Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo was premiered in 1607 and is the oldest opera still performed today. The narrative is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus who, armed only with the weapons of music and love, descends into Hades in an attempt to bring his lost bride Eurydice back to the living world. The opera’s dramatic power is brought to life in this acclaimed production conducted by the great Monteverdi expert and interpreter Jordi Savall. Filmed at the Opéra Comique in Paris, L’Orfeo features a virtuoso cast with the service of text and music always at its core.

"One of the most ambitious musical projects of all time" - Gramophone

For the first time on one label, the complete live recordings from the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in an elegant, limited edition box set. The CDs in the box are packed in individual sleeves with Steve McCurry's evocative portrait photos from the existing series, so the "feel" of the collection is much the same as the individual releases.

The set contains:

56 audio CDs All 28 existing volumes from our Bach Cantatas series

+ 4 additional CDs previously released by Deutsche Grammophon. Featuring Magdalena Kozena/ Paul Agnew/ Mark Padmore/ Sara Mingardo/ James Gilchrist/ Peter Harvey 3rd Sunday after Epiphany (BWV 72/ 73/ 111/ 156) Feast of the Purification of Mary (BWV 83/ 82/ 125/ 200) 9th Sunday after Trinity (BWV 94/ 168/ 105) 11th Sunday after Trinity (BWV179/ 199/ 113)

+ 1 bonus CD-R Index of the cantatas by CD and by cantata number Sung texts with English translations Original sleeve notes in English and German (French notes available online)

Richard Wagner began composing his Wesendonck Lieder during a stay in Zurich between November and December 1857. Originally conceived for female voice and piano alone, the five songs were later orchestrated, first by the Austrian conductor and composer Felix Mottl in 1893, and then later in 1976 by the German composer Hans Werner Henze, in a chamber setting. In fact Wagner had already orchestrated a version of "Träume” to be performed by chamber orchestra (with violin playing the voice part) on the occasion of his wife Minna’s birthday in 1857. Later, in 1870, for his second wife Cosima’s 33rd birthday, he enacted a similar gesture. Mixing new motifs with themes from his Ring cycle, he composed the Siegfried Idyll and had it performed by a small orchestra as a birthday surprise. Hanz Werner Henze’s orchestration of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder highlights the relationship between the words and the sounds. The agile yet intense scoring for ten wind instruments, harp and small string ensemble appears to be Henze’s way of finding an alternative to the original piano without taking the cycle outside the realm of chamber music or altering the lieder’s original image. Siegfried and Brünnhilde sing from the depths of their hearts returns here with the grace of a child’s nursery. Salvatore Sciarrino’s Languire a Palermo (Languishing in Palermo), composed in 2018, is predominantly built around the melody Tempo di Porazzi, a fragment composed by Wagner during a visit to Sicily in late 1881 and early 1882. Sciarrino describes the ‘allure of a distant unaccompanied melody, played by someone for their own benefit and entrusted to the wind’ and hypothesizes that it may correspond ‘to the sounds in Sicily that stimulate and amaze the ears...Mediterranean charm gushes from the throat of every street vendor.’

Also available on Blu-ray

Monteverdi’s seminal first opera tells the dramatic story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses of the descent of Orfeo (Georg Nigl) into the underworld to recover his beloved wife Euridice (Roberta Invernizzi), who has died from a snake bite. In a new production for La Scala, based on a painting by Titian and directed by Robert Wilson, the opera receives a powerful and inspiring performance from a fine cast, the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala and Concerto Italiano under the much-admired Italian early music specialist, Rinaldo Alessandrini.

Claudio Monteverdi
L'ORFEO

Orfeo – Georg Nigl
Euridice / Eco – Roberta Invernizzi
Messaggera / Speranza – Sara Mingardo
Caronte – Luigi De Donato
Proserpina – Raffaella Milanesi
Plutone – Giovanni Battista Parodi
Apollo – Furio Zanasi

Concerto Italiano
Milan La Scala Orchestra
Rinaldo Alessandrini, conductor

Robert Wilson, stage director
Jacques Reynaud, costume designer
A J Weissbard, lighting designer
Recorded live at La Teatro alla Scala, 21 and 23 December 2009.
Bonus:
- Cast gallery
- Illustrated Synopsis

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 Anamorphic
Sound format: PCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 116 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Also available on Blu-ray

A “touching and magnificent reunion” (Der Standard). The public and press enthusiastically celebrated the long-awaited return of Claudio Abbado to the Salzburg Festival in 2012. The conductor brought with him Mozart’s youthful Mass K. 139, the so-called Waisenhausmesse, and Schubert’s late Mass in E flat major. In a fascinating way, Abbado succeeded in merging the singers and instrumentalists into a total collaborative effort: “Seldom has one heard such a perfect balance between choir, orchestra, and vocal soloists; one has also seldom heard such a beautifully coordinated and perfectly balanced vocal ensemble” (Salzburger Nachrichten).

