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Stefano Landi was an influential early opera composer, and La morte d’Orfeo is regarded as a milestone in the development of the genre. The narrative starts where Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo ends, taking us through the remaining adventures of Orpheus in the underworld. Beaten to death and torn apart by the fearsome maenads, Orpheus survives as a wandering soul and is finally reincarnated as a star in the sky. Landi succeeded in turning Greek tragedy into timeless music-drama, the starting point of all opera, and Seen and Heard International declared that it had ‘never before encountered such technical perfection’ in Pierre Audi’s Amsterdam production.

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.

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.

Niccolò Jommelli was an innovative superstar among composers in his day, and is now recognized as a precursor of the new Viennese Classical taste in music. With its intense story of love, life and death, Il Vologeso sets one of the most powerful libretti written for the European opera stage. This critically acclaimed production is considered to be its first staged performance for over two centuries, and the highly successful opera directors Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito have revived a Baroque gem with their exciting, present-day staging.

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Gluck’s influential Orphée et Eurydice tells the story of Orphée’s descent into the Underworld to retrieve his wife Eurydice. His singing has the power to overcome the guardian Furies, but the path of true love is shadowed by sorrow and tragedy. As a true ‘drama of the soul’ with intense psychological and emotive power, Orphée et Eurydice shook enlightenment Europe to its core. Berlioz, in his 1859 version prepared for the Théâtre Lyrique, exploited the score’s full potential through a synthesis of the versions Gluck prepared for Parma, Paris and Vienna. Aurélien Bory’s Paris production was described as ‘just breathtaking’ by OperaJournal.

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

Donizetti’s Don Pasquale represents the high point of the Italian buffa tradition, a sparkling comedy using characters from commedia dell’arte in ways that are entertaining, witty and playful. It was the work selected by the Vienna State Opera for its 1977 tour through Austria. Starring famous singers like the bass Oskar Czerwenka, the great lyric tenor Luigi Alva and, on the cusp of international fame, Edita Gruberova (soon to become the ‘queen of bel canto’) – this filmed performance, in colour and sung in German, showcases an outstanding ensemble at the height of its powers.

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A political prisoner awaits death in his cell. A woman puts herself in mortal danger to seek justice. With its atmosphere of revolution and tale of devotional romance and a dramatic rescue from captivity, Pierre Gaveaux’s Léonore, ou L’Amour conjugal was the direct forerunner to Beethoven’s Fidelio. Having been entirely overshadowed by its famous successor and lain hidden for centuries, this both darkly somber and entertainingly celebratory opéra comique is seen here in an acclaimed modern premiere whose timeless and inspiring story of female heroism and political injustice is as relevant today as ever. The Washington Post wrote of this production: “Opera Lafayette’s smart, efficient production brought the brief opera comique fully to life with vivid playing and singing… events such as this… are a rarity anywhere and a gift...”

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During his years in Italy, Handel absorbed the music of his contemporaries and mastered new stylistic trends. Though the staging of La resurrezione was a memorable event in the Roman musical world, it was the production of Agrippina that marked Handel’s definitive investiture as an operatic composer. It met with enormous success and an unprecedented number of performances followed. Its melodic power is overwhelming and in his creation of credible and vivid characters, the alternation of recitative and arias, and sheer theatrical power, Handel established the template that was to last for the remainder of his operatic career. The production on the present release was filmed in March 2016 at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, Austria, and was directed by Robert Carsen.

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Any production stands or falls by the performance of the lead role of Orphée. Here it is the mezzo Marianne Crebassa, a rising star. She is superb. She immediately impresses by her dignified bearing and natural air of authority. She can also convey grief by being very still. Her voice has a lovely tone, with just enough vibrato to give it warmth but not a trace of a wobble, and she has all the technique you could wish for. Her performance of Amour, viens rendre à mon âme is as dazzling as you could want, but, more importantly, her renderings of Quel nouveau ciel and J’ai perdu mon Eurydice are expressive and moving.

Of the other two soloists, Hélène Guilmette as Eurydice carries off the only real soprano role in the work well, though one cannot help feeling that Gluck was not really interested in her. However, her importunings during the attempted return are finely done. Lea Desandre, the Amour, is a former ballet dancer and combines a striking appearance with an attractive voice. She is allowed to appear in the last scene but not to sing, which is a shame.

Raphaël Pichon conducts his own chorus and orchestra, Ensemble Pygmalion. The chorus is very good. The orchestra of period instruments is vigorous. I heard some sour notes from the wind in the first Act but not subsequently, and emphatically not in the Dance of the Blessed Spirits, where the solo flautist played splendidly and indeed had the spotlight on her for part of the piece. (There was no actual dance.) She deserves a credit. The trombones sounded a bit raucous, but that may be part of the period authenticity.

