Romantic Era
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Donizetti: La Romanziera e L'uomo Nero
| The libretto for La Romanziera e l’Uomo Nero was inspired by two plays performed in Paris in the 1820s: L’Homme Noir by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Henry Dupin in 1820 and Le Coiffeur et le Perruquier, also written by Scribe in collaboration with Mazères and Saint Laurent, in 1824. By basing the opera on these plays the composer created a divertissement of the Italian querelle genre, both classical and romantic.The libretto is a satyr of the sentimental-romantic daydreams which were so fashionable at that time and takes places in the poetic world of the young Antonina, who dreams of an ideal life with an non-existent “uomo nero”, the mystery man. La Romanziera e l’Uomo Nero is an “ambiguous” and complex work: it is ambiguous because it lacks a clear and decisive characterization in a comedic sense; that is to say, a clearly defined plot, complete with all the typical ingredients of a traditional opera buffa, and a precise outline and structure in this direction, from both a dramaturgical and musical point of view. It is complex because it is full of recollections and inventions, which are introduced and developed predominantly through a contrapuntal approach (all scenes invariably call for more than one soloist). |
Dvorak: String Quintet & Piano Quintet / Masurenko, Triendl, Vogler Quartett
Following the successful edition featuring Dvorák's complete string quartets, the Vogler Quartet releases more chamber music by this composer. During the course of his life Dvorák penned more than forty works for chamber ensemble. While most of his symphonies are most famous, they were often "sandwiched' between numberous chamber works.
REVIEW:
It is always an unexpected and very special surprise to receive a disc of very familiar works you already have multiple recordings of and have heard countless times, but one of such singular beauty that it causes you to fall in love with the music all over again, as if you were hearing it for the first time. Such is the magic of these performances of Dvořák’s String Quintet in E♭-Major and Piano Quintet in A Major, op. 81—I include the distinguishing opus number here because the composer wrote an earlier piano quintet in the same key, designated op. 5.
I’m not usually at a loss for words, but there’s not much else I can say other than that these are the most enrapturing performances of these two works I’ve ever heard, either live or on record. The balance between the instruments is such that tiny details emerge that one simply doesn’t hear in other recordings.
— Fanfare (Jerry Dubins)
Grieg, E.: Vocal Music (Arr. for Saxophone and Piano) (Summe
Arnold Mendelssohn: Motetten zur Weihnacht - Deutsche Messe
Grieg: Norwegian Dances, Symphonic Dances, Lyric Suite / Ruud, Bergen PO
Another BIS first. Not the music this time but the way it is packaged. BIS breaks new ground by offering the public the first surround-sound version of Grieg's justly popular Symphonic Dances. Like all our hybrid SACD releases, this disc is compatible with all CD players but will also provide a surround-sound performance - at no extra cost - to those who are equipped with the relevant hardware. This highly atmospheric music, which so easily removes the listener to the lonely beauty fo the Norwegian fjords, gains especially from the striking realism of a musically balanced surround-sound recording. Further enticement is added by the inclusion of both the Norwegian Dances and the Lyric Suite on this disc. The performances are by Grieg's own orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ole Kristian Ruud. This disc follows the recently released SACD1191 containing, among other works, the famous 'Piano Concerto' in our Grieg-Bergman PO - Ruud cycle.
Hoffmann: Grand Trio E-dur - Beethoven: Trio op. 70, 1 Geist
Bunin, Glinka, Sokolov, Shebalin: Three Centuries of Russian Viola Sonatas / Vendryes, David
The Russian viola sonata is a rare bird, not least because the instrument itself was frowned upon by the Soviet authorities; as a result Russian music for the viola has a rather patchy history. It begins in earnest in 1931, when the 1825 Sonata by Mikhail Glinka, ‘the father of Russian music’, was reconstructed from his sketches by Vadim Borisovsky, ‘the father of the Russian viola’. Thereafter, musicians and composers worked together to expand the repertoire. The relationship between the composer Revol Bunin and the violist Rudolf Barshai resulted in a sonata of 1955 which deserves wider currency. Although half a century apart, the Shebalin and Sokolov sonatas have something unusual in common: both were created as part of a triptych, alongside sonatas for violin and cello. All four composers knew how to make the viola sing – though this lyricism is often animated by moments of drama and excitement.
