Notre-Dame de Paris ballet to music by Maurice Jarre. Libretto and choreography from 1965 by Roland Petit is supervised by Luigi Bonino and assistant Gillian Whittingham. Stars Roberto Bolle (Quasimodo), Natalia Osipova (Esmeralda), Mick Zeni (Frolio), Eris Nezha (Phoebus), and dancers of the Ballet Company of Teatro alla Scala. Paul Connelly conducts the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala. Sets designed by René Allio; costumes designed by Yves Saint-Laurent; lighting design by Jean-Michel Désiré; directed for the screen by Patrizia Carmine. Released 2014, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+
Read MoreVerdi Il trovatore opera to a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano and LeoneEmanuele Bardare. Directed 2013 by Philipp Stölzl. Stars Plácido Domingo (Count di Luna), Anna Netrebko (Leonora), Marina Prudenskaya (Azucena), Gaston Rivero (Manrico), Adrian Sâmpetrean (Ferrando), Anna Lapkovskaja (Inez), and Florian Hoffman (Ruiz). Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor Bersin (Chorus Master Martin Wright). Co-direction and choreography by Mara Kurotschka; set design by Philipp Stölzl and Conrad Moritz; costume design by Ursula Kudrna; lighting design by Olaf Freese. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Don Giovanni opera to libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. Directed 2006 by Vincent Boussard at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus. Stars Johanes Weisser (Don Giovanni), Marcos Fink (Leporello), Alexandrina Pendatchanska (Donna Elvira), Werner Güra (Don Ottavio), Malin Byström, (Donna Anna), Sunhae Im (Zerlina), Nikolay Borchev (Masetto), and Alessandro Guerzoni (Commendatore). René Jacobs conducts the Freiburger Barockorchester and the Insbruck Festival Chorus. Designs by Vincent Lemaire; costumes by Christian Lacroix; lighting by Alain Poisson; directed for TV by Georg Wübbolt. Released 2008, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+
Read MoreShakespeare Richard II play. The Royal Shakespeare Company is directed 2013 by Gregory Doran before a live audience at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. Stars actors David Tennant (King Richard II), Emma Hamilton (The Queen), Michael Pennington (John of Gaunt), Nigel Lindsay (Bolingbroke), Oliver Ford Davies (Duke of York), Marty Cruickshank (Duchess of York), Oliver Rix (Duke of Aumerle), Jane Lapotaire (Duchess of Gloucester), Antony Byrne (Thomas Mowbray), Sam Marks (Bushy), Jake Mann (Bagot), Marcus Griffiths (Greene), Simon Thorp (Earl of Salisbury), Jim Hooper (Bishop of Carlisle), Keith Osborn (Sir Stephen Scroop), Sean Chapman (Earl of Northumberland), Edmund Wiseman (Harry Percy), Joshua Richards (Lord Ross/Gardener), Youssef Kerkour (Lord Willoughby), Gracy Goldman (Lady-in-Waiting), Miranda Nolan (Lady-in-Waiting), and Elliot Barnes-Worrell (Groom). Musicians are Charlotte Ashley, Anna Bolton, and Helena Raeburn (sopranos); Chris Seddon, Chris Storr, and James Stretton (trumpets); and Kevin Waterman (percussion); and Bruce O'Neil (keyboard). Designs by Stephen Brimson Lewis; lighting design by Tim Mitchell; music by Paul Englishby; sound design by Martin Slavin; movement by Michael Ashcroft; fights by Terry King; company text and voice work by Lyn Darnley; assistant direction by Owen Horsley; music direction by Bruce O'Neil; casting by Helena Palmer, CDG; production management by Simon Ash; costume supervision by Stephanie Arditti; company management by Ben Tyreman; stage management by Suzi Blakey; deputy stage management by Klare Roger; assistant stage management by Charley Sargant; directed for screen by Robin Lough; screen production by John Wyver; associate production by David Gopsill. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A
Read MoreGaspare Spontini La fuga in maschera opera to a libretto by Giuseppe Palomba. Directed 2012 by Leo Muscato at the Festival Pergolesi e Spontini in Jesi, Italy. Stars Ruth Rosique (Elena), Caterina Di Tonno (Olimpia), Alessandra Marianelli (Corallina), Clemente Daliotti (Nardullo), Filippo Morace (Marzucco), Alessandro Spina (Nastagio) and Dionigi D’Ostuni (Doralbo). Corrado Rovaris conducts I Virtuosi Italiani. Sets by Benito Leonori; costumes by Giusi Giustino; lighting by Alessandre Verazzi; directed for video by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2013 by Stefan Herheim at the Salzburg Festival. Stars Michael Volle (Hans Sachs), Roberto Saccà (Walther Von Stolzing), Anna Gabler (Eva), Peter Sonn (David), Georg Zeppenfeld (Veit Pogner), Monika Bohinec (Magdalene), and Markus Werba (Sixtus Beckmesser). Daniele Gatti conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger). Sets by Heike Scheele; costumes by Gesine Völlm; lighting by Olaf Freese; videos by Martin Kern; directed for TV by Hannes Rossacher. Released 2014, 2-disc title has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreDonizetti Don Pasquale opera to libretto by Giovanni Ruffini. Directed 2006 by Andrea de Rosa at the Ravenna Festival. Stars Claudio Desderi (Don Pasquale), Laura Giordano (Norina), Mario Cassi (Malatesta) Francisco Gatell (Ernesto), and Gabriele Spina (Notary). Riccardo Muti conducts the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini and the Chorus of the Teatro Municipale di Piacenza (Chorus Master Corrado Cassati). Set design by Italo Grassi; costumes by Gabriela Pescucci; lighting by Pasquale Mari; music advice from Nicola Colombini and Dino Doni; sound recording managed by Elfride Foroni; directed for TV by Gabriele Cazzola. Released 2010, disc has 7.