Federico Sacchi; Patrizia Ciofi; Danilo Formaggia; Nicola Amodio
The Bratislava Chamber Chorus
Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia/Luciano Acocella, conductor
Denis Krief, director

NTSC All Regions
DTS 5.1; PCM Stereo 2.0
Color Picture: 16:9 widescreen
Duration: 136 minutes
Subtitles: Italian, English, French, German, Japanese

WORLD PREMIERE DVD RECORDING

This is the version of I Capuleti e i Montecchi made for La Scala, where it was first staged on 26th December 1830, featuring two female voices in the roles of Romeo and Juliet. This opera is usually performed with a tenor as Romeo, but at La Scala Bellini found a different singing troupe which obliged him to cast not the en travesti warrior of Rossinian manner (like Tancredi, Arsace, Malcolm) but a wholly female Romeo, ardent and authoritative yet at the same time languid, sensual and soft. The choice of this Capuleti at the 2005 Martina Franca Festival was also dictated by the availability of Patrizia Ciofi. This great specialist of romantic belcanto had never been offered the role of Giulietta in Capuleti, a role, which is absolutely ideal for her vocal talents.

PARSIFAL

Artists:
Charles Workman, Steve Davislim, tenors; Marco Vinco, bass-baritone; Laura Aikin, Ainhoa Garmendia, sopranos; Michael Maniaci, countertenor; Marisa Martins, Jossie Perez, mezzo-sopranos; Liceu Grand Theatre Orchestra, Harry Bicket, conductor; Thomas MacManus, choreographer; Francisco Negrin, director.

Audio Format: LPCM 2.0 | Region Code: 0 | Format: NTSC, 16:9
Booklet: English, French, Italian, German | Subtitles: English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Catalan
Running Time: 148 minutes
Location: Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona | Recorded: October 7, 2009 Packaging: DVD Keep Case

L’arbore di Diana is a two-act opera buffa by the composer Vincent Martin y Soler with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, first performed in Vienna in 1787. Popular throughout Europe at that time, this comic pastorale includes a plot that centers on an apple tree with apples that mutate in the presence of chaste and wanton individuals in the goddess Diana’s garden, and an unhappy god of Love who schemes to destroy the apple tree. Diana’s Tree is a trove of flowing melodies and a feast for the eyes.

“…immersed in an unreal atmosphere that takes advantage of cutting edge technology and an intelligent use of lighting and sound, …[transposing] the fable and satire..to modern times..with genius, explaining the story without confusing it.” – Pablo Meléndez-Haddad, ABC, October 2009.

“…Francis Negrin’s work has managed to maintain the piece’s narrative and to underline its best comical moments.” – Roger Alier, La Vanguardia, Oct. 2009.

NABUCCO

Filmed in HD at a live 2012 performance in the Teatro Carlo Felice, one of the best known and the last of Puccini's operas "Turandot" is directed and filmed by Giuliano Montaldo in a cast led by Daniela Dess� in the titular role and Mario Malagnini as the Calaf. Based on a 12th century Persian tale, the story of Turandot has long entranced audiences worldwide with it's lyrical pageantry and pentatonic laden score containing an astonishing amount of now beloved arias such as "Nessun Dorma" and "In Questa Reggia". With the Franco Alfano score to the final act and with the Orchestra and Choir of the Teatro Carlo Felice conducted by Donato Renzetti, this production features the acclaimed stage design of Giuliano Montaldo's. With generous subtitle availability in Italian, English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese and Korean.

Lesser known than Mozart and Verdi's Requiem, Donizetti's Messa di Requiem in D minor for the death of Vincenzo Bellini is infused with a deeply felt spirituality, that reveals the feelings of sincere admiration and friendship that he had towards the Sicilian composer, who died prematurely in 1835 in France, where the two were in tour with old and new operas rearranged for the local audience. Unfortunately Donizetti himself did not live long enough to hear his work performed, and the Messa was to be premiered only in 1870 in Bergamo, in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, where Donizetti is now buried. This release was recorded in that same location and the whole cast received very positive reviews, especially tenor Juan Francisco Gatell that sung the famous Ingemisco aria with an excellent use of mezzevoci and coloratura.

