Wagner Rienzi opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2012 by Jorge Lavelli at the Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse. Stars Torsten Kerl (Rienzi), Marika Schönberg (Irene), Daniela Sindram (Adriano), Richard Wiegold (Stefano Colonna), Stefan Heidemann (Paolo Orsini), Robert Bork (Cardinal Orvieto), Marc Heller (Baroncelli), Leonardo Neiva (Cecco del Vecchio), and Jennifer O'Loughlin (Messenger of Peace). Pinchas Steinberg conducts the Orchestre National du Capitole, the Chœur du Capitole, and the Coro dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala di Milano (Chorus Master Alfonso Caiani). Artistic collaboration by Dominique Poulange; sets by Ricardo Sánchez Cuerda; costumes by Francesco Zito; lighting by Jorge Levelli and Roberto Trafferi; directed for TV by Denis Caïozzi. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWolfgang Rihm Dionysos "opera fantasy." World premiere at the 2010 Salzburg Festival directed by Pierre Audi (Haus für Mozart). Stars Mojca Erdmann (1st High Soprano/Ariadane), Elin Rombo (2nd High Soprano), Virpi Räisänen (Mezzo-Soprano), Julia Faylenbogen (Alto), Johannes Martin Kränzle (N.), Matthias Klink (A Guest/Apollo), and Uli Kirsch (The Skin). Ingo Metzmacher conducts the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Jörn H. Andresen). Sets by Jonathan Meese; costume by Jorge Jara; lighting by Jean Kalman; TV direction by Bettina Ehrhardt. A substantial bonus extra by Bettina Ehrhardt is called I am Thy Labyrinth. Released 2013, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRossini Matilde di Shabran opera to a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti. Directed 2012 by Mario Martone at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. Stars Olga Peretyatko (Matilde), Juan Diego Flórez (Corradino), Paolo Bordogna (Isidoro), Anna Goryachova (Edoardo), Nicola Alaimo (Aliprando), Chiara Chialli (Contessa d'Arco), Simon Orfila (Ginardo), Giorgio Misseri (Egoldo), Marco Filippo Romano (Raimondo), and Ugo Rosati (Rodrigo). Also features musicians Giulio Zappa (fortepiano) and Roberto Cima (Cello continuo). Michele Mariotti conducts the Orchestra and Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set design by Sergio Tramonti; costume design by Ursula Patzak; lighting design by Pasquale Mari; video direction by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2013, disc has dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreDonizetti Lucia di Lammermoor opera to libretto by Salvadore Cammarano. Directed 2009 by Mary Zimmerman at the Met. Stars Mariusz Kwiecien (Enrico), Anna Netrebko (Lucia), Piotr Beczala (Edgardo), Colin Lee (Arturo), Ildar Abdrazakov (Raimondo), Michaela Martens (Alisa), and Michael Myers (Normanno). Marco Armiliato conducts the Met Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo). Harp solo by Mariko Anraku; flute solo by Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson; harmonica solo by Cecilia Brauer. Sets by Daniel Ostling; costumes by Mara Blumenfels; lighting by T. J. Gerckens; choreography by Daniel Pelzig; directed for HD TV by Gary Halvorson. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreJukka Linkola Robin Hood contemporary music opera to a libretto by Jukka Virtanen. Directed 2011 by Kari Heiskanen at the Finnish National Opera. (In case you didn't know, the English word "opera" is rendered as "ooppera" in Finnish.) Aimed at children and grown-ups, stars Mari Palo, Ville Rusanen, Matti Salminen, Jyrki Anttila, Niall Chorell, and Päivi Niufsula. Mikko Franck conducts the Finnish National Opera Orchestra, Chorus, and Children's Choir. Designs by Kati Lukka; costumes by Marja Uusitalo; lighting by Mickey Kunttu; battle choreography by Seppo Kumpulainen; sound engineering by Tomi Pietilä; video post-processing by Oy Ilkka Niemi. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 surround sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2011 by David Mouchtar-Samorai at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. Stars Albert Pesendorfer (Hars Sachs), Jochen Kupfer (Sixtus Beckmesser), Michael Putsch (Walter von Stolzing), Michaela Maria Mayer (Eva), Guido Jentjens (Veit Pogner), Tilman Lichdi (David), Christoph Wittman, Kurt Schober, Martin Berner, Martin Platz, Philip Carmichael, Martin Nyvall, Yong Jae Moon, Vladislav Solodyagin, Daeyoung Kim, and Leilo Pfister. Marcus Bosch conducts the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg and the Staatstheater Nürnberg Chorus (Chorus Master T. Vaask). Sets by H. Hauser; costumes by U. Eicker; choreography by J. Monten; dramaturgy by K. Weßler; lighting by K. Kornberger; directed for TV by M. Schuetrumpf. Released 2013, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Parsifal opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed by Michael Schulz at the 2013 Salzburg Easter Festival (Großes Festspielhaus). Stars Johan Botha, Michaela Schuster, Wolfgang Koch, Stephen Milling, Milcho Borovinov, Thomas Ebenstein, Derek Welton, Eva Liebau, Annika Sophie Ritlewski, Theresa Holzhauser, Bele Kumberger, Chiara Skerath, Carolin Neukamm, Rachel Frenkel, Mauro Peter, and Attilio Glaser. Christian Thielemann directs the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Sächsicher Staatsopernchor Dresden and Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper (Chorus Master: Pablo Assante), and the Salzburger Festpiele und Theater Kinderchor (Chorus Master: Wolfgang Götz). Sets and costumes by Alexander Polzin; lighting by Urs Schönebaum; choreography by Annett Göhre; video directed by Brian Large. Released 2013, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Don Giovanni opera to libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. Directed 2010 by Dmitri Tcherniakov at the Festival d' Aix-in-Provence. Stars Bo Skovhus, Kyle Ketelsen, David Bizic, Colin Balzer, Marlis Petersen, Kristine Opolais, Kerstin Aveno, and Anatoli Kotscherga. Louis Langrée conducts the Freiburger Barockorchester and the English Voices. Costumes by Tcherniakov and Elena Zaitseva; lighting by Gleb Filshtinsky; directed for TV by Andy Sommer; produced by François Duplat. