"She leads the score with grand sweep and understanding, and her Colorado forces bring out its colors vividly; moreover, she inspires her cast to sing as if they're having a great time with this no-longer-new but still odd opera."


Nonesuch's 1987 recording of this opera, produced when the work was new, was revelatory. Though clearly a piece of mimimalism, it did not rely only on endless repetition; indeed, Adams' musical language was varied enough to make Nixon in China a fascinating opera despite very little action and a somewhat unrevealing text by Alice Goodman. The Nixons and the events of the 1972 visit came across as oddly shallow. It's clear now that that was the point: Nixon's first-act rant, "News has a kind of mystery", is much the key to the opera.

It also seems wittier and more purposefully ironic now, with Kissinger's villainy almost overshadowed by his ladykilling; Pat Nixon's innocence almost charming (we've seen worse since); Madame Mao's berserk aria even more pointedly wacky and funny; and the contrast between Chou En-lai's philosophizing and Richard Nixon's simplemindedness clearer than ever. During the toasts in the third scene of the first act, Chou's toast, an eloquent paean to the future ("Our children race downhill unflustered into peace..."), is accompanied by even arpeggios; when Nixon's clichés take over ("a vote of thanks to one and all who made this possible"), we're jarred into paying attention to his mundanity by disconnected, disparate tones. It's masterly.

Each scene in the first act still strikes me as a few minutes too long, but Act 2, particularly with the spectacular and varied music for the surreal opera performance, is riveting. The frustrating last act is oblique in its dramatic thrust (it features personal reflections from all of the characters except, tellingly, Kissinger), but it is food for thought even if it is a dramatic anti-climax. It's a strange, quiet way to end an opera--but take it for what it is.

This new recording, taken from a live performance at Denver's Ellie Caulkins Opera House in June, 2008, is brilliant. It is sonically way ahead of the Nonesuch (which was recorded at a very low level), thus making it possible to understand almost every word, and Marin Alsop's tempos are slightly slower than Edo de Waart's, which also helps comprehension. She leads the score with grand sweep and understanding, and her Colorado forces bring out its colors vividly; moreover, she inspires her cast to sing as if they're having a great time with this no-longer-new but still odd opera.

Robert Orth's Nixon has just the right amount of self-parody that "playing" Nixon requires--the distance between 1987 and now is very long and we can sense ironies from our vantage point that we were blind to then. Maria Kanyova's Pat also seems more sympathetic while remaining as publicly simple as she always was, and Kanyova's voice and diction are splendid. Marc Heller handles Mao's high tessitura, sometimes bordering on madness, with great character and flavor. Chen-Ye Yuan's Chou is beautifully sung and he captures both the character's joylessness and intelligence. Thomas Hammons (also on the Nonesuch recording) uses his dark, growling bass to show us everything we need to know about the cynical Kissinger, and Tracy Dahl, as Madame Mao, is pretty frightening, even while delivering her Queen of the Night-like aria.

There's not much to decide between this set and the Nonesuch, which is still available. As mentioned, this new one is sonically superior (and cheaper), but otherwise it's pretty much a tie. Naxos, like Nonesuch, supplies a libretto; Nonesuch's booklet has superb essays and a better synopsis.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com (10/10!)

Carlo Ventre, Lise Lindstrom, Bruno Caproni, Markus Brueck, Abutjun Kotchinian, and Jacquelyn Wagner star in this world premiere Deutsche Oper Berlin production of the Franchetti opera conducted by Renato Palumbo.

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Schubert, F.: Vierjahrige Posten (Der) / Zwillingsbruder (Di

Bellini: La sonnambula (1955)

Less well remembered by the general, non-cognoscenti opera admirer, Ettore Bastianini (1922-67) was nonetheless among the finest, busiest and most beloved Italian bass-baritones of the 1950s. This now legendary 1959 studio performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor finds him in the company of the young, rising star soprano of the opera world at that time, Renata Scotto, and tenor Giuseppe di Stefano. The under-appreciated Nino Sanzogno (1911-83) leads the La Scala, Milan Orchestra and Chorus.

