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NABUCCO
Dynamic Jan 2011
DVD
$36.99

Offenbach: Un mari a la porte / Galli, Maggio Musicale Florentino

Dynamic

$12.99 Nov 15, 2019

Un mari à la porte ( A Husband at the Door) is a one-act operetta which was recorded at the Teatro del Maggio in occasion of the 200th anniversary of Offenbach’s birth. Premiered in 1859, this rarely performed work is a most amusing comedy of errors, which is the typical frameset that the composer used to represent and mock the quirks and vices of the French society of his times. The action takes place in Susanne’s bedroom, on her wedding night. She is in company of her friend Rosita, with whom she complains about having just found out about her husband’s bad character, that she decides to punish and leave outside the door. Rosita tries to soothe her naive friend and eventually leaves. While alone, the bride realizes that there’s a man hidden under the bed. It’s Florestan Ducroquet, a young and penniless musician, who had broken into the room falling from the chimney, while escaping from the fury of a jealous husband. Rosita joins the pair in the room as Henry, the groom, is waiting outside the door pleading to come in, yet thinking the two friends are pulling a prank on him. Finally the intruder manages to flee from the window, seconds after having proposed to Rosita. Order is restored and love triumphs over all. This carefree play of allusions and misunderstandings is accompanied by the brilliant music of Offenbach that moves gracefully to the rhythm of dance: polka, mazurka and especially waltz. The strong points of this production are indeed the colorful, flamboyant setting and costumes and the amazing acting ability of all four singers, who have the audience laugh with sheer delight.

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Offenbach: Un mari a la porte / Galli, Maggio Musicale Florentino
Dynamic Nov 2019
CD
$12.99

Haydn: Die Schöpfung / Mehta, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Dynamic

$18.99 Aug 20, 2021

Inspired by hearing performances of Handel’s oratorios during his visits to London, Haydn composed Die Schöpfung (‘The Creation’) in 1798. Through a series of accompanied recitatives, arias, duets and choruses, the music depicts the creation of the universe and the carefree existence of Adam and Eve. Haydn drew on the full complement of his symphonic and vocal prowess which reach peaks of almost operatic intensity. With rich harmonies and sonic magnificence in abundance, Die Schöpfung represents the apex of the Viennese oratorio tradition.

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Haydn: Die Schöpfung / Mehta, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Dynamic Aug 2021
CD
$18.99

The Royal Opera Collection [DVD]

Opus Arte

DVD

$139.99 Oct 22, 2021

This 18-opera collection displays the scope of The Royal Opera's work. From the sumptuous beauty of Richard Eyre's La traviata and the picturesque realism of John Copley's La bohème to the psychological intensity of David McVicar's Salome and Kasper Holten's Król Roger, the impressive collection spans more than two hundred years of great operatic works from the classical period to the present day. Featuring some of the company's most popular guest artists, including Renée Fleming, Jonas Kaufmann, Joseph Calleja and Diana Damrau, and conductors including The Royal Opera's Music Director Antonio Pappano, The Royal Opera Collection is a dazzling tour of operatic treasures by Mozart, Verdi, Bizet, Wagner, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Puccini, Richard Strauss, Szymanowski, Britten and George Benjamin. This title is a re-packaging of The Royal Opera Collection (OA1244BD) at budget price, including the same content and booklet as the original release (which will be discontinued).

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The Royal Opera Collection [DVD]
Opus Arte Oct 2021
DVD
$139.99

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen - Great Scenes

Opus Arte

$23.99 Apr 30, 2013

“This set is essential” concluded Gramophone of the Ring cycle when this 2008 production was issued complete. Christian Thielemann leads a performance of masterful pacing and burning conviction that features detailed interpretations from many of today’s most experienced interpreters of their complex and glorious roles.

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Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen - Great Scenes
Opus Arte Apr 2013
CD
$23.99

Donizetti: Belisario / Frizza, Orchestra Donizetti Opera, Coro Donizetti Opera [Blu-ray]

Dynamic

Blu-Ray

$26.99 Nov 19, 2021

Donizetti's three-act tragic opera Belisario was a resounding success in its day, driven by its composer’s superlative theatrical instinct and his skillful interweaving of intense tragic narrative and emotional pathos. Belisario is betrayed by his wife Antonina, who falsely accuses him of high treason. Belisario is blinded and exiled, with proof of his innocence coming too late, and is mortally wounded during a final military victory. This production was performed and recorded without an audience in Bergamo during the Covid-19 lockdown in November 2020 – a moving performance reflecting a spirit of defiance amidst ruin and darkness.