Verdi: Falstaff / Corena, Oncina, Miller, Giulini, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
There is a small but important group of operas that are essentially ensemble works, and in which the presence of a few star singers is less important than the quality of the team as a whole. Die Meistersinger, From the House of the Dead and Peter Grimes are prime examples but surely Falstaff comes at the top of the list. Everyone involved, including the chorus and orchestra as well as the many smaller parts, needs to be aware of their part in the work as a whole and in the chosen approach. If this is the case any small weaknesses in the main parts can easily be forgiven and the nature of the work can be triumphantly realised. That is surely the ambition of any opera company serious about its task, and is clearly the case here. I would not want to suggest that the present set is superior to all its many distinguished predecessors but it is certainly another vindication of the importance of ensemble in opera.
Glyndebourne took its productions to the early Edinburgh Festivals right from the first Festival in 1947 onwards. In 1955 it took Falstaff in a production originally intended to be conducted by Vittorio Gui but taken over by Giulini when the former became unwell. A later Glyndebourne version of the opera conducted by Gui with Geraint Evans, the original choice as Ford, has now been released on Glyndebourne’s own label. The usual very thorough rehearsal which has always been a feature of this company’s work is especially relevant to this opera. The result is a single-minded approach to its musical and dramatic character that is very striking. Whether this is due to the conductor’s efforts, to the long rehearsals or to careful casting I do not know but the result is a real overall success.
The individual casting is admirable. Fernando Corena’s recordings of buffo music by Donizetti and Cimarosa had shown his ability in this field. It is surprising that this production appears to have been his first performances as Falstaff. The part is often given to a baritone but a bass voice does have the advantage of suggesting the character’s scale without needing to resort to “funny” voices. He does not play with the words in quite the detailed way of, say, Tito Gobbi or Geraint Evans, but instead he exudes a more general good humour. I found it wholly convincing, especially when set within a cast all of whom display their character’s individual “humours” musically and without exaggeration. Walter Monachesi has a voice very different from Corena’s, which helps a lot in their scene together, and if the Merry Wives are not so well distinguished from each other, neither are they in most performances of the opera or indeed in Shakespeare. The role of Mistress Quickly is a gift for a singer with the necessary power in the lower register and ability of characterisation. Oralia Dominguez has both of these qualities and stands out even in such distinguished company. All of the other, by no means minor, parts are well filled. One oddity is that Kevin Miller takes over in Act 3 from Juan Oncina as Fenton. He may lack the same lyrical beauty of voice but there is no serious loss.
As I explained earlier, it is the quality of the ensemble that distinguishes this recording. All of the big complicated ensembles which can sound simply confused or untidy are here clear and transparent. Even with a recording which is adequate for a broadcast of the period but little more there is no real loss to the music. There are occasional stage noises, including what is probably the prompter at times, and some obtrusive applause but this simply makes the listener even more aware of what must have been a tremendous theatrical occasion. There is no libretto or even a synopsis which is regrettable but understandable in a version likely to appeal mainly to collectors who have more modern versions in their collections already. I would happily have exchanged the seven pages of listing of the ICA catalogue for more pictures of the original production - or indeed a more detailed description of it.
There are many distinguished recordings of Falstaff in the catalogue, including those conducted by Karajan (with Gobbi), Toscanini, and (some years later) Giulini in Los Angeles. The present set takes its place with them, like them offering hours of pleasure and delight. If the opera has a lesson it is the composer and librettist’s sheer delight in the varied character of humanity and its many frailties. This recording captures that varied character to perfection in a wonderfully relaxed and good humoured performance in which nearly everything seemed to have gone right.
