Francesco Cavalli
ERCOLE AMANTE

Ercole – Luca Pisaroni
Iole – Veronica Cangemi
Giunone – Anna Bonitatibus
Illo – Jeremy Ovenden
Deianira – Anna Maria Panzarella
Licco – Marlin Miller
Nettuno / Tevere / Spirit of Eutyro – Umberto Chiummo
Bellezza / Venere – Wilke te Brummelstroete
Cinzia / Pasitea / Spirit of Clerica – Johannette Zomer
Mercurio / Spirit of Laomedonte – Mark Tucker
A Page / Spirit of Bussiride – Tim Mead

Netherlands Opera Chorus
Concerto Köln
Ivor Bolton, conductor

David Alden, stage director

Recorded live from the Het Muziektheater, 2009.

Bonus:
- Illustrated synopsis.
- Cast gallery.
- Behind the scenes with Johanette Zomer.
- Behind the scenes with Luca Pisaroni.
- The making of Ercole Amante.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo and 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch
No. of DVDs: 2

The Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra dedicates itself here to a “forgotten master”. In drastic, enigmatic images of the Apocalypse of St. John, Louis Spohr’s oratorio The Last Judgement deals with the fundamental questions of humanity: justice, responsibility and redemption. Shortly after its world premiere, one could say that this work was an international success. Since the Spohr Year of 2009 it has returned to concert stages all over the world, including in Salzburg on 6 June 2013. OehmsClassics presents a live recording here of this concert from the Mozarteum.

There are at least four versions of Anton Bruckner's 2nd Symphony; the last one was written in 1892. Frequently, however – as on this recording – the original version is preferred; as usual with Bruckner, this version of 1872 is bolder and longer. Already very early on, the composer changed the order of movements in this work, which was felt by many to be a response to the dramaturgy of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The Scherzo, as the second movement, has changed places with the ensuing Adagio. In the later version, he also almost completely eliminated the most striking characteristic of this creation, probably due to the urging of his friends and supporters, especially Johann Herbeck: eight of the nine famous tutti rests in the first movement disappear completely. Another special characteristic of the original version is the solo horn passage in the Adagio, written in an extremely difficult register for the instruments of that time – but also of moving beauty.

800 liters of water, two sails, thirty pulleys, sixty hammocks : for the Bicentenary of the Teatro Real of Madrid, Deborah Warner coined a colossal production of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd. "Oh, what have I done?" Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, former commander of the H.M.S. Indomitable asks himself with horror at the beginning of the opera, before recounting the tragic events that took place aboard his ship in 1797. The story revolves around a young model sailor, Billy Budd, and John Claggart, the unscrupulous master-at-arms obsessed and crazed by Billy's angelic beauty; and follows the characters in their fall down to the most infernal depths of perversion and psychosis, exploring the themes of innocence, culpability, individual responsibility and justice. In this ambiguous and symbolic tale, drawn from Herman Melville's last masterpiece, the composer Benjamin Britten, who returns for the occasion to symphonic opera and it's infinite possibilities, unsettles and disturbs us by revealing the complexity and universality of human experience. Far from writing the characters as allegories of Good and Evil, the opera shows us instead the remorseless logic followed by the surge of one's darkest desires. But in this opera dominated by masculinity, Deborah Warner goes beyond the story of violence, jealousy and hatred and chooses to focus instead on the collateral beauty produced by comradeship, friendship and forgiveness. Tenor Jacques Imbrailo, who knows the title role perfectly, delivers a stunning rendition of the young sailor's part, while British singers Toby Spence and Brindley Sherratt provide solid interpretations of Captain "Starry" Vere and of John Claggart. In the pit, Ivor Bolton masterfully deploys, along with the Orchestra of the Teatro Real, all the energy and power of Britten's fifth opera.

Mozart was not yet seventeen when Lucio Silla was created in Milan one December evening of 1772, yet we can still distinguish in this youthful composition some of the elements that established the exceptionally-gifted child musician as the greatest composer of all times. Indeed, with Lucio Silla, although a neoclassical "opera seria" in every way, it seems that Mozart was already learning to deconstruct and to free the traditional forms of musical drama from archaic conventions. We can also identify in this work an aesthetic premise that Mozart didn't formulate until ten years later: it falls to music only to express and to reveal the psychological depths of the characters; and the poetry in the libretto should only be it's "obedient daughter". The opera is centered around the love Roman dictator Lucio Silla bears for his enemy's daughter Giunia, who favors the exiled senator Cecilio as the object of her affection. After many twists and turns, the lovers are united in marriage and Silla renounces his crown. Tenor Kurt Streit is Lucio Silla, and soprano Patricia Petibon is Giunia for the last time, after having gained international recognition thanks to her numerous performances in this role, while mezzo-soprano Silvia Tro Santafe is the ardent Cecilio. In this monumental production, Claus Guth finds a way to respect both the classical setting and the formal innovations that make the opera so interesting. Ivor Bolton conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Real.

