PARIS AND BURGUNDY



 


The Places
This musical tour of France starts in Paris with scenes that reflect the modenisation of the city in the 19th century under Baron Haussmann. From Paris the tour passes to Burgundy, with its vineyards, to Provence, with its Fête des Gardiens in Arles and Roman aqueduct, thence to the Loire, with its great castles and country-houses. The tour ends with a visit to Brittany and Normandy, the northern coasts and the great monastery of Mont Saint-Michel.


 


The Music
Music for the tour is taken from Fryderyk Chopin's two piano concertos. The son of a French émigré and a Polish mother, Chopin left his native Warsaw in 1830, settling in the following year in Paris, where he lived until his death in 1849. His piano concertos were written and first performed in Warsaw in 1830, and seemed a necessary part of his stock-in-trade for a planned career as a virtuoso. In the event Chopin found a more congenial role in Paris as a performer in private society salons and as a fashionable teacher.


 


Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: Dolby Digital / DTS Surround
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 78 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

The musical tour starts in the Bernese Alps, which offer some of the finest scenery in Switzerland, with glaciers and snow-covered expanses, waterfalls, mountain lakes, and the towering Matterhorn. The Nymphenburg Palace and Park, in Munich, present a contrast, in their baroque elegance. The tour ends with glimpses of the Chiemsee, the largest of the Bavarian lakes, with it's three wooded islands, on one of which Wagner's patron, King Ludwig II, built his folly, the Schloss Herrenchiemsee. Music for the tour is taken from Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, one of the best known of all romantic concertos. This is followed by his 'Souvenir d'un lieu Cher,' three pieces originally for violin and piano, but here orchestrated by the composer Glazunov.

BAVARIA

The Places
The Road of Romance, in South Bavaria, leads through the countryside to the great castle of Weikersheim, former residence of the Counts and Princes Hohenlohe. Further exploration of Bavaria and the Bavarian Forest leads to Prunn Castle on its rocky eminence, and finally to Würzburg on the River Main and the Marienberg Fortress.

The Music
Max Bruch, a native of Cologne, enjoyed a career that took him, as a conductor, to Liverpool, Coblenz, Breslau and Bonn, before his final years in Berlin. His first Violin Concerto remains among his most popular works. Carl Maria von Weber led an even more varied life that took him to musical centres in Germany and Austria. He was a pioneer of German romantic opera, and three opera overtures are chosen here. Der Freischütz (The Marksman) evokes the spirit of the German forest, while Euryanthe explores more exotic territory, as does Oberon, Weber's final opera, written for London in 1826, the last year of his life.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: Dolby Digital / DTS Surround
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 53 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (US and Canada)

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.

Gioachino Rossini was summoned to Paris in 1824 to breathe new life into its opera culture, and one of his most exciting innovations in this period was the creation of an entirely new genre of opera comedy. The risqué tale of Le Comte Ory had its origins in vaudeville theatre and is based on the story of a villainous Count who attempts the seduction of Countess Adele as she awaits the return of her husband from the Crusades. ‘Le Comte Ory’ is the last of Rossini’s comic operas, making full use of the libretto’s farcical disguises and humor in one of his most colorfully orchestrated scores. This production, staged by Linda Mallik, features the Malmo Opera Orchestra and Chorus with world renowned soloists Leonardo Ferrando as Count Ory and Erika Miklosa as Countess Adele. Linda Mallik made her directorial debut in 2012 and received unanimous praise in the Swedish and international press, making her one of the most sought-after opera directors in Sweden. She has also staged ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ at NorrlandsOperan, ‘M/S Aurora’ at the Berwaldhallen, ‘Faust’ and ‘Mayday Payday’ at Folkoperan in Stockholm, among others.

Described by librettist Charles Jennens with typical English understatement as “a fine entertainment,” Handel’s Messiah was initially controversial as a biblical oratorio written for secular theatres. Within years it was however being “received with universal applause” and its composer’s purpose in delighting and charming his listeners has made this masterpiece an international favorite ever since. This eye-catching, audiovisual recording of Handel’s masterpiece with its cast of renowned soloists captures the 2016 Easter concert in the impressive Baroque Basilica of Klosterneuburg, Austria.

