Bruckner Symphony No. 6

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Bruckner Symphony No. 6 Concert. Part of the Bruckner Mature Symphonies series by Accentus. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin at the Philharmonie Berlin in 2010. Directed for TV by Henning Kasten; produced by Paul Smaczny. Runtime of actual music is 53 minutes and 44 seconds. Surround sound was apparently recorded with 48kHz/16-bit sound sampling; stereo sound was recorded at 48kHz/24-bit. Released 20132 disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: C+

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Amor, vida de mi vida

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Amor, vida de mi vida concert.  Plácido Domingo and Ana María Martínez sing zaruelas. In 2007, Jesús López Cobos conducts the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg at the Großes Festspielhaus as part of the Salzburg Festival. Here are the selections:

  • Frederico Chueca Preludio to El bateo

  • Frederico Moreno Torroba "Amor, vida be me vida" from La Maravilla

  • Pablo Luna Carné "De España vengo" from El niño judío

  • Frederico Moreno Torroba "Tienes razón, amigo" from La chulapona

  • Frederico Moreno Torroba "Tres horas antes del día" from La marchenara

  • Manuel de Falla Danza ritual del fuego from El amor brujo

  • Frederico Moreno Torroba "¡Cállate, corazón!" from Luisa Fernanda

  • José Serrano "Qué te importa que no venga?" form Los claveles

  • Reveriano Soutullo Otero "Quiero desterrar de tu pecho el temor" from La del Soto del Parral

  • Jerónimo Giménez Bellido Interludio from La boda de Luis Alonso, o La noche del encierro

  • Manuel Penella "Todas las mañanitas" from Don Gil de Alcalá

  • Pablo Sorozábal "En un país de fábula" from La tabernera del puerto

  • Frederico Moreno Torroba "Luché la fe por el triunfo" from Luisa Fernanda

  • Manuel de Falla Jota from El sombrero de tres picos

  • José Serrano "Junto al puente de la peña" from La canción de olvido

  • Ruperto Chapí "Al pensar en el dueño de mis amores" from Las hijas del Zebedeo

  • Frederico Moreno Torroba "En mi tierra extremeña" from Luisa Fernanda

  • Pablo Sorozábal "No puede ser" from La tabernera del puerto

  • Ernesto Lecuona "Mulata infeliz, tu vida acabó" from María la O

  • Manuel Penella "¡Soleá!" -- "¿Me llamabas, Rafaeliyo?" from El gato montés

  • Franz Léhar "Lippen schweigen" from Die lustige Witwe

Directed for TV by Karina Fibich. Sung in Spanish. Released 2009, disc has 5.1 PCM sound. Grade: B+

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Der Ring des Nibelungen

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Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle staged by various directors from 2002 through 2003 at the Staatsoper Stuttgart. This box set of 4 Blu-ray discs contains the whole Ring cycle. Lothar Zagrosek conducts the Staatsorchester Stuttgart for all 4 productions. Released 2014, the discs have 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound.

1. Das Rheingold. Produced 2002. Stage direction by Joachim Schloemer. Stars Wolfgang Probst (Wotan), Motti Kastón (Donner), Bernhard Schneider (Froh), Robert Künzli (Loge), Esa Ruuttunen (Alberich), Eberhard Francesco Lorenz (Mime), Roland Bracht (Fasolt), Phillip Ens (Fafner), Michaela Schuster (Fricka), Helga Rós Indridadóttir (Freia), Mette Ejsing (Erda), Catriona Smith (Woglinde), Maria Theresa Ullrich (Wellgunde), and Margarete Joswig (Flosshilde).

