Gaetano Donizetti
LUCREZIA BORGIA

Lucrezia Borgia – Dimitra Theodossiou
Gennaro – Roberto de Biasio
Don Alfonso – Enrico Giuseppe Iori
Maffio Orsini – Nidia Palacios
Rustighello – Luigi Albani
Gubetta – Giuseppe di Paola
Astolfo – Mauro Corna

Bergamo Musica Festival Choir and Orchestra
Tiziano Severini, conductor
Francesco Bellotto, stage director

Filmed at the Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo, Italy, during performances in the Bergamo Musica Festival Gaetano Donizetti, 30 November and 2 December 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: 138 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

Included are works by Handel, Delibes, Shakespeare, Purcell, Mozart, Herold, Puccini, Cavalli, Henze, Humperdinck, and Tchaikovsky, performed by Carlos Acosta, Darcey Bussell, Sarah Connolly, Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Adetomiwa Edun, Gerald Finley.

Recorded at Teatro Comunale, Ferrara, January 2008

Motezuma is Vivaldi’s only opera set in the New World. The manuscripts for this rarely performed and rarely heard opera were only rediscovered in 2002 and currently only one CD version exists recorded by Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco.

Of the CD recording, BBC Music Magazine wrote: “The instrumentalists of Il Complesso Barocco are on excellent form as indeed is Vivaldi himself in a rewarding score”.

Alan Curtis, one of the leading experts of Baroque music, returns again with the same orchestra, renowned Baroque specialist Vito Priante and another expert cast for the World Premiere Recording on DVD.

Region Code: 0 (All)
Sound format: 16:9
Picture format: LPCM 2.0
Running Time: 153 min. + extras
Booklet notes: Ita / Eng / Fre / Ger
Subtitles: Fre, Eng, Ger, Spa, Ita

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Perhaps no opera is closely and affectionately associated with a single house as Le nozze di Figaro is with Glyndebourne. Effortlessly witty yet shot through with pain and sadness, this deeply ambivalent life in the day of masters and servants as they scheme and outwit one another was Glyndebourne’s opening production in 1934. Michael Grandage’s staging is the seventh, set in a louche Sixties ambience. Marshalled by the ‘ideal pacing’ of Robin Ticciati, a youthful cast of principals has ‘no weak link’ and ‘looks gorgeous’ (The Sunday Times) in a production that continues Glyndebourne’s rewarding history of engagement with Mozart’s and da Ponte’s ‘day of madness’.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO

(Blu-ray Disc Version)
Countess Almaviva – Sally Matthews
Figaro – Vito Priante
Count Almaviva – Audun Iversen
Susanna – Lydia Teuscher
Cherubino – Isabel Leonard
Bartolo – Andrew Shore
Marcellina – Ann Murray
Don Basilio – Alan Oke
Antonio – Nicholas Folwell
Don Curzio – Colin Judson
Barbarina – Sarah Shafer
First Bridesmaid – Ellie Laugharne
Second Bridesmaid – Katie Bray

Glyndebourne Chorus
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Robin Ticciati, conductor

Michael Grandage, stage director

Recorded live at Glyndebourne Festival, June 2012

Bonus:
- The Greatest Opera Ever Written
- From page to stage

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean
Running time: 180 mins
No. of Discs: 1


REVIEWS

Despite some qualification, Glyndebourne’s new Figaro (summer 2012) is a delight. The curtain opens during the overture on the outside of a Spanish mansion—just what we might expect from an opera set on the outskirts of Seville—with shiny tiles, Moorish arches, and handsome latticework, and townsfolk bustling back and forth. It’s startling to see a circa late-1960s red sports car pull up and have the Almavivas get out: they’re coming home from somewhere or settling into their summer getaway. The Count is the very picture of not-such-great-taste, sporting a page-boy haircut and costumed in a velvet suit with bell-bottomed pants and a wide-lapelled, multi-colored shirt. He obviously is quite a swinging dude, and director Michael Grandage and his wonderful designer Christopher Oram have placed the opera in the decade of the flower children. Will this work?

We meet Figaro and Susanna, dressed more moderately (she would appear to be pregnant in a black outfit with white collar, but it’s never mentioned) and nicely familiar. She is spunky and he seems like a nice guy, and he certainly doesn’t like the fact that his boss wants to sleep with his fiancée, although she seems able to take care of herself. And why should Figaro like it? This is the 1960s or ’70s, and despite the fact that Franco is still in power, the Count’s request is not a feudal right; it’s nothing but bullying. And so Beaumarchais’ and da Ponte’s satire on class war no longer exists, and that tends to be the crux of the opera in its original setting.

Instead, we get the never-ending battle of the sexes, a look at an unhappy marriage, and a rather nasty, wealthy guy with a sense of entitlement along with a pretty good comedy peopled by what seem like real people. During “Non piu andrai”, which Figaro sings while the Count is present, the two men hang out like chums, Figaro leaning with an arm on the Count’s shoulder. Susanna never curtsies and she seems genuinely concerned with cheering up the Countess. If you’re willing to forego the pre-Revolutionary subtext, you’ll have a fine time, especially watching the cast do the twist at the wedding and during the finale. The absolutely natural stage action eschews slapstick and vulgarity and the singers seem more than happy to adapt. Vito Priante’s Figaro, shorn of class anger, is a bit mild, but his stage presence and singing are extraordinary. Rhythmically precise throughout, he eats up “Aprite un po’…” in the last act and is superb in ensembles. Lydia Teuscher’s Susanna is a rich-voiced, non-soubrette, observant Countess-in-the-making; and of course, within this context she might some day have the same social standing. Sally Matthews, if she had a trill for the end of “Dov’e sono”, would be a perfect Countess: her predicament is very clear, and you sense that she wishes she were more lighthearted, more able to adjust to the swinging attitudes going on around her. The voice itself is a gorgeous, full lyric. Audun Iversen’s Count is a sloppy, privileged tyrant, all the more frustrated because no one will pay any attention to his nastiness. His singing is the least neat of all, but he’s a powerful presence. Isabel Leonard’s Cherubino is perfect—boyish and sassy and nimble.

Class acts Ann Murray and Andrew Shore, both a bit vocally worn, are nonetheless a terrific Marzellina and Bartolo, and Alan Oke’s Basilio is snidely right-on. (Neither he nor Marzellina get their last-act arias.) Sarah Shafer is a fine Barbarina, looking to be about 14 years old. And as mentioned, Oram’s luxurious sets add to the special feel of the production. I’m somewhat stumped by Robin Ticciati’s conducting of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. The instruments are period but the approach is mid-20th century—not slow or heavy, really, but somehow lacking the zip we expect these days. The finale of Act 2 is wonderfully clear but lacks the “accidental” mania it should have. There are plenty of laughs from the Glyndebourne audience, but the whole affair is not the insane day Mozart envisioned. The preferred DVD versions are Pappano’s from Covent Garden (Opus Arte) and Jacobs’ (on BelAir); nonetheless, this new one is fresh and charming and a good bet.

-- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

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MOZART Le nozze di Figaro & • Robin Ticciati, cond; Vito Priante (Figaro); Lydia Teuscher (Susanna); Audun Iversen (Almaviva); Sally Matthews (Countess); Isabel Leonard (Cherubino); Ann Murray (Marcellina); Andrew Shore (Bartolo); Sarah Shafer (Barbarina); Alan Oke (Don Basilio); O of the Age of Enlightenment; Glyndebourne Ch • OPUS ARTE 7118 (Blu-ray: 154:00+14:00) Live: Glyndebourne 2012

& Le Nozze di Figaro: The Greatest Opera Ever Written? Le Nozze di Figaro: From Page to Stage

What do we have here? A Marriage of Figaro where the noble couple arrive home in a snazzy Austin-Healey convertible; where the Susanna sports a 1950s-style maternity top and an obvious baby bump in her wedding dress; where the Count wears a velour-trousered leisure suit with bell bottoms, and shares a hand-rolled joint with his maid while trying to grope her; where the peasants at the festivities (along with the Count) dance the Twist and the Frug; where several of the characters look like they were outfitted on London’s Carnaby Street in the 1960s. We get all of that, along with some lavish Moorish-style sets and a historically informed pit band, in this 2012 Blu-ray video from the Glyndebourne Festival. Helped along by some excellent singing, it all proves quite satisfactory and highly entertaining.

I’m not sure a pregnant Susanna makes much more sense than a pregnant Juliet; after all, the Count is supposed to be trying to amorously seduce her, and is asked to attest to her virginal status prior to the wedding. But when a pregnant lead soprano turns up for work, I suppose the show must go on. The soprano in question, young German lyric Lydia Teuscher, does, in truth, look quite attractive and well worth seducing even in maternity garb, and the fine singing she brings to Susanna more than compensates for the slight loss in verity to Da Ponte’s libretto. In fact, all of the singing is quite excellent, down to the luxury casting of noted mezzo-soprano Ann Murray in the role of Marcellina. (Unfortunately, her act IV aria, along with Don Basilio’s, is cut.) Young Italian bass-baritone Vito Priante brings a rich and accurate instrument to Mozart’s title character, and his rather hyperkinetic acting has been toned down a bit by director Michael Grandage to more properly fit the production concept (and the close-up cameras). Aside from Murray, the best-known singer in the cast is probably British soprano Sally Matthews, who here is a quite lovely and enjoyable Countess and provides finely sung versions of “Porgi amor” and “Dove sono.” She also combines beautifully with Teuscher to sing a consummate “Sull’ aria,” one of my favorite duets in all opera. The Count with his 60s-style Mod haircut, mustache, and hippie style clothes, comes off as a bit ridiculous, robbing the character of any real menace, but baritone Audun Iversen also has a fine, rich voice, and brings a rather comedic swagger to the part. He also brings much avid physical contact to his enthusiastic pursuit of Susanna. (One might wonder why in the Act IV Garden Scene he fails to notice the lady he is embracing is minus the belly). Isabel Leonard continues her rapid climb to the top ranks with this lively and endearing portrayal of boy Cherubino; some say she steals the show here. Oh, and she can really sing, a joy to listen to. As usual for Glyndebourne, the smaller roles are finely cast as well. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment provides a properly light touch in Mozart’s score, just as this wonderful little light comedy demands.

There are over 20 versions of this opera out on video, several fine ones among them. In Blu-ray format the field is much smaller. Perhaps the Covent Garden production from 2006 with Erwin Schrott in the title role is the equal to this one, I haven’t seen it, but it has gotten good reviews. As with nearly all Glyndebourne productions I have seen, they provide full value here with elegant sets, fine singers, and a well-rehearsed cast in a charming staging. Le Nozze is a bit of a special opera for the Festival, as it inaugurated the series back in 1934 with a cast including the owner’s wife, Audrey Mildmay. The Glyndebourne forces have done the opera full justice in this new production, and this entertaining Blu-ray set deserves to be highly recommended.

FANFARE: Bill White

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

When the King of Navarre and his three courtiers forswear all pleasure – particularly of the female variety – in favour of a life of study, the arrival of the Princess of France and her ladies plays havoc with their intentions. Using every kind of verbal gymnastics to poke fun, Shakespeare’s most intellectual comedy is brought to hilarious life in Dominic Dromgoole’s highly entertaining production, rich in visual humour and sexual innuendo. Jonathan Fensom’s knot garden and original music by Claire van Kampen create the framework for an engaging performance by an excellent cast. Filmed live in High Definition and true surround sound.

King of Navarre: Philip Cumbus
Berowne: Trystan Gravelle
Longaville: William Mannering
Dumaine: Jack Farthing
Princess of France: Michelle Terry
Rosaline: Thomasin Rand
Maria: Jade Anouka
Katharine: Siân Robins-Grace
Boyet: Tom Stuart
Don Armado: Paul Ready
Moth: Seroca Davis
Holofernes: Christopher Godwin
Sir Nathanial: Patrick Godfrey
Dull: Andrew Vincent
Costard: Fergal McElherron
Jaquenetta: Rhiannon Oliver
Mercadé: James Lailey

Directed by Dominic Dromgoole
Designed by Jonathan Fensom
Composed by Claire van Kampen

Recorded live at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London, in October 2009.

Extra features:
Cast gallery
Famous Speeches

Format: blu-ray
Duration: 167 mins
Catalog Number: OA BD7071 D
Regions: All regions
Picture Format: 1080i High Definition / 16:9
Sound Type: 2.0 LPCM & 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: EN (in Shakespearean English)

"Dominic Dromgoole’s zestful production succeeds in captivating the audience to a degree that I would not have thought possible… It’s a treat." -- The Independent

"With a delightful design and jaunty music it has abundant charm… Entirely enchanting." -- The Times

Described by Tchaikovsky as 'lyric scenes', Eugene Onegin receives a spectacular reinterpretation from the Norwegian director Stefan Herheim. His productions create controversy and excitement around Europe, and here he takes Pushkin's story of illusion, disaffection and frustrated love, and places the protagonists - world-weary Onegin and naive, passionate Tatyana - in a triple temporal perspective, referencing the theatrical present, the period of the work's composition, and the pageant of Russia's history. Mariss Janson's, renowned for his mastery of Tchaikovsky's symphonies, conducts this performance from Amsterdam's Muziektheater.

Stage Director José Montalvo

REGIONS: All Regions
PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
APPROX RUN TIME: 204 Mins
SOUND: DTS SURROUND / LPCM STEREO
SUBTITLES: English/French/German/Spanish/Italian
NO OF DISCS: 2

Inspired by a fable by La Fontaine, Rameau produced perhaps his most brilliant music for his penultimate great work, blending reality and the surreal on several levels.

