Also available on CD

Jules Massenet’s five act opera-comique is presented on this new release by Patrick Davin and his Orchestra of the Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liege. Manon is Massenet’s most performed opera, which has maintained its spot in the repertoire since its composition. The enduring opera “quickly conquered the world’s stages.” Annick Massis stars in the title role. The French soprano has enjoyed a long stage career, frequently performing in Mozart’s operas and many bel canto roles.

Picture Format: NTSC, 16:9
Audio Formats: PCM 2.0, DD 5.1
Subtitles, French, English, Italian, German, Korean
Region Code: 0 (All)
Running Time: 162 mins

Donizetti: Anna Bolena

MASSENET: Roma

'- 2 DVDs | - All Regions | - NTSC | - Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS, PCM Stereo 2.0 | - Colour | - 16:9 | - 160 min.

Every operatic composer has a title that marks a turning point, one that raises him from being almost unknown to sudden fame. For B

Two very rare operas in one act. Pigmalione was Gaetano Donizetti’s first opera, written to a libretto by Simeone Antonio Sografi in just two weeks at the age of nineteen. The “lyrical scene” Pigmalione, as Donizetti himself defined it, is the composer’s only approach to a mythological subject and tells the story of a sculptor whose statue becomes alive. The main role is sung by Antonino Siragusa, who gives a masterful interpretation, especially in the long and significant recitatives, and displays a polished and colourful voice. Excellent also is the Japanese soprano Aya Wakizono, Galatea, whose enticing voice well suits the requirements of her short part. Che originali! is a little-known farce in a single act on a libretto by Gaetano Rossi, and was, from the very beginning, one of Giovanni Simone Mayr’s most successful operas. The opera tells the story of a music fanatic, Don Febeo: in his house everybody must know and love music. Emanuele Sinisi’s beautiful sets are almost surreal but well suited to Febeo’s bizarre affair. The direction is humorous, often verging on the grotesque, in line with the style of the farce but always elegant and well-structured from a dramaturgical point of view. The protagonist, Febeo, is entrusted to Bruno de Simone, an excellent actor endowed with a clear and precise voice, and a master in the fast spelled-out passages.

PAGANINI: Duets for Violin and Bassoon / Cantabile in D majo

BIZET, G.: Don Procopio [Opera]

Kolja Lessing, one of the most versatile musicians of our time, has energized music culture with significant impulses as a violinist and pianist who combines interpretive and scholarly work. For cpo he has now recorded two violin sonatas by Carl Czerny. After producing several violin and piano sonatas Czerny wrote his grand Sonata Concertante in four movements in 1848, the year of the failed revolution. The contrast to his first Violin Sonata of 1807, a work of his youth, could hardly be greater: reconsideration of Mozartian rhetoric and compositional technique mark this work pulsing with astonishing kinetic energy and with a concertante character for the most part embodied by the piano, while the violin part instead is assigned more the role of brilliant commentary or pointed interaction. Kolja Lessing himself wrote the booklet text and expresses the greatest thanks to Anton Kuerti – not only for his tireless research, investigation, and revival of Czerny’s colossal oeuvre but also just as much for his meticulous transcription of what in part are Czerny’s difficult-to-decipher manuscripts into modern notation. “Accordingly, Anton Kuerti, as Czerny’s real rediscoverer, shall have the last word with a deeply felt statement about these treasures that have now been unearthed: It is a rare privilege to find music that has been so inexcusably neglected and now brought back to life.”

This release follows the album containing Robert Fuchs’ Piano Concerto, Op. 27, and includes two symphonies. After reaching fame after his first serenade, Fuchs was held in high regard by Brahms, and taught composers such as Mahler, Sibelius, and Strauss. This recording features the WDR Sinfonieorchester Koln, conducted by Karl-Heinz Steffens.