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreRossini L'italiana in Algeri opera to a libretto by Angelo Anelli. Directed 2013 by Davide Livermore at the Pesaro Festival. Stars Anna Goryachova (Isabella), Alex Esposito (Mustafà), Yijie Shi (Lindoro), Mario Cassi (Taddeo), and Davide Luciano (Haly). José Ramón Encinar conducts the Orchestra & Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Designs by Nicolas Bovey; costumes by Gianluca Falaschi. Released 2014, Blu-ray disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBellini La Sonnambula opera to a libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2012 by Bepi Morassi at the Teatro La Fenice. Stars Jessica Pratt (Amina), Shalva Mukeria (Elvino), Anna Viola (Lisa), Giovanni Battista Parodi (Count Rodolfo), Julie Mellor (Teresa), Dario Ciotoli (Alessio), and Raffaele Pastore (Notary). Gabriele Ferro conducts the Orchestra and Coro del Teatro La Fenice (Chorus Master Claudio Marino Moretti). Sets by Massimo Checchetto; costumes by Carlos Tieppo; lighting by Vilmo Furian; directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A
Read MoreBellini 💓 La Sonnambula opera to a libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2013 by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito at Oper Stuttgart. Stars Ana Durlovski (Amina), Luciano Botelho (Elvino), Helene Schneiderman (Teresa), Catriona Smith (Lisa), Enzo Capuano (Il Conte Rodolfo), Motti Kasón (Alessio), Juan Palo Marin (Un notario), and Antje Albruschat (La Strige [ghost in English]). Gabriele Ferro conducts the Staatsorchestra Stuttgart and the Staatsoperchor Stuttgart (Chorus Master Johannes Knecht). Sets and costumes by Anna Viebrock; lighting design by Reinhard Traub; dramatic advisors were Sergio Morabito and Angela Beuerle; directed for TV by Marcus Richardt. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A
Read MoreBellini La Sonnambula opera to a libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2008 by Hugo De Ana at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. Stars Eglise Gutierrez (Amina), Antonino Siragusa (Elvino), Simone Alaimo (Count Rodolfo),Gabriella Colecchia (Teresa), Sandra Pastrana (Lisa), Gabriele Nani (Alessio), and Max René Cosotti (Notary). Maurizio Benini conducts the Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Lirico di Cagliari (Chorus Master Fulvio Fogliazza). Sets and costumes by Hugo De Anna; lighting by Paolo Mazzon; choreography by Leda Lojodice; directed for video by Matteo Ricchetti. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A
Read MoreRichard Strauss Salome opera to a libretto from Hedwig Lachmann's German translation of Oscar Wilde's play Salome. Directed 2010 by Gabriele Lavia at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Stars Erika Sunnegårdh (Salome), Mark S. Doss (Jochanaan), Robert Brubaker (Herodes or Herod), Dalia Schaechter (Herodias), Mark Milhofer (Narraboth), Nora Sourouzian (Page of Herodias), Gabriele Mangione (First Jew), Paolo Cauteruccio (Second Jew), Dario Di Vietri (Third Jew), Ramtin Ghazavi (Fourth Jew), Masashi Mori (Fifth Jew/Cappadocian), Rainer Zaun (First Nazarene/Second Soldier), Paulo Paolilio (Second Nazarene), Cesare Lana (First Soldier) and Edoardo Milletti (Slave). Nicola Luisotti conducts the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Sets by Alessandro Camera; costumes by Andrea Viotti; lighting by Daniele Naldi; choreography by Sara Di Salvo. Directed for TV by Andrea Bevilacqua. Sung in German. Released 2014, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-
Read MoreHaydn Die Jahreszeiten/The Seasons oratorio. Conducted 2013 by Nicolaus Harnoncourt at the Salzburg Festival with the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Konzertvereinigung Weiner Staatsopernchor (Vienna Philharmonic and the Concert Group of the Vienna State Opera Chorus with Concert Master Ernst Raffelsberger). Soloists are Dorothea Röschmann (soprano), Michael Schade (tenor), and Florian Boesch (bass). Also features the documentary Nikolaus Harnoncourt rehearsing Joseph Haydn’s The Seasons by Eric Schulz. Directed for video by Michael Bayer. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Der Fliegende Holländer opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2013 by Jan Philipp Gloger at the Bayreuth Festival Theatre. Stars Samuel Youn (Der Holländer), Franz-Josef Selig (Daland), Ricarda Merbeth (Senta), Tomislav Mužek (Erik), Christa Mayer (Mary), and Benjamin Bruns (Der Steuermann). Christian Thielemann conducts the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra & Chorus. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MorePuccini Madama Butterfly opera to a libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Directed 2007 by Stefano Vizioli at the Puccini Festival, Torre del Lago Puccini. Stars Elmira Veda (Cio Cio San or Madama Butterfly), Annamaria Popescu Suzuki), Sally Wilson (Kate Pinkerton), Carlo Barricelli (B.F. Pinkerton), Luca Salsi (Sharpless), Emanuele Giannino (Goro), Manrico Signorini (The Bonze), and Giovanni Guagliardo (Prince Yamadori / The Imperial Commissioner). Laurence Gilgore conducts the Puccini Festival Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Stefano Visconti). Assistant stage direction by Lorenzo Nencini; set and costume design by Ugo Nespolo; light design by Valerio Alfieri; video direction by Matteo Ricchetti; recording by Mateo Costa; editing and mixing by Rino Trasi. Released 2012, version is available only in Blu-ray. Released 2011, this disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D+
Read More