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Donizetti: Belisario / Frizza, Orchestra Donizetti Opera, Coro Donizetti Opera [Blu-ray]
Dynamic Nov 2021
Blu-Ray
$26.99

Bizet: Carmen / Gardiner, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique [Blu-ray]

Naxos AudioVisual

Blu-Ray

$40.99 May 14, 2021

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

Also available on standard DVD

Georges Bizet died at the tragically young age of 36 while Carmen was still in it's first run, and he never witnessed the huge international acclaim his opera received. Filled with jealousy and passion, the gripping and ultimately tragic narrative of Carmen initially shocked audiences, but with an abundance of memorable tunes, it remains unchallenged as one of the most popular operas ever written. Carmen received it's premiere at the Opéra Comique in Paris in 1875, and this internationally acclaimed production, performed on period instruments, represents a triumphant return to it's home theatre. 'Carmen has never sounded more revolutionary, romantic or thrillingly vibrant' (The Times, London).

REVIEW:

Ms. Antonacci comes across as a totally convincing Carmen, vocally and dramatically. Her Habanera is spicy, alluring and sung with utter confidence and swagger, while her Second Act Les tringles des sistres tintaient shows her displaying an exotic style quite perfect for this colorful number. Straight through the opera she is consistently excellent, conveying effectively every aspect of the conniving and manipulative side of seductress Carmen’s character. Andrew Richards is splendid as Don José, the soldier hopelessly enamored of Carmen and tortured by her rejections. His Second Act Flower Song (La Fleur Que Tu M’avais Jetée) is sung with tenderness and passion. His dramatic skills are impressive throughout: note how effectively he becomes a different Don José in the final act, degenerating to desperation and finally to a murderous level in answer to Carmen’s final rejection.

Anne-Catherine Gillet as Micaëla is also quite fine. She has an angelic soprano voice, which is especially beautiful and strong in the upper ranges. In the First Act Parle-moi de ma mere she sings with great passion and arresting innocence. Her Third Act Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante is also quite good even if at moments she veers toward stridency. Nicolas Cavallier as Escamillo is also impressive, and the rest of the cast is very convincing.

As suggested above, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his fine orchestra also deliver stellar work for their part. Gardiner’s tempos are brisk, and the orchestra’s playing is always spirited, precise and full of feeling. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard better phrasing and orchestral playing in any other recorded performance of Carmen. Try the Act II Overture and notice how subtly Gardiner shapes the music as it builds from its demure opening to a lively exotic dance and then transitions right into Carmen’s brilliantly sung Les tringles. Of course, the Prelude at the opera’s outset is brilliantly played too and all the accompaniments throughout the opera are consistently well done.

The costuming is historically accurate and quite realistic: clothes of the factory workers and smugglers appear worn and sometimes tattered, though Carmen’s attire is usually a cut or so above the others’. I wouldn’t necessarily associate the costuming with Spain but it is nevertheless quite fitting throughout the opera. Sets are rather sparse and the lighting is often faint, leaving dark scenery, which is generally quite effective here.

Stage Director Adrian Noble clearly understands drama and the theater. Here he does not tamper with the essentials of the opera’s story or time period as so many other stage directors have lately done with this and other operas. That said, he does add—with good historical foundation though—a few touches that mostly enhance this production. For example, using the aforementioned Smith’s Edition Peters Urtext, he inserts a scene where Moralès looks out toward the audience and observes an incident along with fellow soldiers to his left and right. He wittily describes its action: a young wife is secretly handed a message from her lover while strolling with her oblivious older husband. This scene is employed instead of a pantomime, which was used in some early performances of Carmen but thereafter abandoned. In any event, this subtle tidbit helps fill out the picture of life in Carmen’s Seville. In the end, Noble’s treatment of Carmen must be judged an imaginative and fresh take on this warhorse opera.

The camera work, picture clarity and sound reproduction on this Blu-ray disc are excellent. As for the competition on video, not surprisingly it is plentiful. There are two splendid Franco Zeffirelli renditions from the Arena di Verona: one on TDK, from 2003, featuring the brilliant Marina Domashenko as Carmen and led by Alain Lombard; the other is on BelAir Classiques, from 2014, with Ekaterina Semenchuk in the lead and Henrik Nànàsi conducting. Of these two I would favor the earlier one. There is an excellent version, but updated to current times, on Unitel Classica, from 2010, featuring a star-studded cast of Béatrice Uria-Monzon and Roberto Alagna in the leads, and Marina Poplavskaya as Micaëla and Erwin Schrott as Escamillo. But Calixto Bieito’s staging won’t be to everyone’s taste, with its use of Mercedes Benz cars, flat screen televisions, simulated sex scenes and other added features. On purely musical grounds it is excellent and probably the equal of the Gardiner/Naxos, but it falls short owing to its sometimes wayward and somewhat incoherent production. The Lombard/TDK features a fine production, but so does this Naxos effort, and in the end its strengths outweigh the others’. The Gardiner/Naxos would thus be my first choice in video format.

