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The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its sovereign, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. It is Welser-Möst’s nimble alternation between smoothness and a sound that’s as “sharp-edged as a skyscraper” (The Telegraph after the Brahms’ First at the orchestra’s London Proms concert). That keeps the ensemble and the audience figuratively on its toes. The Second Piano Concerto, completed in 1881, is the work of a composer who has become skilled in the manipulation of large forms. Brahms treats the soloist as an equal partner with the orchestra. Yefim Bronfman has the uncanny ability to play large without stridency, to handle the most delicate passages without losing presence, and to play everything in between with a ravishing sense of tonal color. Welser-Möst and Bronfman brought pulsing energy to the concerto’s second movement, a Scherzo, setting up an oasis of calm for the third that segued immediately into the genial finale, whose last chords were nearly obliterated by roars of approval from the audience. Laced into his forceful performance of Piano Concerto No. 1 was a surprising element of fury, as if the pianist had come unhinged momentarily. And yet Bronfman was also wholly present, taking time in relaxed passages to savor every second. Which of the two concertos Bronfman knocked further out the park is impossible to say. Both scores the pianist seized by their very hearts, drawing forth all the majesty, raw power and exquisite beauty that each contains.

The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its sovereign, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. It is Welser-Möst’s nimble alternation between smoothness and a sound that’s as “sharp-edged as a skyscraper” (The Telegraph after the Brahms’ First at the orchestra’s London Proms concert). That keeps the ensemble and the audience figuratively on its toes. Brahms’ Fourth and last Symphony could be said to glow with autumnal colors. Endowed with a strong undercurrent of subdued melancholy, it seems to pine for an irretrievable past. Franz Welser-Möst offers a “lean, propulsive performance” (The Plain Dealer) of this work with his highly concentrated Cleveland Orchestra. The swift pace of the symphony in Welser-Möst’s hands reflects the conductor’s quest for a distinctive, far-from-the-mainstream interpretation. Written nearly contemporaneously in the late 1870s, Johannes Brahms’ rousing Academic Festival Overture and Violin Concerto op. 77 bear witness to a composer at the height of his abilities, a mature master of large-scale masterpieces. The Violin Concerto demands extreme technical proficiency. As if to exemplify this, violinist Julia Fischer gears herself from the very start of this emotionally searing work to maintaining a restrained yet passionate tone.

The music chosen for this tour of European gardens and parks is matched carefully with the places chosen.

Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour was Rameau’s first exploration of the world of Egyptian mythology. Its libretto called for magic, gods and extraordinary natural effects to which he responded with one of his most comprehensively brilliant scores, blending a gallant and pastoral inspiration of extreme refinement with powerful vocal and orchestral writing. In his use of a fluid and continuous flow of music, in the theatrical deployment of choruses, and in the blurring of the distinction between recitatives and airs, Rameau entered a new and pioneering stage of development. The score heard in this performance is the authoritative version.

Sergey Prokofiev’s operatic tragedy The Fiery Angel was never performed in the composer’s lifetime – the music’s brittle energy, drama and eloquent lyrical tenderness would re-emerge in his Third Symphony. The narrative focuses relentlessly on Renata, who is haunted by an angel who turns out to be the devil. Director Emma Dante describes the opera as an explosive mix of fantastical realism and endless confusion of nightmares, madness, sexual impulses and cultural clashes’, and this Teatro dell’Opera di Roma production was acclaimed as ‘a presentation of Prokofiev’s masterpiece which sparkles in all its grotesque glory’ (Operawire.com).

REVIEWS:

The Polish soprano Ewa Vesin tackles the hugely demanding role of Renata with complete conviction… In the pit Alejo Pérez gives a handsome account of Prokofiev’s score.

--BBC Music Magazine

This was a Recording of the Month for January. Prokofiev’s weird opera comes to life in this powerfully ghostly and colorful production which features excellent singing and fine orchestral playing under conductor Alejo Pérez. Actually, there isn’t weakness anywhere in the cast and Emma Dante’s production is imaginative and masterly.

--MusicWeb International

The Fiery Angel seems better than ever. [Supported] by intelligent video direction, this new production is gripping from first to last. Ewa Vesin is as strong a Renata as we’ve had...capable of riding over some very loud music without screaming, and capable of melting self-laceration; and her resistance to the church and patriarchy in the last act is astonishing. Special praise...is due to Goran Jurić as the Grand Inquisitor, huge of voice (and stature) in a way that heightens our appreciation of the forces arrayed against Renata.