A perpetuator of Corelli’s style, but endowed with a more passionate nature and a more refined technique, Tartini fully embodies the musical taste of the 18th century, according to which “music ought to be expressive and not merely ornamented, insignificant and artificial”, thus truly earning the title of “master of the nations”. The works of the present release embrace an arc of almost thirty years, spanning from the 1730s (Sonata No. 45) to the 1760s (Sonata No. 40). All of them have initial themes that are easily remembered because of some peculiar traits and of the incisiveness of their motives, the apex of expressiveness being in the slow movement. The Allegros that follow, often passionately vigorous, are dominated by vivid colours and very interesting rhythmic and harmonic variety, and permeated by refined technique.

This new release is homage to a great Italian soprano, Daniela Dessì, who passed away last year, just one year after these performances at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. This is a superb interpretation of this signature role of her long artistic career. Daniela Dessì was considered one of the world’s leading sopranos and a reference point for the Verdi, Puccini and Verismo repertoire. Thanks to the beauty of her voice, a strong technique and an intense dramatic talent, she was able to sing from Monteverdi to Prokofiev, performing in more than seventy different operas. This versatility has significantly been underlined when, in 2011, she was awarded with the Prize Belcanto “Celletti”, recognized as an “absolute soprano”. In this production of Umberto Giordano’s Fedora, she is joined by an all-star cast, including Fabio Armiliato and Daria Kovalenko.

Jacques Offenbach's masterpiece La Grande-Duchesse de Gérosltein should be performed much more often. This re-edition has an excellent cast lead by Lucia Valentini-Terrani and Carlo Allemanno. Offenbach composed the music to La Grande-Duchesse during the height of his compositional career and premiered the opera in Paris in 1867.

PAGANINI: Guitar Quartets Nos. 2, 8 and 15

GIOACHINO ROSSINI: Maria Bayo; Daniela Barcellona; Francesco Meli; Carlo Lepore; Prague Chamber Choir; Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia/Renato Palumbo;Jean-Louis Martinoty, director; NTSC All Region; DTS 5.1; PCM Sterio 2.0; Color; 16:9; 183 mins; Subtitled in Italian, English, Fr GIOACHINO ROSSINI: Bianca e Falliero.

Margherita D’Anjou was Giacomo Meyerbeer’s fourth opera in Italian and his first true success. After an absence from the stage of one and a half centuries, it returned at the 43rd Valle d’Itria Festival in an exemplary production: the ironical setting of the director Talevi- the War of the Roses takes place at the London Fashion Week- is perfectly matched by the elegant direction of Luisi, at the head of the Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia. The opera, which belongs to the semi-serious genre, moves from the warlike tones of Act One to the idyllic ones of Act Two, where both female protagonist appear: the queen, a soprano, and the wife, a contralto; both seeking the love of a heroic tenor equally daring in battle and in music.

This release is entitled Donizetti Heroines because many of the composer’s operas are named after their female protagonists. Even in the few cases where they aren’t, they give musical portrayals of unforgettable female characters, tragic and passionate figures, often innocent victims of the infernal gears of power and therefore destined to a hapless fate. Between 1818 and 1843 Gaetano Donizetti composed some seventy operas, many of which became very popular in his day. His first success came in 1830 with Anna Bolena and from that moment he rivaled Bellini as the ‘leading operatic composer in Italy’, churning out works with the constant rhythm of a typical 18th-century composer. Some of Donizetti’s best works rank among the masterpieces of 19th-century opera. A few of them have remained in the repertoire worldwide since their debut, while others were to be revived only from the second half of the 1900s, in the wake of what has rightly been called the ‘Donizetti Renaissance’. Today operatic audiences are radically different from those of two hundred years ago and during the 2018/19 season Donizetti was placed fifth in the list of the world’s most represented composers. We believe that the credit for this goes to his splendid heroines and their great interpreters who, yesterday and today, brought them alive on stage and continue to do so. This collectors’ release offers a selection of nine operas featuring some of the most iconic and unforgettable Donizetti characters, performed by outstanding singers such as Mariella Devia, Jessica Pratt, Carmela Remigio, Patrizia Ciofi and Sonia Ganassi.