2. Die Walküre. Produced 2003. Stage direction by Chritoph Nel. Stars Robert Gambill (Siegmund), Attila Jun (Hunding), Jan-Hendrik Rootering (Wotan), Angela Denoke (Sieglinde), Renate Behle (Brünnhilde), Tichina Vaughn (Fricka), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Gerhilde), Wiebke Göetjes (Ortlinde), Stella Kleindienst (Waltraute), Helene Ranada (Schwertleite), Magdalena Schäfer (Helmwige), Nidia Palacios (Siegrune), Maria Theresa Ullrich (Grimgerde), and Margit Diefenthal (Rossweisse).

3. Siegfried. Produced 2003. Stage direction and dramaturgy by Jossi Wieler & Sergio Morabito. Stars Jon Fredric West (Siegfried), Heinz Göhrig (Mime), Wolfgang Schöne (Der Wanderer), Björn Waag (Alberich), Attila Jun (Fafner), Helene Ranada (Erda), Lisa Gasteen (Brünnhilde), and Gabriela Herrera (Der Waldvogel).

4. Götterdämmerung. Produced 2003. Stage direction by Peter Konwitschny. Stars Albert Bonnema (Siegfried), Luana DeVol (Brünnhilde), Roland Bracht (Hagen), Hernan Iturralde (Gunther), Franz-Josef Kapellmann (Alberich), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Gutrune), Tichina Vaugh (Waltraute), Janet Collins (First Norn, Flosshilde), Lani Poulson (Second Norn), Sue Patchell (Third Norn), Helga Rós Indridadóttir (Woglinde), and Sarah Castle (Wellgunde).

Grade: NA

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Der Fliegende Holländer

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Wagner Der Fliegende Holländer opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2013 by Andreas Homoki at the Zurich Opera House. Stars Bryn Terfel (Der Holländer), Matti Salminen (Daland), Anja Kampe (Senta), Marco Jentzsch (Erik), Liliana Nikiteanu (Mary), Fabio Trümpy (Dalands Steuermann), and Nelson Egede (Dalands Diener). Alain Altinoglu conducts the Philharmonia Zürich and the Chor def Oper Zürich (Chorus Master Jürg Hämmerli. Set design by Wolfgang Gussmann; costume design by Wolfgang Gussmann and Susana Mendoza; lighting design by Franck Evin; dramaturgy by Werner Hintze; directed for video by Nele Münchmeyer. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Belcanto D'Amore

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Belcanto D'Amore five opera box. In English, this title means Beautiful Song of Love or Beautiful Love Song. Four of the operas are by Verdi, and Madama Butterfly is by Puccini. (So this title is not connected to "belcanto" operas written by composers like Bellini and Donizetti.) Each of the operas is on an HDVD previously published by C Major to be purchased separately. Here are the individual titles included (alphabetical order):

1. Aida. This was recorded in 2009 at the outdoor Lake Stage of the Bregenzer Festival. People who go to the Lake Stage productions (literally over and under water) like this sort of extravaganza, which is made of equal parts of Cirque du Soleil, Eurotrash, Eurosplash, and anti-Americanism.  I gave it a "D" grade --- it's hard to do an outdoor show for 6,500 people that will look and sound good in a film made with HD cameras (which don't like to get wet).

2. Madama Butterfly by Puccini. This was also performed in 2009 outdoors at the Arena Sferisterio in Macerata, Italy. This is the best outdoor opera film I have seen. Pier Luigi Pizzi managed to come up with a set that was beautiful in the flesh and also in HDVD pictures. The music, directing, and acting is excellent. Raffaella Angeletti plays Cio-Cio-San (or Butterfly) all over the world and is acceptable on a stage. But her age and (please forgive me, but I have to tell the truth) bad teeth work against her in HDVD images. I gave this a "B" grade.

3. Rigoletto. This was produced and recorded in 2008 at the Teatro Regio di Parma Verdi Festival. Even though Parma has only about 200,000 inhabitants, its opera house is one of the most important in Italy. I haven't seen this, but critics liked it and the customer reviews on Amazon.com have been extremely favorable. So my hunch would be that this is probably an "A" grade title.