The star of the show, though, may well be conductor Alejo Pérez. This is a performance in which every twist and turn, even if unexpected when it comes, makes sense in retrospect. The orchestra sounds as if they’d been playing this music all their lives. All in all, a discographic coup.

--Fanfare

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Beethoven started composing Leonore in January 1804. The subject – the release to freedom of an unjustly imprisoned man by his devoted wife – was part of the genre of ‘rescue operas’ which were very popular at the end of the 18th century. The premiere of Leonore, given before an uncomprehending audience at a time of political upheaval, was a failure and Beethoven responded by shortening the work from three acts to two, which was the version performed in 1806. After further revisions it was to emerge in 1814 as Fidelio. This performance is from Opera Lafayette’s Leonore Project which included a performance of Pierre Gaveaux’s Léonore, ou L’Amour conjugal (available on Naxos DVD 2.110591 and Blu-ray NBD0085V) – the opera on which Beethoven modelled his Leonore.

Wagner's rarely performed early comic opera, based on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, enjoys its Spanish debut in a new production by director Kasper HOlten. The lively score boasts clear Italian, French and Weberian influences that pre-date the composer's mature voice, yet the music continually delights with the unmistakable emergence of Wagner's precocious genius. His adaptation of the Bard's play reflects the rebellious modd of a Revolutionary Germany, vindicating sensual love and attacking the fanatical repression of sexuality by a puritanical and hypocritical authority. Ivor Bolton conducts a vibrant cast featuring English baritone and Cardiff Singer of the World Lieder Prize-winner Christoph Maltman, Turkish-Viennese tenor and BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Ilker Arcayurek and Germany's htotest Wagnerian leading lady, Manuela Uhl.

Two spectacular gala concerts from the stage of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, are brought together here in their unforgettable glory. In the 1993 Winter Gala, world-leading singers (including Placido Domingo, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Kiri Te Kanawa) and dancers (including Darcey Bussell, Lesley Collier, and Irek Mukhamedov) celebrate the music of Tchaikovsky, in highlights from such opera and ballet favourites as The Queen of Spades and Eugene Onegin, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. In the famously glittering 1996 gala concert, Domingo is joined by a cast of opera stars including Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna and Susan Graham. Asher Fisch conducts this programme of great opera arias by composers including Bizet, Massenet, Gounod, Mozart and Donizetti.

Begun in the year 1900, amidst the art nouveau curlicues of Klmt and the Jugendstil, Schoberg's grand cantata is written in a lush, late-romantic style indebted to Wagner and Mahler and pre-dating his pioneering atonal works. This setting of the medieval Danish legend of Gurre Castle - a love triangle between King Waldemar, his mistress Tove and a jealous Queen - gains an innovative new dimension in this first-ever staging of the work, directed by Pierre Audi. This album marks the first ever collaboration between DNO Artistic Director Pierre Audi and Music Director Marc Albrecht. This production was the first staging of Schonberg's mammoth cantata with gargantuan orchestra, five soloists, speaker and multiple choruses.

REVIEW:

This release captures the very first attempt to stage the piece; it makes for fascinating viewing. The Dutch National Opera's artistic director wisely chooses to keep his narrative loose and subjective, emphasizing the piece's affinity to Wagner's Tristan as to Parsifal.

The individual songs of Waldemat and Tove in the first part are straightforwardly done, but the two are seen addressing one another in a languorous, long-paragraphed dialog rather than expressing themselves in isolation. Once Tove disappears, we are more than ever aware of the whole piece as Waldemar's own journey - dreamlike, psychologically complex, and ambiguous, up to and including the final chorus, which is all the more moving for the allegorical richness it takes on.

Burkhard Fritz carries the dramatic weight admirably, and Emily Magee is a moving, entranced, and enchanting Tove. Anna Larsson is a sternly impassioned Waldtaube here, and the character's long scene is a highlight of the staging. The detailed, virtuoso playing of the orchestra and Albrecht's clear-sighted but impassioned conducting need far no comparison with the best audio-only versions. A very impressive achievement all round.

