Famed for his sonorous tone and imposing stage presence, ‘Rigoletto du jour’ Leo Nucci is considered among today’s foremost Verdi interpreters. + In this new solo recording the venerable baritone performs some of the greatest arias by the Italian maestro, reprising together with instrumental accompaniment many of the operatic roles on which he has built his illustrious career. + Presenting the major singers of today and the stars of tomorrow, the Rosenblatt Recitals are London's only world-class season of opera recitals. + In partnership with Opus Arte, this and other CD releases will be based predominantly on studio recordings with occasional bonus live tracks.

A Pl�cido Domingo prot�g�, soprano Angel Blue has enjoyed recent opera house triumphs in Valencia and at English National Opera. + Following her acclaimed 2013 Wigmore Hall recital, this new Rosenblatt Recital studio recording, on which Ms. Blue is accompanied by noted pianist Iain Burnside, features songs by Richard Strauss, Sergei Rachmaninov, a selection of zarzuelas, and George Gershwin's classic Summertime. + In partnership with Opus Arte, this and other CD releases will be based predominantly on studio recordings with occasional bonus live tracks. + A native of California, Angel Joy Blue's voice has been recognized for it's shining and agile upper register, "smoky" mid-register, and beautiful timbre. + She has performed internationally and won numerous awards. + "At her first meeting with Placido Domingo, he told her that she "reminded him of some of his former colleagues" - sopranos he'd worked with in the past, such as the great Leontyne Price." (The Telegraph)

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

Also available on standard DVD

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Reviews:

Amfortas is sung and acted with the greatest distinction by Gerald Finley. Denoke is always striking as Kundry but doesn't have quite a large enough voice for the demanding role. The minor roles are well taken. And the orchestra covers itself with glory, tirelessly magnificent for all 270 minutes.

– BBC Music Magazine

This is a well-thought-through production whose ideas don’t fight against the music. In musical terms, too, this is a simply excellent performance. Gurnemanz is a role that René Pape might have been born to sing. Finley is similarly balm to the ears as Amfortas. Denoke seizes every dramatic opportunity which the role gives her.

– MusicWeb International

Richard Wagner
PARSIFAL

Parsifal - Simon O’Neill
Gurnemanz - René Pape
Kundry / Voice from Above - Angela Denoke
Amfortas - Gerald Finley
Klingsor - Willard White
Titurel - Robert Lloyd

Royal Opera Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Renato Balsadonna)
Antonio Pappano, conductor

Stephen Langridge, stage director
Alison Chitty, set and costume designer
Paul Pyant, lighting designer
Dan O’Neill, choreographer

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, February 2014

Bonus:
- Interviews with Antonio Pappano and Simon O’Neill
- Cast gallery

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: 270 mins (opera) + 25 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 2 (Blu-ray)

Parsifal, Wagner's last opera, is a work of intense humanity. + Created in honor of the Wagner bicentenary, Stephen Langridge's new production, with designs by Alison Chitty, distils with 'intellectual fiber and visual eloquence' (Financial Times) the timeless and universal nature of the Parsifal story. + Tenor Simon O'Neill stars in the title role. + Ren� Pape as Gurnemanz is 'immaculate' (Guardian), Gerald Finley as Amfortas is 'compelling' (Telegraph) and Angela Denoke as Kundry is 'dramatically electrifying' (Telegraph). + Antonio Pappano leads the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Presenting the major singers of today and the stars of tomorrow, the Rosenblatt Recitals are London’s only world-class season of opera recitals. This set of CDs from the partnership with Opus Arte are based predominantly on studio recordings with occasional bonus live tracks.