– MusicWeb International

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Bizet: Carmen / Gardiner, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique [Blu-ray]
Naxos AudioVisual May 2021
Blu-Ray
$40.99

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - O.C.R.

THE OTHER SONGS RECS

$22.58 Feb 13, 2026

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER - PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING [CD] Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is one of the most celebrated musicals of all time, and this original London cast recording from 1986 remains the definitive recording. Michael Crawford's Tony Award-winning performance as The Phantom and Sarah Brightman's portrayal of Christine Daae helped make this the best-selling cast recording in history. Re-issued for the first time in decades, this classic album brings the unforgettable score to a new generation of listeners. From the title song to "The Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You," every track reflects the power and beauty that continue to make The Phantom of the Opera a global phenomenon nearly forty years after it's debut. Since it's premiere, The Phantom of the Opera has been seen by more than 160 million people in 195 cities and has received over 70 major theatre awards. It holds the record as the longest-running show in Broadway history and was the first British musical to debut at number one on the music charts. The recording has been certified Platinum in six countries.

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PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - O.C.R.
THE OTHER SONGS RECS Feb 2026
CD
$22.58

Mix & Match

Offenbach: La Perichole / Theis, Brohm, Simon, Konnes, Gunzel

CPO

$36.99 Oct 29, 2013

CPO’s series featuring productions by the Dresden State Operetta has quickly gained renown with its discoveries of unknown works by Johann Strauss. When the same theater presented an extremely successful new production of Jacques Offenbach’s rarely staged La Périchole during the 2008 season, cpo immediately decided to produce this masterpiece in the studio. The State Operetta had commissioned the cabaret performer and author Peter Ensikat to supply a new translation, and it was with superb wit that he accomplished the task of updating the satirical double meanings in Offenbach’s libretto and the references to current events of the composer’s times without losing the charm of the original. In musical matters the production oriented itself by the three-act second version of this masterpiece set in faraway Lima; it was written for Vienna in 1874 and is filled to overflowing with original melodies. CPO included the numbers written especially for Vienna and its then operetta diva Marie Geistinger as special bonuses. The result: an all-around successful operetta production and spirited listening fun!

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Offenbach: La Perichole / Theis, Brohm, Simon, Konnes, Gunzel
CPO Oct 2013
CD
$36.99

Opera

Genuin

$20.99 Mar 15, 2019

Everything is possible on stage. At least that’s our impression upon hearing the members of the young, award-winning brass ensemble 10forBrass. On their new (third) GENUIN release, no woodwind run is too fast for them and no string pianissimo too soft: they are both witches and kings, mermaids and jesters, angels and huntsmen. From Carl Maria von Weber to Sergei Prokofiev, no music theater work is safe from the brass virtuosi – whatever isn’t bolted to the floor is fair game for the sizeable brass ensemble. Each opera scene is more beautiful than the next: simply ravishing! The brass ensemble 10forBrass was founded in 2010 by young musicians from across Germany. They have all been members of highly regarded international orchestras such as the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the Festival Orchestra of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

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Opera
Genuin Mar 2019
CD
$20.99

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (1956)
MYTO Historical Apr 2009
CD
$10.99

Die Toten Stadt

MYTO Historical

$13.99 Oct 14, 2014

The child prodigy Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) composed Die Todt Stadt to a libretto by Paul Schott (the name in point of fact a pseudonym for the composer and his father, Julius) in the late 1910s, its premier coming in 1920. Its success was tremendous but brief, making it to NYC two years later but rarely making its way to the stage in the ensuing years and decades. This BRSO, Munich 1952 historic performance captures a nearly all-German cast headed by Maud Cunitz and Karl Friedrich.