ROMANTIC ARIAS • Nino Machaidze (s); Michele Mariotti, cond; Bologna Th O • SONY 88697841742 (73:00 Text and Translation)


Arias from MASSENET Manon. GOUNOD Roméo et Juliette. BELLINI Adelson e Salvini. La Sonnambula. ROSSINI Il Turco in Italia. DONIZETTI Lucia di Lammermoor. La Fille du régiment. Linda di Chamounix


Although Georgian-born soprano Nino Machaidze has been a member of the prestigious young artists development program at La Scala in Milan and actually made her leading-role debut there in 2007, she didn’t make a real splash in the international opera scene until she filled in for a pregnant Anna Netrebko as Gounod’s Juliette in a summer Salzburg production in 2008. (An obviously pregnant Juliette would really have made a splash!) After her success there, Machaidze has followed up with debuts at several prestigious opera venues, including both coasts in the U.S., appearing in Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia at the Los Angeles Opera and as Gilda in Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera. Machaidze’s lyric coloratura repertoire and her sultry Slavic beauty have led to the inevitable comparisons with superstar Netrebko. Here the young Georgian singer presents a debut album of well-known Romantic arias.


Among the program are two French arias from the Gounod opera of the two ill-fated lovers mentioned above, and the delightful “Adieu, nôtre petite table” as Manon sings goodbye to her furniture in Jules Massenet’s opera named for the heroine. The other six selections on the disc are bel canto and coloratura showpieces, a repertoire with which Machaidze seems the more comfortable. Instead of the usual mad scene from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor , we get the lovely act I entrance scena and aria for Lucia, “Regnava nel silenzio.” A beautiful aria from Vincenzo Bellini’s obscure first opera, Adelson e Salvini , “Dopo l’oscuro nembo,” is probably better known to operagoers as Giuletta’s “Oh, quante volte” after Bellini reused the tune in his I Capuleti e I Montecchi. Two extended scenes, one from Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment and the other the wonderful finale from Bellini’s La Sonnambula, here demonstrate Machaidze’s ability to span a range of emotions and a range of musical styles culminating in spectacular coloratura fireworks.


As to vocal production, Machaidze has all the breathtaking high notes and the vocal agility to sing florid passages with which only the young are blessed for too short a time. She does not possess the tonal beauty and solid security in her top range that Netrebko enchants us with, but both sopranos have the dusky, rich sound in the lower register often found with Slavic singers. Machaidze has been criticized in some live performances for occasional intonation problems, but one hears little of that here. The young coloratura sings very well, her Italian better than her French.


Booklet essays and complete texts are provided in English, German, French, and Italian. Sony takes advantage of the photogenic Machaidze with nine glamour photos. The Bologna Teatro Communale Orchestra is no doubt long familiar with these operatic chestnuts and supports the singer in excellent fashion. Machaidze bears watching and hearing; she is one of the young guns on the opera horizon. You will enjoy her work on this fine CD.


FANFARE: Bill White

This recording is a live recording of Niccolo Jommelli's one-act opera La Critica from the Order Hall of Ludwigsburg Palace on November 20, 2016. The Austrian ensemble Concerto Stella Matutina, conducted by Thomas Platzgummer, presents the rediscovery of this brilliantly triumphant parody of opera seria with a cast of outstanding singers in fine form, including tenor Jan Petryka and soprano Marie-Sophie Pollak. It is a real pleasure to listen to them!

Inspired by his impressive descriptions, ensemble feuervogel follows Coryat on his voyage of discovery through the alleyways, squares, and canals of the Serenissima: from the magnificent St Mark's Basilica to the noble palazzi of the Venetian aristocracy and the elegant courts where music, dance, and courtly art played a central role. The concert programme Observations of Venice brings ornate diminutions and madrigals into dialogue with dance music, ricercars, and canzonas. In this way, ensemble feuervogel receives the music of the Venetian cinquecento, which Coryat wrote was "so beautiful that I would willingly walk a hundred miles at any time to hear the like of it."