Our journey takes US principally to the city of Genoa, for centuries an independent republic, held by Austria, seized by Napoleon, and later joined to Piedmont. Violinist, priest and most prolific composer, Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1678 and spent most of his life there, associated for much of the time with the Ospedale della Pieta, a charitable institution for girls, with a strong musical tradition. The music for the tour is taken from concertos for various instruments.

The All-Star Orchestra gives you a front row seat to the world’s greatest music, performed by top players chosen from over 30 great American orchestras, and conducted by Gerard Schwarz. The programs feature complete performances of popular masterpieces and world premieres of new works by leading American composers. Filmed in High-Definition with multiple cameras in and around the orchestra, the All-Star Orchestra celebrates the symphonic experience in the 21st c. Gershwin’s immortal Rhapsody in Blue is featured in the rarely heard original jazz-band version from the 1924 New York premiere. This iconic work is complemented by Aaron Copland’s 1925 jazz-age classic “Music for the Theatre.” Robert Beaser’s “Ground O” offers a contemporary musical perspective of New York after the attacks of 9/11. (Program 9: Visions of New York) This exotic orchestral showpiece is based on fantastical tales that - according to tradition - were told by the ingenious wife of a cruel Sultan so as to prolong her life for 1001 nights. Concertmaster David Kim conveys the voice of the wily heroine Scheherazade in virtuosic violin solos. (Program 10: 1001 Arabian Nights – The Legend of Scheherazade)

THE ALL-STAR ORCHESTRA
Programs 9 & 10

Program 9: Visions of New York

George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Aaron Copland: Music for the Theatre Suite
Robert Beaser: Ground “O”

Program 10: 1001 Arabian Nights – The Legend of Scheherazade

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

Lola Astanova, piano
David Kim, violin
The All-Star Orchestra
Gerard Schwarz, conductor

Recorded live from the Great Hall, Purchase College Performing Arts Center, New York, 26–27 August 2014

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Language: English
Running time: 114 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

The Music � Violinist, priest and most prolific composer, Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1678 and spent most of his life there, associated for much of the time with the Ospedale della Piet�, a charitable institution for girls, with a strong musical tradition. The music for the tour is taken from his concertos for flute.

AUSTRIA

The Places
The tour starts in Salzburg, with glimpses of the Austrian countryside, often in winter snow. It ends in the district of Salzburg, where it began.

The Music
The music is taken from three serenades by Mozart. The most famous, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, written in 1787 in Vienna, is followed by two serenades written ten years earlier for social occasions in Salzburg.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 68 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

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

Also available on Blu-ray

L’Étoile did much to establish Chabrier as a major force on the Parisian stage and his contemporary Henri Duparc praised him specifically for creating a French comic genre, both funny and musical – described as something of a French Die Meistersinger. The fanciful story is set in an imaginary kingdom and all, naturally, ends well. However, despite the slight plot line L’Étoile is something of a pivotal work, a unique example of French 19th-century light opera, orchestrated with great sophistication and flooded with gossamer wit. This production, featuring Stephane d’Oustrac, Christophe Mortagne, and Helene Guilmette, is a co-production of the Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam and Francois Roussillon et Associes.

Also available on Blu-ray

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.

This series of DVDs features travel scenes accompanied by classical music.

The Places

Scenes from Moscow and the Golden Ring, the cluster of historic towns to the north-east of the city, including Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov and Zagorsk, show the historic heart of Russia in Winter and Summer.

The Music

The music here included ranges from folk-song and extracts from the Russian Orthodox liturgy to works by Russian nationalist composers of the later nineteenth century, including Balakirev, Arensky and the more cosmopolitan Tchaikovsky.

This series of DVDs features travel scenes accompanied by classical music.

The Places

We explore the streets, palaces and parks of Madrid, the capital of Castile and of Spain, before turning south to La Mancha, the country of the immortal Don Quixote, and to Toledo, the home of Cervantes and of the great painter known as El Greco.

The Music

The music of Spain held an exotic attraction for composers from other lands. The Russians Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov found inspiration here, as did the French composers Lalo, Massenet and Ravel, who claimed Basque descent on his mother's side, and Bizet, whose opera Carmen is imbued with the spirit of the country. Spain provided Verdi with a narrative source, and another Italian, the demon violinist Paganini, was equally a master of the quintessential Spanish instrument, the guitar.