This passionate new production by José Montalvo, stunningly choreographed by Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu, sets new standards in entertainment, charm and ingenuity. The sharp and spectacular multimedia staging does full justice to Rameau’s dazzling burlesque, confirming Olivier Rouvière’s statement that ‘Les Paladins is the last laugh of a witty 77-year old composer’. Recorded live in 2004 at the Paris Théâtre du Châtelet in true surround sound, both the virtuoso cast and Les Arts Florissants are in top form, clearly enjoying themselves in the masterful hands of William Christie.

Special Features:
* ‘Baroque that rocks!’ – A documentary film by Reiner E. Moritz featuring interviews with William Christie, Dominique Hervieu, Topi Lehtipuu, Stéphanie d’Oustrac and other members of the cast
* Illustrated Synopsis & Cast Gallery

REVIEWS:

"I doubt anything more witty, more spectacular, more ravishingly sexy will be seen on the opera stage this year." - Evening Standard

"This feast of captivating visual images, stunningly sensual choreography and glorious music is so rich that one can do no more than give a flavour." - Evening Standard

"A delirious confection of music, movement and technology... Les Paladins blends high-tech wizardry with breathtaking precision." - The Independent on Sunday

"A multimedia spectacular, dazzlingly well executed ...a real treat." - The Guardian

"...like eating a box of chocolates someone has laced with hallucinogens. It’s a fantastic, elegant, high energy production." - The Daily Telegraph

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
PIQUE DAME
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Hermann – Misha Didyk
Liza – Emily Magee
Count Tomsky – Lado Ataneli
Prince Yeletsky – Ludovic Tézier
Polina – Elena Zaremba
Countess – Ewa Podles
Chaplitsky – Mikhaïl Vekua
Chekalinsky – Francisco Vas
Masha – Claudia Schneider

Escolania de Montserrat
Intermezzo Choir
Liceu Grand Theatre Chorus and Orchestra
Michael Boder, conductor

Gilbert Deflo, stage director

Recorded live from the Gran Teatre del Liceu, 2010.

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM Stereo 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Catalan
Running time: 183 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)

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TCHAIKOVSKY Pique Dame • Michael Boder, cond; Emily Magee ( Lisa ); Elena Zaremba ( Pauline/Milovzor ); Ewa Podle? ( Countess ); Misha Didyk ( Hermann ); Ludovic Tézier ( Yeletsky ); Lado Ataneli ( Tomsky ); Liceu Th Ch & O • OPUS ARTE OA BD 7085D (Blu-ray: 180:00) Live: Barcelona 06/30–07/01/2010


Generally speaking, the failure rate for opera performances on DVD is far higher than for CDs; they tend to preserve inept to ludicrous stagings saddled with mediocre to intolerable voices. Consequently, it is always a special treat to review an opera DVD that squarely hits the mark with a first-rate production and singing. Last issue I had the pleasure of doing that with the marvelous Glyndebourne realization of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd , and now have the privilege of following it with this excellent version of Pique Dame , a first-rate performance of Tchaikovsky’s late operatic masterwork that not only assumes pride of place among versions available on DVD but holds its own with the best versions on CD as well. It presents a thoroughly traditional staging, more lavish than the 1983 Bolshoi version under Yuri Simonov on Kultur, more focused than the 1992 Kirov production led by Valery Gergiev on Philips (given a mixed review by James Camner in Fanfare 26:3), and free from the occasional miscalculations of the 1992 Glyndebourne version conducted by Andrew Davis on Arthaus, or the perverse 2005 Paris production led by Gennady Rozhdestvensky on TDK and Arthaus (properly damned by Henry Fogel in 31:4). Costumes and sets are elegant, stylish, and free from eccentricity (for example, references to madness and death are effectively but unobtrusively made at key moments by the simple use of a black curtain); stage movements, especially the choral scenes, are well managed.


The singing, while not peerless, is extremely solid. The ancient Greek mathematician Eratosthenes was affectionately nicknamed “beta” by his peers for being an excellent second-best in many things but not the best in any one thing. A similar observation applies to the casting here; while in almost any given role one can find a superior singer elsewhere, no other production on DVD except the Kirov possesses a comparably uniform degree of high quality throughout, and the minor caveats that I note are inconsequential in comparison to the impressive whole. The top honors go to tenor Misha Didyk as the tormented Hermann; if his voice is not as weighty in its lower register or as tormented as that of Vladimir Galouzine for Rozhdestvensky, it has a steadier (if occasionally stressed) top, plus more body and variety in tone than Gegam Grigorian for Gergiev and more cultivated vocal technique than Vladimir Atlantov in his various performances, while he sings as expressively as any of them. An added advantage is that he looks the part perfectly, with a virile, well-built physique, ruggedly handsome features, and fine head of blond hair.


As Lisa, Emily Magee does not have the Slavic timbre and edge of Maria Guleghina under Gergiev (some may consider that an asset), the occasional top note is a tad strained, and she does not blend ideally with Didyk in their duets. However, her Russian is quite good, her voice is attractive and steady, and she sings and acts with conviction. As Tomsky, Lado Atanelli has a slight spread in his upper register, but not to a degree that is distracting, and he plays his role convincingly. (He also doubles as Zlatogor/Plutus in the ballet sequence, where he is vocally miscast.) Ludovic Tézier has made a specialty role of Yeletsky; his singing here is suitably warm and gentlemanly, and superior to his effort in the 2005 Paris production, though a slight degree of strain at the very top makes one yearn in his lovely act II aria “Ya vas lyublyu” for the gloriously effortless magic of Pavel Lisitsian (though of course such a voice comes along only once or twice a century). Thankfully, for once the role of the Countess is satisfactorily cast with the famed Polish contralto Ewa Podle? instead of an aged mezzo whose voice went to seed a decade or two before. The Surin (Alberto Feria), Chekalinsky (Francisco Vas), and Prilepa/Daphnis (Michelle Marie Cook) are all quite good; the only failings are in the minor supporting roles of Pauline and Milovzar/Chloë, where Elena Zaremba has a jackhammer Slavic wobble, and Lisa’s maid Masha wields a squally soprano in her few lines. The chorus is excellent; the orchestra starts out sounding a bit thin but soon warms to its task. Conductor Michael Boder guides the forces with a sure hand, ably shaping the lyrical passages with flowing warmth and the dramatic ones with tension and power.


Subtitles are provided in an impressive array of languages: English, French, German, Spanish, and Catalan; however, they are rather small and sometimes difficult to read, especially when the background is light. The recorded sound is entirely satisfactory; the only extra feature is a cast gallery. While not absolutely flawless, this performance is enthusiastically recommended, and is an outside candidate for the 2012 Want List.