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Die Toten Stadt
MYTO Historical Oct 2014
CD
$13.99

LA SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

Château de Versailles Spectacles

Blu-Ray + DVD

$34.99 Jun 28, 2019

It was whilst on the verge of loving despair that Hector Berlioz wrote this Symphonie Fantastique, épisode de la vie d'un artiste (episode from the life of an artist) where he portrays the obsession of this impossible love and the torture it inflicts upon the young man who has almost gone mad. It was first performed in December 1830 and immediately became the emblem of the musical avant-garde, making use of an unheard of soundscape which drove the audience into a frenzy which had never before been known for an orchestral work in France. Revived here by the great Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the concert is filled with symbolic works by the composer with the spendid overture from the Corsaire, and the cantata, La Mort de Cléopâtre. And finally, two mythical extracts from the great work by Berlioz, his opera, Les Troyens.

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LA SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE
Château de Versailles Spectacles Jun 2019
Blu-Ray + DVD
$34.99

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde / Stemme, Seiffert, Welser-Möst, Vienna State Opera Orchestra

Orfeo

$37.99 May 06, 2022

Although the premiere in 1865 was not to be at Vienna State Opera but at Munich’s court theatre (June 10th), Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde was performed more than 400 times at the House on the Ring since its premier in 1883. This live recording from June 2013 under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst presents Nina Stemme as Isolde – her debut in that role at Vienna State Opera –, Peter Seiffert as Tristan (who was honoured Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera the same month the recording was made), Jochen Schmeckenbecher as Kurwenal, Stephen Milling as König Marke and Janina Baechle as Brangäne. The 3 album set was first released in 2019 in the sold out 150 Years Wiener Staastoper – The Anniversary Edition (C980120).

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Wagner: Tristan und Isolde / Stemme, Seiffert, Welser-Möst, Vienna State Opera Orchestra
Orfeo May 2022
CD
$37.99

Richard Strauss: Die Frau Ohne Schatten / Böhm, Rysanek

Orfeo

$37.99 Sep 21, 2005

This recording, live from the Vienna State Opera in 1955, was taped just weeks before virtually the same cast (there's only one major difference) entered the studio and recorded it for Decca. The performances are remarkably similar: Karl Böhm, a master of this complex, beautiful score, presents it almost complete (there are, I believe, very small cuts here and there) and has assembled a superb, enthralled, and enthralling cast. The one major change from the studio recording is that whereas Paul Schöffler was the Barak for Decca, here we get Ludwig Weber, whose voice may be somewhat less beautiful than Schöffler's, but is easily as expressive, endearing, and impressive.

Leonie Rysanek is the familiar Empress, seemingly hypnotized and enchanted, her voice settling down after some initial pitch problems mid-range to offer a glorious reading, with gleaming, cutting top notes and true sentiment throughout. She makes us feel for the character and her plight. Her Emperor is the beefy tenor Hans Hopf, who is less crude than usual and has the notes and stamina for the role, particularly in the seemingly endless final scene, which, when presented as complete as is it here, can be quite a challenge.

As the Dyer's Wife, Christel Goltz is not quite in the same class with the others; her singing is secure and good enough but she lacks any subtlety and can't compare with, say, Christa Ludwig in the role. Elisabeth Höngen's Nurse is nasty and biting, and she gets through the role without shouting. Kurt Böhme's Messenger is potent and the rest of the cast--Vienna stalwarts from the '50s--is top notch.

Böhm captures just the correct otherworldliness of the music, and the Vienna Philharmonic, tam tam, gongs and all, plays with great feeling and love. The sound is pure, clear monaural (the studio recording is early stereo but is essentially no better), with even the harps audible; Strauss' exotica is underlined but not so prominent that we can't hear the gorgeously tonal score. The vibrancy of the live experience is thrilling. If you own the Decca, you won't need this, really, but you must own one or the other.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

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Richard Strauss: Die Frau Ohne Schatten / Böhm, Rysanek
Orfeo Sep 2005
CD
$37.99

Telemann: 12 Solo Fantasias / Dahl

LAWO Classics

$18.99 Mar 11, 2022

Minuets, sarabands, bourrées, gigues, gavottes, hornpipes and polonaises. Like many other composers, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) used dance as a foundation for his compositions and this is no more evident than in his fantasias for flute, where we find several examples. Although the music is written for neither the ballroom, theatre nor opera, references to the baroque French court dance are clear and abundant. The music therefore invites something more than a pure listening experience, also evoking movement and corporeal responses. When music of the 18th century is interpreted today it is not necessarily the qualities of dance which set the framework for the performance. Nor were the fantasias for flute written specifically for dance. Even though the form is free, the references to dance can still provide indications and inspiration for further ways to experience the music. One of these is tempo. If dance tune is played too slowly, the dance will be affected by it. For example, balancing on one leg and pirouetting will require a stronger technique. Too slow a tempo could lead to a certain stiffness, but a tempo can also be too fast, in which case it would be challenging for the dancer to perform all steps with the required precision. It is not always as easy to recognize the underlying dance in the music, but given the required effort the rhythms and different characteristics of the dances can be sensed – the swing, flow and movement in the basic structures of the music can be perceived. Let your fantasy unwind, open up the creative space, and allow the music to move both body and soul!