Classical Music

Also available on Blu-ray

Gioachino Rossini
L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI

Isabella - Anna Goryachova
Mustafà - Alex Esposito
Lindoro - Yijie Shi
Taddeo - Mario Cass

Teatro Comunale di Bologna Chorus and Orchestra
José Ramón Encinar, conductor

Davide Livermore, stage director

Recorded live at the Pesaro Festival, August 2013

Bonus:
- The making of L’Italiana in Algeri
- Cast gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Korean
Running time: 153 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Pesaro’s new offering in 2013 was an off-the-wall production of Rossini’s popular comedy, ‘The Italian Girl in Algiers’, presented as a Swinging Sixties, James Bond adventure, set in the desert oil fields of the North African coast. Davide Livermore’s gag-a-minute, helter-skelter romp followed an alarmingly life-like air-crash, which delivered the ‘Italian girl’ from Rome into the clutches of the local oil baron, Mustafa. All three lead singers (Alex Esposito as Mustafa, the high tenor Yijie Shi as the young lover Lindoro, and Anna Goryachova as the agile-voiced mezzo-soprano of the title role) thoroughly distinguished themselves – and the audience roared its approval of the evening’s entertainment.

Recorded live at the Pesaro Festival, August 2013

"Italian bass Alex Esposito commanded our full attention as Mustafà with strong, firm fioratura that raged magnificently when necessary. Mr Esposito in the prime of vocal estate, a spirited, charismatic actor of inextinguishable theatrical energy." Opera Today
"Anyone lucky enough to have seen last year’s ROF Ciro in Babilonia or the 2012 Demetrio e Polibio, will already know the wisdom and wit of Davide Livermore’s Rossini stagings. Here again, he is sure handed. Rossini would have adored it." Seen and Heard International

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

"For its first staging of a Rameau opera, the Glyndebourne Festival in England went big: a riotous yet sophisticated production, by Jonathan Kent, that captures both the frigidity and the passions of human relations, and that has the leadership of the French Baroque master William Christie, conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Ed Lyon, Christiane Karg, Sarah Connolly, and Stéphane Degout all give standout performances." – Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times

In Glyndebourne's first-ever staging of a opera by Rameau, director Jonathan Kent presents a production which, in his own words, strives to appeal to every sense and show audiences how engrossing and musically ravishing French Baroque opera can be. Rameau's inventive take on Racine's great tragedy Phèdre is brought to life by Paul Browns colourful and elegant designs and Ashley Pages playful choreography. Ed Lyon and Christiane Karg give captivating performances as the titular young lovers, while Sarah Connolly, making a welcome return to Glyndebourne, invests Phaedra with both grandeur and a desperately human vulnerability (The Independent). Leading exponent of early music William Christie sets an exhilarating pace, galvanising the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to playing of tremendous panache (The DailyTelegraph).

Jonathan Kent, stage director
Paul Brown, set and costume designer
Mark Henderson, lighting designer

Recorded live at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Lewes, June 2013

Bonus: -
An opera to surprise and delight
- Cast gallery

• Picture format: NTSC 16:9
• Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
• Region code: 0 (worldwide)
• Subtitles: English, French, German, Dutch, Japanese, Korean
• Running time: 187 mins
• of DVDs: 2
• of Blu-ray discs: 1

REVIEW:

It could be argued that the loose-limbed structure of Hippolyte et Aricie strays too widely from Phèdre, though its major excursions are drawn from the mythological variants Racine himself discusses in the play’s preface. Its controlled extravagance makes it one of the great French Baroque entertainments, though Rameau’s insights into Phèdre’s emotional and moral torment form a real heart of darkness. Christie conducted a superb Glyndebourne cast in 2013.

-- Gramophone

Also available on Blu-ray

Director Katharina Thoma sets Richard Strauss’ comedy in a country house in the South Downs (a surrogate for Glyndebourne), immediately before and during the Second World War. Hofmannsthals’ conceit—that a hapless young composer has to accept the simultaneous performance of his new tragic opera with a burlesque from a commedia dell’arte troupe—is turned into a touching wartime drama of nurses, invalids and airmen, and of painful delusions and soul searching, before final happiness.

