In this interpretation of Verdi's MacBeth, stage director Christof Loy skillfully navigates the interplay of light and dark, infusing the opera - based on Shakespeare's work - with remarkable depth and drama. The outstanding vocal ensemble vividly captures the psychological nuances of the characters, featuring Ludovic Tezier as the paranoid MacBeth and Martina Serafin as Lady MacBeth, the mastermind behind the crimes. Giampaolo Bisanti pours his passion into the score, while The Symphony Orchestra and the Liceu Choir deliver exceptional performances in response. Consequently, the audience experiences a flawless blend of lyrics and music, crafted by the Milanese composer, librettist Francesco Maria Piave, and poet Andrea Maffei. "It is a unique scenography." El Pais

In this interpretation of Verdi's MacBeth, stage director Christof Loy skillfully navigates the interplay of light and dark, infusing the opera - based on Shakespeare's work - with remarkable depth and drama. The outstanding vocal ensemble vividly captures the psychological nuances of the characters, featuring Ludovic Tezier as the paranoid MacBeth and Martina Serafin as Lady MacBeth, the mastermind behind the crimes. Giampaolo Bisanti pours his passion into the score, while The Symphony Orchestra and the Liceu Choir deliver exceptional performances in response. Consequently, the audience experiences a flawless blend of lyrics and music, crafted by the Milanese composer, librettist Francesco Maria Piave, and poet Andrea Maffei. "It is a unique scenography." El Pais

Love and duty collide and nations clash in Verdi's political drama, starring Elena Stikhina. In this new production, director Robert Carsen situates Verdi's large-scale drama within a contemporary world, framing it's power struggles and toxic jealousies in the apparatus of a modern, totalitarian state. Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi's glorious, monumental score.

Love and duty collide and nations clash in Verdi's political drama, starring Elena Stikhina. In this new production, director Robert Carsen situates Verdi's large-scale drama within a contemporary world, framing it's power struggles and toxic jealousies in the apparatus of a modern, totalitarian state. Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi's glorious, monumental score.

World Première Recordings

The premiere of Nabucco at La Scala, Milan in 1842 was a huge success for Verdi and soon led to foreign performances of the work. For its appearance in Brussels under the name Nebuchodonozor Verdi fashioned an orchestral Divertissement which was inserted into Act III; the composer’s score of this, performed here, has only very recently been rediscovered. Macbeth is one of his psychologically penetrating masterpieces and for its Parisian staging in 1865 it underwent considerable revision, notably to make its dramatic development more incisive. When Il trovatore was performed in Paris as Le Trouvère Verdi added lively local color as new additions to the score.

REVIEW:

One may ask, if these Verdi masterpieces are ‘made in Italy’, why is the title of the disc Vive Verdi!? Well, the answer is simple. All three works were such huge successes that Verdi was obliged to write a ’French version’ for each opera for foreign performances in Brussels (Nabucco) and Paris (Macbeth and Il Trovatore). Apart from the language, Verdi also included a substantial amount of revised and new music, including ballet, and this issue is dedicated to the rarities and discoveries found in these French versions. Indeed, the ’Nabucco Divertissement’ has only very recently been rediscovered. If you believe you know your Verdi, think again. A memorable programme, passionately performed and splendidly recorded, that widens our knowledge of the great Italian master.

-- Classical Music Daily

The winner of Gramophone's 2021 Voice & Ensemble Award!

Hear the album that set a new standard for Verdi baritones, with excerpts from La forza del destino, Don Carlo, Ernani, Falstaff, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Macbeth, Nabucco, Otello, Rigoletto, and Un Ballo in maschera.

"Ludovic Tézier has arguably been the leading Verdi baritone on the global stage for the best part of a decade now. As such, the Frenchman’s first solo album is less a calling card of a singer setting out on a career than a consolidation, a demonstration of mature artistry. As anyone familiar with Tézier in the theatre or from his few forays on disc...will know, his is a true Verdi voice. It’s big, generously phrased and both forceful and grand, with a broad colouristic range running from knotty torment to aristocratic elegance...

"The album benefits greatly from programming that puts an emphasis on substantial extracts, several featuring roles that Tézier has made his own...with idiomatic support from Frédéric Chaslin and the Bologna orchestra, and engineering that captures the voice handsomely, this is surely the finest Verdi recital – from any voice type – to have appeared for several years, if not a decade." -Gramophone

Also available on Blu-ray

A jewel of bel canto, and Bellini’s last masterpiece, I puritani encapsulates every major theme held dear by the Italian romantic generation: a love triangle, quid pro quos, a shattered love affair leading to madness, set in Cromwell’s England with its lot of political rivalries. It is also an ode to resistance and to freedom, echoing the political struggles that the Italian peninsula was facing in the 1830’s. But it is mainly a testament to Bellini’s unique musical brand, a genius combination of melodic brightness, post-Rossinian ornaments, and a profound and melancholic lament that owes much to traditional Neapolitan songs. It is therefore one of the most vocally demanding operas of the repertoire, and to face this challenge, the Teatro Real of Madrid called on four exceptional singers : the great diva Diana Damrau is Elvira, Javier Camarena is Arturo (both triumphed at the Metropolitan Opera of New York in the same opera in early 2017), as well as baritone Ludovic Tezier and bass-baritone Nicolas Teste. Catalan director Emilio Sagi offers a staging both elegant and simple, and bel canto expert Evelinò Pido, along with the Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus, brings forth every nuance of this immense and unforgettable score.