The premiere von L'Orontea took place in 1656 in Innsbruck at the court of Archduke Ferdinand Karl, grandson of Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany, who at that time was the patron of the first attempts of the art form of opera in Florence. Alongside Francesco Cavalli's opera "La Giasone", "L'Orontea" went down in history as the most successful opera of the late 17th century. On the occasion of the premiere in Frankfurt, the following could be read in Deutschlandradio Kultur: "It is a scenic production that will remain in one's memory - not because the production in Frankfurt is so shameless and trashy. Instead, it reminds us of why Antonio Cesti's opera "L'Orontea" once belonged to the most beloved of all stage works. And it is well worth taking a look into the orchestra pit at this performance."

Also available on Blu-ray

Barcelona’s prestigious Gran Teatre del Liceu presents Mozart’s beloved Singspiel in an elegant, dramaturgically twisted production with a sparkling cast of top-rank international stars headed by coloratura soprano Diana Damrau as Konstanze and rising star Olga Peretyatko as Blonde. Stage director Christof Loy has conjured up a thought-provoking and strikingly original scenario in which both Konstanze and Blonde are feeling respect, admiration and even profound love for their captors. The result is a tantalizing approach that overturns the traditional patterns of good and evil.

“Diana Damrau achieved a huge success at the Barcelona Liceu.” Opera News “Franz-Josef Selig, the best Osmin I have ever seen.” Opera News

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL

Selim – Christoph Quest
Konstanze – Diana Damrau
Blonde – Olga Peretyatko
Belmonte – Christoph Strehl
Pedrillo – Norbert Ernst
Osmin – Franz-Josef Selig

Liceu Grand Theatre Chorus and Orchestra
Ivor Bolton, conductor

Christof Loy, stage director
Herbert Murauer, set and costume designer
Olaf Winter, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Grand Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, 2011

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: German, English, French, Spanish, Catalan, Chinese, Korean
Running time: 188 mins
No. of DVDs: 2

Classical Music

Mozart+ is an exceptional selection of some of the most beautiful concert and opera arias by W.A. Mozart as well as discoveries of largely unknown arias from operas by Tommaso Traetta, Giovanni Paisiello and Vicente Martín y Soler, reflecting the exchange of musical ideas between Mozart and his contemporaries and getting these three composers out of Mozart's shadow. Olga Peretyatko chose arias from the well-known operas „Die Entführung aus dem Serail“, „Le nozze di Figaro“, "Don Giovanni" and „Clemenza di Tito“ by Mozart and combined these with arias from rather forgotten operas such as "Antigona" by Traetta, "Il barbiere di Siviglia" by Paisiello as well as "Il burbero di buon cuore" by Soler. The connection between Mozart and Soler becomes obvious, as the recording also includes two insertion arias (K582 and K583) by Mozart, which he had written for the revival of "Il burbero di buon cuore". Mozart+ is Peretyatko’s second collaboration with the Sinfonieorchester Basel and Ivor Bolton as the conductor, after the highly acclaimed recording “The Secret Fauré” (2018).

For centuries, writers have documented the awe brought about by the pristine wilderness and untamed expanses of the American Midwest and West. Three authors in particularRalph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinsonbeautifully documented the boundless optimism and sense of opportunity that the countrys vast natural resources inspired and heralded a new era of American thought. On TRANSPARENT BOUNDARIES, the three visionaries words are set to music to give their poetic works musical life. Soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine and bass-baritone Seth Keeton deftly lead the charge on a series of artsongs, accompanied by pianists Lara Bolton and Scott Gendel and cellist Karl Knapp. Guarrines vocal elegance and innate lyricism naturally lend themselves to the vivid simplicity and inward reflection of Dickinson, and Keetons lower register captures the direct ruggedness of Whitman. To express the duality of Emerson, the pair come together for a duo to capture the authors ability to view all things at once in a single picture of beauty. By adding to the repertoire of contemporary artsong, TRANSPARENT BOUNDARIES honors the legacy of historic writings and brings their sentiment back to the foreground of American thought, ushering in a newfound sense of hope and optimism for the 21st century.