At a time when the majority of German composers turned from the opera to the singspiel and its considerably smaller dimensions, Franz Lachner continued the tradition of the grand historical opera with Catharina Cornaro. Lachner’s once so very successful opera, last performed in Munich in 1903, was forgotten for many decades, but a few years ago the editor Volker Tosta of Stuttgart prepared a new edition of this work, its first published version, especially for the concert performance by the Munich Radio Orchestra. The action of the tragic opera is based on the true-life story of the Queen of Cyprus. Political intrigues and great passions distinguish the plot. It is difficult to believe that this musically so very appealing work, which captivated the audience at Munich’s Prince Regent Theater already with its highly atmospheric overture during the performance on which this album is based, ever could be forgotten. “With this opera the German school has been enriched with a dramatic work that has to be counted as one of the most genial and magnificent of the works belonging to it.” This is what the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung wrote after the premiere, and Max Zenger’s Geschichte der Münchner Oper of 1923 documents the pathbreaking effect of this opera when it states that Catharina Cornaro had “quite literally become Munich’s hallmark, like the two towers of the Cathedral of Our Lady.”

Bin Huang plays Beethoven on the "Guarneri del Gesi" 1742 owned by Nicoli Paganini and Bach on the Guarneri "Isaac Stern, ex Panette" 1737 owned by the famous violinist. Beethoven's Concerto in D major is an extraordinary work. The Partita No. 2 in D minor concludes with the Chaconne, one of the most memorable pieces of the entire violin literature.

Opera Arias (Soprano): Ciofi, Patrizia - TRAETTA, T. / MEYER

Classical Music

Cellist Inbal Segev’s debut release for Avie features the lush and romantic sonatas by Chopin and Grieg, and the Fantasiestucke by Robert Schumann. She is joined by Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen, a fitting partner for the pianistic Chopin and the virtuosic Grieg. In Schumann’s own transcription of his “Fantasy Pieces,” originally for clarinet, the lyrical quality shines through on Inbal’s 1673 Ruggieri cello. Inbal Segev reaches thousands of people across continents through her influential YouTube video masterclass series Musings with Inbal, teaching core repertoire, cello technique and new works. Her many honors include top prizes at the Pablo Casals, Paulo and Washington International Competitions. She began playing cello in Israel at five and at sixteen was invited by Isaac Stern to continue her studies in the US. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Yale University. “first class… richly inspired… very moving indeed…” (Gramophone) “Her playing is characterized by a strong and warm tone…delivered with impressive fluency and style.” (The Strad) “This young artist is, beyond doubt, a star in the making- her tone golden and unstrained in the high positions, her phrasing that of a born musician.” (Musical Opinion)

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REVIEW:

In the late 2010s, cellist Inbal Segev teamed with the young pianist Juho Pohjonen in recitals, and the pair has a good, confident rapport.

In the first movement of Chopin's Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65, Segev strikes a nice balance between the bel canto melody and the dense construction.

The virtuosic Grieg sonata is expertly done, and it is likely that this release will satisfy her many fans.

– All Music Guide (James Manheim)

Steinway ambassador, Guildhall professor, and cofounder of the London Piano Festival, Charles Owen turns to the late piano works by Johannes Brahms for his latest AVIE release. Within this collection of Capriccios, Rhapsodies and Intermezzi, Charles reveals myriad moods with the composer harking back as well as facing forward- from evocations of Schubert, Schumann and Liszt in the Eight Klavierstucke, Op. 76; winter-like darkness in the two Op. 79 Rhapsodies; Hungarian foot-stomping dance forms in the seven Fantasies that comprise Op. 116; nostalgic contemplation in the Op. 117 Intermezzi; romantic inflections in Op. 118 Klavierstucke which were dedicated to Clara Schumann; and the tonally forward Klavierstucke, Op. 119. “A class above the rest… His performances are underpinned by an unwavering musicality that is enhanced by close attention to the score.” (International Piano) “Exemplary. Classic. Spellbinding. And enthusiastically recommended.” (Fanfare) “Fantastically versatile… he hits the nail on the head… very stylish, very faithful.” (BBC Radio 3 Record Review)