-- John Sheppard, MusicWeb International
Massenet: Thaïs / Hopkins, Staples, Wall, Davis, Toronto Symphony
Following acclaimed performances at the Edinburgh Festival and then in Melbourne, Sir Andrew Davis’s recording of Massenet’s opera Thaïs features an outstanding cast, and exceptional performances from his Toronto forces. Written shortly after the premiere of his masterpiece Werther, Thaïs was composed for the Californian soprano Sybil Sanderson who gave the premiere at the Paris Opéra in 1894. Sanderson's performance was a triumph, but the opera itself had a mixed reception. After Massenet revised it in 1898 it went on to worldwide success in the years leading up to World War I and has enjoyed continuous and growing success in our own time. The role of Thaïs has drawn many great artists, including Mary Garden, Geraldine Farrar, Maria Jeritza, Leontyne Price, Beverley Sills, and Renée Fleming. According to the Financial Times, ‘Erin Wall is the Thaïs of one’s dreams, wielding a soprano of radiance, pristine beauty and tingling top notes”, and she is joined on the recording by Joshua Hopkins in the role of Athanaël, while Nicias is sung by Andrew Staples.
REVIEWS:
To Thais herself Erin Wall brings a clean, pliant soprano used with discretion and judgement. Dark of presence, Joshua Hopkins makes a vehement Athanaël. Davis presents a perceptive account of one of Massenet’s best creations, the Canadian orchestra offering fine-textured playing as they respond with assurance to the composer’s unerring gift for scene painting. It surpasses many earlier efforts not only in terms of casting and conducting, but also in taking one of Massenet’s finest scores seriously.
– BBC Music Magazine
Davis's understanding of Massenet’s often deliberate blurring of the dividing line between sensual and spiritual experience is unquestionably acute. The playing is excellent, with a refined sensuousness of texture throughout. Hopkins's is a remarkable, unforgettable performance, sung with consistently expressive beauty, and quite superbly characterised.
– Gramophone
Rubinstein: Le Bal / Warren Lee
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REVIEW:
The playing is stunning and imaginative. Warren Lee gives a performance which sparkles in the lively numbers and is suitably thoughtful in the quieter and more reflective moments.
– MusicWeb International
Bruckner: Symphony No. 3
Cavatine / Duo Stephanie & Saar
Piano four hands ensemble DUO Stephanie and Saar (Stephanie Ho and Saar Ahuvia) continue their series of recordings that challenge listeners to hear iconic works in new guises. Catalyzed by Beethoven's own arrangement of the famous Grosse Fuge op. 133, the duo presents Hugo Ulrich and Robert Wittman's stately transcription of the op. 130 string quartet to which the iconic fugue originally belonged, alongside Schubert's brooding F minor Fantasie, D. 940. Pianists Stephanie Ho and Saar Ahuvia collaborate as DUO Stephanie & Saar in dazzling performances filled with visceral excitement, elegance and artistic vision. The duo are founders and artistic directors of Makrokosmos Project, a critically acclaimed Oregon-based new music festival featuring dynamic American composers of our time. In its sixth year, the festival is entirely driven by community support. Some of the featured composers include Kenji Bunch, Gabriela Lena Frank, Caroline Shaw, Julia Wolfe, John Luther Adams, Karen Tanaka, Michael Johanson and Alexander Schwarzkopf, among many others.
Brahms: Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 6 / Douglas
REVIEW:
Douglas’s hefty, full-bodied sound, built from the bottom up, befits the mellow power of Brahms’s sound world. In the dark E flat minor Op 118 Intermezzo, most pianists focus attention on the right-hand melody and treat the rumbling left-hand lines as muted filigree. Douglas, however, does almost the exact opposite, and the effect is revelatory.
