angelica work the performers must submit to its overt emotionalism without lapsing into a vulgar kind of sentimentality. It is actually a tricky balance: too dry and removed and you lose the essence of the work, too blatant in emotional display and it turns goppy. Here that balance is superb—thanks in particular to soprano Opolais and conductor Nelsons—both among the current generation of important musicians coming out of Latvia. Opolais is young (born in 1979), but sounds already a mature artist. Her approach is probably most similar to de los Angeles in her 1957 recording—a purity of tone married to heartfelt but restrained expressivity, and a knowing sense of the shape of Puccini’s phrases. The role requires a rarely called upon balance of the ethereal and the passionate, and Opolais manages it masterfully. She and Nelsons clearly believe in this score, and approach it with tenderness and a sense of the music’s shape. At the climactic moments in the final scene, Nelsons lets a torrent of sound loose, and the impact is considerable.


Braun’s Princess is well sung and manages to convey the icy nature of the character without turning her so cold as to become a caricature. All of the smaller roles are well taken. Nelsons’s conducting is absolutely splendid throughout. The committed playing of the orchestra and the rich, full sound and excellent balances also contribute to the success of this recording. The bonus track, Puccini’s little Symphonic Prelude, an early work from 1882, when the 24-year-old composer was a student at the Milan Conservatory, is very attractive and is played with enormous conviction. Excellent notes, with good translations, help round out the production. The recording dates from May 2011. No, I won’t throw out de los Angeles, Scotto, or Tebaldi, but I am delighted to add this one, and suspect I will turn to it as often as any.


FANFARE: Henry Fogel

Puccini’s late opera La fanciulla del West bristles with drama and intrigue in this newly remastered classic recording with Zubin Mehta conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House and starring Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes and Carol Neblett. With its potent mixture of stark realism and gushing romanticism, this Wild West melodrama builds on the hard-edged style Puccini had used in Tosca, infusing it with Debussian harmonies and Straussian orchestral colours to produce his most distinctive and original opera. Featuring the stock in trade characters of a gun-toting heroine, a macho hero with a sensitive side, and a villainous Sheriff, Puccini eschews the signature lyricism of his earlier operas for a more seamless melodic style to produce a dramatic work of almost symphonic proportions. While critics of the time were somewhat bewildered by this subversive potboiler, modern audiences have warmed to this richly revealing opera which, unusually for Puccini, has a happy ending. This classic recording dating from 1977 is Gramophone magazine’s top choice for the opera and can now be enjoyed for the first time in full SA-CD hybrid multichannel sound. “Carol Neblett is a strong Minnie, vocally distinctive and well characterised, while Plácido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes make a good pair of suitors …. Zubin Mehta conducts with real sympathy for the idiom” (Gramophone). And the Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs (2003/4) enthused “Domingo sings heroically … but the crowning glory of a masterly set is the singing of Carol Neblett … Full atmospheric recording to match.” Although recorded in multi-channel sound, these memorable performances have previously been available only in the conventional two-channel stereo format. Using state of the art technology which avoids the need for re-mixing, PENTATONE’s engineers have remastered the original studio tapes to bring the performances to life as originally intended: in compelling and pristine multi-channel sound.''

Puccini' fascination with exotic locations, doomed heroines, high drama and tragic romance are brought to centre stage in this immensely moving selection from his greatest operas.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

This DVD, filmed during last year�s festival, is a worthy tribute to Maestro Puccini and the Old Theatre, which has served so well during more than forty years. The stage is wide and occasionally one feels that it is at odds with, at least, the setting of the first and last act of La Boh�me, which takes place in a small attic in Paris. However, set designer Jean-Michel Folon�s inventive solutions reduce the problems and from the outset the viewer is engrossed by the performance. All through the four acts the action takes place on a slightly raised �stage-within-the-stage� in the shape of an artist�s palette. In the second act, at Caf� Momus, the brightly colored table-cloths become spectacular splashes of paint. A large screen, covering the greater part of the background, is used entertainingly and informatively to underline aspects of the performance. We are shown the roofs of the surrounding houses, as seen from the attic and in the opening scene of act one, where Rodolfo is writing a poem and Marcello is painting � obviously he was a fore-runner to Mark Rothko � and on the screen well-known and lesser known paintings march past. It is certainly a stimulating production � one to return to and enjoy.

Also available on Blu-ray

Leading director Richard Jones staged his witty, darkly comic realization of Gianni Schicchi for The Royal Opera in 2007. The production was revived in 2012 and here he completes the trio with two new productions of Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica. Antonio Pappano conducts an acclaimed cast including Eva-Maria Westbroek, Ermonela Jaho, Lucio Gallo, Elena Zilio and rising star Francesco Demuro. These three one-act works were broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and went to cinemas world-wide in February 2012.