4. Traviata. Another outdoor show, this time at the Arena di Verona. I haven't seen this, nor have I seen any thorough review by a critic. But after surfing around I now have a hunch that this is a ""C+" or "B" title which uses giant picture frames to try to cope with the ugly stage in Verona.

5. Turandot. This was shot in 2008 at the Valencia opera house.  I watched this 3 or 4 times and gave it an "A."

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Brahms Concerto for Violin and Cello/Symphony No. 4

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2007 Europakonzert: Program includes:

1. Wagner Prelude to "Parsifal"
2. Brahms Concerto for Violin and Cello
3. Brahms Symphony No. 4

Played and recorded at the the Kabelwerk Oberspree in Berlin, 2007. This was the traditional Europakonzert performed on May 1 each year by the Berliner Philharmoniker in a special venue, usually in a different European city. Sir Simon Rattle conducts; features violinist Lisa Batiashvili and cellist Truls Mørk. Released in 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Don Carlo

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Verdi Don Carlo opera to a libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry. Directed 2013 by Hugo de Ana at the Teatro Regio, Torino. Stars Ramón Vargas (Don Carlo), Svetlana Kasyan (Elizabeth of Valois), Ildar Abdrazakov (Philip II), Ludovic Tézier (Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa), Daniela Barcellona (Princess Eboli), Marco Spotti (Grand Inquisitor), Roberto Tagliavini (Monk), Sonia Ciani (Tebaldo), Erika Grimaldi (Voice from Heaven),  Dario Prola (Count of Lerma), and Luca Casalin (Herald). Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Region, Torino (Chorus Master Claudio Fenoglio). Set design and costume design by Hugo de Ana; choreography by Leda Lojodice; lighting by Sergio Rossi; assitant direction by Filippo Tonon; directed for video and television by Ariella Beddini; executive producer Edoardo Fioravanti. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Abbado Memorial Concert

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Abbado Memorial Concert (our name) or Memorial Concert for Claudio Abbado. In 2014, Andris Nelsons conducts the Lucerne Festival Orchestra at the Concert Hall of KKL Lucerne.  Isabelle Faust is solo violinist; eligy delivered by actor Bruno Ganz. Directed for TV by Michael Bayer. Produced and directed by Paul Smaczny. Features the following selections:

1. Beethoven, excerpt from Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 "Eroica"
2. Berg, Violin Concerto "To the Memory of an Angel"  with Isabelle Faust
3. Hölderlin, Brot und Wein by Bruno Ganz
4. Mahler, Adagio from Symphony No. 3
5. Schubert, Allegro moderato from Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished"

Released 2014, disc has dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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A Swan Lake

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A Swan Lake ballet. Music by Mikael Karlsson (with quotes from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake); orchestration by Mikael Karlsson and Michael Atkinson. Choreography and scenography by Alexander Ekman. The world premiere was presented April 26, 2014 by The Norwegian National Ballet at at the Oslo Opera House; the HDVD was filmed in May 2014. Stars Jan Gunnar Røise (The Artist), Fridtjov Såheim (The Producer), Clair Constant (The Ornithologist), Elisabeth Teige (The Diva), Philip Currell (Siegfried), Camilla Spidsøe, Yaniv Cohen, and Yoshifumi Inao (BBC Birds), Camilla Spidsøe (White Swan), Melissa Hough (Black Swan), Yaniv Cohen, Yoshifumi Inao, Aarne Kristian Ruutu (Solo Men), Emma Lloyd and Kaloyan Boyadjiev (Beach Party duet), Catharina Chen, Lasse Rossing, and Berger Iver Ferder (Band). Children of the Norwegian National Ballet School also appear. Per Kristian Skalstad conducts The Norwegian National Opera Orchestra. Costumes by Henrik Vibskov; lighting by Tom Visser; sound design by Mikael Karlsson and Alexander Ekman; video projections by T.M. Rives; directed for the screen by Jeff Tudor; producers were Adrienne Liron and Anne Røthing. Released 2014, disc was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling and has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B