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REVIEW:

In the Op. 117 Owen finds an apt simplicity to its opening number, while the second has a nice gentleness. The third is filled with a tangible sadness, and is nicely inward—altogether more urgent than Jonathan Plowright, who produces one of the most touchingly withdrawn readings on record. In Op. 116 Owen is particularly telling in the A minor Intermezzo, which has a pleasing intimacy, contrasting with the turbulence of the following number and the sonorously beautiful E major Adagio that forms the set’s centrepiece.

The two Op 79 Rhapsodies are another highlight of this set, with Owen conveying the requisite sense of power, surmounting their difficulties with ease and making the much-played G minor very much his own.

– Gramophone

ROSSINI : String Sonatas Nos. 1 - 6

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Performed for the first time in its original uncut version, this production of Guillaume Tell was the jewel in the crown of the 25-year history of the ‘Rossini in Wildbad’ opera festival. Rossini’s final, great, operatic masterpiece is a story of liberation, the oppressed Swiss attaining their ideal of emancipation by hounding the tyrannical Habsburgs out of their country. Although it was composed for the complex demands of the Paris Opéra, numerous dances, choruses and arias were dropped for reasons of practicality. These are restored in the present recording which also includes the stunning finale of the shorter 1831 version of the opera.

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Also available on Super Audio CD

VERDI Otello • Riccardo Muti, cond; Aleksandrs Antonenko ( Otello ); Krassimira Stoyanova ( Desdemona ); Carlo Guelfi ( Iago ); Juan Francisco Gatell ( Cassio ); Barbara Di Castri ( Emilia ); Eric Owens ( Lodovico ); Chicago SO & Ch • CSO RESOUND 9011301 (2 SACDs: 135:57 Text and Translation)


Riccardo Muti’s Otello derives from three concert performances given at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall in 2011. The recording combines the excitement of a live performance with the virtues of an excellently engineered studio effort that brilliantly captures orchestral and choral detail within a huge dynamic range. CSO Resound provides a booklet that includes essays and a libretto, and there’s no applause or audience sound.


Muti’s masterful conducting of Verdi’s greatest tragic opera would make this an important Otello to hear even if it weren’t for its generally strong vocal performances. In the first act’s storm and sequence of choruses, Muti’s slightly restrained tempos resemble Fürtwangler’s more than the forward momentum of Kleiber or Toscanini, but he generates taut excitement through control of dynamics, precise rhythm, and steady, logical pacing. The Chicago Symphony, which performed the opera under Solti, plays wonderfully well. Throughout the performance, Muti has the orchestra make subtle differences in articulation from what one traditionally hears.


A unique feature of this recording is the inclusion of a rarely heard revision of the busy ensemble that closes act III that Verdi made for a Paris production in 1894, seven years after Otello ’s La Scala premiere. The last operatic music that Verdi composed, its musical and dramatic quality is equal to that of the more familiar concertato , but its increased clarity allows Iago’s asides to be heard more clearly.


Aleksandrs Antonenko sang Otello with Muti conducting (with a different Iago and Desdemona) in Salzburg in 2008, and judging from the excerpts that I’ve seen of that performance, he improved significantly by the time of the Chicago performances. He has the right (and rare) heroic voice for Otello, and he sings musically and technically well, with comfortable-sounding Italian in a performance that begins strongly, but gains conviction in the two final acts. While he doesn’t yet imprint the role with the kind of distinctive personality that its greatest interpreters have done, singing and acting Otello tends to be a career-long process, and Antonenko sings the part far better than Cura, Galouzine, Botha, or Heppner, to name some other tenors who have undertaken the role, A.D. (After Domingo). It remains to be seen whether Jonas Kaufmann can summon the vocal power to sing the part live, but the two Otello excerpts on his recent Verdi recital are a very promising sign that perhaps, not too long from now, two castable Otellos (Kaufmann and Antonenko) may walk the earth.