ABBADO CONDUCTS MASSES BY MOZART AND SCHUBERT

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Missa solemnis in C Minor, K. 139, “Waisenhausmesse”

Franz Schubert: Mass No. 6 in E-Flat Major, D. 950

Rachel Harnisch, soprano
Roberta Invernizzi, soprano
Sara Mingardo, alto
Javier Camarena, tenor
Paolo Fanale, tenor
Alex Esposito, bass

Arnold Schoenberg Choir
Orchestra Mozart
Claudio Abbado, conductor

Recorded live from the Salzburg Festival, 2012

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Latin, English, German, French, Korean
Running time: 104 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

George Frideric Handel
TAMERLANO

Bajazet – Plácido Domingo
Tamerlano – Monica Bacelli
Asteria – Ingela Bohlin
Andronico – Sara Mingardo
Irene – Jennifer Holloway

Teatro Real Chorus and Orchestra, Madrid
Paul McCreesh, conductor

Graham Vick, stage director

Recorded live at Teatro Real, Madrid on 29 March, 1 and 4 April 2008.

Bonus:
- Illustrated synopsis and cast gallery
- Interview with Paul McCreesh

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (all regions)
Menu Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 241 mins
No. of DVDs: 3

Teatro Real's majestic production of Handel's vivid tragedy, Tamerlano, stars a Lear-like Plácido Domingo as the Turkish Sultan Bajazet, caught between pride, love and loyalty. Displaying the uniquely heroic quality of his voice, Domingo heads a superb cast, including Sara Mingardo, Monica Bacelli and Ingela Bohlin, all magnificently responsive to Paul McCreesh's authentic and luminous interpretation of the score. The stunning theatrical staging by Graham Vick provides a splendid setting for the characters and for designer Richard Hudson's extravagant Baroque-Islamic costumes, emphasising the brilliance of one of Handel's finest dramatic achievements.

FULL REVIEW

Probably one of the best Handel operatic productions presently available...

If Handel’s two other great operas, Giulio Cesare and Rodelinda, are well known then this third of the trio of ‘greats’ should certainly join them. This production will do much to underline that.

For some years now the phrase ‘director’s opera’ has had a pejorative ring – sometimes with justification. This production has Graham Vick written all over it. Further, the music director James McCreesh concedes that that extends to choice of versions of scenes. “What do you mean, ‘choice of versions of scenes’? An opera is an opera is an opera.” Sorry but it is not: that is what we have come to expect today but Handel and very many composers re-wrote scenes or omitted, added or replaced arias according to the ability of the available singers. And Tamerlano is no exception. No, I do not intend to bore you with a detailed analysis. One example will suffice: death or coronation in the last scene? Well, here you get both.

What of the plot? The psychopathic Tamerlano has captured Ottoman leader Badajet and daughter Asteria. Tamerlano’s Greek buddy Andronico falls for Asteria. Meanwhile, Irene, princess of Trebizond, is on her way for her nuptials with Tamerlano. Tamerlano then decides that he will marry Asteria and palms Irene off on Andronico. Asteria’s two failed attempts on Tamerlano’s life and then Bajazet’s suicide persuade Tamerlano to revert to the original marital arrangement. Thus, theoretically, all ends happily but the music suggests otherwise, as it has throughout. This is ‘dark’ opera: Handel at his compelling best with some remarkable conventional da capo arias. There are three sections ABA where the singer is allowed free rein in the third which was much to the point of Handel’s operas when first produced: an opportunity for florid vocal display. And if you ever thought that da capo arias are repetitiously dull and boring then watch and listen. Further watch and listen carefully to the last scene where Handel almost ignored the musical conventions.

In Handel’s day productions were virtually static: singers stood and delivered and then frequently left the stage to applause hence, called, the exit aria. Curiously McCreesh describes this production as “quite still”. Maybe: in comparison with other operatic productions. However, for me, Vick instils this one with wholly appropriate body and facial movement. I cannot pretend that I understand all of the symbolism, particularly of the silent ‘groupies’ who accompany some of the singing: and just occasionally distract attention from it – an example is during the only aria given to Leone - Tamerlano’s henchman. That aside, the acting here is first class, capturing Tamerlano’s almost demonic personality, Badajet’s decline and his reciprocated love for Asteria and also Andronico’s constancy.

We expect no less. This is Monica Bacelli, the proven exciting Handelian in the title trouser role and the ‘imported’ Plácido Domingo as Badajet; ‘imported’ because this is his first Handel part in over a hundred roles and it is perfectly suited for him: a truly dramatic tenor.