Giacomo Puccini IL TRITTICO

Il Tabarro
Michele – Lucio Gallo
Giorgetta – Eva-Maria Westbroek
Luigi – Aleksandrs Antonenko
Suor Angelica
Suor Angelica – Ermonela Jaho
La zia principessa – Anna Larsson
La badessa – Irina Mishura

Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi – Lucio Gallo
Lauretta – Ekaterina Siurina
Rinuccio – Francesco Demuro

Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra
Antonio Pappano, conductor

Richard Jones, stage director

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, September 2011

Bonus
- Introductions by Antonio Pappano
- Behind the Scenes

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish
Running time: 180 mins (operas) + 20 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 3

R E V I E W:

Puccini’s Trittico is a bit of an odd-one out among his works, dating from that rather tricky period of his career that also featured Rondine and Fanciulla. This triptych is performed even less frequently than those works because it requires three sets, casts and visions. Before this production of September 2011, Covent Garden hadn’t performed it since 1965. That they did so now was due to two factors. Firstly, Richard Jones had already produced Gianni Schicchi for them so some of the work was already done. Secondly, however, the idea of a cycle appealed to the Royal Opera management in the season of the Olympics so they performed the whole set as part of Covent Garden’s contribution to the Cultural Olympiad. There is little to link the three operas in Jones’ vision and you might find some touches of his staging somewhat irritating, but the musical values are so strong that you’ll still find yourself coming back to this Trittico again and again.
 
I was lucky enough to see this production as a birthday treat to myself. On the night it was Tabarro that made the biggest impression on me, and watching it again on disc I still found it thrilling. It is the closest Puccini got to writing a psychodrama, and in this performance its power to stun is turned up to eleven. Jones’ production was inspired by the austere woodcuts of Frans Masereel and his black-and-white set forms a grave backdrop for this family tragedy. Michele’s barge sits moored in a seedy part of Paris, grey and ominous with the lights of a strip joint dimly visible. Almost the only colour is provided by Giorgetta’s dress, cheap and dowdy, a sign of this character’s love of life which has been all but squeezed out of her by her cramped existence with Michele. The three lead characters are all in some way trapped, and the three principals here are outstanding. Lucio Gallo sings Michele with lyrical beauty, achieving wonderful sympathy in the duet where he fails to spark Giorgetta’s affection, but then turning to dangerous malice as he tries to imagine the identity of her lover. He evokes sympathy for this sometimes one-dimensional character while consistently reminding us that this is a man whose prime is past and who can no longer satisfy his wife. Her smouldering sensuality is brilliantly captured by Eva-Maria Westbroek, who seems constantly to strain against the bounds of the world in which she is constrained. The beauty of her voice is matched by the exhilarating tenor of Aleksanders Antonenko, making an outstanding house debut as Luigi. His (slightly bizarre) scena where he rails against the oppression of the workers comes off very successfully because of the brilliant power of his voice, and he and Westbroek strike sparks off each other in their duets. The exuberance of their description of city life is impossible to contain, and their duets where they make plans to elope are hair-raising. Anchoring everything, however, is the expert direction of Pappano in the pit. This whole set proves him to be a Puccini interpreter of the highest order, and it is in Tabarro that he does this most successfully. It’s a commonplace that Puccini constructs the work like a steadily tightening screw, but Pappano shows that this view is too simple: instead he brings out the ebb and flow of the piece. After all, there is a whole array of cameos on hand, and often the tension is broken by local colour or by off-stage lovers. Pappano not only builds up the tension - the final scene is wonderfully taut - but he also builds in natural climaxes, such as in Luigi and Giorgetta’s description of Belville or of hope, cruelly snatched away, expressed in the married couple’s duet as Michele holds out the hope of rekindling their love. By the way, just after that sequence listen to the power of the swirling strings as Michele imagines plunging into the abyss with his wife’s lover, showcasing the fact that the orchestra buy into Pappano’s vision completely. It’s worth acquiring the set for this disc alone as it shows Puccini and all the performers at their considerable best.
 