– Gramophone

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Abandoned by her lover Anatol, Vanessa retreats from the world, waiting and hoping with only her mother and her niece Erika for company. But when, 20 years later, Anatol’s handsome young son arrives unexpectedly, he shatters the calm of this shuttered household of women. Past and present love collides, and the aftershocks threaten to destroy them all. Samuel Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning first opera boasts one of the 20th century’s most beautiful scores. Poised constantly on the edge of song, Vanessa unfolds in generous swathes of melody, rich in filmic strings and soaring brass, with echoes of Puccini, Berg and Strauss. It climaxes in a final quintet of Mozartean poignancy – one of the great ensembles of the contemporary repertoire.

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REVIEW:

Warner’s handsome and perceptive staging of Barber’s Vanessa has probably done more to silence the work’s naysayers than any in recent memory. Thanks to Warner’s perception and motivation this excellent cast really deliver. Shadowy, opulent, effulgent – Barber’s Vanessa is the opera that bridges Hollywood and the Broadway stage.

– Gramophone

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

Also available on standard DVD

Simply superb in every way - unmissable.

A penniless poet, a young seamstress, and a lost key: Puccini’s passionate opera tells the story of a captivating romance set against the background of 19th-century Paris. The luscious score, with its soaring melodies and rich orchestration, brings to life the relationships between Rodolfo, Mimì and their friends, the painter Marcello and fiery Musetta. Acclaimed director Richard Jones stages a fresh and intelligent new production of one of the world’s most popular operas, conducted by The Royal Opera’s Music Director, Antonio Pappano. Extra features on this release include Antonio Pappano speaking about the music as well as a Cast Gallery. ‘‘A startlingly new production’’ (The Independent) ‘‘…fresh, beautiful, and intelligent’’ (The Daily Telegraph) ‘‘Car is so good at the sudden bursts of lyricism’’ (The Art Desk)

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REVIEWS:

Pappano is always terrific in Puccini. His pacing and attention to orchestral detail are superb and he draws highly sympathetic playing from his orchestra. Car is a lovely Mimì, with a simple charm to her Act I aria that immediately makes you love her.

– Gramophone

Simply superb in every way - unmissable.

– MusicWeb International

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Royal Ballet Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon magically captured the twists and turns of Lewis Carroll’s classic story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, in his 2011 ballet. Bob Crowley’s vivid sets and costumes take us down the rabbit hole into a colorful world full of curious creatures and captivating characters. Joby Talbot’s original score is full of sweeping melodies and contemporary sounds. Lauren Cuthbertson stars as the inquisitive Alice, with Federico Bonelli as the charming Knave of Hearts, Steven McRae as the tap-dancing Mad Hatter and Laura Morera as the formidable Queen of Hearts. This exuberant and engaging ballet is spectacular entertainment for the whole family. Extra features on this release include Bob Crowley speaking about the costumes, and an insider’s view of Wheeldon’s tap-dancing Hatter. ‘‘Cinematic but also unmistakably balletic, Joby Talbot’s complex, theme-driven score’’ (The Daily Telegraph) ‘‘It’s a joy to look at and packed with featured roles that show off the Royal Ballet’s strength in depth’’ (The Observer)

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This new release is a documentary series about the great tenors and bel canto singing in the first half of the 20th century by Jan Schmidt-Garre. With the development of sound film in the 1920s and 30s, the great tenors, such as Beniamino Gigli, Richard Tauber and Lauritz Melchior, became movie stars. Countless “singer movies” were made, but great vocal performances were also captured in documentaries and privately made movies. Using a wealth of rare restored material, this thirteen-part documentary series presents the great tenors from Enrico Caruso to Jussi Bjorling, and together with comprehensive essays, offers a deep and inspiring insight into the art of bel canto. Bel Canto – The Tenors of the 78 Era series was broadcast in thirty countries and awarded at the Columbus International Film Festival and at Classique en Images at the Louvre.

DETAILS:

Picture format: 1080i NTSC 16:9 NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo
Subtitles: EN, FR, DE, IT, ES, JP, KR
Region code: A, B, C
No. of disc/s: 2 BD50, 1 DVD5, 2 CDs

Our tour of Italy starts in the countryside near Orvieto, moves to the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, then to Montalcino and it's ancient abbey. We see the Tuscan landscape around Montepulciano, glimpse Siena, and finally see something of the historic building.

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Erich Wolfgang Korngold regarded Das Wunder der Heliane as his greatest work, but the opera has been neglected since its premiere in 1927. This 2018 production from the Deutsche Oper Berlin features the American soprano Sara Jakubiak as Heliane, and the American tenor Brian Jagde as The Stranger in the award-winning director Christof Loy’s acclaimed staging. The Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin deliver the large forces required for this hyper-Romantic opera, under the baton of Dutch National Opera’s chief conductor Marc Albrecht.