800 liters of water, two sails, thirty pulleys, sixty hammocks : for the Bicentenary of the Teatro Real of Madrid, Deborah Warner coined a colossal production of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd. “Oh, what have I done?” Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, former commander of the H.M.S. Indomitable asks himself with horror at the beginning of the opera, before recounting the tragic events that took place aboard his ship in 1797. The story revolves around a young model sailor, Billy Budd, and John Claggart, the unscrupulous master-at-arms obsessed and crazed by Billy’s angelic beauty; and follows the characters in their fall down to the most infernal depths of perversion and psychosis, exploring the themes of innocence, culpability, individual responsibility and justice. In this ambiguous and symbolic tale, drawn from Herman Melville’s last masterpiece, the composer Benjamin Britten, who returns for the occasion to symphonic opera and its infinite possibilities, unsettles and disturbs us by revealing the complexity and universality of human experience. Far from writing the characters as allegories of Good and Evil, the opera shows us instead the remorseless logic followed by the surge of one’s darkest desires. But in this opera dominated by masculinity, Deborah Warner goes beyond the story of violence, jealousy and hatred and chooses to focus instead on the collateral beauty produced by comradeship, friendship and forgiveness. Tenor Jacques Imbrailo, who knows the title role perfectly, delivers a stunning rendition of the young sailor’s part, while British singers Toby Spence and Brindley Sherratt provide solid interpretations of Captain “Starry” Vere and of John Claggart. In the pit, Ivor Bolton masterfully deploys, along with the Orchestra of the Teatro Real, all the energy and power of Britten’s fifth opera.

When the European youth chooses War above Love, Cupid decides to seek out new followers on other continents. The opera thus recounts the way people love, hate, envy or trust overseas, all the while asking its western audience a burning question: how do we love right? In "Dreams of Babel", a documentary about the dance prodigy Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui released on DVD by Bel Air Classiques in 2010, the choreographer explained how shifting identities, multiculturalism, and his own plural heritage as the son of an immigrant, had shaped his dramaturgy and artistic inspiration. Thus, to take on the stage direction for "Les Indes Galantes", whose multiple plots take place in a fantasized exotic « elsewhere » supposed to mirror the European society, meant for Cherkaoui bringing the tension between identity and alterity to a whole new level. And the choreographer pushes his reflection much farther than mere baroque specular aesthetics: his "Indes Galante"s raise the sensible issues of population movements, fragmented and ever-changing territories and borders, but also the refugee crisis that has shaken Europe to its very core… For this new production at the Prinzregenten Theater, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui brought his own dance ensemble, the Eastman company, as well as a brilliant vocal cast, among which Anna Prohaska, Francois Lis or Lisette Oropesa. Ivor Bolton conducts a Münchner Festspielorchester at the top of its game.

With the reopening of the Stadtcasino, the music city of Basel gets back it's unique sound jewel. In August 2020, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, resident orchestra of the Stadtcasino Basel, celebrated it's return to the music hall, which was completed in 1876 according to plans by Basel architect Johann Jakob Stehlin. Acoustically the historic music hall is one of the world's best concert halls. The extension of the Stadtcasino was commissioned from the prominent architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron with their headquarters in Basel and who have already designed several famous buildings and concert halls, most recently the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. The program of the concert on August 26, 2020, was entirely dedicated to the reopening and under the impression of a newly forming music world after the Corona lockdown. The present recording was made as a co-production with SRF, which recorded the symphony orchestra's first concert in it's home venue, the Stadtcasino Basel. The lavish booklet presents numerous photographs of the opulent concert hall as well as an essay by Elke Heidenreich, who has been associated with the orchestra for years. The concert began with Beethoven's overture "The Consecration of the House, " with which the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna was opened in 1822. With Debussy's orchestration of the 3rd Gymnop�dies, a wealth of delicate timbres floated weightlessly into the restored concert hall. Satie described his music as "musique d'ameublement", a music of furnishing, which may also be understood allegorically as the tonal furnishing of the music hall. In the orchestral song "Morgen" by Richard Strauss, soprano Christina Landshamer presented herself as artist in residence. Finally, Dvorak's 9th Symphony "From the New World" was symbolic of the very special start to a new chapter in music with the Basel Symphony Orchestra under the baton of principal conductor Ivor Bolton.

Alongside those with Simone Young and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, OehmsClassics is now offering the third Bruckner cycle here with Ivor Bolton. This time it includes ''only'' the Symphonies Nos. 1 and 9. In its April 2017 issue, the renowned Gramophone Magazine wrote the following about the Second Symphony: ''The overall impression is one of vividness and transparency, aided by the exemplary recording...Among single-disc offerings of the 1872 edition, Bolton's recording is hard to beat.''