This album captures the live premiere of a concert performance of the opera, marking it's first-ever recording. The work is based on the libretto of the 18th-century poet and monk, Pietro Metastasio. Azione sacra is a genre closely related to oratorio, but with a distinct emphasis on drama-this is not a static, contemplative work, but rather a mini-opera in two acts. The composer, Lukaszewski, draws partially from a Polish translation while also returning to the original text. He describes Joasza as a sacra rappresentazione, making it the second such work in his compositional legacy. Musically, Lukaszewski stays true to his own distinctive style, which is rooted in tonality and features a rich, varied texture-from intimate recitatives to powerful, dynamic choral segments. The work's intricate structure allows listeners to follow the plot through memorable musical motifs assigned to different characters and storylines. The choir plays a pivotal role, commenting on the action, while instrumental intermezzos add depth and emotional nuance. The recording features a stellar lineup of soloists, whose voices blend seamlessly with the dramatic intensity of the piece, creating an unforgettable listening experience.

This CD box set allows us to relive that legendary Bayreuth Festival year with recordings of Tannh�user from July 22, Die Walk�re from July 25, Lohengrin from August 4, and Parsifal from August 5, 1954. For the rapidly expanding loyal audience of "New Bayreuth, " which had been establishing itself with remarkable speed since 1951, the year 1954 brought some unexpected surprises. A singer named Theo Adam, previously known only for minor roles, stepped in to replace the towering bass legends Ludwig Weber and Josef Greindl as Fasolt and King Heinrich. Meanwhile, a choir member named Franz Crass was promoted to the role of the Fourth Nobleman in Lohengrin, unaware that just five years later, he would alternate as King Heinrich alongside his already more established young colleague. Equally surprising was Greindl's debut as Gurnemanz in Bayreuth, filling in for Ludwig Weber.

In June 2026, Metier proudly presents composer Michael Ellison's ground-breaking set of Three Transcultural Operas: Mevlana (Say I am you), Deniz Kustu (The Sea Crossed Fisherman), and bozlak opera Binbogalar Efsanesi (Legend of a Thousand Bulls), all performed with the Hezarfen Ensemble, the leading Turkish contemporary music ensemble co-founded by Michael Ellison. Ellison spent ten years working in Istanbul and has imbued these operas with an unprecedented level of integration of Turkish culture, music, and traditional instruments, seamlessly blending them with contemporary music in a unique and personal idiom. Ellison's is a music of singing melody, colour, and contrast, evocative atmosphere, and emotional breadth and has been described as "beautifully crafted, robust, and absorbing" by the American Record Guide. A new, 2026 High Resolution edition of Mevlana (originally released in 2014 on Metier) joins the newly recorded performances of Deniz Kustu and Binbogalar Efsanesi to bring together a first complete triptych of operas. Alongside the audio recordings, Metier will release the complete digital video productions of Deniz Kustu and Binbogalar Efsanesi operas recorded at the Istanbul Music Festival. Mevlana (Say I am You) was the first opera to include Turkish instruments and vocal styles, blended here with Western operatic tradition and based on the poetry of Rumi, the historic mystic. This hypnotic work dramatically traces the story of the transformation of Jelaluddin Rumi (Mevl�na) from ordinary scholar to ecstatic mystic at the hands of wandering dervish Shams-i Tabriz and features the dynamic vocal ensemble VocaalLAB Nederland with the Hezarfen Ensemble. Ellison's second and third operas are compelling tales that resonate with the global challenges of today, both adapted from novels by Yasar Kemal and directed for stage by Simon Jones. Powerful and dramatic, Deniz Kustu (The Sea Crossed Fisherman) tells the tragic tale of village-loner Selim and orphaned street-child Zeynel, integrating traditional Turkish instruments, contemporary elements, and Western opera singers. It's shocking events and environmental repercussions reflect our own current concerns. The opera also celebrates Istanbul, it's seas and marine life, contrasting the real and fantastical seascape of the Bosphorus with the dizzying, teeming metropolis of Istanbul and one small fishing village.�"The Sea-Crossed Fisherman is an arresting picture of Istanbul, from it's glittering dawns to it's seething underbelly, and Kemal's... lyrical prose is a good fit for the American composer Michael Ellison... " -James Imam, Opera Magazine. Powerful and moving, Binbogalar Efsanesi (Legend of a Thousand Bulls) is based on the masterpiece novel by Yasar Kemal about the decline and disappearance of the last nomads in Turkey, as their millennia-old pastoral way of life is destroyed. The culmination of an 8-year European Research Council project, "Beyond East and West,"�Binbogalar Efsanesi is a unique work, sung in Turkish and�integrates the dramatic, virtuoso style of traditional bozlak Anatolian folk music voices with contemporary language. Hale Tetik, of Andante Magazine, wrote: "The love, sorrow, grief, and rebellion, emanating from the voice of�bozlak�singer Fatma Aydogan, were engraved in our hearts." Michael Ellison has been commissioned and performed by major orchestras and festivals across Europe and the US, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Variances, Radio France, Grenoble Festival, New York Youth Symphony, Siemens Foundation, amongst many others. He was principal investigator on the European Research Council project Beyond East and West: Developing and Documenting an Evolving Transcultural Musical Practice (2015-2023) and the PI of the AHRC-Istanbul Development Agency supported project Transtraditional Istanbul. He teaches composition at the University of Bristol, England.

