Richard Wagner Siegfried to libretto by the composer. Directed 2008 by Michael Schulz at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar. Stars Johnny Van Hal [not "Hall] (Siegfried), Tomas Möwes (Wotan as Wanderer), Nadine Weissmann (Erda), Lars Creuzburg (Donner), Steffen Bärtl (Froh), Catherine Foster (Brünnhilde), Erika Krämer (Grane), Frieder Aurich (Mime), Mario Hoff (Alberich), Johannes Martin (Hagen), Hidekazu Tsumaya (Fafner), Heike Porstein (Forest Bird), and Burkhard Wolf (Voice of the Norns). Carl St. Clair conducts the Staatskapelle Weimar. Set design by Dirk Becker; costumes by Renée Listerdal; dramaturgy by Wolfgang Willaschek. Directed for TV by Brooks Riley. Released 2009 and then re-released 2019 with new cover artwork showing the gold ring. Disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
Read MoreRichard Wagner Siegfried opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2008 by Carlos Padrissa and La Fura dels Baus at the Palau de las Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia. Stars Lance Ryan (Siegfried), Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), Juha Uusitalo (Der Wanderer), Gerhard Siegel (Mime), Franz-Josef Kapellmann (Alberich), Catherine Wyn-Rodgers (Erda), Stephen Milling (Fafner), and Marina Zyatkova (Waldvogel). Zubin Mehta conducts the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. Sets by Roland Olbeter; costumes by Chu Uroz; lighting by Peter Van Praet; video projections by Franc Aleu. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2010, disc has 7.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound.. Grade: B
Read MoreGioachino Rossini La Gazzetta opera to libretto by Giuseppe Palomba. Directed 2005 by Dario Fo (with Assistant Stage Director Arturo Corso) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona. Stars Cinzia Forte (Lisetta), Bruno Praticò (Don Pomponio), Pietro Spagnoli (Filippo), Charles Workman (Alberto), Agata Bienkowska (Madame La Rose), Marisa Martins (Doralice), Simón Orfila (Monsù), and Marc Canturri (Anselmo). Maurizio Barbacini (with Assistant Directors Guerassim Voronkov and Daniel Mestre) conducts the Orchestra Academy of the Gran Theatre del Liceu and the Intermezzo Choir (Chorus Master Ignacio Ruiz de Alegría). Set and costumes by Dario Fo (with Francesco Calcagnini Associate Set Designer and Paula Mariani Associate Costume Designer); lighting by Franco Marri; choreography by Sebastiano Mario di Bella. Direction for TV by Angel Luis Ramirez. Released 2009, disc has 5.1 PCM sound. Grade: C
Read MoreWagner Der Fliegende Holländer opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2010 by Martin Kušej at De Nederlandse Opera. Stars Robert Lloyd (Daland), Catherine Naglestad (Senta), Marco Jentzsch (Erik), Marina Prudenskaja (Mary), Oliver Ringelhahn (Daland's Steersman), and Juha Uusitalo (Holländer). Harmut Haenchen conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera (Chorus Master Martin Wright). Set design by Martin Zehetgruber; costumes by Heide Kastler; lighting by Reinhard Traub; dramaturgy by Sebastian Huber. Directed for TV by Joost Honselaar; TV recording produced by Coby Van Dijck. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+
Read MoreVerdi Simon Boccanegra opera to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and later revised by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2007 by Giorgio Gallione at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna with assistant director Gianni Marras. Stars Roberto Frontali (Simon Boccanegra), Carmen Giannattasio (Amelia Grimaldi), Giacomo Prestia (Jacopo Fiesco), Giuseppe Gipali (Gabriele Adorno), Marco Vratogna (Paolo Albiani), Alberto Rota (Pietro), Enea Scala (Capitano dei balestrieri), and Lucia Michelazzo (Ancella di Amelia). Michele Mariotti conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bolgona (Chorus Master Paolo Vero). Costumes and set design by Guido Fiorato with assistant set designer Monica Boromello and assistant costume designer Giorgio Cardosi; lighting by Daniele Naldi. Directed for TV by Francesca Nesler. Sung in Italian. Released 2010, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-
Boccanegra is a tricky opera to follow. Arthaus helps by including a nice synopsis in the keepcase booklet. I’ll offer some screenshots to help you learn a bit about the main characters and how this was presented in the small opera house in Bologna . . .