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REVIEWS:

Das Wunder der Heliane is Korngold’s most extravagant stage work and one that he considered to be his greatest score. Written for a huge ensemble, masterfully used, the music possesses voluptuous sweep and hyper-Romanticism. Its intensity is emphasised through an intoxicating array of effects, propulsive rhythms and glorious vocal lyricism, its arc of climaxes building from one act to another. This revelatory new Berlin staging in 2018 enjoyed an unprecedented 20-minute ovation at its premiere.

– Opera Lounge

The performance is conducted with all the necessary full-blooded fervour by Marc Albrecht, and Korngold’s score emerges in all its richly chromatic, glittering tonality and overheated intensity.

– Telegraph (UK)

The canton of the Graubuenden, the Grey Leagues, covers the largest territory of all Swiss cantons, while remaining the most sparsely populated.

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This exciting release presents three contrasting ballets by The Royal Ballet’s Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton: The Dream (1964) is an enchanting adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to music by Mendelssohn. Symphonic Variations (1946) is an early Ashton masterpiece, and a breathtaking, abstract work on the beauty of pure movement. Marguerite and Armand (1963), here danced by former Royal Ballet Principal Zenaida Yanowsky and Guest Artist Roberto Bolle, is a tragic love story of great lyric beauty. The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House is conducted by Emmanuel Plasson. Each of these performances received stellar reviews. "First-rate dancing in an Ashton triple bill that offers comedy, serenity and demi-monde ardour. In one of her final performances as principal, Zenaida Yanowsky gives a tremendously intense and intelligent performance as the tragic courtesan" (The Stage) "A passionate tribute to an all-time genius The Royal Ballet is bringing this season – and its 70th-birthday celebrations – to a close with a perfectly chosen trio of works by its founder choreographer Frederick Ashton (1904-1988), works that remind us just how brightly and variously his genius blazed." (The Daily Telegraph)

This collection brings together three extraordinary ballets by Kenneth MacMillan, one of the 20th century’s most influential choreographers whose work forms a pillar of The Royal Ballet’s repertory. MacMillan pushed the boundaries of dance, and these three signature works exemplify his searching genius: the emotional intensity and rich physicality of his choreography, through vivid crowd scenes and passionate pas de deux; the daring and the darkness of his complex and fascinating characters; and the mesmerizing, sensuous music to which his steps were always created. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true Surround Sound. "Lovers of classical ballet should, without question, go and see the Royal Ballet’s magnificent production of Manon. Ballet sceptics, meanwhile, should see it at least twice." (The Telegraph - Manon) "Such is the breathtaking impact of this production, with consistent excellence to savour from both principals and the corps, magnificent costumes and stage scenery and spot-on camera direction from Ross MacGibbon that criticism is effectively silenced. If you have been waiting for a truly outstanding Romeo and Juliet to appear on Blu-ray, then look no further." (International Record Review - Romeo & Juliet)

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Royal Ballet Principal Marianela Nuñez delights as Princess Aurora, with Vadim Muntagirov as her Prince Florimund, in this performance of a timeless classic. Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty holds a special place in The Royal Ballet’s repertory, with its vibrant sets and glittering costumes and featuring such iconic moments as the Rose Adage, the Vision pas de deux, the exuberant wedding celebration and the charming fairy-tale guests, all danced to Tchaikovsky’s richly layered music – one of the most beloved ballet scores of all time. This Sleeping Beauty captures all the magic and virtuosity that ballet has to offer. Extra features include: Introduction to The Sleeping Beauty; History of The Sleeping Beauty; The role of the Lilac Fairy with Monica Mason, Darcey Bussell and Claire Calvert. What the press said: ‘‘If you want spectacle at the ballet then this Sleeping Beauty is for you.’’ (The Times) ‘‘Tchaikovsky's most majestic ballet gets the royal treatment’’ (The Stage)

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The Indomitable Bow is a unique portrait of Mstislav Rostropovich, a formidable personality as well as a complex, deeply political musician constantly engaged in a whirlwind of activities. Including unreleased documents, archive films, interviews and concert performances from this key figure of the 20th century, The Indomitable Bow is a remarkable testimony of the life and work of the legendary ‘Slava’. Mstislav Rostropovich remains one of the greatest cellists of the twentieth century. In addition to his lauded interpretations and impeccable technique, he was well known for inspiring and commissioning new works, which grew the cello repertoire more than any other cellist before or since. In fact, he inspired and premiered more than one hundred pieces, and formed long-standing partnerships with composers including Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Messiaen, Penderecki, Bernstein, and Britten, to name a few.

