{"title":"Lee Castle","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"menotti-the-medium-rapchak-castle-bedi-chicago-242678","title":"Menotti: The Medium \/ Rapchak, Castle, Bedi, Chicago Opera","description":"\"A first-rate recording of a durable classic.\" (Opera News) \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"Chicago Opera Theater brings the story fully and frighteningly to life for the first time on compact disc. Joyce Castle sings the title role . . . with chilling malevolence. Bedi brings to the role [of Monica] a pervasive and affecting sweetness.\" (Newark Star-Ledger)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"Exudes a riveting theatrical atmosphere.\" (Dallas Morning News)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Oft-performed but mysteriously absent on recordings, Menotti's eerie opera The Medium has materialized in its first recording in more than a quarter century. This two-act \"musical drama\" is about a fake psychic whose surprise encounter with the unknown leads to murder and mayhem. It is stage a dozen times annually in the US alone. Yet, recordings haven't been available for years, and (until now) it has never appeared on CD.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e A \"sensational success\" for Menotti (Kobbé's Opera Book), the present version of The Medium had its premiere February 18, 1947 at New York's Heckscher Theater. New York Times music critic Olin Downes wrote, \"we have here the quality of opera. It is dramatic music, emphatic in action as well as feeling, and in essence song, which is what opera must be. No other American composer has shown the inborn talent that Mr. Menotti, an Italian by descent, unquestionable possesses for the lyric theater.\" Critic (and composer) Virgil Thomson called it a \"first-class musico-theatrical work . . . the most gripping operatic narrative [he] has witnessed in many a year . . .[It] wrings every heart string, and the music is thoroughly touching.\"\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Cedille","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44711301251306,"sku":"735131903424","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1053889.jpg?v=1778342176"},{"product_id":"wagner-parsifal-4","title":"Wagner: Parsifal","description":"Following their acclaimed previous Wagner opera releases, Halle presents the remastered recording of their 2013 Prom performance, recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall. “Working with his orchestra, the Halle, Sir Mark Elder produced an account of this miraculous score which, for a combination of passion and precision, surpassed any other that I have ever heard.” (Michael Tanner, The Spectator, August 2013) Wagner’s last opera, Parsifal, which the composer declared to be his “farewell to the world” has been described as being in many ways the most “total” of all his “total art works.” His spiritual swansong unfurls as a slow-moving, ritualistic drama, and is arguably the best-suited of all his operas to the style of concert staging offered here. This release was recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, London at the 2013 BBC Proms, featuring dramatic spatial placing of off-stage choruses and musicians. It was audio remastered by Halle’s award-winning engineer Stever Portnoi: the original multitrack recordings of both rehearsals and concert were edited to eliminate audience noise whilst retaining the sense of place and the staged nature of the performance. The edited multitrack was then remixed to achieve a sound in keeping with Halle label releases.","brand":"Halle","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012946350314,"sku":"5065001341458","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3647577.jpg?v=1778294423"},{"product_id":"tan-dun-marco-polo-dno-2008-blu-ray-full-hd","title":"Tan, Dun: Marco Polo (DNO, 2008) (Blu-ray, Full-HD)","description":"Charles Workman, Sarah Castle, Stephen Richardson, and Nancy Allen Lundy star in this production of the Tan Dun opera with the composer conducting the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Cappella Amsterdam.","brand":"Opus Arte","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46013012705514,"sku":"809478070290","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1525343_3e44059d-e064-48e2-b282-6bd1ad2b3100.jpg?v=1778397166"},{"product_id":"tan-dun-marco-polo-dun-workman-castle-225930","title":"Tan Dun: Marco Polo \/ Dun, Workman, Castle, Lundy","description":"REGIONS: All Regions\u003cbr\u003e  PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  LENGTH: Approx 156 Mins\u003cbr\u003e  SOUND: 5.0 DTS SURROUND \/ PCM STEREO\u003cbr\u003e  SUBTITLES: ENGLISH\/FRENCH\/GERMAN\/SPANISH\/ITALIAN\/DUTCH\u003cbr\u003e  NO OF DISCS: 1 \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  In ‘Marco Polo, an opera within an opera’, composer Tan Dun portrays the Venetian explorer’s travels to the Far East as a journey of both inner and physical discovery, a voyage depicting spiritual experiences as well as a geographical expedition. At the same time the work, on a libretto by Paul Griffiths, can be seen as a compositional adventure of the composer himself, unifying the various cultural worlds he occupies: a blend of Western avant garde and Oriental traditions. Pierre Audi’s mythical staging and Jean Kalman’s fabulous set design complement the composer’s own musical direction, forging the dazzlingly versatile soloists, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Capella Amsterdam to a stunning symbiosis of elements across time and space, a true testimony to cultures intertwined in globalisation. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Polo: Charles Workman\u003cbr\u003e  Marco: Sarah Castle\u003cbr\u003e  Kublai Khan: Stephen Richardson\u003cbr\u003e  Water: Nancy Allen Lundy\u003cbr\u003e  Shadow 1\/Rustichello\/Li Po: Zhang Jun\u003cbr\u003e  Shadow 2\/Sheherazada\/Mahler\/Queen: Tania Kross\u003cbr\u003e  Shadow3\/Dante\/Shakespeare: Stephen Bryant\u003cbr\u003e  Chinese\/Arabian dancer: Mu Na \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Netherlands Chamber Orchestra\u003cbr\u003e  Cappella Amsterdam\u003cbr\u003e  Musical Director: Tan Dun\u003cbr\u003e  Stage Director: Pierre Audi\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Recorded live at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, on 13th and 18th November 2008.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Plus\u003cbr\u003e  Illustrated synopsis.\u003cbr\u003e  Cast gallery.\u003cbr\u003e  Documentary: The Music of Tomorrow – including interviews with the creative team and principle cast members.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Reviews\u003cbr\u003e  ‘Tan Dun’s Marco Polo was, for me, a multi-dimensional experience which went beyond my expectations and indeed overwhelmed my senses… Here was an opera of our generation: a fusion of elements across time and space, a true testimony to the way our worlds have become intertwined in the globalisation process.’ Anne Ku, Bonjournal.com\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Opus Arte","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":46025395601642,"sku":"809478010104","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1525338.jpg?v=1778286860"}],"url":"https:\/\/arkivmusic.com\/collections\/lee-castle.oembed","provider":"ArkivMusic","version":"1.0","type":"link"}