This series of DVDs features travel scenes accompanied by classical music.

The Places
The tour of London takes us to the best known parts of the British capital, with views of the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, Hampton Court and down river to Greenwich.

The Music
The music for this tour of London is taken from the last two of Joseph Haydn's twelve London Symphonies, the last such works that he would write, composed specially for a series of concerts he gave in London in the 1790s, during two extended visits.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: Dolby Digital / DTS Surround
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 60 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

This series of DVDs features travel scenes accompanied by classical music.

The Places

St Petersburg, the former Russian capital, established in 1712 by Peter the Great, represented an era of modernisation. Built around the River Neva, which flows into the seas of the Gulf of Finland, its palaces, streets and parks, reflect the age of its construction and wider European influences to which the Tsar sought to direct his country.

The Music

The composers whose music is here included, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui, Liadov and Ippolitov-Ivanov, were themselves closely associated with Russian music of the later nineteenth century and, inevitably, with St Petersburg and its Conservatory.

The Places - the places visited are on the coast of Southern France, from Frejus and Cannes to Marseille. They include the Che�teau of King Renein Tarascon and the famous island Che�teau d'If, where the fictional Edmond Dantes was held prisoner in the Count of Monte Cristo. There is particular attention given to the flat marshland of the Camargue, with it's wild horses and it's associated festivities in Arles. The Music - the music that accompanies the tour is all by French composers, from Saint-Saens and Offenbach to Debussy and Ravel. Included are Gabriel Faures evocative Berceuse, Sicilienne and Pavane, and Ravel's nostalgic Pavane sur une infante defunte. The tour starts in cheerful mood with Chabrier's Marche Joyeuse.

The tour of Paris starts with the Eiffel Tower and includes the famous landmarks of the French capital, the Churches of Notre-Dame and the Sacre Coeur, the Opera Garnier and the great river, the Seine, that runs through the city. The tour ends with a nocturnal view of Paris and an excursion to Chartres, with it's magnificent cathedral. Music for the tour is by Beethoven, who at one time seemed to hope for employment in Paris. His 'Eroica Symphony' was at first intended as a celebration of his one-time hero, Napoleon, but reflected, in the end, his disillusion when Napoleon had himself crowned as Emperor. The music used also includes Beethoven's 'Coriolanus Overture', written, not for Shakespeare's play, but for a contemporary drama by Heinrich von Collin.

Although one of his most consistently lyrical operas, La rondine (The Swallow) remains one of Puccini’s least known. Dissatisfied with the result of his work, Puccini wrote three versions, with two different endings, and continued to make further revisions up to his death in 1924. The innovative 2007 production at the Torre del Lago Giacomo Puccini Festival, presented on this DVD, is in effect a fourth version, which combines Acts I and II of the first version (1917), with Lorenzo Ferrero’s 1994 orchestration of parts of the Finale of Act III of the incomplete third version (1921), some of which had survived only in piano score, as well as Ruggero’s Act I romanza, Parigi è la città dei desideri, from the second version (1920).

With a sparkling score reminiscent of Franz Lehár and Richard Strauss, La rondine, set in mid-19th century Paris, tells the story of Magda de Civry, a young courtesan who falls in love one evening with Ruggero Lastouc, the handsome son of a childhood friend of her protector, Rambaldo Fernandez. Although Magda believes that her compromised social position prevents their marrying, in Puccini’s third version it is Ruggero who leaves Magda when he discovers that she is the mistress of Rambaldo. - Naxos

Giacomo Puccini
LA RONDINE

Magda – Svetla Vassileva
Lisette – Maya Dashuk
Ruggero – Fabio Sartori
Prunier – Emanuele Giannino
Rambaldo – Marzio Giossi
Périchaud – Fernando Ciuffo
Gobin – Giorgio Berrugi
Crébillon – Andrea Patucelli
Yvette – Polina Volfson
Bianca – Alessandra Meozzi
Suzy – Annunziata Vestri
Fleury – Katia De Sarlo
Mariette – Chang Chiung Wen
Roro – Elisabetta Lombardo
Un maggiordomo – Alessando Manghesi