Read MoreBeethoven Fidelio opera (1814 version) to libretto by Joseph Ferdinand von Sonnleithner, Stephan von Breuning, and Georg Friedrich Treitschke. Directed 2008 by Katharina Thalbach at the Zurich Opera House. Stars Krešimir Stražanac (Don Fernando), Lucio Gallo (Don Pizarro), Roberto Saccà (Florestan), Melanie Diener (Leonore/Fidelio), Alfred Muff (Rocco), Sandra Trattnigg (Marzelline), Christoph Strehl (Jaquino), Bogusław Bidziński (First Prisoner), and Morgan Moody (Second Prisoner). Bernard Haitink conducts the Zurich Opera Orchestra with the Zurich Opera Chorus, Supplementary Chorus, Youth Chorus, and Extras Association (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger). Set design by Ezio Toffolutti; lighting by Hans-Rudolf Kunz. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Released 2010, disc has 5.0 dts Digital Surround sound. Grade: B-
Read MorePuccini La Fanciulla del West opera to a libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini. Directed 2009 by Nikolaus Lehnhoff at De Nederlandse Opera (Amsterdam Music Theater). Stars Eva-Maria Westbroek (Minnie), Lucio Gallo (Jack Rance), Zoran Todorovich (Dick Johnson), Roman Sadnik (Nick), Diogenes Randes (Ashby), Stephen Gadd (Sonora), Jean-Léon Klostermann (Trin), Leo Geers (Sid), Peter Arink (Bello), Pascal Pittie (Harry), Ruud Fiselier (Joe), Harry Teeuwen (Happy), Patrick Schramm (Larkens), Tijl Faveyts (Billy Jackrabbit), Ellen Rabiner (Wowkle), André Morsch (Jake Wallace), Roger Smeets (José Castro), and Erik Slik (Pony Express Rider). Carlo Rizzi conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (Chorus Master Martin Wright). Set design by Raimund Bauer; costume design by Andrea Schmidt-Futterer; lighting by Duane Schuler; video design by Jonas Gerberding; movement direction by Denni Sayers; casting by Hein Mulders. Directed for TV by Misjel Vermeiren. Released 2010, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: A-
Read MoreHandel Tamerlano opera to libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym. Directed 2008 by Graham Vick at the Madrid Teatro Real. Stars Plácido Domingo (Bajazet), Monica Bacelli (Tamerlano), Ingela Bohlin (Asteria), Sara Mingardo (Andronico), Jennifer Holloway (Irene), and Luigi De Donato (Leone). Paul McCreesh directs the Madrid Symphony Orchestra. Continuo: harpsichord, Benjamin Bayl and Joseph McHardy; cello, Christopher Suckling; lute, Jorgen Skogmo. Set and costume design by Richard Hudson; lighting by Giuseppe di Lorio (based on original lighting design by Matthew Richardson); choreography by Ron Howell. Directed for TV by Angel Luis Ramírez. This is a 4-hour show on 2 Blu-ray discs. Sung in Italian. Released 2009, discs have PCM 5.0 sound. Grade: A
Read MoreTchaikovsky Gala. On December 31, 2007 the ballet troupe of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan threw its New Year's Eve Gala. The program consisted of excepts from Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and the Nutcracker ballets under direction of Elisabetta Terabust. The Swan Lake stars are Polina Semionova (Odette/Odile), Roberto Bolle (Prince Siegfried), Maurizio Licitra (Jester), Gianni Ghisleni (Rothbart), and Flavia Vallone ( Queen). The Sleeping Beauty stars are Marta Romagna (Princess Aurora), Alessandro Grillo, Mick Zeni, Matteo Buongiorno, Bryan Hewison (Four Princes), Antonio Sutera (Blubird), and Daniela Cavalleri (Princess Florin). The Nutcracker stars are Nadja Saidakova (Marie) and Ronald Savkovic (Nutcracker). David Coleman conducts the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala; directed for TV by Denis Caïozzi. Released 2008, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+