ACCLAIM
“Everything fits superbly and the production captures the fragility of happiness and the undertow of melancholy better than any I can remember. The mellow glow of the LPO under Vladimir Jurowski’s sensitive baton complements the vision perfectly, while a fine cast enhances the pleasure. Soile Isokoski is superb as Ariadne…” – The Evening Standard

“Conductor Vladimir Jurowski ends his 13-year reign as music director by drawing sumptuous Straussian playing from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 40 years of watching Ariadne, the opera has never moved me more.” – The Daily Mail

Richard Strauss
ARIADNE AUF NAXOS

Ariadne / Prima Donna - Soile Isokoski
Zerbinetta - Laura Claycomb
Bacchus / Tenor - Sergey Skorokhodov
Music Master - Thomas Allen
Composer - Kate Lindsey
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
Katharina Thoma, stage director
Julia Müer, set designer
Irina Bartels, costume designer
Olaf Winter, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Lewes, March 2013

Bonus:
- When Two Worlds Collide
- Thomas Allen at Glyndebourne
- Vladimir Jurowski on his final production as Music Director
- Cast gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM 2. 0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Korean
Running time: 121 mins (opera) + 21 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

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

Also available on standard DVD

Director Katharina Thoma sets Richard Strauss’ comedy in a country house in the South Downs (a surrogate for Glyndebourne), immediately before and during the Second World War. Hofmannsthals’ conceit—that a hapless young composer has to accept the simultaneous performance of his new tragic opera with a burlesque from a commedia dell’arte troupe—is turned into a touching wartime drama of nurses, invalids and airmen, and of painful delusions and soul searching, before final happiness.

ACCLAIM
“Everything fits superbly and the production captures the fragility of happiness and the undertow of melancholy better than any I can remember. The mellow glow of the LPO under Vladimir Jurowski’s sensitive baton complements the vision perfectly, while a fine cast enhances the pleasure. Soile Isokoski is superb as Ariadne…” – The Evening Standard

“Conductor Vladimir Jurowski ends his 13-year reign as music director by drawing sumptuous Straussian playing from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 40 years of watching Ariadne, the opera has never moved me more.” – The Daily Mail

Richard Strauss
ARIADNE AUF NAXOS

Ariadne / Prima Donna - Soile Isokoski
Zerbinetta - Laura Claycomb
Bacchus / Tenor - Sergey Skorokhodov
Music Master - Thomas Allen
Composer - Kate Lindsey
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
Katharina Thoma, stage director
Julia Müer, set designer
Irina Bartels, costume designer
Olaf Winter, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Lewes, March 2013

Bonus:
- When Two Worlds Collide
- Thomas Allen at Glyndebourne
- Vladimir Jurowski on his final production as Music Director
- Cast gallery

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2. 0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Korean
Running time: 121 mins (opera) + 21 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (blu-ray)

Jan Philipp Gloger’s controversial Bayreuth production of Die Fliegende Holländer was greeted with huge acclaim. He translates the Dutchman’s tale of travail and redemption to a future where part-human/part-cyborgs grind out an existence in a world completely subservient to business and commerce. The production stars Samuel Youn, Ricarda Merbeth, and Franz-Josef Selig, and is conducted by Christian Thielemann. ‘‘…Mr. Youn…sings with dignity touched with anguish.’’ - The New York Times

Also available on Blu-ray

Gaetano Donizetti
DON PASQUALE

Don Pasquale – Alessandro Corbelli
Norina – Danielle de Niese
Malatesta – Nikolay Borchev
Ernesto – Alek Shrader
A Notary – James Platt
Servant – Anna-Marie Sullivan

Glyndebourne Chorus
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Enrique Mazzola, conductor

Mariame Clément, stage director

Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Festival, 2013

Bonus:
- Behind the Curtain
- Danielle de Niese introduction
- Staging the Opera
- Cast gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Korean
Running time: 128 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

"•First release in a new partnership with the RSC • Starring distinguished TV, Film and Theatre actor David Tennant whose credits range from Doctor Who to Hamlet at the RSC • Production directed by Gregory Doran “one of the great Shakespearians of his generation” (The Sunday Times)"

Also available on Blu-ray

Carlos Acosta’s first venture directing one of ballet’s 19th century classics was eagerly anticipated, as was his own starring role in the production as Basilio, opposite the Argentinian Royal Ballet principal Marianela Nuñez (Kitri). Packed cinemas for the live relay, as well as sold-out houses for his performances, testified to the draw the great Cuban dancer still exerts—and the audiences were not disappointed. Still built on Petipa’s original choreography, Acosta’s clear dramatic structure and vivid stage action gave the “boy gets girl despite her father” story a more convincing air than usual, with Don Quixote’s parallel obsession with Dulcinea-Kitri coherently woven into the plot. Acosta’s and Nuñez’s performances were peerless; Tim Hatley’s stage designs vivid and apposite; this production is surely destined to be a perennial Royal Ballet favorite.