Ture Rangstrom's The Bridal Crown has proven to be one of the most durable Swedish operas, and has been performed in abundance in many different productions across the country. Located in Dalarna in the latter half of the 19th century, it is a kind of Romeo and Juliet story with two young lovers - Mats and Kersti - from families in enmity with each other. The drama itself cries out for music and there is even some melodies created by playwright August Strindberg himself. But then, it was released as an opera by the composer Rangstrom who created, as it would turn out, an eternally young music drama.

Dark Fall is an opera about love and longing in old age. The story centres on Ellen, a married woman who is showing the first signs of Alzheimer's disease. Despite these symptoms, or perhaps because of them, she falls in love with Owen, an old friend who visits Ellen and her husband. Dark Fall questions notions about love and partnership in old age: When are we too ill or too old to be allowed to fall in love again? to start a new life with a new partner and be able to leave someone else? when are we too limited in our autonomy to freely decide our lives? Together with Dark Spring (UA Mannheim 2020), Dark Fall is conceived as the second part of a theatrical Diptych of Desire. The pieces can be performed either separately or together as a double feature.

Recorded in: All Saints' Church, Tooting, London 18 & 19 February 1985 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Philip Couzens [Assistant]

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The Walhall Eternity label is for the first time releasing in it's entirety the legendary 1959 Covent Garden Ring cycle of Richard Wagner conducted by Franz Konwitschny, performances that feature the finest Wagnerian voices of the 1950's, including Wolfgang Windgassen, Hans Hotter, Astrid Varnay, Ramon Vinay, Amy Shuard (student of Eva Turner and Covent Garden regular), Gottlob Frick and more. Franz Konwitschny's gripping interpretations lie comfortably between those of F�rtw�ngler's commanding heights supremacy and Solti's fire and spontaneity. Re-mastered 24bit/96kHz.

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Ivan Repusic, who made his debut as Principal Conductor of the Munchner Rundfunkorchester in the autumn of 2017 with Giuseppe Verdi's "Luisa Miller", now presents a further and lesser-known masterpiece by the famous Italian opera composer. The concert performance of Verdi's early stage work "I due Foscari" was recorded on November 25, 2018 at the Munich Prinzregententheater. Outstanding performers provide an authentic atmosphere and vocal magnificence, and no less a person than the multiple-award-winning Italian baritone Leo Nucci was successfully engaged for the role of the Doge of Venice. This highlight of the Munich music scene from late last year is now available from BR-KLASSIK as a double album. Verdi's early masterpiece "I due Foscari" was the first of the operas he wrote for the Teatro Argentina in Rome. He had already worked on the material (Lord Byron's drama "The Two Foscari"), and, after a first subject had been rejected by the Roman censors, Verdi returned to it and had the libretto written by Francesco Maria Piave. Although the opera's premiere on November 3, 1844 was only moderately successful and Verdi would even distance himself from it later on, the work was still frequently performed up to the 1870s. It was rediscovered during the early 1950s and has since become a fixed part of the international opera repertoire. The concert performance (sung in the Italian original) in Munich's Prinzregententheater received great acclaim from audience and critics alike, again justifying the Munchner Rundfunkorchester's strategy of successfully reviving underrated music-theatrical works by means of standard-setting performances. Ivan Repusic conducts a genuine theatrical Verdi here: vital, robust, fiery and extremely lively.