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Don Quixote

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Don Quixote ballet. Music by Ludwig Minkus arranged and orchestrated by Martin Yates. Directed and choreographed (after Marius Petipa) in 2013 by Carlos Acosta in his first work for the Royal Opera House in those capacities. Stars Marianela Nuñez (Kitri), Carlos Acosta (Basilio), Christopher Saunders (Don Quixote), Philip Mosley (Sancho Panza), Gary Avis (Lorenzo), Bennet Gartside (Gamache), Ryoichi Hirano (Espada), Laura Morera (Mercedes), Melissa Hamilton (Queen of the Dryads), Elizabeth Harrod (Amour), Christina Arestis (Dulcinea), Yuhui Choe and Beatriz Stix-Brunell (Kitri's Friends), Valeri Hristov and Johannes Stepanek (Two Matadors), Itziar Mendizabal and Thomas Whitehead (Gypsy Couple and Fandango Couple), and Kristen McNally (Tavern Girl). Martin Yates conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Co-Concert Master Sergey Levitin). Stage designs by Tim Hatley; lighting by Hugh Vanstone; directed for screen by Ross MacGibbon. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-

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Marco Spada or The Bandit's Daughter

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Marco Spada or The Bandit's Daughter ballet. Music by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber. Original libretto by Eugène Scribe. Choreography by Pierre Lacotte. Directed 2014 at the Bolshoi Ballet. Stars David Hallberg (Marco Spada), Evguenia Obraztsova (Angela), Olga Smirnova, (Marquesa Sampietri), Semion Chudin (Prince Federici), Igor Tsvirko (Count Pepinelli), Alexeï Loparevitch (Brother Borromée), Andreï Sitnikov (Prince Osario, Governor of Rome), Anastasia Stashkevich (The Peasant Fiancée), and Vyacheslav Lopatin (The Peasant Fiancé). Alexey Bogorad conducts the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. Sets, scenography and costumes by Pierre Lacotte; lighting design by Damir Ismagilov; directed for TV by Vincent Bataillon; produced by François Duplat. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

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Lang Lang at the Royal Albert Hall

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LLang Lang at the Royal Albert Hall concert. Lang Lang performs two sets of piano pieces and eight encores at the Royal Albert Hall in November, 2013.

The first set is as follows:

1. Mozart Piano Sonata No. 5
2. Mozart Piano Sonata No. 4
3. Mozart Piano Sonata No. 8

The second set:

1. Chopin Ballade No. 1
2. Chopin Ballade No. 2
3. Chopin Ballade No. 3
4. Chopin Ballade No. 4

The encores include:

1. Ponce Intermezzo No. 1
2. Lecuona ...Y la negra ballaba!
3. Zuqiang Wu and Mingxin Du The Dance of the Waterweeds
4. Mozart "Rondo alla Turca" from Piano Sonata No. 11
5. Schumann Davidsbündlertänze
6. Chopin Waltz No. 6 "Minute Waltz"
7. Chopin Nocturne No. 16
8. Scriabin Étude in D-sharp minor

Directed by Christian Kurt Weisz; Technical Manager was Mario Mentel; produced by Bernhard Fleischer. Released in 2014, program was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling and disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-