Read MoreTchaikovsky Eugene Onegin opera to libretto by the composer and K. S. Shilavsky based on the poem by Alexander Pushkin. Directed 2007 by Peter McClintock at the New York Met. Stars Renée Fleming (Tatiana), Olena Zaremba (Olga), Svetlana Volkova (Madame Larina), Larisa Shevchenko (Filippyevna), Ramón Vargas (Lenski), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Eugene Onegin), Keith Miller (A Captain), Jean-Paul Fouchécourt (Triquet), Richard Bernstein (Zaretski), and Sergei Aleksashkin (Prince Gremin). Valery Gergiev conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchester and Chorus (Chorus Master Raymond Hughes). Set and costume design by Michael Levine; lighting by Jean Kalman, choreography by Serge Bennathan. Directed for TV by Brian Large. Released 2008, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A
Read MoreFrancesco Cavalli Ercole Amante opera to libretto by Francesco Buti. Ballet music by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Directed 2009 by David Alden at De Nederlandse Oper (Musiektheater Amsterham). Stars Luca Pisaroni (Ercole or Hercules), Veronica Cangemi (Iole), Anna Bonitatibus (Giunone or Juno), Jeremy Ovenden (Hyllo or Hyllus), Anna Maria Panzarella (Deianira), Marlin Miller (Licco or Lichas), Umberto Chiummo (Nettuno/Tevere or Tiber/Spirit of Eutyro), Wilke te Brummelstroete (Bellezza or Hebe/Venere or Venus), Johannette Zomer (Cinzia/the Moon/Pasithea/Spirit of Clerita), Mark Tucker (Mercurio or Mercury/Spirit of Laomedonte), Tim Mead (Paggio/Spirit of Bussiride), Melanie Greve, Ineke Berends, Ivo Posti (Three Graces), Inez Hafkamp (Aura 1), Anneleen Bijnen (Aura 2), John van Halteren (Stream), Tomoko Makuuchi, Maartje de Lint, and Stephen Carter (Three Planets). Ivor Bolton conducts the Concerto Köln and the Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera (Chorus Masters Tim Brown and Martin Wright). Set design by Paul Steinberg; costume design by Constance Hoffman; lighting design by Adam Silverman; choreography by Jonathan Lunn. Directed for TV by Misjel Vermeiren; TV production by Karin Elzendoorn. Released 2010, two-disc set has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-
Read MoreDonizetti Don Pasquale opera to libretto by Giovanni Ruffini. Directed 2010 by Otto Schenk at the Metropolitan Opera. Stars John Del Carlo (Don Pasquale), Mariusz Kwecien (Dr. Malatesta), Matthew Polenzani (Ernesto), Anna Netrebko (Norina), and Bernard Fitch (Notary). James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo). Sets and costumes by Rolf Langenfass; lighting by Duane Schuler; dramaturgy by Paul Cremo. Directed for cinema and TV by Gary Halvorson. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+
Read MoreGaetano Donizetti Don Pasquale opera to libretto by Giovanni Ruffini and the composer. Directed 2006 by Grischa Asagaroff at the Opernhaus Zürich. Stars Ruggero Raimondi (Don Pasquale), Juan Diego Flórez (Ernesto), Isabel Rey (Norina), Oliver Widmer (Dottor Malatesta), Valeriy Murga (Un notaro), Thomas von Grünigen (Major-domo), Elsbeth Treichler (Servant), Alex Minder (Servant), Renata Blum (Norita's Friend), and Aneel Soomary (Street trumpeter). Nello Santi conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of Opernhaus Zürich (Chorus Master Jürg Hämmerli). Set and costume design by Luigi Perego; lighting by Jürgen Hoffmann. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Released 2009, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-
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