Fuoco di gioia -at the beginning of Verdi's "Otello", the compatriots of the victorious protagonist cheer his triumphant return to his home port with a vocal "fire of joy". The opera quote is also the title of this new album recently recorded by the Bavarian Radio Chorus, together with the M�nchner Rundfunkorchester under it's chief conductor Ivan Repu�ic. The opera chorus from "Otello" begins this selection of famous choruses and instrumental pieces from stage works of Italian belcanto (Verdi), Italian verismo (Leoncavallo, Puccini, Mascagni), Russian opera (Borodin, Glinka, Tchaikovsky), and the romantic operas of Richard Wagner. These very recent recordings from January, February and July 2019 contain well-known and enjoyable melodies that are perfect for singing along to (secretly or otherwise)!

Live recording from the work’s world premieres on 11 and 12 December 2008.

This is not the first case of a premiere performance of a work by Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) decades after his death. On 11 December 2008 the sold-out Rudolfinum in Prague heard for the first time a work which ranks among Martinu’s most significant and which the composer himself highly esteemed. Martinu originally composed the opera Juliette in Czech. However, so as to ensure appropriate publicity for the work, he wanted – already armed with a French libretto – to place extracts from the most relevant scenes on French radio. Yet Three Fragments from the Opera Juliette (The Key to Dreams) was not broadcast on the radio and had to wait some 70 years for its first performance. This was entrusted to the safe hands of that most competent of conductors Sir Charles Mackerras, who has devoted a great part of his life to discovering Czech music and promoting it on world stages. Thanks to Martinu’s dreamily beautiful music and the remarkable engagement of all the interpreters, the conductor’s December leave-taking of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra was transformed into a joint triumph. After experiencing Magdalena Kožená in the role of Juliette, it is hard to imagine another star singer in her place. The Australian tenor Steve Davislim, who performed in the role of Michel, was a splendid partner to Magdalena Kožená in the lyrical and dramatic position. On this CD, Three Fragments is supplemented by the orchestral suite from the same opera, which sensitively treats the music of all three Acts and corresponds with the “dreamy logic” of the original.

REVIEWS

"I don’t think I’ve ever heard a performance of any part of this score that captures its sheer beauty and fantasy so well." -- International Record Review, June 2009

"Mackerras directs a wonderful performance and while Kožená sings the title-role beautifully she is in excellent company. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra play superbly throughout, not least in the sensible coupling of Zbyn?k Vost?ák’s expert arrangement of three of Julietta’s orchestral episodes. I cannot recommend this scintillating disc highly enough."-- Gramophone, June 2009

"Magdalena Kožená is magnificent as the volatile Julietta and is excellently matched by Steve Davislim’s Michel. Davislim is also terrific in the opera’s almost unbearably poignant finale. Along with three orchestral excerpts, including the opera’s prelude, these fragments provide a fitting tribute to Mackerras’s profound understanding of Martin?’s musical character." -- BBC Music Magazine, June 2009

"The sure hand of Charles Mackerras, a master of exceptionally high calling, succeeds in drawing out all the wealth of the score, letting the music shine with its most beautiful colors as he wields a world-class ensemble, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The bright, at times seemingly transparent mezzosoprano of Magdalena Kožená proves to be ideal for the role of Julietta, a girl losing her memory, a being from another world, sensuous and yet ungraspable. Davislim proves to be an ideal partner for her."-- Das Opernglas, June 2009

"Sir Charles Mackerras can scarcely be equalled for the way he lives this music, for the way it breathes and blooms under his direction. Thanks to the crystal-clear luminosity of the Czech Philharmonic’s finely detailed sound and the extraordinarily sensitive performances of world-class singers Magdalena Kožená and Steve Davislim, Mackerras has succeeded in fully revealing the suggestive quality of the music, carrying listeners away to a world of dreamlike surrealism. In the hands of Mackerras, a Martin? expert, the score becomes a magical tome." -- Fono Forum, July 2009

Largo

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