Of competing versions on DVD, the 1992 Gergiev and 1983 Simonov performances are worthwhile if visually somewhat inferior alternatives. Both the Davis and Rozhdestvensky versions, particularly the former, suffer from lethargic conducting as well as problematic stagings, and the Davis is also marred by the horribly miscalculated decision of Yuri Marusin to portray the madness of Hermann by singing most of his role deliberately out of tune. Completely out of the running is the 1992 Vienna production on Sony, led by Seiji Ozawa, afflicted by severe cuts and a cast of vocally over-the-hill former stars. I have not seen the 1960 film version issued by Kultur, with actors lip-synching the vocal roles of a Bolshoi Opera cast of soloists led by Yevgeny Svetlanov. I have an off-the-air recording of Elijah Moshinsky’s 1999 Metropolitan Opera production with Plácido Domingo; if not as visually opulent as this production it is musically superb, and one hopes that the Met will soon release it commercially. On CD, out of several adequate to strong contenders I would recommend three: the 1999 recording on the Relief label with Vitaly Tarashschenko, Natalia Datsko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Grigory Gritsuk, Alexander Verdernikov, and Irina Arkhipova under Vladimir Fedoseyev; the 1992 Kirov/Gergiev performance in its CD incarnation with Grigorian, Guleghina, Arkhipova, Nikolai Putiin, Vladimir Chernov, and Olga Borodina; and the historic 1949–50 Bolshoi production with Georg Nelepp, Evgeniya Smolenskaya, Pavel Lisitsian, and Alexei Ivanov under Alexander Melik-Pasheyev, an excellent version worth acquiring for Lisitsian alone.


FANFARE: James A. Altena

An attractive looking production, very traditional but lively and detailed in cloak swirling commedia dell’arte style, in Mozart-era costume and massive neo-Classical sets.
Out of the old school, is Muti’s conducting, …reasonably brisk and dramatically effective. As such, though it’s not my favourite reading, I very much enjoyed it.

We’re lucky to have Sir Thomas Allen’s Don, though a decade after his Glyndebourne triumph in the role. His acting is more youthful and psychotically magnetic than in James Conlon’s Cologne recording. ‘La ci darem la mano’…an unsettling mix of seduction and stalking. Francisco Araiza is an ardently Italianate Ortavio. Ann Murray is…Donna Elvira, imperious and touching. Suzanne Mentzer’s sparkling but vulnerable Zerlina, convincing in her rapport with Natale de Carolis’s light-voiced…Mavetto. The chorus work a lot harder than they sometimes do at La Scala, to good effect. All told, this staging is much richer than Michael Hampe’s worthy but rather drab incarnations for Karajan and Conlon. At mid-price this is very appealing.’

- Gramophone

Daniela Dessi and Delores Ziegler lead the cast in Mozart's brilliant and witty opera, as the two women whose faithfulness in the face of romantic love is ruthlessly tested in Da Ponte's comic tale. Mozart lavishes some of the finest music ever written on the unfolding story of the two sisters' chaotic and fickle love affairs with their two Italian army officers.

Fiordiligi: Daniela Dessi | Dorabella: Delores Ziegler | Guglielmo: Alessandro Corbelli | Ferrando: Jozef Kundlak | Despina: Adelina Scarabelli | Don Alfonso| Claudio Desderi

Orchestra & Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, Conductor Riccardo Muti

Part six of this mid-price collection, this DVD includes a 32 page booklet with full libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

ALL REGIONS
SUBTITLES: ENGLISH
Running time 186 mins
Picture format 4:3
Sound format Dolby Stereo

Agneta Eichenholz, Michael Volle, Klaus Florian Vogt, and Jennifer Larmore star in this Royal Opera production of the Berg opera conducted by Antonio Pappano and directed by Christof Loy.

Richard Wagner 
DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN
(Highlights)

Wotan / Der Wanderer – Juha Uusitalo
Loge – John Daszak
Alberich – Franz-Josef Kapellmann
Fasolt / Hunding – Matti Salminen
Fafner – Stephen Milling
Fricka – Anna Larsson
Erda / Schwertleite – Christa Mayer
Siegmund – Peter Seiffert
Sieglinde – Petra-Maria Schnitzer
Brünnhilde – Jennifer Wilson
Siegfried – Lance Ryan
Mime – Gerhard Siegel
Waltraute / Erda – Catherine Wyn-Rogers

Valencia Regional Government Choir (Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana) Valencian Community Orchestra (Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana) Zubin Mehta, conductor

La Fura del Baus, staging
Carlus Padrissa, stage director

Recorded live from the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofia", Valencia, Spain, 2007-2009.

Special budget-priced DVD
100 minutes of the most stunning visual and musical highlights of this production by La Fura dels Baus, including two new documentaries about Franc Aleu and Carlus Padrissa.

Bonus:
- Portraits of Carlus Pardissa and Franc Aleu

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: DTS 5.1 (highlights) / PCM Stereo (bonus)
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: German, French, English, Spanish (highlights) / English (bonus)
Running time: 100 mins (highlights) + 30 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1

R E V I E W:

It might seem I am about to trash this issue but I am actually very impressed by the Valencia Ring so do please read on.

The DVD menu and title sequence is accompanied by music, which is to be deplored. Please can we have silence in these places on concert and opera videos. No one wants to hear the same truncated chunks over and over again whilst trying to work through the labyrinth to get DTS5.1 instead of stereo and subtitles in the right language. The sound is only in PCM stereo anyway on this section just to add to the confusion. The transitions between sections are handled by simple fade-outs; disruptive if you know the music well but what else can one do in The Ring? The length of pauses is variable from almost nothing to several seconds. Though the extracts are in dramatic order there is no indication of where you are in the operas nor is there any hint that one has changed opera, just randomly timed fades in and out. The worst example is the end of Act 1 of The Valkyrie which stops barely a couple of seconds before a chunk of Act 2. I suspect the tea-boy was in charge of post production. I am relieved to say all is well apart from these technical blots and since the music and production are so entertaining, and the sound and picture is so good, one can forgive Unitel these flaws. Do keep the booklet to hand whilst viewing and don't even bother with this DVD if you don't have another complete recording in your collection because you will get hopelessly lost without a plot summary.

Most opera productions are characterised by their appearance rather than by the performance. It is almost impossible to ignore what you are seeing and it often clashes with what you are hearing. To my knowledge only Bruckner managed to get through The Ring without noticing that there were costumes and scenery involved! The Valencia production is no different. It is dominated by huge video projections throughout and the DVD production often takes advantage of these to add its own layers of image for dramatic effect. Stage lighting is extremely dramatic which enhances the startling images still more. If you like to see people standing and singing against a plain background à la Bayreuth 1960s then you will hate it because this one really grasps the technical challenge and goes with it. The singing is of uniformly high quality and the conducting of Zubin Mehta is fine so long as you do not expect Solti's fierce drive. The orchestra are excellent and even get a scene for themselves in the prelude to Act 3 of Siegfried. Since you will only buy this to check if it is to be love or hate so far as you are concerned before either ignoring it forever, or ordering the entire cycle on Blu-ray, these are some of the delights in store.