In Venice, with the carnival in full swing, the Duke of Pesaro arranges for his lieutenant Spadoni to abduct the beautiful Leonor. To make the young girl love him, he has hired Stradella, a famous singer and singing teacher. The Duke, however, is unaware that Stradella loves and is loved in secret by the beautiful girl. The lovers will be pursued by Pesaro's men all the way to Rome.

"Stradella" was probably composed between 1841 and 1842 (César Franck was just 21 years old) and is probably the result of his early experiences as accompanist to the Italian tenor Mario Bordogni. The opera has come to us virtually complete, as a piano score with some hints of orchestration. Luc van Hove orchestrated it and Stradella was thus staged for the first time at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie on 19th September 2012. Indeed the revival of this stunning opera provides an important tile in the mosaic of the artistic personality of one of the protagonists of 19th-century.

Paolo Arrivabeni,conductor - Jaco van Dormael, stage director, Marcc Laho (Stradella), Isabelle Cabatu (Leonor), Werner van Mechelen (Spadoni), Philippe Rouillon ( Pietro), Giovanni Iovino (Michael), Patrick Mignon (Beppo) Roger Joakim (Un officier)

A successful musician in the early 19th century, Giovanni Simone Mayr composed the opera Medea in Corinto in 1813, the same year it premiered at the San Carlo theatre in Naples. The two act tragedy with libretto by Felice Romani was Mayr’s most popular theatrical work. The story is that of the Greek myth of Medea. “Michael Spyres, in the role of Jason, confirms to be one of the finest belcanto performers of the moment, endowed with a nimble voice and pure and solid high notes.” (Dynamic)

Picture Format: NTSC, 16:9
Sound Formats: Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM 2.0
Subtitles: Italian, English, French, German, Korean
Region Code: 0 (All)
Running Time: 167 mins

Starring Fabio Armiliato, Juan Pons, Daniela Dessi.

IDOMENEO

GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL: Veronique Gens, soprano; Philippe Jaroussky, male alto; Ingrid Perruche, soprano; Nigel Smith, baritone; Thierry Gregoire, male alto; Bernard Deletre, bass; Fabrice Di Falco, male soprano; AlainBuet, bass; La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy/Jean-Claude Mal GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL: Agrippina.

Sammartini’s first concerti grossi, those of his Op. 2, are considered to be among the composer’s masterpieces. These intensely inspired pieces, composed with such vigorous spirit, sometimes hardly seem to fit the measured form of the concerto grosso. Sammartini’s themes enjoy a pliant lyricism, at times melancholic, at others passionate and vehement. The contrapuntal development is always masterful, both learned and extraordinarily subtle in nature, taking unexpected and thoroughly expressive turns, often through refined chromaticism and an original use of harmony. The continuous, inexhaustible variety of Sammartini’s thematic invention leaves no room for predictable developments; it constantly introduces new elements, with often truly beautiful results. I Musici, founded in 1951, is the oldest chamber ensemble still active today. Over the years, they have become world-renowned for their promotion of 18th century Italian music, most notably Vivaldi and his Four Seasons, which they first recorded in 1959, and which has sold over 25 million copies in various editions, the last of which was for Dynamic in 2012.

The first of two CDs of the complete piano sonatas – 88 sonatas in total – by Domenico Cimarosa played by Italian pianist Dario Candela. A first complete recording.

Sarro, D.: Achille in Sciro [Opera]

CAMPAGNOLI: Fugues and Divertimentos

WEBER: Euryanthe

MAZZAFERRATA: Primo libro delle Sonate a 2 violini (Il)

VERDI: Macbeth (Original version, Florence 1847)