The wobble in baritone Carlo Guelfi’s delivery of Iago’s first line, “È infranto l’artimon,” warns of vocal trouble, and it turns out that he lacks the required power and the ability to sing sustained notes in the drinking song, and more importantly, in the Credo. Actually, Guelfi does well with the lighter, insinuating side of of Iago’s music, such as the dialogue with Roderigo in act I, and much of act III. There’s pleasure to be had in hearing an Italian baritone in the role, but a successful Iago must be able to really sing, not just do well with role’s parlando aspects. Many a worthy Otello recording has been undermined by odd casting of Iago; I’m thinking of Fischer-Dieskau, Schöffler, Glossop, and Leiferkus. Then there are baritones whose voices are right, but whose characterizations are insufficient: Protti, Capuccilli, even Milnes. Giuseppe Valdengo, in Toscanini’s recording, demonstrates what’s possible in a performance that’s both magnificently characterized and beautifully sung.


An experienced Desdemona, Krassimira Stoyanova gives a strong performance, singing with focused, lovely tone, if not achieving the poignancy of the greatest Desdemonas in act IV: Tebaldi, Freni, de los Angeles. The smaller parts are all efficiently performed, with no particular singer standing out.


Defining what makes a great performance of Otello is straightforward. The opera requires an authoritative, exciting conductor, plus three perfectly cast singers. Good sound is a bonus, but not essential. Del Monaco and Domingo are each essential Otellos to hear, but I think of their many performances as a composite and wouldn’t single out any one particular recording. I’m particularly fond of the espressivo quality that Ramon Vinay and Jon Vickers bring to the role, and recommend the Met video with Vickers, MacNeil, and Scotto, conducted by Levine. Toscanini’s recording is thrilling, though not expansive enough in some of the opera’s lyrical music. I enjoy Solti’s first recording, with the under-appreciated Otello of Carlo Cossuta and beautiful singing by Margaret Price. But the greatest recorded Otello that I know—indeed one of the greatest of all preserved operatic performances—is the 1938 Met broadcast, conducted not only with manic energy, but with uncommon flexibility and imagination, by Ettore Panizza. Giovanni Martinelli’s splendid Otello and Elizabeth Rethberg’s Desdemona are the important interpretations of their day, and Lawrence Tibbett’s is the greatest recorded portrayal of Iago.

FANFARE: Paul Orgel

Rued Langgaard (1893–1952) was a major Danish late-Romantic composer who did not gain recognition in his mother country. His greatest successes took place in Germany and Austria, where his Symphonies Nos. 2 and 6 were met with considerable acclaim. Back home, he never received that kind of backing and praise. He died a careworn and despairing individual. On this recording with one of the world’s leading orchestras, the tradition-conscious Vienna Philharmonic, one is therefore able to hear Langgaard's music 'return home' to a central European musical culture. At the same time things were going swimmingly for his colleague Jacob Gade (1879–1963) whose ‘Tango Jalousie’ has become the absolutely most frequently played piece of Danish music for almost a century. The two pieces are juxtaposed here to create a delightful programme.

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REVIEW:

Oramo and the Vienna Philharmonic [take] on two contrasted works by Rued Langgaard that illuminate this composer in all his stylistic diversity and recklessness. Such an idiom should be in this orchestra’s blood and the VPO do not disappoint – whether in the lyrically effulgent initial movement, with its discreetly modified sonata form, or the lithe finale. A mandatory purchase for its interpretative insights, committed playing and tangibly realistic sound.