Loge has a great little motor scooter with which to run rings around the rest of the cast literally as well as figuratively. The costumes are complicated and often look very heavy which makes the little cranes used on and off through the cycle to carry characters around the stage very understandable. Act 1 of The Valkyrie has a wonderfully effective and very subtle tree which bears careful study. This creation looms over a decidedly stone-age looking Sieglinde and a very tough Siegmund. These two Walsungs look highly dangerous to me and must have posed a serious problem for Hunding. Since we don't see him at all in these extracts we have no idea how he handles them. The Ride of the Valkyries looks fantastic and is well performed against huge and effective video backdrops. Lots of work for the cranes here! The ring of fire which Wotan places around Brunnhilde is a proper inferno as is the fire for Siegfried's forge which looks positively dangerous. Siegfried by the way can sing well but is a patchy actor as seen here. The forge is animated by many stage hands so that Notung appears to be a product of a busy factory rather than one superman. So much for Siegfried facing down Wotan's plans single-handed but since the helpers look like the Nibelung slaves in The Rhinegold it can be seen as logical. I wasn't so taken by Fafner who looks more like an articulated ventilation duct than anything supernatural but some productions even leave him out, such are the challenges of staging this part. Bayreuth once had the entire stage start to writhe, an effect of such impact that all others pall. The prelude to Act 3 of Siegfried has a massive back-projection of snow-covered mountains and eventually of the whole Earth from which Erda emerges in a moment of highly consequent majesty. Siegfried travels down the Rhine on a river of plastic drinks bottles which is utterly bizarre but does actually work - just believe me! The closing scene also manages to be consequent and we see Brunnhilde, on a crane, returning the Ring to the Rhine maidens before disappearing into the conflagration. The producers use lots of gymnasts in this and other scenes to great dramatic effect and the end here is close to awe-inspiring.

The 100 minutes of opera on the DVD is joined by 30 minutes of supporting documentary material. After some preliminary tele-visual nonsense one film describes the way the directorial team worked up their ideas to fulfil Wagner's intentions and sometimes his explicit instructions - now there's a novel idea - to do what the composer says. Others take note! The other film is about the important lighting design. Both are worth one's time.

A superb marketing tool for the entire cycle available on DVD and on Blu-ray. This performance and production is a great success overall and this DVD needs watching just once before you go out and buy the whole thing.

-- Dave Billinge, MusicWeb International

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is playable only on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Giuseppe Verdi
IL TROVATORE
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Il conte di Luna – Claudio Sgura
Leonora – Teresa Romano
Azucena – Mzia Nioradze
Manrico – Marcelo Álvarez
Ferrando – Deyan Vatchkov
Ines – Cristina Giannelli
Ruiz – Roberto Jachini Virgili
Un vecchio zingaro – Enrico Rinaldo
Un messo – Seung Hwa Paek

Parma Teatro Regio Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Martino Faggiani)
Yuri Temirkanov, conductor

Lorenzo Mariani, stage director
William Orlandi, set and costume designer
Christian Pinaud, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Teatro Regio di Parma, 5 and 9 October 2010

Bonus:
- Introduction to Il Trovatore

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 140 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)

Giuseppe Verdi
AIDA

Il Re – Kevin Short
Amneris – Iano Tamar
Aida – Tatiana Serjan
Radamès – Rubens Pelizzari
Ramfis – Tigran Martirossian
Amonasro – Iain Paterson
Un messaggero – Ronald Samm
Una sacerdotessa – Elisabetta Martorana

Camerata Silesia
Polish Radio Choir, Krakow
Bregenz Festival Chorus
Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Carlo Rizzi, conductor

Graham Vick, stage director
Paul Brown, stage and costume designer
Ron Howell, choreography
Wolfgang Göbbel, lighting designer

Recorded live from the Bregenz Festival, 22 and 24 July 2009.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 135 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

R E V I E W:

At Bregenz one can expect spectacular productions – or at least conspicuous ones. I am talking about Opera on Lake Bodensee which takes place in July and August each year. It’s part of the Bregenz festival which provides a lavish offer of opera, theatre and concerts. The outdoor stage surrounded by water invites gigantic sets and the long distance to the grandstand on the shore requires amplifying equipment. I have seen some productions on DVD and also some stills. They are generally provocative, putting the characters in settings as far away from the original as can be imagined. Il trovatore a few years ago took place in an industrial landscape, possibly on an oil platform. This Aida goes even further. The water here isn’t ocean deep but allows the actors to wade, to swim, to fall in or splash, even to be drowned. During the prelude two lifeless bodies hanging on a wire attached to an enormous building crane, are slowly transported before the eyes of horrified onlookers until they are lowered down into a barge off the stage. In Trovatore fire was central to the proceedings; in Aida water has the same importance, the Nile being the life-blood of the Egyptians. There is a water ballet in the triumphal scene. The tomb episode takes place on a ship drifting among the waves. During the final duet the ship rises from the water and sails into the sky, leaving Amneris alone at the waters’ edge. A real amphibious opera.

Dominating the stage picture are two monstrously big, blue feet. Why are they there? Whatever the reason they appear to function as the firm foundation around which the action rotates, whether it be Aida, the slave girl, scrubbing the floor, Amneris in black dotted evening gown airing her human ‘dogs’ or high priests and soldiers invading the stage. There are activities aplenty with numerous extras just being there, costumes are a mix of modern and ancient. All this business tends to suffocate the central conflicts and it is typical of the performance that it is in the Nile scene – act III – that the action grabs the viewer by the throat; this is the first scene with no external distractions. In a way this is dramaturgically sensitive, since the first two acts primarily deal with festivities, while the core of the drama is the triangle Aida – Amonasro – Radames. This is an oversimplification of the plot. There are many strands in the libretto and Amneris – though basically an evil character but one who loves – is the hub around which everything rotates. In this performance it also becomes obvious why Verdi initially contemplated naming the opera Amneris.

Iano Tamar, the Georgian soprano who was also a great Leonora in Il Trovatore, is the star; her somewhat darkish timbre contrasting well with Tatiana Serjan’s girlish Aida. Tamar has authority and a thrilling lirico-spinto voice. In the first scene in act IV she is truly great. Serjan at first seems too lyrical for Aida, having a fluttery soubrette voice but it sits well with her youthful looks. Her Ritorna vincitor is however sung with intensity and in the third and fourth acts she grows in stature, no doubt inspired by Scottish baritone Iain Paterson’s powerful Amonasro. He is an unusually dangerous Ethiopian king. Rubens Pelizzari is a rather pale Radamès in the first two acts but like his Aida he grows and in the Nile duet he finds a glow that has eluded him before. O terra addio, though sung in a strange setting, is delivered with lyrical beauty and warmth by both artists. Tigran Martirossian is an acceptable Ramfis but Kevin Short’s King is terribly wobbly.