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Telemann: 12 Solo Fantasias / Dahl
LAWO Classics Mar 2022
CD
$18.99

Tristan Variations

Kontrapunkt

$22.99 Dec 01, 1998

“A Wondrous Love Story” takes its base in Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” as its sub title “Tristan Variations”indicates. Danish composer Bent Lorentzen has won numerous fi rst prizes in international competitions for composers. He is among the fi rst Danish composers “A Wondrous Love Story” takes its base in Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” as its subtitle “Tristan Variations” indicates. Danish composer Bent Lorentzen has won numerous first prizes in international competitions for composers. He is among the first Danish composers to explore the sonic element of music. “A Wondrous Love Story” has been performed in German and Danish theatres to the critics and audience’s acclaim.

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Tristan Variations
Kontrapunkt Dec 1998
CD
$22.99

Pfitzner: Palestrina / Petrenko, Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra

Oehms Classics

$37.99 Apr 24, 2012

OehmsClassics’ presents the first complete recording of an opera conducted by Kirill Petrenko. In summer 2013, Petrenko will conduct the Ring des Nibelungen for the composer’s 200th birthday in Bayreuth. The Bavarian State Opera has appointed him its General Music Director as of the 2013/14 season.

-----

REVIEW:

Conductor Kirill Petrenko, leader of Bayreuth’s bicentenary Ring, matches Rudolf Kempe’s recently rediscovered 1955 Salzburg performance (Walhall): they’re both compelling story-tellers of large-scale operatic narrative who can mix and match dialogue scenes with varied tempi and dramatically appropriate orchestral balance. Frankfurt’s cast has plenty of gutsy ecclesiastical characters in the Council scene, Stallmeister and Mahnke do well by Ighino and Silla (but don’t miss young Elisabeth Söderström’s Son for Kempe), Koch is a worthy Borromeo and the whole is a triumph for British tenor Peter Bronder in the title-role.

– Gramophone

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Pfitzner: Palestrina / Petrenko, Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra
Oehms Classics Apr 2012
CD
$37.99

Offenbach: Die schone Lurette / Kassowitz, Leipzig Radio Choir and Orchestra

Relief

$32.99 Jan 17, 2020

BELLE LURETTE is Jacques Offenbach's last work. He did not get to see or hear the world premiere or that of his fantastic opera "Hoffmanns Erzählungen", which he worked on at the same time. This publication is a recording by Radio Leipzig from 1958. The tapes were only rediscovered in the archive in the summer of 2019 and are thus offered for the very first time on album. The performance features top GDR radio stars, the Grand Radio Orchestra and the Leipzig Radio Choir under the musical direction of Vienna conductor Gottfried Kassowitz, who makes the score sparkle with precision and transparency, yet with great temperament. The arrangement by Walter Zimmer is characterized by subtle interventions and allows all music numbers to be played, with three exceptions. The encore section has been extended to include 10 music numbers from the French O.R.T.F. production of 1965, making it possible to make meaningful comparisons between the original version and the German version. The accompanying text is by Matthias Käther, well-known and popular, among other things, for his music broadcasts on Radio rbb Kultur ("Opernführer" and others).

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Offenbach: Die schone Lurette / Kassowitz, Leipzig Radio Choir and Orchestra
Relief Jan 2020
CD
$32.99

Orphee et Euridice

Dynamic

DVD

$36.99 Jun 20, 2025

Gluck's Orphee et Euridice is a masterpiece of the operatic canon, inspired by one of the most mysterious and cruel stories in Greek mythology. The gods allow Orpheus to descend into the underworld to revive his beloved wife Eurydice, but on condition that he must not look at her while returning. This production from Florence re-imagines this myth as a story for our times. It explores each character anew, highlighting the music and text as a more sophisticated psychological thriller than previously imagined, creating a moving and transformative narrative with which we can all identify.