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REVIEW:

“Your Indomitable Bow” is a phrase addressed to Mstislav Rostropovich by Alexander Solzhenitysn, in reference to the help and shelter given in dark times to the writer, at some risk, by the musician. It is a reminder that Rostropovich – or Slava as he was affectionately known – had public and political roles during the cold war, and that he used his eminence in Soviet artistic life for selfless aims, which led to his eventual expulsion. Bruno Monsaingeon’s outstanding film deals with this theme alongside the remarkable musical career. It is thus a comprehensive portrait of Rostropovich, whose large and generous personality comes across in each of his many roles – cellist, piano accompanist, conductor, teacher, and collaborator with the great composers of his era. He emerges as a key cultural figure of the 20th century.

The research behind this production was doubtless exemplary, but it also benefitted from some good fortune, as we learn from the filmmaker’s booklet notes. Bruno Monsaingeon knew the cellist, who in 2000 gave him “a whole trunkful of film material about him…containing a number of treasures”. From that and other sources, such as unreleased documents, archive films, new interviews, and filmed concert performances, a compelling narrative has been put together. One element of almost any documentary though is completely absent. There is no commentary or narration by the director or anyone else. Every scene throughout the film is simply left to speak for itself, but so skilful is the editing that we do not miss the customary unseen narrator. Perhaps a viewer who barely knew who the subject would get a bit lost at points, but that is hardly a typical viewer of such a film. The voice of an unseen Sviatoslav Richter contributes a couple of sentences about his (ambiguous) relationship to the cellist, but it is clear that that is just a small part of building the picture.

The composers we see and hear, and from whom Rostropovich inspired or commissioned major works, are mainly Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Dutilleux. Britten, though seen conducting a couple of times, does not get much of a look-in despite the five substantial works he wrote for the cellist, which made England Rostropovich’s most productive foreign destination musically, and the main omission from the story line in the film. But there is so much here to be grateful for. Solzhenitsyn’s widow, and the next generation, Solzhenitysn’s son and Rostropovich’s daughters, offer important insights in interview – and there is a 40-minute extra film, which expands on their recollections of the experiences of those two giant artists. There is also some gripping detail about life under the regime.

Rostropovich’s wife, Galina Vishnevskaya, is seen in archive interviews and in filmed recitals, with Rostropovich accompanying. She is the butt of one of Slava’s better jokes. When asked what voice type his wife’s soprano is, lyric or dramatic, he replies, “In the theatre, lyric; at home, dramatic.” She in turn is no shrinking violet and has some amusing things to say about their domestic and musical arguments. Whether quarrelling at home, or taking on the Soviet state, it is the artist himself who comes across as indomitable as much as his bow. There is always the famous charm and wit. The overwhelming impression is of a great musician who was also a great man.

Apart from the marvellous film itself, there are those very valuable extras. In addition to the bonus of family recollections mainly concerning Solzhenitsyn, we have films of three previously unreleased performances. Rostropovich plays the Sarabande from Bach’s 2nd Suite, and the closing variations and coda of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Boston Symphony and Ozawa. Yet perhaps the best of all is the film of a 1974 UNESCO Paris concert of Beethoven’s Archduke Trio in which the cellist is joined by Yehudi Menuhin and Wilhelm Kempff. Three elder statesmen of their instruments from three countries playing one of the greatest of piano trios live - that is quite some “extra”.

It was a couple of years later that I met him. I was a hanger-on at an LSO rehearsal that he was conducting. I took the chance to offer him to sign my much-loved recording of him in the Britten cello suites 1 and 2 and he did. Emboldened, I asked him, “when will you record the Third Suite, maestro?” “Not now, later,” he said, and disappeared. (Bruno Monsaingeon’s research has not discovered this important cultural exchange so I mention it here.) Rostropovich did never record the Third Suite, alas. Not long before this episode, he had taken the arm of Peter Pears at Britten’s funeral. That Third Suite is based on the Kontakion, the Russian Hymn for the Departed. Perhaps he could never quite face it and did not need insensitive hangers-on with their LPs coming up to him after a rehearsal.