In many ways the project began with Gianni Schicchi: Jones’ production first appeared in 2007 paired, somewhat quirkily, with Ravel’s L’heure Espagnole. True, the casting in this revival isn’t as strong as it is in the other operas. Gallo does have a comic gift but is prone to over-egging the pudding at times, and his voice, while lyrical, doesn’t suit humour quite as well. The young lovers sing their arias capably enough, but Demuro’s tenor is brittle, particularly at the top, while Siurina’s pitching isn’t always accurate. However, this is an ensemble opera if ever there was one, and the cast of relatives is fantastic, blending as a wonderfully convincing whole. They are led by Elena Zilio as a palpably avaricious Zita, while poor Gwynne Howell is brow-beaten and trampled as Simone, even if he is supposed to be the eldest! Marie McLaughlin is a vampish Ciesca, and the other men seem to radiate the grimy patina of cigarette smoke in their sleazy venality. Jones’ production moves quickly and milks the laughs so that it is more colourful and more comical than Glyndebourne’s 2004 production, also available on Opus Arte DVD. Pappano’s conducting talents are made for this score, bringing it to fizzing, bustling life in every bar. 

With two such energetic outer operas, it’s not surprising that the central panel of the triptych should be something altogether more restrained, contemplative and, in consequence, more neglected. Suor Angelica has never had the popularity of its companions, but this performance deserves to win it many friends. As a piece of sentiment it’s unsurpassed, particularly if you’re prepared to yield yourself up to it. There are moments of the interaction between the nuns that I found strangely moving. The composer’s sister was a nun and apparently he played the piece to the sisters at her convent, an experience they must have found very affecting. Jones’ setting for this convent is also a children’s hospital, a nice touch which underlines Angelica’s love of her own child. The set is shot through with an antiseptic shade of green. The nuns’ wimples are frilly to the extent of being a little over-indulgent. However, Jones botches the ending by removing any element of the supernatural: we hear the off-stage chorus to the virgin but Angelica dies in hysteria surrounded by the other nuns. She gets to embrace one of the patients but this is no substitute for her own son. I couldn’t help but feel that the end of the opera was a little nasty; anachronistically out of keeping with the beauty of Puccini’s music. The title role in this production was originally meant for Anja Harteros, but after her withdrawal it was taken by Ermonela Jaho, who had herself first come to fame as a replacement Violetta when Anna Netrebko had to cry off. She is outstanding as the tortured nun, atoning in the convent for the sin of bearing a child outside wedlock. She acts the role with an element of distraction, as if her mind is always on other things, but she pulls out the dramatic big guns for the key scene with the Princess. In fact, she seems almost to lose self-possession when she confronts her aunt about the son that was taken from her. Even as she takes her final curtain call she is clearly still deeply affected by the experience of singing the role. The voice is lyrical and beautiful, with a slight touch of steel where necessary. She is heartbreaking when she learns of her son’s death, both in action and in voice. Senza mamma is most touching, sung with utmost security and lyricism and unafraid of a genuine pianissimo which is used to beautiful effect. Anna Larsson cuts an icy figure as the princess, acting with the detachment of an unwilling outsider and singing with frosty malevolence as she reminds her niece of the stain she has brought on the family honour. The orchestra underpins the whole thing expertly, Puccini’s half-lit instrumentation coming to life with beauty and control - listen, for example to the muted strings when the nuns discuss the sister who has passed away in the intervening year. Again Pappano’s direction plays the piece for every ounce of sentiment and beauty that it can give.
 
Altogether, then, this Trittico is a wonderful addition to the discography, surpassed only by Pappano’s audio recording for EMI. Through all the changing scenes, moods and singers, it is the conductor who consistently comes to the fore as the star of the show. With performances as distinguished as this one, it’s small wonder that he got that knighthood! The packaging is also very attractive: each opera gets its own disc in its own case, all packaged together in a slipcase that also contains a booklet made up to look like a Royal Opera House programme. Each opera also has a 5-minute introductory film featuring a commentary from Pappano and a brief interview with some members of the cast.
 
-- Simon Thompson, MusicWeb International

In his early years, before moving to Milan to continue his studies at the age of 22, Puccini was playing in several churches in and around Lucca and composed several pieces for organ.Only recently several collections containing more than 30 unknown pieces have surfaced. They add a musical portrait of the young composer and a very special insight in the operatic style of the church music at the end of the 19th century. Liuwe Tamminga plays on the very same organs that the young Puccini has been playing in and around the Tuscan city of Lucca. Liuwe Tamminga is considered one of the major specialists of sixteenth and seventeenth century Italian repertoires for organ. He is the organist of the historic organs at the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna where he plays the magnificent instruments by Lorenzo da Prato and Baldassarre Malamini. He has recorded several albums, including works by Cavazzoni, Frescobaldi, and others.

Puccini: Gianni Schicchi (Recorded Live 1958)

Puccini, G.: Opera Arias