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Orphee et Euridice
Dynamic Jun 2025
DVD
$36.99

Donizetti: Pietro Il Grande, Czar Delle Russie / Alessandrini, Coro E Orchestra Donizetti Opera

Dynamic

Blu-Ray

$36.99 Jan 22, 2021

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

Also available on standard DVD

Pietro il Grande, kzar delle Russie – composed when Donizetti was 22 years old – was the first of the composer’s operas to receive more than one production. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the work’s première in 2019, the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo staged this rare melodramma burlesco in a new critical edition. The influence of Rossini and Mozart is clear, but the young Donizetti still managed to create a fresh and lively work that displayed early evidence of his mature style. This Donizetti Festival performance received widespread international acclaim, with a cast of excellent singers and a unique staging by Ondadurto Teatro (Marco Paciotti and Lorenzo Pasquali), influenced by Russian avant-garde art of the early 20th century.

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Donizetti: Pietro Il Grande, Czar Delle Russie / Alessandrini, Coro E Orchestra Donizetti Opera
Dynamic Jan 2021
Blu-Ray
$36.99

FALSTAFF

Dynamic

DVD

$36.99 Jan 01, 2011

Ruggero Raimondi takes the lead role in this performance of Verdi's comic opera recorded at the Opera Royal de Wallonie in Liege, Belgium in 2009. Paolo Arrivabeni conducts. Falstaff, the lyric comedy was Giuseppe Verdi’s last opera. It is an operatic favorite, long admired by critics and opera goers alike because of its brilliant orchestration, scintillating libretto and refined melodies. This production recorded at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Belgium was staged by Stefano Poda and features the well known Italian Bass Ruggero Raimondi as the title-role. Directed by Stefano Poda. Starring Sabina Pu rtolas, Luca Salsi, Cinzia de Mola. Language: Italian Subtitles: English, French, Italian, German

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FALSTAFF
Dynamic Jan 2011
DVD
$36.99

Sonaten und Fantasien fur Blockfloten

Coviello

$18.99 Jul 04, 2025

Georg Philipp Telemann is undoubtedly one of the composers who wrote the most parts for the recorder. No wonder, as he had mastered the instrument since his childhood and provided it with rewarding parts not only in chamber music, but also in orchestral and vocal works. The young Portuguese recorder player Joao Francisco Tavora studied in Porto and Leipzig and presents works for recorder by Telemann in various scorings, which show off his extraordinary playing technique and interpretative skills to their best advantage.

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Sonaten und Fantasien fur Blockfloten
Coviello Jul 2025
CD
$18.99

MASKERADE (OPERN (GA),DEUTSCH)
Capriccio Jan 2000
DVD
$18.99

Respighi: Impressioni brasiliane & La boutique fantasque / Neschling, Liege Philharmonic

BIS

SACD

$21.99 May 27, 2014

Ottorino Respighi is most celebrated for his vividly colourful symphonic poems, and above all the brilliantly orchestrated trilogy celebrating the landmarks and history of Rome: The Fountains of Rome, The Pines of Rome and Roman Festivals. Impressioni brasiliane, another triptych in a similar vein - although on a smaller scale - communicates Respighi's impressions from the summer of 1927, which he spent in Rio de Janeiro. The composer was fascinated by the popular music of Brazil, but also by the nature (the rain forests in the Rio area inspired the first part of the triptych, Notte Tropicale), animal life (a visit to the famous Butantan collection of poisonous snakes and spiders gave him material for the sinuous second part) and, naturally, the carnival, with Canzone e Danza painting a picture of riotous and colourful street festivities. Respighi's greatness as an orchestrator is evident not only in his original works, but also in his adaptations of music by other composers. One such work is La Boutique fantasque (The Fantastic Toyshop), composed in 1918 for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, and performed more than 1000 times during the following few years. Respighi's score was based on piano pieces by Rossini, and it accompanies a plot centred on the love of two marionettes, the creations of a toymaker specializing in beautiful dancing dolls. In his shop the dolls perform various dances to attract customers - a tarantella, a Cossack dance, a can-can ... - providing Respighi with the opportunity to use every colour on his orchestral palette. On the present disc we hear the complete ballet score, performed by the fine Liège Royal Philharmonic making their first appearance on BIS. Conductor John Neschling, on the other hand, is a BIS veteran, with superb credentials in things Brazilian (including the complete Choros by Villa-Lobos) and a recording of Respighi's Roman Trilogy placed firmly 'among the great versions of this music' by the web site ClassicsToday.com.

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Respighi: Impressioni brasiliane & La boutique fantasque / Neschling, Liege Philharmonic
BIS May 2014
SACD
$21.99