Discussing his dual role of conductor and cellist with Herbert von Karajan on the film Rostropovich says, “when I conduct I am happy, but the audience is not; when I play the audience is happy, but I am not.” Karajan replies, “so you must play and conduct, so that everyone is happy”. I can’t imagine anyone being less than happy after watching this highly recommended, indeed already prize-winning, film. It is one of the best films about a musician that even Bruno Monsaingeon has ever given us.

– MusicWeb International (Roy Westbrook)

The final installment in the Donmar Warehouse’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy sees Harriet Walter take on the role of Prospero in this evocation of the eternal struggle for freedom, morality and justice. Directed for both stage and screen by Phyllida Lloyd. Set on an isle ‘full of noises’, this magical production features a glowing score by Joan Armatrading. Critics celebrated the original staging as ‘A glorious reminder that genuine diversity offers astonishing creative benefits’. The Donmar Shakespeare Trilogy began in 2012 with an all-female production of Julius Caesar led by Dame Harriet Walter. Set in a women’s prison, the production asked the question, ‘Who owns Shakespeare?’ Two further productions followed: Henry IV in 2014 and The Tempest in 2016, all featuring a diverse company of women. The Trilogy enthralled theatre audiences in London and New York and was shared with women and girls in prisons and schools across the UK. The film versions were shot live in a specially built temporary theatre in King’s Cross in 2016, and now offer screen audiences unique access to these groundbreaking productions.

Also available on Blu-ray


Abandoned by her lover Anatol, Vanessa retreats from the world, waiting and hoping with only her mother and her niece Erika for company. But when, 20 years later, Anatol’s handsome young son arrives unexpectedly, he shatters the calm of this shuttered household of women. Past and present love collides, and the aftershocks threaten to destroy them all. Samuel Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning first opera boasts one of the 20th century’s most beautiful scores. Poised constantly on the edge of song, Vanessa unfolds in generous swathes of melody, rich in filmic strings and soaring brass, with echoes of Puccini, Berg and Strauss. It climaxes in a final quintet of Mozartean poignancy – one of the great ensembles of the contemporary repertoire.

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REVIEW:

Warner’s handsome and perceptive staging of Barber’s Vanessa has probably done more to silence the work’s naysayers than any in recent memory. Thanks to Warner’s perception and motivation this excellent cast really deliver. Shadowy, opulent, effulgent – Barber’s Vanessa is the opera that bridges Hollywood and the Broadway stage.

– Gramophone

Jules Massenet's fairy-tale opera Cendrillon ('Cinderella') was an immediate success at it's premiere in 1899 at the Op�ra-Comique in Paris. Massenet, then at the height of his powers, creates a magical sound-world full of wit, enchantment and perfumed elegance to match librettist Henri Cain's coming-of-age adaptation of this classic fairy tale. The colorful fantasy world created by the acclaimed stage director Barbrara Mundel and set designer Olga Motta features the British-Swiss soprano, Kim-Lillian Strebel, in her critically acclaimed title role. Kim-Lillian Strebel has received critical acclaim following a number of high profile debuts. She has acquired an extensive repertoire to include several high-profile roles. She recently made her US concert debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

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Verdi’s Stiffelio is a tense moral drama in which a Protestant minister learns of his wife’s betrayal and is torn between a thirst for revenge and his religious duty of forgiveness. These themes of adultery and divorce were social taboos in 1850, and Stiffelio was met with such censorship and disapproval that it was soon withdrawn. Today we can appreciate both the title character’s significance as the first true Verdi tenor, and the many wonderful moments in this ‘most unjustly neglected of Verdi’s operas’. This unique and dynamic production from Parma was acclaimed for taking us to “a whole new theatrical world” (Huffington Post), and as “nothing short of a coup” (bachtrack.com).

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

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The plot of Gounod’s opera La Nonne sanglante (‘The Bleeding Nun’) is drawn from Matthew Lewis’s once famous 1796 novel The Monk. The subject is a Gothic melodrama featuring warring families, two lovers, and the vengeful spectre of the Nun, to which Gounod responds with music that fuses Romanticism with the supernatural on the grandest scale. This ground-breaking production features memorable set pieces enhanced by the stark drama of the stage setting and brilliant cinematic lighting effects. This production was staged by David Bobee and the video director was Francois Roussillon. The recording took place in June 2018 at the Opera Comique in Paris, France.