Ludwig Minkus
DON QUIXOTE

Kitri – Marianela Nuñez
Basilio – Carlos Acosta
Don Quixote – Christopher Saunders
Sancho Panza – Philip Mosley
Lorenzo – Gary Avis
Gamache – Bennet Gartside
Espada – Ryoichi Hirano
Mercedes – Laura Morera

Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Martin Yates, conductor

Carlos Acosta, director and choreographer (after Marius Petipa)

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, October 2013

Bonus:
- Introduction to Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote
- Cast gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM Stereo 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 125 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

R E V I E W:

MINKUS Don Quixote & • Martin Yates, cond; Marianela Nuñez (Kitri); Carlos Acosta (Basilio); Christopher Saunders (Don Quixote); Philip Mosley (Sancho Panza); Ryoichi Hirano (Espada); Laura Morera (Mercedes); Bennet Gartside (Gamache); Gary Avis (Lorenzo); Christina Arestis (Dulcinea); Royal Op House O • OPUS ARTE 7143 (Blu-ray: 137.00) Live: London 10/2013

& Interviews: Cast and Crew; Introductions to acts II and III

Ludwig Minkus’s Don Quixote has held a place in the repertoire since its premiere at the Bolshoi Theater in 1869. The music is charming and well orchestrated, but persistently a little bland. There are plenty of melodies, but none of them are particularly distinctive. This is certainly not Tchaikovsky or Prokofiev. The poor boy meets rich girl love story interwoven with the fantastic adventures of Don Quixote has attracted the biggest names in ballet over the years, with Marius Petipa’s original classical production being followed by Rudolph Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and George Balanchine. Now, it is Carlos Acosta’s turn. His choreography is based on Petipa, but he has modernized it with his trademark physicality, and some new unclassical sounds (clapping, vocal exclamations) from the corps de ballet on stage.

Ultimately, the success of Don Quixote depends on the two principals. Acosta and Marianela Nuñez are the ideal pair to light a fire in this production. Acosta’s charisma is well known, and Nuñez matches him step for step with her amazing leaps and twirls, and the two have remarkable stage chemistry. They really do sizzle as much as that is possible in a classical ballet. The best is saved for last with their exquisite and joyful final pas de deux. In fact, the whole supporting cast and corps de ballet seem to have been inspired by Acosta. Everyone appears to be having a grand good time, and this is clearly projected to the audience.

The sets are magnificent and the colorful costumes are dazzling on Blu-ray. Martin Yates’s arrangement and orchestration of the Minkus score matches the bright visuals, and his conducting is surprisingly dynamic. The music comes to life as I have never heard it do before, especially in the excellent surround sound. I have not seen any of the older versions of Don Quixote, but it is hard to imagine any of them matching this one, musically or technically. If you are a ballet fan, don’t hesitate to enjoy this sumptuous visual feast.

FANFARE: Arthur Lintgen Reviewing DVD version

From the mythological setting of Idomeneo via the sparkling wit of Le nozze di Figaro and powerful tragicomedy of Don Giovanni to the fantastical workings of the late Singspiel Die Zauberflöte, Mozart’s mature operas stand among the greatest achievements of Western art, dramas that illuminate the composer’s creativity as a whole and which stood out in their own time for the new level of characterisation, wit and lessons on life and humanity they brought to the musical stage. Featuring recordings made during the last ten years from some of the world’s leading opera houses, this collection offers an acclaimed series of productions that present consummate interpretations of Mozart’s scores through striking set designs and peerless singing, paying homage to a group of masterpieces which are just as relevant today as when they were first performed.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
THE GREAT OPERAS
(13-DVD Box Set)