As so often with these Bregenz productions one ends up in two minds. They’re innovative for sure, and this Aida is no exception. One can marvel at ideas that suddenly illuminate the proceedings but just as often one thinks: ‘What’s the point of this?’ Carlo Rizzi keeps things together and draws splendid playing from the Wiener Symphoniker. The choral forces have no easy task to walk all those stairs and balance on wet slippery stones while keeping an eye on the conductor but they manage it well. Sound and pictures are good. Readers have to decide from my descriptions whether this is a DVD worth spending money on, but Iano Tamar’s glorious Amneris should definitely be seen and heard.

-- Göran Forsling, MusicWeb International

Richard Wagner 
DIE WALKÜRE

Siegmund – Peter Seiffert
Hunding – Matti Salminen
Wotan – Juha Uusitalo
Sieglinde – Petra-Maria Schnitzer
Brünnhilde – Jennifer Wilson
Fricka – Anna Larsson
Gerhilde – Bernadette Flaitz
Ortlinde – Helen Huse Ralston
Waltraute – Pilar Vázquez
Schwertleite – Christa Mayer
Helmwige – Eugenia Bethencourt
Siegrune – Heike Grötzinger
Grimgerde – Manuela Bress
Rossweisse – Hannah Ester Minutillo

Valencian Community Orchestra (Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana)
Zubin Mehta, conductor

La Fura del Baus, staging
Carlus Padrissa, stage director

Recorded live from the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofia", Valencia, Spain, 2008.

Bonus feature:
- The making of Die Walküre

Picture format: 1080i Full HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (opera) / Dolby Digital 2.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: German, French, English, Spanish (opera) / English (bonus)
Booklet notes: German, French, English
Running time: 245 mins (opera) + 27 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)

*** This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD or HD DVD players. ***

Pietro Mascagni
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA

Santuzza – Violeta Urmana
Turiddu – Vincenzo La Scola
Lola – Dragana Jugovic
Mamma Lucia – Viorica Cortez
Alfio – Marco di Felice

Ruggero Leoncavallo
PAGLIACCI

Canio – Vladimir Galouzine
Nedda – María Bayo
Tonio – Carlo Guelfi
Beppe – Antonio Gandía
Silvio – Ángel Ódena

Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real, Madrid
Jesús López Cobos, conductor

Giancarlo del Monaco, stage director

Recorded live at the Teatro Real, Madrid, in February and March 2007.

Bonus:
- Interviews with Giancarlo del Monaco, Jesús López Cobos, Violeta Urmana, Vincenzo La Scola, Vladimir Galouzine and María Bayo.
- Cast gallery.

Picture format: 1080i High Definition, NTSC 16:9 Sound format: PCM 2.0 and 5.0
Region code: 0 (all regions)
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
Menu Language: English
Running time: 201 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray BD50 disc)

Jorma Hynninen and Paivi Nisula star in this Finish National Opera performance of the Sallinen opera conducted by Mikko Franck and directed by Pekka Milonoff. Also included are interviews with Sallinen, Milonoff, Franck, and Hynninen.

VERDI Un giorno di regno • Donato Renzetti, cond; Guido Loconsolo (Belfiore); Anna Caterina Antonacci (Marchesa del Poggio); Ivan Magri (Edoardo); Alessandra Marianelli (Giulietta); Andrea Porta (Baron Kelbar); Paolo Bordogna (La Rocca); Teatro Regio di Parma O & Ch • C MAJOR 720304 (Blu-ray); 720206 (1 DVD: 119:00 opera, 10:00 bonus) Live: Parma 2010

Giuseppe Verdi’s second opera, Un giorno di regno, proved to be a real disaster, the opera was pulled from the stage at Milan’s La Scala after only one performance, during which the raucous crowd loudly vented their displeasure, sending the young composer into a paroxysm of despair. Yet conditions were never propitious for the opera’s success. Due to the favorable reception of Verdi’s first opera, Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio, he had been signed to compose three more for the Milan house. The intendent, Bartolomeo Merelli, decided at the last minute he needed a comedy to round out the new season, and Verdi was given a choice of several old discarded and rejected librettos from the house stock. According to Verdi himself, he picked the one he disliked least, an older work by Felice Romani, probably updated and touched up for him by house librettist, Temistocle Solera. Verdi’s métier was never comedy, he did not write another until his last, Falstaff, when he was nearly 80. This particular comedy, an opera buffa, was already old-fashioned for the times, employing secco recitatives (sung passages accompanied only by piano) long out of style. After only recently losing his young son to illness, while he worked on this new opera Verdi’s wife fell sick and died as well. Shocked and in grief, Verdi wanted nothing more to do with composing for comedic situations, but Merelli, desperate for the opera, cited the contract and forced the composer to finish the music in a rush. To top it off, the somewhat temperamental singers employed at La Scala were not committed to the work and one key singer was in bad voice. The result was predictable.

With all the above excuses now offered, my opinion of the work is considerably higher than that of the opening night crowd. They were hoping to see top notch Donizetti and only got average Rossini (still pretty good) with a dash of Verdi mixed in. The opera has some strong musical numbers and could easily be mistaken for an early Rossini piece, in fact it is quite reminiscent of Rossini’s first staged opera, La Cambiale di matrimonio, except that instead of one set of mismatched lovers, here we have two, in the pattern of romantic operetta, along with a pair of quarreling buffo basses. The tenor, Belfiore, is posing as the King of Poland while the real king carries out a delicate mission of state. Belfiore must not reveal his true identity while he is a guest at the castle of Kelbar in France. He is in love with a young widow, the Marchesa del Poggio (mezzo), who is also in attendance at the castle. The Marchesa recognizes Belfiore and gets wounded feelings because he won’t acknowledge her. She has been toying with another man, and in a fit of spite, announces she will marry him. Among the other characters are the junior pair of young lovers, penniless tenor Eduardo and his would-be girlfriend Giulietta, the daughter of castle owner Kelbar. Rounding out the lot are the two basses, Baron Kelbar himself, and La Rocca, the state treasurer, who also has his eye on Giulietta. Belfiore uses his royal powers to help straighten things out, and get everyone matched up properly again. When he is finally able to renounce the throne, the others accept the fait accompli with at least grudging good grace. Sound like Strauss Jr. or Franz Lehar? Verdi could probably have used their help, but he was half a century too early.