Puccini Festival Chorus and Orchestra
Alberto Veronesi, conductor

Recorded live from the 53rd Puccini Festival, Torre del Lago, Italy, on 8, 10 and 16 August 2007

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: Dolby Digital 2.0 / Dolby Surround 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, Italian
Running time: 111 mins

DONIZETTI Roberto Devereux • Marcello Rota, cond; Dimitra Theodossiou (Elizabeth, Queen of England); Federica Bragaglia (Sara, Duchess of Nottingham); Massimiliano Pisapia (Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex); Luigi Albani (Lord Cecil); Andrew Schroeder (The Duke of Nottingham); Giorgio Valerio (Sir Walter Raleigh); Bergamo Musica Festival O & Ch • NAXOS 2.110232 (DVD: 134:14) Live: Bergamo 9/2006

Roberto Devereux is one of Donizetti’s most accomplished and engaging scores. A great success at its Naples premiere in 1837, it soon spread throughout Italy and Europe. Although the story has almost no connection with actual historical events, the libretto presented Donizetti with an uncomplicated story of well-developed scenes that obviously inspired the composer.

This DVD preserves a very good performance from the 2006 Bergamo Musica Festival. Dimitra Theodossiou portrays Elizabeth as the aged and imperious queen she was. She has the power to make the character believable and the softness for the lover who fears she has been rejected for a rival. She copes easily with the florid music in a range extending over two octaves; I was particularly impressed that the lowest notes in her role are sung as well as those above the staff.

Massimiliano Pisapia has a strong, ringing tenor voice that matches well the ardent lover he is portraying. As his secret love interest, Federica Bragaglia displays a soft-grained voice that sometimes is in danger of being overwhelmed by the chorus or orchestra, but she manages to hold her own and otherwise sings quiet well. She is also lovely to look at and does the best acting of the cast. Andrew Schroeder’s solid baritone is just what is needed for Nottingham. The minor roles are adequately cast or better.

The Chorus and Orchestra were specially formed in 2006 to participate in the Bergamo Festival. There was a time, not so many years ago, when Italian orchestras were known for sloppy technique, but this is no longer true. Despite their ad hoc nature, both chorus and orchestra perform as if they are well-established, strongly disciplined ensembles. Much of the credit for this must go to the chorus master, Corrado Casati, and especially to conductor Marcello Rota. Rota provides excellent support to the singers, keeping the performance moving while allowing the singers to linger over a note or phrase when appropriate.

There is, however, one practice, which I wish Rota had not allowed. All four principals engage in an annoying practice in which they stop singing toward the end of a set piece so that they can prepare to belt out an unwritten high note or hold the last note of an aria or duet long past its written value in an obvious attempt to milk applause. This vanity at the expense of the music should be discouraged, but unfortunately it disfigures far too many live performances.

Rota does not perform the Overture, which was not written for the original Naples production but was added by Donizetti for the opera’s first performance in Paris in 1838. Otherwise, the opera appears to be performed complete. I qualify this statement because there are small differences between the Kalmas vocal score and the opera as performed; however, other performances I have heard contain similar differences, so I assume that the score as performed here is the result of modern scholarship.

The production is quite attractive and is, wonder of wonders, set in the correct historical context. There are a couple of miscalculations, however. The camera allows us to see what looks like a terrible makeup job on Andrew Schroeder. Stranger still is the portrayal of Elizabeth in the final scene of the opera. Previously, she had been shown as the familiar aged, bald Elizabeth with a flaming red wig, which nevertheless leaves the front of her scalp bald. In the final scene, in which Elizabeth is portrayed in a less-formal setting, she is shown without a wig but has suddenly developed a full head of grey hair where there was baldness before. Otherwise, David Walker, who was responsible for the sets and costumes, is to be commended for an excellent job. The performance is well miked, with the singers being easily audible from every part of the stage. Subtitles are available only in English and Italian.

FANFARE: Ron Salemi Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: Dolby Digital 2.0 / Dolby Surround 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 134 mins

Plenty of interesting content, well photographed, complements the musical arrangements of popular Christmas tunes.

Might as well get my grumble out of my system at the start, particularly as I enjoyed much of the photography, most of the locations and all the musical arrangements. It is just that the title could be deemed misleading as only two Chapters of the thirteen are not of Switzerland and two of the remaining eleven are not focused on Zurich. No problem though about the preponderance of Zurich.
 