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRossini Ciro in Babilonia (Cyrus in Babylon) to a libretto by by Francesco Aventi. Directed 2012 by Davide Livermore at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. This opera was written by Rossini when he was 20, and this is the world premiere filming of the work in any form! Stars Ewa Podleś (Ciro), Michael Spyres (Baldassare), Jessica Pratt (Amira), Carmen Romeu (Argene), Mirco Palazzi (Zambri), Robert McPherson (Arbace), and Raffaele Costantini (Daniello). Will Crutchfield (from his piano) directs the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set and lighting design by Nicolas Bovey; video design by D-Wok; costumes by Gianluca Falaschi; directed for video by Daniele Biggiero. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreGiuseppe Verdi Otello opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2008 by Stephen Langridge at the Salzburg Festival. Stars Aleksandrs Antonenko, Marina Poplavskaya, Carlos Álvarez, Barbara Di Castri, Stephen Costello, Antonello Ceron, Mikhail Petrenko, Simone Del Savio, and Andrea Porta. Riccardo Muti conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Thomas Lang), and the Salzburger Festspiele Kinderchor. Stage music by the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg. Sets by George Souglides; costumes by Emma Ryott; lighting by Giuseppe Di Iorio; video direction by Peter Schönhofer. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A
Read MoreVerdi Falstaff opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2011 by Stephen Medcalf at Teatro Regio di Parma Verdi Festival. Stars Ambrogio Maestri, Luca Salsi, Antonio Gandia, Luca Casalin, Patrizio Saudelli, Mattia Denti, Svetla Vassileva, Barbara Bargnesi, Romina Tomasoni, and Daniela Pini. Andrea Battistoni conducts the Orchestra and Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma (Chorus Master Martino Faggiani). Sets and costumes by Jamie Vartan; lighting by Simon Corder; video direction by Tiziano Mancini. Released in 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreGiuseppe Verdi Aida opera to libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Directed 2012 by Joseph Franconi Lee at the Teatro Regio di Parma as part of the Verdi Festival. Stars Carlo Malinverno (The King), Mariana Pentcheva (Amneris), Susanna Branchini (Aida), Walter Fraccaro (Ramadès), George Andguladze (Ramfis), Alberto Gazale (Amonasro), Yu Guanqun (Priestess), and Cosimo Vassallo (Messenger). Antonino Fogliani conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Di Parma (Chorus Master Martino Faggiani). Sets and costumes by Mauro Carosi, lighting by Guido Levi; choreography by Marta Ferri. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBernd Alois Zimmerman Die Soldaten opera to a libretto by the composer based on a text by poet Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz. Directed and staged 2012 by Alvis Hermanis at the Salzburg Festival. Stars Alfred Muff, Laure Aikin, Tanja Ariane Baumgartrer, Cornelia Kallisch; Tomasz Konieczny, Renée Morloc, Gabriela Benacková, Matthias Klink, Reinhard Mayr, Daniel Brenna, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke and Boaz Daniel among a cast of 50 soloists. Ingo Metzmacher directs the Wiener Philharmoniker. Directed for TV by Hannes Rossacher. Sung in German. Released 2012, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreDonizetti L'elisir d'amore opera to libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2009 by Annabel Arden at Glyndebourne. Stars Ekaterina Siurina (Adina), Peter Auty (Nemorino), Alfredo Daza (Belcore), Luciano di Pasquale (Dr. Dulcamara), Eliana Pretorian (Giannetta), and James Bellorini (Dulcamara's Assistant). Maurizio Benini conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Leader Pieter Schoeman) and the Glyndebourne Chorus (Chorus Master Thomas Blunt). Designs by Lez Brotherston; lighting by Giuseppe Di Iorio; movement direction by Leah Hausman; TV direction by Robin Lough. Released 2010, this disc has 5.1 dts Master Audio. Grade: A+
Read MoreLuigi Cherubini Médée opera to a libretto by François-Benoît Hoffmann. Adaption by Krzysztof Warlikowski and Christian Longchamp. Directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie / Koninklijke Muntschouwburg (now you know why they call it "La Monnaie" or "De Munt"). Sung in French, stars Nadja Michael (Médée), Kurt Streit (Jason), Christianne Stotijn (Néris), Vincent Le Texier (Créon), Hendricje Van Kerckhove (Dircé), Gaëlle Arquez (Première servante), Anne-Fleur Inizan (Deuxième servante), Alex Burger (Enfant), and Louis Malotaux (Enfant). Christophe Rousset conducts Les Talens Lyriques and the Chœurs de la Monnaie (Chorus Master Stephen Betteridge). Costume design by Malgorzata Szczesniak; lighting design by Felice Ross, dramaturgy by Christian Longchamp and Miron Hakenback; video by Denis Guéguin; choreography by Saar Magal. Produced by François Duplat; directed for TV and video by Stéphane Metge. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+
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