It may be a long time before a better case is made for Verdi’s maligned second opera than on this C Major video of a 2010 production from the Teatro Regio in Parma. This is set No. 2 in their Tutto Verdi project to record all of Verdi’s operas on high definition Blu-ray disc, and already one of the highlights of the series. Sets are stylish and traditional, costumes in period and finely appointed. Stage Director Pier Luigi Pizzi to his credit pretty much sticks to the story in this seldom seen work, although there is a quite enjoyable tongue-in-cheek bathing scene for the Marchesa where she gives us an old-fashioned strip tease as she disrobes. Mezzo Anna Caterina Antonacci still has the goods to make it riveting entertainment for we males. (And what is the Marchesa doing taking a bath at the castle when she is not an overnight guest? Who cares, it’s harmless and entertaining.) Antonacci sings quite wonderfully, as usual, and even assays Verdi’s coloratura with confident aplomb. Her creamy mezzo voice is always on pitch and she is one of the best actresses on the stage today. She gives the distinct impression that if Belfiore is lucky enough to end up with her she is going to be a handful. Hot young tenor Guido Loconsolo also brings plenty of vocal talent to the role of Belfiore and he looks great as well. The second set of lovers, tenor Ivan Magri and Italian soprano Alessandra Marianelli, despite a few wayward pitch problems are both more than satisfactory here. The quarreling buffo basses should be more properly termed quarreling buffo baritones, neither Andrea Porta as the baron nor Paolo Bordagna as La Rocca have the strong bottom range for a buffo bass (think Osmin in Mozart’s Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail). Both do however bring a nice comedic flair which suits the story well. The chorus seems curiously muffled in a couple of spots but sings quite well when you can hear them, The Parma house orchestra here under conductor Donato Renzetti, seems quite capable, at least in early Verdi. I will be interested to see how they hold up in the blockbuster operas of middle Verdi and the even more demanding scores like Don Carlos and Aida.

Musical highlights include the cleverly written overture, quite reminiscent of Rossini, the virtuoso tenor aria “Pietoso al lungo pianto,” the mezzo soprano aria “Si mostri a chi l’adora,” and the septet, patterned after the septet in La Cenerentola, but not quite as tuneful or as funny. The staging of the septet here is quite reminiscent of the Cenerentola staging from Houston Grand Opera seen on DVD where everyone sits in chairs and pops up when it is their turn to sing, similar to the old Whack-a-Mole game at the carnival. There is a competing video version of Un giorno di regno being released this month with a strong cast on Hardy Classics which I have not seen, but I would recommend this set even if there were a dozen others out there; I am quite pleased with it.

FANFARE: Bill White   

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Hector Berlioz
LES TROYENS

Énée – Lance Ryan
Chorèbe – Gabriele Viviani
Panthée – Giorgio Giuseppini
Narbal – Stephen Milling
Iopas – Eric Cutler
Ascagne – Oksana Shilova
Cassandre – Elisabete Matos
Didon – Daniele Barcellona
Anna – Zlata Bulycheva

Valencia Regional Government Choir (Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana)
Valencian Community Orchestra (Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana)
Valery Gergiev, conductor

La Fura dels Baus, staging
Carlus Padrissa, stage director
Ronald Olbeter, stage designer
Peter van Praet, lighting designer
Chu Uroz, costume designer

Recorded live from the Palau de les Arts “Reina Sofia”, Valencia, Spain, 2009.

Bonus:
- The making of Les Troyens

Picture format: 1080p High Definition
Sound format: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: French, English, German, Spanish, Chinese, Korean
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 240 mins (opera) + 21 mins (documentary)
No. of Discs: 2

"Ancient myth meets Star Wars, and the eye is constantly engaged with images ranging from space-age technology to details of soccer uniforms." The New York Times

"This is a worthy and compelling, glittering version of a sublime work." International Herald Tribune

Raffaella Angeletti, Nino Batatunashvili, Annuziata Vestri, Massimiliano Pisapia, Enrico Cossuta, and Thomas Morris star in this Sferisterio Opera Festival Macerata production of the Puccini opera conducted by Daniele Callegari and staged by Pier Luigi.

Also available on Blu-ray

Franz Joseph Haydn
IL MONDO DELLA LUNA

First Haydn Il Mondo della Luna (which has blissfull Mozartian spirit) on DVD and Blu-ray! Nikolaus Harnoncourt created an interpretation in which Haydn’s work can become a veritable gem of opera literature. Renowned actor and director Tobias Moretti relates the story as a light-footed, magical fairy tale infused with slapstick, witty details and fantasy costumes.

‘Harnoncourt on top form’ (4 star rating, Financial Times)

‘Haydn's work can become a veritable gem of opera literature.’ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

‘An electrifying birthday gift for – and above all from – Nikolaus Harnoncourt’ (Der Standard)

‘The ensemble of singers acts in a way that is seen much too rarely in the opera: acrobatically, credibly and always wittily.’ (Kurier)

Ecclitico – Bernard Richter
Ernesto – Vivica Genaux
Buonafede – Dietrich Henschel
Clarice – Christina Landshamer
Flaminia – Anja-Nina Bahrmann
Lisetta – Maite Beaumont
Cecco – Markus Schäfer

Concentus Musicus Wien
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor

Tobias Moretti, stage director
Heidi Hackl, costume design
Renate Martin and Andreas Donhause, set design
Olaf Winter, lighting design

Recorded live from the Theater and der Wien, 2009.

Bonus:
- Interviews with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Tobias Moretti

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 167 mins (opera) + 26 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 2 (x1 DVD 9 + x1 DVD 5)

Also available on Blu-ray

Giuseppe Verdi
LA BATTAGLIA DI LEGNANO

Federico Barbarossa – Enrico Giuseppe Iori
Primo console di Milano – Francesco Musinu
Secondo console di Milano – Federico Benetti
Il podestà di Como – Gabriele Sagona
Rolando – Leonardo López Linares
Lida – Dimitra Theodossiou
Arrigo – Andrew Richards
Marcovaldo – Giovanni Guagliardo
Imelda – Sharon Pierfederici
Un araldo – Alessandro De Angelis
Uno scudiero di Arrigo – Nicola Pascoli

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Lirico “Giuseppe Verdi” di Trieste (chorus master: Paolo Vero)
Boris Brott, conductor

Ruggero Cappuccio, stage director
Carlo Savi, set and costume designer (with Mimmo Paladino and Matthew Spender)
Nino Napoletano, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Teatro Lirico “Giuseppe Verdi” di Trieste, 23 and 29 February, 2 March 2012

Bonus:
- Introduction to La battaglia di Legnano

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 119 mins (opera) + 11 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

Beatrice Uria-Monzon, Roberto Alagna, Erwin Schrott, Marina Poplavskaya, Eliana Bayon, and Itxaro Mentxaka star in this Gran Teatre de Licieu production of the Bizet opera conducted by Marc Piollet and staged by Calixto Bieito.

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players.