– Gramophone
MELODIES / SONGS
Beethoven: Variations / Olga Pashchenko
Schubert: V1: Piano Trios / Gould Piano Trio
| In their second album for Resonus, the Gould Piano Trio returns with a recording of Schubert’s Piano Trios. Apart from a very early single movement written when he fifteen years of age, Schubert came to the piano trio late in his short career and left only two full-length works in the form, written in 1827–8. By the time Schubert came to write his piano trios, the form had taken on a new stature thanks to work from composers such as Beethoven. Here, Schubert’s Trios in B-flat major and the ‘Notturno’ in E-flat major are joined by the delightful Valses nobles D969, composed for solo piano and heard here in a world premiere recording in this arrangement for trio by Julius Zellner. |
Verdi: Le Trouvere / Abbado, Teatro Comunale di Bologna
After the great success that Il Trovatore received in Paris, Verdi was proposed to compose a French version of the opera to suit the tastes of the local public. The original work, based on the Spanish play El trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez, had a libretto by Cammarano, which was translated into French by Émilien Pacini . Le Trouvère was first staged in Brussels in 1856 and premiered at the Paris Opera in 1857. In this new version the composer added some music in act 3 for the gypsie ballet scene, extended the finale of act 4 and made several other revisions. The plot is highly dramatic and captivating: Verdi portrays strong characters who deal with war, obsession and revenge. To use director Robert Wilson’s words “this is a family tragedy, and in many ways, it is a very contemporary story.” Wilson’s approach to the opera aims at preserving its emotional strength by using a very essential décor, whose main element is light: “As a director, when I design the stage and lighting, I think about if what I see can help me hear better. Le Trouvère requires a tremendous amount of concentration, so the set I designed is abstract in order to create a space for the music in the Farnese. I have designed an environment in concrete, creating a juxtaposition to the theatre’s ornate interior. […] Light in my work functions as part of the architectural whole. It is an element which helps us hear and see. Without light there is no space. To light a world that Verdi has described as so dark, one needs light to make the space darker.” In the set’s background the director also uses some photos by American photographer Robert Rosenkranz. This production was staged in the splendid Teatro Farnese of Parma, which was built in 1628 and belongs to the Complesso Monumentale della Pilotta, one of the oldest museums in Italy. Extra content: Interview with the curator of the Museum subtitled in all languages.
Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 6 & 7
Rimsky-Korsakov: Kashchey the Immortal
In November 1900, the music journalist Yevgeny Petro-vsky gave Rimsky-Korsakov his libretto, entitled Prince Ivan, which is loosely based on Russian folk tales about a mean and ugly wizard. Despite being initially interested in the text the composer eventually rejected it, put off by its unfathomable symbolism. However, in the summer of the following year the score of Wagner’s Siegfried pro-vided inspiration for fresh and innovative harmonic ideas, which he decided to include in a work dealing with motifs of black magic. With the help of his daughter Sofia, he wrote his own script based on Petrovsky’s original, and as early as in spring of 1902 he had a one-act opera in three scenes ready – Kashchey the Immortal – which was successfully staged in Moscow before the year had ended. The work is presented in a brilliant new interpretation on this new release.
Bel Canto Paganini / Rachel Barton Pine
For example, she observes all of the repeats. That might prove deadly in the lengthy No. 4 C minor Maestoso caprice or the No. 6 G minor trill study, yet Pine’s wide expressive and coloristic palette keeps the music alive and meaningful. What is more, she does this without resorting to exaggerated phrasings or dynamic swells.
Her slow and serious No. 13 bypasses the surface humor of the descending “laughing” chromatic thirds while emphasizing the composer’s dolce marking in figurative red ink. The fanfare-like gestures that open the E-flat Caprices Nos. 19 and 23 become provocatively wistful themes, while No. 18’s arpeggiated C major proclamations become softer, more questioning than usual, followed by descending scales that sound more like music than exercises. However, don’t expect scintillation and surface bravura, which James Ehnes serves up in tandem with sound musical values.
Interestingly, Pine lets loose and catches fire in her own Paganini-inspired Variations on “God Defend New Zealand”, proving that she could very well match Perlman, Rabin, Ricci, and Midori at their ebullient peaks. Whether or not Pine’s Paganini will suit all tastes, she unquestionably commands the ways and means to make the best possible case for her conceptions.
– ClassicsToday (Jed Distler)
Pine is principally interested in the musical qualities of these extraordinary, endlessly inventive miniatures, and there’s hardly a moment here where you get any sense of technique taking precedence over expression.
She finds a wonderfully rich range of colors. Double-stopped octaves can almost vanish into the melody (as in No 7), give a fanfare figure a heroic echo (Nos 19 and 23) or throw an eerie shadow like some operatic mad scene (No 15)—as the music demands. Her characterisation is beguiling: Pine lets minor-key melodies droop to a finish, plays teasingly with the rhythmic sideslips of No 13 and makes the famous left-hand pizzicato in No 24 burst like popping candy.