– Gramophone

Elverskud (The Elf-King’s Daughter) is a dramatic cantata from 1854, based on Danish medieval ballads. It became one of Niels W. Gade’s greatest successes, not only in his native Denmark, but throughout Europe, where Elverskud was performed several hundred times, often conducted by Gade himself. The work was written in the most fruitful and happy period of Gade’s life. This is reflected in the consummate work, in which, both textually and musically, Gade has struck a fine balance between national and more universal elements. Gade was especially admired in Germany, and on this album Elverskud is not only played on period instruments for the first time, but is also sung for the first time with the German text that brought the work international fame. Perhaps this Danish national work isn’t so Danish after all?

His instrument may have been the violin, but Niels W. Gade (1817-90) was a great admirer of piano virtuoso Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann. In fact, the great Danish Romantic composer left behind a collection of piano works that inspired both professionals and amateurs. Breathing new life into a selection of these, Armenian-Danish pianist Marianna Shirinyan performs Gade's poetic "Aquarelles," the almost orchestral "Sonata in E minor", four chopin-esque "Fantasy Pieces" and the little "Chanson danoise", here in its first recording.

The Danish baritone Johan Reuter often sings leading roles at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is in high demand all over the world. He also loves the lied repertoire, however, and the work closest to his heart is the Schubert song cycle Winterreise (Winter Journey). For this new release, he wanted to record it not with the usual piano accompanist, but in an arrangement for string quartet. Richard Krug from the Copenhagen String Quartet made this highly idiomatic transcription of the piano part and the result is deeper, more moving and with full sound than in the original. This is truly a unique experience. Johan Reuter studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Academy of the Royal Theatre in his hometown of Copenhagen. He frequented masterclasses of Ernst Haefliger, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson and Richard Trimborn. Since 1996 he has been a soloist of the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, where he sings a large repertoire.

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This new release, featuring a truly sensational Bruckner 9, is the premiere recording of the finale completed by Nors Josephson. Josephson writes of this release: “The present edition of the finale to Anton Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony is the result of a ten year-long project. I have utilised the sketches and score sketches to this movement that are found in the Oesterreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna, Austria, the Viennese Stadt-und Landesbibliothek and the Viennese Hochschule fur Musik und darstellende Kunst; all of these institutions kindly provided me with microfilms and photographic copies of these sources. In addition, Alfred Orel’s 1934 edition of most of these sources as part of the Bruckner Complete Works was of particular value. Thanks go to the Oesterreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna for sending me a copy of this edition.” Conductor John Gibbons brings a transparent and insightful interpretation to the entire work.

Classical Music

Classical Music

The Spiritual Revival Choir of Moscow was created in 1992, at the end of the Soviet era, a time when religious freedom was once again permitted in Russia. The choir's repertoire includes music of the renaissance, baroque, classical and romantic periods, as well as music by contemporary composers such as Alfred Schnittke. 'Serene Ecstasy' features the choir in sacred music by Russian composers from the 19th and 20th centuries.
The choir opens the program with "The Russian Soil," a hymn dedicated to Russian saints that is memorable for its rhythmic drive and exalted tone. Two sacred pieces by Tchaikovsky are marked by drama and, in "Eucharist" from the 'Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom,' a sense of joy. The group's lush tonal quality is ideal in Ippolitov-Ivanov's pacific "Praise the Lord, O My Soul."
This recording consistently impresses with its excellent singing and fascinating repertoire; surely it's an ideal recording for all lovers of sacred music.

An overall glance at the history of opera shows that in many ways, the growth of multinational record companies after the end of the Second World War has had far-reaching effects. Up till then the national singing schools controlled the scene and nothing could have been more logical than for Italian, German, Russian and French singers to perform mainly in their own language. The language an opera was staged in depended on where the opera was being performed. For example: Boris Godunov wasput on in Russian at the Bolshoi, in Italian at the Scala, in French at the Opera, in German at the Staatsoper in Vienna, in English at Covent Garden and in English or Italian at the Met, depending on which company was performing. This release, despite it's 1962 recording, follows that same tradition of singing the presented opera in the language of the country in which it is being performed. In this case, Italian.