Idomeneo


Idomeneo - Ramón Vargas
Idamante - Magdalena Kožená
Ilia - Ekaterina Siurina
Elettra - Anja Harteros
Arbace - Jeffrey Francis


Salzburg Bach Chor
(chorus master: Alois Glassner)
Camerata Salzburg
Roger Norrington, conductor


Karl-Ernst Hermann, stage director, set and costume designer
Ursel Herman, stage director


Recorded live from the Salzburg Festival, 2006


  Die Entführung aus dem Serail


Konstanze - Laura Aikin
Belmonte - Edgaras Montvidas
Osmin - Kurt Rydl
Blonde - Mojca Erdmann
Pedrillo - Michael Smallwood
Bassa Selim - Steven Van Watermeulen


Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera
The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
Constantinos Carydis, conductor


Johan Simons, stage director


Recorded live at Het Musiektheater, Amsterdam on 2, 7 and 19 February 2008

Le nozze di Figaro


Il Conte di Almaviva - Peter Mattei
La Contessa di Alamviva - Christiane Oelze
Susanna - Heidi Grant Murphy
Figaro - Lorenzo Regazzo
Cherubino - Christine Schäfer
Marcellina - Helene Schneiderman
Bartolo - Roland Bracht
Don Basilio - Burkhard Ulrich
Don Curzio - Eberhard Francesco Lorenz
Barbarina - Cassandre Berthon
Antonio - Frederic Caton


Paris National Opera Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Peter Burian)
Sylvain Cambreling, conductor


Christoph Marthaler, stage director
Anna Viebrock, set and costume designer
Olaf Winter, lighting designer
Thomas Stache, choreographer


Recorded live at the Palais Garnier, Paris, 2006

Don Giovanni


Don Giovanni - Carlos Álvarez
Commendatore - Alfred Reiter
Donna Anna - María Bayo
Don Ottavio - José Bros
Donna Elvira - Sonia Ganassi
Leporello - Lorenzo Regazzo
Masetto - José Antonio López
Zerlina - María José Moreno


Madrid Teatro Real Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Jordi Casas Bayer)
Victor Pablo Pérez, conductor


Lluis Pasqual, stage director
Ezio Frigerio, set designer
Franca Squarciapino, costume designer
Wolfgang von Zoubek, lighting designer
Nuria Castejón, choreographer


Recorded live at the Teatro Real de Madrid, 8, 10 and 12 October 2005

Cosi fan tutte


Ferrando - Topi Lehtipuu
Guglielmo - Luca Pisaroni
Don Alfonso - Nicolas Rivenq
Fiordiligi - Miah Persson
Dorabella - Anke Vondung
Despina - Ainhoa Garmendia


The Glyndebourne Chorus
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Iván Fischer , Conductor


Nicholas Hytner, Stage Director


Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in June and July 2006

La Clemenza di Tito


Sesto - Susan Graham
Annio - Hannah Esther Minutillo
Vitellia - Catherine Naglestad
Servilia - Ekaterina Siurina
Publio - Roland Bracht
Tito - Christoph Prégardien


Paris National Opera Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Peter Burian)
Sylvain Cambreling, conductor


Ursel Herrmann, stage director
Karl-Ernst Herrmann, stage director


Recorded live at the Palais Garnier, Paris, May and June 2005

Die Zauberflöte


Sarastro - Günther Groissböck
Tamino - Saimir Pirgu
Queen of the Night - Albina Shagimuratova
Pamina - Genia Kühmeier
Papagena - Ailish Tynan
Papageno - Alex Esposito
Monostatos - Peter Bronder


Milan La Scala Chorus and Orchestra
Roland Böer, conductor


William Kentridge, stage director


Recorded live at La Teatro alla Scala, 20 March 2011


Bonus:
- Overview of The Magic Flute
- Illustrated synopsis

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Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian + Chinese (Idomeneo) / Dutch (Serail)
Running time: 24 hours 20 mins
No. of DVDs: 13