– Gramophone
Geza Anda Plays Beethoven
Schumann: Quartet, Op. 47 - Faure: Quartet, Op. 15 (1953)
Grieg: Peer Gynt Op. 23 / Ruud, Hagegård, Et Al

If you want Grieg's complete Peer Gynt with dialogue, this is the set to own. It really does represent a new standard, musically, dramatically, and technically. Let me say up front that ordinarily I'm not a fan of music with dialogue, but these actors are so involved, and their participation is so skillfully integrated into the acoustic framework and the musical flow, that the sound of idiomatically spoken Norwegian becomes a sort of quasi-musical counterpoint all on its own. Of course, it helps that the actual music, as realized by Ruud and his Bergen forces, also is outstandingly played and sung. His interpretation has all of the necessary freshness and energy that Grieg's score requires. It's theatrical and exciting but also sensitive; rustic without being crude.
High points are almost too numerous to list: there's Ruud's ebullient overture and his perfectly judged accelerando at In the Hall of the Mountain King; the rush of excitement when Peer Gynt is being hunted by the trolls; the characterfully grotesque Dance of the Mountain King's Daughter; the effortless flow of Morning Mood; Anitra's sexy little belly dance; a wonderfully urgent Peer Gynt's Homecoming; a terrifying shipwreck that happily avoids tacky sound effects; and it's all capped by the beautiful vocal contributions of Marita Solberg, who sings a particularly earthy, warm-toned Solveig. As with all the participants in this performance, she seems not just concerned with getting the notes right, but she's also fully involved with the text and in communicating what the music means, almost as if it were new. The chorus also characterizes its part with enthusiasm, avoiding that "churchy" feel that sometimes dogs performances with voices (except, of course, in the Whitsun Hymn, where it's called for).
It's also worth pointing out the extreme care that BIS has taken over production values. In SACD multichannel format, not only do you get enhanced three-dimensionality with respect to the basic soundstage, but sensitive use of the rear speakers creates atmosphere--for example, at such moments as the scene with the Boyg, or at various places requiring offstage voices--without ever drawing gratuitous attention to the technical side of things. The bottom line is that this production offers an unparalleled experience of Grieg's music in which the technology is placed entirely in the service of musical and theatrical values. The packaging and presentation are also exceptional: you get two booklets, one with notes and texts (Norwegian and English), the other with production stills from the actual play. Clearly everyone concerned with this release has pulled out all of the stops, and it has paid off handsomely. An exceptional achievement. [6/28/2005]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 7 / Mcgegan, Philharmonia Baroque
BEETHOVEN Symphonies Nos. 4 1 and 7 2 • Nicholas McGegan, cond; Philharmonia Baroque O (period instruments) • PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE PRODUCTIONS 06 (75:10) Live: Berkeley 1 11/10-11/2012, 2 9/12-13/2009
Unlike a number of other conductors in the early music movement, Nicholas McGegan has waited a long time to commit any of the Beethoven symphonies to disc. The wait has been well worthwhile. These are now my favorite period performance versions of the Fourth and Seventh symphonies on CD. I previously had preferred the Fourth of John Eliot Gardiner. It is faster than McGegan’s in every movement, sometimes significantly so. I feel that McGegan’s tempos allow the music to breathe more and to build up more natural climaxes. Gardiner uses a larger string section, which produces a wider dynamic range than McGegan’s. But McGegan’s orchestra sounds better balanced to me, with the strings allowing for richer textures from the inner voices. Interestingly, both conductors employ the same principal flute, the excellent Janet See, whose album of Vivaldi concertos with McGegan and the PBO is well worth seeking out. In the opening movement of the Fourth, McGegan’s Adagio is like a journey through the Greek underworld, leading to an Allegro vivace that feels like the whole world springing to life. Its development section sounds very Viennese in its congeniality. The second movement resembles chamber music, similar to a Buddhist scroll painting in its play of light and shade. It is significant that McGegan’s violin section includes such period chamber music luminaries as Katherine Kyme, Elizabeth Blumenstock, and Jolianne von Einem. The third movement displays Olympian humor, while the last is very danceable, sort of Beethoven’s version of a hoedown. In both symphonies, McGegan is very generous with repeats.