The staging opens with a most attractive pastoral backdrop taken from Corot. Eurydice, dressed in a white robe, is already onstage, motionless. It is then rather a shock when Orphée and the chorus come on in modern dress. I do wish directors would get over the idea that modern dress is bold and provocative, or timeless and exciting, or whatever they think it is. It has become one of the dreariest clichés in both operas and plays, particularly those with a mythical or legendary setting. However, much of the rest is admirable, with an imaginative use of reflections. In Amour’s first appearance, she is within a large wheel, which is rocked from side to side, then once rotated completely. The underworld is represented as a bare dark stage with a central pool of light in which the chorus lie on the floor. The Furies are a proper team of three dancers, with strange and sinister movements. The attempted return is presented very simply, and is all the more powerful for it.

No complaints about the recording or picture quality. I have noted that applause is included. The booklet has some good articles, a synopsis and an interview with the director and the producer. The DVD offers subtitles in five languages. The English one is adequate but minimal, with the occasional mistake (écumant is foaming at the mouth or slavering, not slathering, which is spreading thickly).

I can confidently say that anyone who chooses this version will find much to enjoy.

– MusicWeb International

The Places
The visit to the Czech Republic starts with Hluboká Castle, a massive building that for over three hundred years belonged to the Schwarzenberg family. The present building is modelled in part on England's Windsor Castle. Other sites visited include Konopiště Castle, the picturesque town of Telč, and Vranov Castle.

The Music
Music for the visit is by Mozart and consists of his four Horn Concertos, written during the last decade of his life, when he was in Vienna. They were intended for his old Salzburg friend Ignaz Leutgeb, who had also settled in Vienna, prudently married there, and, in tandem with his musical activities, had become the owner of a small cheese-shop. The concertos, one of them unfinished at the time of Mozart's death, represent his work at its height.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 53 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

MUSICAL JOURNEY: CZECH REPUBLIC
A Musical Visit to Prague and Lednice castle

The Places
The churches and palaces of Prague are seen, with the great River Vltava (the Moldau), which flows through the city, the outline of city buildings reflected in its waters. The Strahov Monastery and the Villa Bertramka are practical examples of Mozart’s contact with Prague. On a visit to the monastery he improvised on the organ, and at the Villa Bertramka he and his wife Constanze were guests of the Czech composer Dušek. There is also a visit to Southern Moravia and Lednice, with its Neo-Gothic castle, its folly, a slender minaret, in its English gardens, with its trees and artificial lakes.

The Music
Mozart had happy memories of Prague. When, during the last ten years of his life, circumstances in Vienna proved increasingly difficult, he was always welcome in the Bohemian capital. It was for Prague that he wrote his opera Don Giovanni in 1787 and for Prague that he wrote one of his last operas, La clemenza di Tito, commissioned for the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia, and for his unappreciative wife, who described the work as 'porchería tedesca', German porkery. Prague continues to honour Mozart in various festivals, concerts and memorabilia.

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

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Francesco Cavalli, a natural successor to Monteverdi, was the most famous and influential Italian opera composer during the mid-17th century. Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister to the king, commissioned Cavalli to create a Parisian spectacle to celebrate the wedding of the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV and the Infanta of Spain. Ercole amante (‘Hercules in Love’) was the flattering subject chosen for this regal extravaganza combining larger-than-life characters with mythology, and genuine human emotions with natural and cosmic phenomena. The result is a sumptuous Baroque spectacle, conceived on a vast scale in this lavish production by directors Valerie Lesort and Christian Hecq.

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This concert film made in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles in 1976 captures a memorable performance conducted by the doyen of American composers, Aaron Copland (1900–1990). It includes some of his greatest and most attractive music, from the patriotic flourish of Fanfare for the Common Man and the spirited orchestral fantasy El Salón México, to the colloquial warmth of his suite from the opera The Tender Land. Of particular importance is the collaboration with the great Benny Goodman in the masterwork he commissioned and premiered, the Clarinet Concerto.

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REVIEW:

Aaron Copland had an easy presence on the rostrum, totally free of histrionics, while getting a ready response from the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I guess the timpanist would have liked a retake of the opening Fanfare for the Common Man where he had intonation problems, but elsewhere the orchestra are immaculate, Copland’s face displaying his total pleasure in each of the performances. The recorded sound is very good for that period, with a reasonably good internal balance, while visually it has sharp-edged colors.

– David’s Review Corner (David Denton

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.