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The Nutcracker

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The Nutcracker ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky to libretto by Marius Petipa. Choreographed and staged per Rudolf Nureyev under direction of Manuel Legris. Performed 2012 at the Wiener Staatsoper. Stars Liudmila Konovalova (Clara), Vladimir Shishov (Drosselmeyer/The Prince), Emilia Baranowicz (Luisa/Spanish Dance), Davide Dato (Fritz/Spanish Dance), Franziska Wallner-Hollinek and Gabor Oberegger (The Parents/Russian Dance), Eva Polacek and Christoph Wenzel (The Grandparents/Arabian Dance), Atilla Bakó and Martin Winter (The Rat King), Trevor Hayden (Little Nutcracker), Alena Klochkova and Prisca Zeisel (Two Snowflakes), Ketevan Papava and Eno Peci (Arabian Dance), Marcin Dempc, András Lukács, and Richard Szasbó (Chinese Dance), Ioanna Avraam, Kiyoka Hashimoto, and Masayu Kimoto (Pastorale), plus dancers of the Corps of the Wiener Staatsballett and students of the Ballet Academy of the Wiener Staatsoper. Paul Connelly conducts the Orchestra and Stage Orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper together with Children of the Opera School of the Wiener Staatsoper. Set and costume design by Nicholas Georgiadis; staging by Aleth Francillon and Manuel Legris; staging for children scenes by Nathalie Aubin; lighting design by Jacques Giovanangeli. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

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LAC (After Swan Lake)

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LAC (After Swan Lake) ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky. Choreographed by Jean-Christophe Maillot for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo. Recorded 2013 at Grimaldi Forum, Monaco. Stars Bernice Coppieters (Her Majesty the Night); Anja Behrend (The White Swan), April Ball (The Black Swan), Stephan Bourgond (The Prince), Alvaro Prieto (The King), Mimoza Koike (The Queen), Jeroen Verbruggen (The Prince's Confidant), Asier Uriagereka and Asier Edeso (Two Archangels of Darkness), Simone Webster (The Conceited Woman), Gaëlle Riou (The Indifferent Pretender); Anjara Ballesteros and Noelani Pantastico (The Two Libertines), and Maude Sabourin (The Insatiable Woman). Corps members dance the following roles: Hunters by Raphaël Bouchard, Leart Duraku, Ediz Erguc, Julien Guerin, Alexis Oliveira, George Oliveira, Daniele Delvecchio, Bruno Roque, and Stefan Stewart; Hunters' Friends by Sivan Blitzova, Quinn Pendleton, Francesca Dolci, Anne-Laure Seillan, and Kaori Tajima; Chimeras by Anjara Ballesteros, Sivan Blitzova, Francesca Dolci, Liisa Hämäläinen, Vanessa Henriques, Frances Murphy, Noelani Pantastico, Quinn Pendleton, Gaëlle Riou, Maude Sabourin, Anne-Laure Seillan, Beatriz Uhalte, and Simone Webster; and Court by Anjara Ballesteros, Sivan Blitzova, Francesca Dolci, Frances Murphy, Noelani Pantastico, Anne-Laure Seillan, Maude Sabourin, Beatriz Uhalte, Simone Webster, Raphaël Bouchard, Leart Duraku, Ediz Erguc, Julien Guerin, Alexis Oliveira, George Oliveira, Daniele Delvecchio, Bruno Roque, and Stefan Stewart. Leonard Slatkin conducts the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.  Dramaturgy by Jean Rouaud; visual designs by Ernest Pignon-Ernest; costumes by Philippe Guillotel; lighting by Jean-Christophe Maillot and Samuel Thery. Directed for the screen by Denis Caïozzi; executive producers were Antoine Perset and Denis Morlière. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+

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Der Rosenkavalier

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Richard Strauss Der Rosenkavalier opera to libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Directed 2014 by Harry Kupfer at the Salzburg Festival. Stars Krassimira Stoyanova (Feldmarschallin), Günther Groisböck (Baron Ochs), Sophie Koch (Octavian), Adrian Eröd (Faninal), Mojca Erdman (Sophie), Silvana Dussmann (Leitmetzerin), Rudolph Schasching (Valzacci), Wiebke Lehmkuhl (Annina), and Stefan Pop (Sänger). Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Philharmoniker (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger), and the Salzburger Festpiele und Theater Kinderchor (Chorus Master Wolfgang Götz). Set design by Hans Shavernoch; costume design by Yan Tax; lighting design by Jürgen Hoffmann; video direction by Brian Large. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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