One of the principal attractions of McGegan’s Seventh is timpanist Kent Reed. Over 20 years ago, I heard a splendid Seventh by the New Jersey Symphony conducted by my friend Jens Nygaard, in which the timpanist, Randall Hicks, really whaled away. The critic assigned to the concert complained that it sounded like a timpani concerto. By now, we are so accustomed to the thwack of period timpani that Reed’s performance doesn’t seem unusual. Before hearing McGegan, my favorite period Seventh was Roger Norrington’s Stuttgart account. He is more fastidious in the middle movements about Beethoven’s metronome markings, though McGegan’s tempos there feel less rushed. Norrington’s strings, modern instruments played without vibrato, make a thicker, less appealing sound than McGegan’s more gossamer section. What’s more, McGegan conducts the entire symphony with a Beechamesque twinkle in his eye that Norrington lacks. The introduction to McGegan’s first movement is fleet-footed, with beautiful wind playing. The main section features wonderful waves of sound that ebb and flow, while the coda offers splendidly braying horns. McGegan’s slow movement is measured, with a careful delineation of dynamics. Its sensation is that of a haunted, misty reverie. The third movement feels as if the different sections of the orchestra are engaged in a conversation. Its trio sounds like an ecstatic shepherd’s song. The concluding movement is a jolly, mercurial romp. McGegan’s Seventh, congenial as it is, is one you can live with very easily.
The sound engineering in both symphonies is excellent. If you are looking for these works on modern instruments, I would recommend George Szell in Cleveland for the Fourth and Karl Böhm with the Vienna Philharmonic for the Seventh, although his Berlin account is nearly as good. McGegan’s album is a marvelous blend of the wisdom of the old master conductors with the finesse of period instruments. His Beethoven is an extremely likable fellow of vast ingenuity, an artist with whose work you never are sated. There is not one unconsidered bar of music in the whole album.
FANFARE: Dave Saemann
Paganini: 24 Capricci Op.1 / Malov
| This album is already the artist's second encounter with Niccolò Paganini. After the 2014 album "Hommage á Paganini", this is now the complete Opus 1 of the great Italian. The versatile Russian searches for starting points for creativity in dealing with the highly virtuoso music. Thus the 24 Capricci once again become a continuous story. The fast tempi, the lightness in seemingly unplayable passages is only the surface. Rather, Malov searches for the depth, the wit, the variety of colors in this ingenious music. In addition to the improvisations and ornamentations, effects (forest echo, birdsong) can sometimes be heard. Before the last, 24th Caprice, there is a subjective summary of what has been heard so far. In October 2021, the artist will be awarded with the German “Opus Klassik” in the category "Solo Recording Instrument of the Year" for his most recently released album "Bach - 6 Suites for Cello Solo played on a Violoncello da Spalla". |
BELLINI, V.: Puritani (I) [Opera] (1952)
Carlos Acosta – Dances Royal Ballet Classics [blu-ray]
Also available on standard DVD
So memorably described as ‘a dancer who slashes across space faster than anyone else, who lacerates the air with shapes so clear and sharp they seem to throw off sparks’ (Independent), Carlos Acosta has been at the forefront of contemporary ballet since his arrival at the Royal Ballet in 1998. Here he sparkles in three of his most celebrated roles: the young lover Colas in the joyfully bucolic La Fille mal gardée, which received five stars from the Guardian, Times and Mail on Sunday; the innocent but doomed Romeo in Prokofiev’s sumptuously-scored adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous play; and, acting as producer and choreographer for the first time, as Basilio in Don Quixote, a production that wowed audiences thanks to its ‘intelligent’ choreography and Acosta’s ‘titanic determination, bullet-proof charisma [and] delectably trusting and playful rapport’ with co-star Marianela Núñez (Daily Telegraph). These three compelling ballets showcase Carlos Acosta’s world-class reputation as a dancer and choreographer, bolstered by outstanding co-stars and artists of the Royal Ballet. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true Surround Sound.