Switzerland has existed as the world’s oldest democracy for some seven hundred years. It is the most linguistically and culturally diverse western European nation. Its diversity derives from its history; having experienced internal religious conflict, the Congress of Vienna guaranteed independence and neutrality in 1815. A new federal state of Cantons was formed in 1848 with Bern as the capital. The Cantons reflect cultural and linguistic variety. With borders with France, Germany and Italy these are the appropriate languages of the population who usually speak at least two along with English. The Romantsch dialect is also spoken by about one percent of its people. Zurich is the largest city, located at the north-western end of Lake Zurich, and has long been the industrial and banking centre of the country as well as a magnet for tourism. Its history includes being a centre of Protestantism.
 
It is on Zurich that the opening Chapters focus with views of the city streets at night dressed in resplendent Christmas decorations (CH.1). In the daylight, dusted in snow with a misty hue, the city looks less inviting albeit the bridge over the river Lammat and the mighty twin towers of the Cathedral are imposing (CH.2). The tradition of Christmas is central in December and the film visits the mechanical Father Christmas, a wonderful Christmas crib and the various toyshops with captivated children peering through the windows (CHs. 3-5). The great Minster, in all its internal magnificence appears to the melody of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen played in a baroque manner (CH.6). After brief visits to the Toy Museum in Nuremberg, a city well known as the centre of the German toy-making industry (CH.8), it’s back to Zurich to one of their leading toy emporia with a final visit to a window display of model trains zipping around snowy mountain scenery and model houses; captivating for the children, and, I do not doubt, their parents (CH.13). In between these last two visits, filming takes in a Brussels restaurant where seafood, not just moules and frites, is being prepared and where one can lust over the chocolates, not all Pralines (CH.10). Swiss winter landscapes (CH.12) and the Einsieden Monastery, an important centre of Catholic pilgrimage, are further diversions from Zurich. The monastery church is largely baroque in form (CH.11). The other interesting church visited is that at Engadine, a Romantsch-speaking district set in mountains and popular with visitors (CH.7). Both religious buildings have interesting frescoes and murals.
 
Each visit throughout this tour is accompanied by Baroque-type arrangements of mainly well-known Christmas music. Those chosen include Good King Wenceslas, The First Nowell, Jingle Bells, Silent Night and We Wish You A merry Christmas. With the arrangements being based on Baroque practice, brass is prominent but not overdone. Once or twice, as with O Tannenbaum (CH.12) the arrangement loses the underlying melody, for me at least.
 
-- Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International

------

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0 / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 54 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Also available on Blu-ray

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

Also available on Blu-ray

The opera La campana sommersa (‘The Sunken Bell’) is Respighi’s operatic masterpiece. A symbolist drama on a supernatural theme, it is steeped in beauty, mystery and foreboding, and orchestrated with the Romantic opulence familiar from his sumptuous trilogy of Roman tone poems. Its triumph at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1928 was repeated at La Scala, Milan, and this most recent production at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, world-renowned for its staging of rarities, was hailed for its ‘brilliant production’ and magnificent performances. Directed by Pier Francesco Maestrini, this production features a lineup of modern opera stars including Valentina Farcas, Maria Luigia Borsi, Agostina Smimmero, Angelo Villari, and more.

The Places: The musical tour of Spain starts at the present capital, Madrid, the principal city of Castile. From Madrid it is not too far to the plains of La Mancha, a region always remembered for it's association with the great hero of Miguel Cervantes, Don Quijote de la Mancha, whose windmills, mistaken by him for giants, form a characteristic element in the landscape. The varied history of Spain is seen in the city of Cordoba, once capital of a Moorish kingdom, and the gardens of the Alcazar of the Christian Kings. The Music: The music chosen for the tour of Spain may be characteristically Spanish in it's rhythms and turns of melody, but is all the work of foreigners, two of the composers, Chabrier and Massenet, French, and two of them, Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian. For France, geographically adjacent to Spain, there was an obvious connection with Spain, which continued to exercise a certain fascination over it's neighbor. Russian composers in the 19th century embarked on the creation of a new national music, but at the same time drew on remoter countries for inspiration, whether on the different regions of the vast Russian Empire or still further afield.