Bacelli is in excellent form displaying a neurotic vibrancy through very expressive movements. This is not ‘stand and deliver’ and nor is it a general-distraction cavort about the stage: but it is movement to encompass the stage and engage the audience in her characterful playing. Yes, and she sings too. Whilst her smaller voice contrasts with Domingo’s power she never loses her strong focus or line and elegant phrasing. Not a pitch out of place, not a run slurred; most arias at a faster pace with opportunity for colouring and strong tones that she never misses.

Domingo is equally splendid portraying the beaten leader. Dramatic singing throughout. If I have a slight hesitation it would be about vocal flexibility in the quicker aria Ciel e terra (disc 1 track 15) – hardly surprising in a singer of his years which generally show no sign of catching up with him. But here I am being ‘nit-picky’. His is vocal drama which makes us empathize with a fallen leader of the Ottoman Empire and renders understandable the taking of his own life. That is no mean feat when his beloved daughter Asteria still lives. Domingo gives a master class in diction, dynamics and phrasing. His final aria is magnificently delivered as he leaves the stage backwards into the darkness.

The Swedish soprano Ingela Bohlin effortlessly despatches the role of Asteria, or so she makes it appear. This high-lying soprano role does not trouble her. In her splendid aria Cor di padre (disc 2 track 24) at the end of Act 2 she vocally wanders about at the top of and above the stave, occasionally leaping there with total accuracy. In her aria Se non mi vuol amor (disc 1 track 13) she leaves high notes just hanging exquisitely in the air. She has a very secure vibrato - and that is not an oxymoron - and a gentle trill which adds much to aria meaning and audience enjoyment.

Sara Mingardo is a true contralto but noticeably of smaller voice. Bearing in mind how responsive McCreesh is with the orchestra for the forte and piano of the roles for Bacelli and Domingo, it is disappointing that he does not at all times afford Mingardo that same facility/kindness/support. Mingardo has wonderful vocal flexibility with quite remarkable beauty of tone. No applause for her act 1 aria Bella Asteria (disc 1 track9) which I would have expected to lead to sustained applause. Her timbre balances extremely well with both Bacelli and Bohlin to produce some delightful sounds.

Jennifer Holloway, as Irene arrives on stage aloft by some three metres on a gorgeous blue elephant on wheels. Could it be that the slightly irregular jumbo traverse of the stage contributes to her occasional lack of smoothness and steadiness of note in her opening aria? Certainly when back on stage terra firma her smooth clarity of note returns and when singing piano there is great beauty of tone.

De Donato, as Leone, is afforded one aria. Here it is the act 2 Amor dà guerra (disc 2 track 10) as opposed to the act 3 option of Nel mondo e nell’ abisso. Apart from a slight hint of effort when on serious high he sings clearly with a firm line. His problem, or rather our problem, is to concentrate on him while three pairs of ‘supporters’ perform a variety of symbolic mimes. Despite watching it several times I remain convinced that I do not fully understand all the symbolism.

That applies also to movements that take place on the balcony which goes around the semi-circular stage where the ‘groupies’ perform various mimes in slow motion around it or small blue elephants move equally slowly. That leaves a bare stage over which hangs the celebrated foot on the globe (no prizes for guessing that piece of symbolism) variously pushed up by Badajet or crushing him or Asteria. It also ascends and descends almost imperceptibly as appropriate to the stage action. In act 2 in what is almost a coup de théâtre it revolves through 180° to reveal its hollow back with gold lining and a seat that becomes Tamerlano’s throne.

The only stage prop which doesn’t seem to me to be particularly effective is the long bench protruding from the back stage in the first part of act 3 which serves at Tamerlano’s throne. Otherwise, the stage effects together with the matching half moons near stage front that move together to form another circle and become a prop in their own right, are spectacularly effective.

Colours are also fundamental. The stage is white, the costumes black and/or white except for the splendid Act 2 vivid lime green for Tamerlano and later a brilliant cerise. Irene has similarly strongly coloured costume when on her elephant. As you can see above Badajet and daughter are in white and remain so throughout. Symbolism in colours? I think so.

All that said there is a fault: but not with the production. It is the subtitles: too frequently the translation leaves a great deal to be desired. It is not idiomatic; indeed occasionally it is archaic if not arcane. Rely on them and from time to time you might struggle to follow the plot. Any such problem is overcome by the synopsis - one of the extra features. There is also a helpful commentary in the accompanying booklet.

-- Robert McKechnie, MusicWeb International

The French pianist Jean-Paul Gasparian has chosen Debussy for his first album with naïve, an album full of sensitivity and colour, including the first ever recording of the transcription of the Rondes de printemps. With this album devoted solely to Debussy, Jean-Paul Gasparian invites listeners to integrate the atmospheres, colours and timbres that make up Debussy’s world. ‘The piano, here,’ he says, ‘is a tool that lets your imagination wander, a machine that creates perceptions. Like a sort of stationary journey.’ It is also an opportunity for Jean-Paul Gasparian to show us another facet of his temperament, already seen in Rachmaninoff and the Romantic repertoire, and return to his beginnings.