CARLOS ACOSTA – Dances Royal Ballet Classics
(3 Blu-ray Disc Box Set)
Ferdinand Hérold
LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE
Lise - Marianela Nuñez
Colas - Carlos Acosta
Widow Simone - William Tuckett
Alain - Jonathan Howells
Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Anthony Twiner, conductor
Frederick Ashton, choreographer
Osbert Lancaster, set designer
Sergey Prokofiev
ROMEO AND JULIET
Romeo - Carlos Acosta
Juliet - Tamara Rojo
Mercutio - José Martin
Tybalt - Thiago Soares
Nurse - Sandra Conley
Lord Capulet - Christopher Saunders
Lady Capulet - Elizabeth McGorian
Paris - David Pickering
Benvolio - Yohei Sasaki
Royal Ballet
Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Boris Gruzin, conductor
Kenneth MacMillan, choreographer
Nicholas Georgiadis, costume designer
John B. Read, lighting designer
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, choreographer (after M
arius Petipa)
Tim Hatley, set and costume designer Hugh Vanstone, lighting designer
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, 2 February 2005 (La fille mal gardée), 2007 (Romeo and Juliet) and October 2013 (Don Quixote)
Bonus:
- Cast gallery and illustrated synopsis (La fille mal gardée)
- Interviews with cast and crew (Don Quixote)
- Introductions to Acts II and III (Don Quixote)
Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 (all) / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote) / Dolby Digital 5.1 (La fille mal gardée)
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: French, German, Spanish, Italian (La fille mal gardée)
Running time: 6 hrs 15 mins (ballet) + 12 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 3 (BD 50)
Piano Recital 1986 - Franz Liszt / André Watts
This is a live concert, but the sound is on par with just about any studio recording, and there is no applause, or any other distraction, from the audience. Liszt has figured prominently in André Watts’s repertory, both on disc and in concert, and there is nothing in this recital that you won’t find on one of the two Liszt CDs that he recorded for EMI not long before. There are the expected benefits and hazards. Watts has an occasional moment of slightly (very slightly!) less than flawless fingerwork—which is not something one would expect on a disc recorded in a studio, of course. On the other hand, Watts is more spontaneous here than on the EMI discs, which present his pianism purring and powerful like the engine of a racing car. There is purring and power here too, but also a touch of the unexpected, and that makes this new release worth exploring, especially if you don’t want to invest in the pair of EMI releases. (They were reissued at a bargain price in the label’s Double Fforte series, but that two-CD set is no longer in print.)
I think it’s been a while since Watts released a new CD, and it is good to be reminded what a terrific pianist he was … and I hope still is. (He is still a few years from his 70th birthday, and holds a faculty position at Indiana University in Bloomington.) His Liszt Totentanz is one of the most electrifying piano recordings ever made, and it reveals him—as does the present release—as having supreme digital dexterity and a flair for old-school virtuosity. At the same time, he never has been an effect-mongering showoff, and the performances on this CD confirm that intelligence and good taste are part of his skill set as well. I’ve heard more cohesive readings of the Sonata in B Minor, it’s true, but the music certainly does not fall apart, and Watts always keeps the big picture in focus. Some might be surprised by his strong flair for the Magyar elements in the Hungarian Rhapsody; they should remember that Watts’s mother was Hungarian.
If you don’t have any of Watts’s Liszt, I’d recommend this highly. If you do, I’d still recommend it, although I don’t think it eclipses the studio recordings.
FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle
Verdi: Il Trovatore / Farnes, Royal Opera House [Blu-ray]
Also available on standard DVD
Verdi’s opera of passion, blood, fire and vengeance comes to the stage in an atmospheric production by David Bosch. A quartet of world-class singers bring the principal characters of this searing opera to life. Gregory Kunde stars as the troubadour Manrico, with Lianna Haroutounian as his courageous lover Leonora. Vitaliy Bilyy is the tyrannical Count di Luna, the man who wants Leonora for himself, and Anita Rachvelishvili is Azucena, the mysterious gypsy woman unable to reveal the secret that torments her. Richard Farnes conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and Royal Opera Chorus in this exploration of love, cruelty, intense passion and revenge. "The evening’s musical credentials are unequivocally outstanding. The soloists are very strong with two performances standing out in particular. The first comes from Vitaliy Bilyy who is making his Royal Opera debut as the Count di Lunaand who combines a deep, rich and secure baritone with a suitably commanding presence.... The second comes from Anita Rachvelishvili as Azucena who displays a rich and nuanced mezzo-soprano, and whose voice and acting mark out the weight of sorrow and resolve that she constantly carries...." (Opera Online)