"The sensitivity of her (Sarah Connolly's) acting and her intense musicality was striking throughout. Lucy Crowe made a delightful Belinda, with Lucas Meachem a quarterback hunk of an Aeneas. The young ad-hoc chorus sang beautifully." - The Telegraph

Henry Purcell
DIDO AND AENEAS
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Dido – Sarah Connolly
Aeneas – Lucas Meachem
Belinda – Lucy Crowe
Sorceress – Sara Fulgoni
Second Woman – Anita Watson
First Witch – Eri Nakamura
Second Witch – Pumeza Matshikiza
Spirit – Iestyn Davies
Sailor – Ji-Min Park

The Royal Ballet
Royal Opera Extra Chorus
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Christopher Hogwood, conductor

Wayne McGregor, choreographer and stage director

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, on 3 and 8 April, 2009.

Bonus:
- Illustrated synopsis and cast gallery - Interview with Wayne McGregor

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: 2.0 and 5.1 PCM
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 72 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)

*** This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD or HD DVD players. ***

David McVicar’s exhilarating production, with Anne Sofie von Otter in the title role, restores the Opera Comique to Bizet’s masterpiece. Philippe Jordan, in his Glyndebourne debut, conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Glyndebourne Chorus and a cast which includes Marcus Haddock, Laurent Naouri and Lisa Milne.

Moralès: Hans Voschezang
Micaëla: Lisa Milne
Don José: Marcus Haddock
Zuniga: Jonathan Best
Carmen: Anne Sofie von Otter
Frasquita: Mary Hegarty
Mercédès: Christine Rice
Lillas Pastia: Anthony Wise
Escamillo: Laurent Naouri
Le Dancaïre: Quentin Hayes
Le Remendado: Colin Judson
Le Guide: Franck Lopez

The Glyndebourne Chorus
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Philippe Jordan
Stage Director: David McVicar

Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Opera House, Sussex, on 17th August 2002.

Plus:
Illustrated synopsis & cast gallery.
Costume design.
Choreographing Carmen.
How to fight on stage.
The Gardens of Glyndebourne.

Reviews:

"Under the shrewd direction of McVicar, Anne Sofie von Otter gave us a gypsy of mercurial temperament, a tease, a dangerous flirt, and a woman intensely conscious of her sexual magnetism and of her public notoriety." -- Daily Telegraph

"Violent, passionate, superbly played… Glyndebourne’s Carmen is simply gripping." -- The Sunday Times

Region code: 0 (all regions)
Picture: 1080i
Sound: 2.0 & 5.1 Dolby True HD
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Jonathan Kent’s spectacular production of Purcell’s huge semi-opera is joyous, imaginative and witty. Glyndebourne, with its intimate auditorium, provides the perfect setting for a drama which is partly spoken and partly sung. Based on an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the story is lavished with a brilliance that justifies this production’s acclaim. Paul Brown’s inventive designs, Kim Brandstrup’s exquisite choreography, an excellent cast of actors and singers and outstanding playing by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under William Christie combine to make a seamless theatrical experience, here recorded in High Definition and true surround sound.

Henry Purcell
THE FAIRY QUEEN

ACTORS
Titania – Sally Dexter
Oberon – Joseph Millson
Bottom – Desmond Barrit
Puck – Jotham Annan
Hermia – Susannah Wise
Demetrius – Oliver Le Sueur
Lysander – Oliver Kieran Jones

SINGERS
Juno / Mystery - Lucy Crowe
Spring / First Fairy - Claire Debono
Second Fairy - Anna Devin
Eve - Helen-Jane Howells
Night - Carolyn Sampson
Mopsa - Robert Burt
Summer - Sean Clayton
Secrecy / Adam - Ed Lyon
Autumn - Adrian Ward
Phœbus - Lukas Kargl
Drunken Poet - Desmond Barrit
Winter / Sleep / Coridon / Hymen - Andrew Foster-Williams

Glyndebourne Chorus
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
William Christie, conductor

Jonathan Kent, stage director

Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Lewes, East Sussex, 17 and 19 July 2009.

Bonus:
- Interview with William Christie
- Interview with Jonathan Kent

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Running time: 221 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50) R E V I E W:

The Fairy Queen is often referred to snootily as a “semi-opera” because the entertainment staged at Dorset Garden in 1692 was a mix of Purcell’s musical numbers and a bowdlerised adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In fact Purcell’s audience regarded the mix of spoken drama and musical fantasy more simply as “dramatick opera”, and thought nothing odd about rehashing Shakespeare. The subtlety and richness of Shakespeare’s original text was diluted for the occasion in 1692 but that does not mean that the result is not stage-worthy in its own right. Unfortunately, most staged productions of The Fairy Queen have avoided putting Purcell’s music back into its proper quasi-Shakespearean dramatic context. While nobody in their right mind would think it preferable to stage The Magic Flute without any dialogue, ENO’s 1995 production of The Fairy Queen worked hard and unevenly to make Purcell’s music stand alone in isolation from the relevant moments in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Simply using the charm and quality of the music as a springboard for contrived stage action tells less than half the story. The idea of reconciling the score of The Fairy Queen and its original play has for too long seemed too much like hard work for those who could not be bothered to make a serious attempt. So kudos to director Jonathan Kent and the entire production team of Glyndebourne’s fabulous 2009 reincarnation of the music and play reunited.

The reward of such courage and inquisitiveness is lovely to watch. William Christie’s direction has its cons as well as its pros; some songs (“If love’s a sweet passion”) are affected by bulgy exaggerations, tiny unnecessary tricks are employed by the OAE and chorus, and the copious use of battering percussion is irritating to those who prefer organic fare to artificial additives.

However, the production is a treat to watch: Kent has imaginatively realised the connections between the masques and the spoken drama, mixing coherently the three worlds of late-17th-century aristocratic England (Thebes), the modern day (the mechanicals preparing Pyramus and Thisbe), and the Fairy kingdom at night. The stage action is packed with good humour, affection and excellent use of colours and contrasts (although you might want to cover your childrens’ eyes at the rather saucy choreography for giant pink rabbits at the end of Act 3). The masque of the four seasons in Act 4 is a veritable feast on the eye.

Much of the credit for the charm of this production must go to the actors, especially the four confused lost lovers, the quarrelling Oberon and Titania, and, of course, Desmond Barrit’s Welsh Bottom. Of the principal singers, Lucy Crowe has stage magnetism and a terrific voice, but “Hark! the echoing air” suggests that her steely timbre is slightly less at home in 17th-century music than in Handel. Ed Lyon has the lion’s share of tenor solos; he makes heavy weather of some things but his higher-lying passages are excellent. Andrew Foster-Williams sings with gusto and appears comfortable as an extraordinary variety of characters. Carolyn Sampson steals the show in the Plaint, as the mood instantly switches from prior jollity to intense pathos; she sings “I shall never see him more” with devastating pathos but also impeccable style (plaudits also to Alison Bury’s tender violin obbligato). There are a few CD versions that I’d rather listen to for the music alone, but this DVD conveys an exceptionally spectacular event in the theatre. For a visual and dramatic feast, this reunification of play and music for The Fairy Queen is an absolute triumph.

— David Vickers, Gramophone Reviewing DVD version