Past praise of previously issued recordings included in this set:

Bruckner: Symphony No 3 / Bolton, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra:

There is a compelling sweep to Bolton’s interpretation, replete with an atmospheric and detailed recording. And the ending could hardly be more final, more unequivocal, just as Bruckner surely intended.

– MusicWeb International

Bruckner: Symphony No 6 / Ivor Bolton, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg

An excellent recording overall. The focus on detail really justifies many of Bruckner's compositional decisions. More grandiose recordings make the work out to be more like the monumental Eighth or Ninth. It is always going to suffer by comparison with them, so in many ways Bolton's approach - to treat the often delicate textures with more care and attention - better represents its more modest aspirations.

– MusicWeb International

Mozart was not yet seventeen when Lucio Silla was created in Milan one December evening of 1772, yet we can still distinguish in this youthful composition some of the elements that established the exceptionally-gifted child musician as the greatest composer of all times. Indeed, with Lucio Silla, although a neoclassical "opera seria" in every way, it seems that Mozart was already learning to deconstruct and to free the traditional forms of musical drama from archaic conventions. We can also identify in this work an aesthetic premise that Mozart didn't formulate until ten years later: it falls to music only to express and to reveal the psychological depths of the characters; and the poetry in the libretto should only be it's "obedient daughter". The opera is centered around the love Roman dictator Lucio Silla bears for his enemy's daughter Giunia, who favors the exiled senator Cecilio as the object of her affection. After many twists and turns, the lovers are united in marriage and Silla renounces his crown. Tenor Kurt Streit is Lucio Silla, and soprano Patricia Petibon is Giunia for the last time, after having gained international recognition thanks to her numerous performances in this role, while mezzo-soprano Silvia Tro Santafe is the ardent Cecilio. In this monumental production, Claus Guth finds a way to respect both the classical setting and the formal innovations that make the opera so interesting. Ivor Bolton conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Real.

With the present CD, OehmsClassics releases the “Linz Version” of Anton Bruckner’s First Symphony. It is part of the complete symphony cycle being recorded by the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra under Ivor Bolton, its Chief Conductor since 2004. This live recording from the Large Festival Hall in Salzburg was realized in October 2013. The 91-regular member Mozarteum Orchestra is one of Austria’s leading symphonic organizations, presenting two concert series of its own throughout the year as well as playing the Sunday Matinees concerts at the annual Salzburg Festival.

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

Also available on standard DVD

Mozart’s third venture into the “opera seria” genre, demolished its traditional boundaries to open the way to lyric drama. Blending youthful earnestness with mature mastery, Mozart uses - while profoundly changing - the elements of a genre based on arias that come one after another with no real concern for dramatic progression. The importance and expressive power of the choruses, influenced by the operatic reforms of Gluck, foreshadows The Magic Flute. Idomeneo is often regarded as Mozart’s first masterpiece for the opera house. After the fall of Troy, King Idomeneo can finally dream of returning to his homeland after a long absence, during which his son Idamante ensured the continuity of his reign and guarded Trojan prisoners, including Ilia, King Priam’s daughter. To escape from a terrible storm that is keeping him from reaching Crete, Idomeneo promises Neptune to sacrifice the first living being he encounters upon landing. Unfortunately, it is his own son who greets him in his native land. By offering her own life in exchange for that of Idamante, whom she loves and who loves her, Illia manages to get Neptune to yield and to deliver Idomeneo from his fateful vow. Robert Carsen’s “politically poetic staging” (Opera News), set in present-day Crete, features a first-rate cast including Eric Cutler as Idomeneo, David Portillo as Idamante, Anett Fritsch, as Ilia, Eleonora Buratto, as Elettra, and Benjamin Hulett as Arbace.

Classical Music

Jan Vogler presents his 2nd recording of Schumann's Cello Concerto but this time, with his own orchestra, the Dresden Festival Orchestra, consisting of more than 50 members from Europe's most renowned early music ensembles. In addition to the concerto, the orchestra plays Schumann's Second Symphony. The repertoire presented here connects the Dresden Music Festival and its orchestra to the productive Dresden period of Schumann's work since both works were composed during that time. The Second Symphony was written between December, 1845 and October, 1846 in Dresden, the Cello Concerto immediately followed after he had left the city.

crisp, clear-sighted approach, all proceeds at a proper tempo and, where appropriate, with a spring in it's heels. The slow movements are sensitively expressive... this is basically how such works would have been heard in their time, you may feel this is the way it should be... The strings are 'authentic' and respectful of every element... I thoroughly enjoyed this and the superb recording "Ivor Bolton is close enough to be heard in realistic balance, (his) clean and incisive fingers bring the music to life in these most enjoyable recordings." (Gramophone)