Also available on Blu-ray

The cast is the best we could possible want for Vivaldi nowadays: Ottavio Dantone's skilfull conducting brings the best out of this orchestral enchantment. Sara Mingardo brings her classy voice and remarkable stage presence to the role of the naive Statira. Delphine Galou’s bright tone and excellent agility combine with perfect diction. Roberta Mameli's crystal clear notes make of the role of Alinda a masterpiece of expressivity. Recorded in high definition, this production offers subtitles in Italian, German, English, French, Japanese, and Korean. Octavio Dantone is an Italian conductor and harpsichordist who is particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music. He has served as the Music Director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna since 1996.

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

Also available on standard DVD
The cast is the best we could possible want for Vivaldi nowadays: Ottavio Dantone's skilfull conducting brings the best out of this orchestral enchantment. Sara Mingardo brings her classy voice and remarkable stage presence to the role of the naive Statira. Delphine Galou’s bright tone and excellent agility combine with perfect diction. Roberta Mameli's crystal clear notes make of the role of Alinda a masterpiece of expressivity. Recorded in high definition, this production offers subtitles in Italian, German, English, French, Japanese, and Korean. Octavio Dantone is an Italian conductor and harpsichordist who is particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music. He has served as the Music Director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna since 1996.

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

Also available on standard DVD

A “touching and magnificent reunion” (Der Standard). The public and press enthusiastically celebrated the long-awaited return of Claudio Abbado to the Salzburg Festival in 2012. The conductor brought with him Mozart’s youthful Mass K. 139, the so-called Waisenhausmesse, and Schubert’s late Mass in E flat major. In a fascinating way, Abbado succeeded in merging the singers and instrumentalists into a total collaborative effort: “Seldom has one heard such a perfect balance between choir, orchestra, and vocal soloists; one has also seldom heard such a beautifully coordinated and perfectly balanced vocal ensemble” (Salzburger Nachrichten).

ABBADO CONDUCTS MASSES BY MOZART AND SCHUBERT
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Missa solemnis in C Minor, K. 139, “Waisenhausmesse”

Franz Schubert: Mass No. 6 in E-Flat Major, D. 950

Rachel Harnisch, soprano
Roberta Invernizzi, soprano
Sara Mingardo, alto
Javier Camarena, tenor
Paolo Fanale, tenor
Alex Esposito, bass

Arnold Schoenberg Choir
Orchestra Mozart
Claudio Abbado, conductor

Recorded live from the Salzburg Festival, 2012

Picture format: 1080i Full HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Latin, English, German, French, Korean
Running time: 104 mins
No. of Discs: 1

Also available on Blu-ray

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K. 626
(Sanctus completed by Robert Levin. All other movements completed by Franz X. Sussmayr, edited by Franz Beyer.)

Anna Prohaska, soprano
Sara Mingardo, alto
Maximilian Schmitt, tenor
Rene Pape, bass

Bavarian Radio Chorus
Swedish Radio Chorus
(chorus master: Peter Dijkstra)
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Claudio Abbado, conductor

Recorded live at the Concert Hall of the Culture and Convention Center, Lucerne, 8 and 10 August 2012

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Latin, English, Japanese
Running time: 60 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

Also available on Blu-ray

BRAHMS, J.: Serenade No. 2 / Alto Rhapsody / Symphony No. 2 (Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Nelsons) (NTSC)

In 2014, all signs pointed to a new beginning at the Lucerne Festival. For the first time, the festival would take place without the incomparable Claudio Abbado, with the young Latvian Andris Nelsons leading the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Nelsons had already won the trust and respect of both listeners and performers in a moving memorial concert for Abbado in Lucerne. He is known internationally as one of the most gifted conductors of his generation. Now he was poised to lead the prestigious festival into a new era – he brilliantly mastered this “greatest challenge”(as he himself called it) of his career. The audience and the musicians responded with heart-felt gratitude. “He is aware of every single player and carries us on an unbelievable wave of enthusiasm”, according to concertmaster Sebastian Breuninger. Solo violist Wolfram Christ adds, “Nelsons accepts what is inherent in our orchestra and what comes from Abbado; he builds on it and makes it into something new.”

ANDRIS NELSONS CONDUCTS BRAHMS

Johannes Brahms:
Serenade No. 2 in A Major, Op. 16
Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73

Sara Mingardo, contralto
Bavarian Radio Chorus
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor

Recorded live at the Concert Hall of KKL Luzern, 15–16 August 2014

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: German, English, French, Japanese, Korean
Running time: 109 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)