Russian Opera Classics box set released 2016. Below are the discs. Each of them has already been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:
1. Mussorgsky Boris Godunov. 2011. (Grade: NA)
2. Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin. 2012. (Grade: A-)
3. Tchaikovsky Pique Dame. 2011. (Grade: NA)
4. Rimsky-Korsakov, The Legend Of The Invisible City Of Kitezh. 2014. (Grade: NA)
5. Shostakovich Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk. 2009. (Grade: C+)
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 ("Pathétique"). Seiji Ozawa conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in Berlin in a disc aimed at the Japanese market (there's a little English on the keep case and the disc menu). This title has not been distributed in Europe or the U.S. It's probably the first HDVD recordings made with 96 kHz/24 bit sound-sampling technology. Directed by Goro Kobayashi; produced by Setsu Mikumo; technical manager was Oleg Anton; video engineer was André Schumann; sound engineer was Felix Kundt, recording engineer was Rainer Höpfner. Released 2008, disc has 50 minutes of music and 5.0 PCM sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreCharles Gounod Faust opera to libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. Directed 2015 by Stefano Poda at the Teatro Regio di Torino. Stars Charles Castronovo (Faust), Ildar Abdrazakov (Méphistophélès), Irina Lungu (Marguerite), Vasilij Ladjuk (Valentin), Samantha Korbey (Marthe), Ketevan Kemoklidze (Siebel), and Paolo Maria Orecchia (Wagner). Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio di Torino (Chorus Master Claudio Fenoglio). Set, costume, and lighting designs by Stefano Poda; chororeography by Stefano Poda; assistant stage direction by Paolo Giani Cei; technical direction by Saverio Santoliquido. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B
Stefano Poda, one of the most distinctive opera directors, has been involved in some 100 productions including at least 15 in his “unity style” in which he designs and directs everything that happens on the stage.
Read MoreFederico Moreno Torroba Luisa Fernanda zarzuela to libretto by Federico Romero & Guillermo Fernández Shaw. Directed 2006 by Emilio Sagi at the Madrid Teatro Real. Stars Plácido Domingo (Vidal Hernando), Nancy Herrera (Luisa Fernanda), José Bros (Javier Moreno), Mariola Cantarero (Duchess Carolina), Raquel Pierotti (Mariana), Javier Ferrer (Aníbal), Sabina Puértolas (Rosita), José Antonio Ferrer (Don Florito Fernández), Federico Gallar (Don Luis Nogales), David Rubiera (Bizco Porras), Montserrat Muñumel (Coconut Seller), Ángel Rodríguez (Saboyard); Tomeu Bibiloni (Don Lucas), Juan Navarro (A Captain), Miguel Borrallo (First Guy), Julio Cendal (Second Guy), José Manuel Cardama (A Village Man), Juan Antonio Sanabria (Street Seller), and Joseba Pinela (Olive Shaker). Dancers are Celia Alturas, Cristina Arias, Olga Castro, Remedios Domingo, Ma Ángeles Fernández, Susana Gonzáles, Natalia Martín, Estefanía Palacios, Asunción Quintero, Silvia Rincón, Rodrigo Alonso, Fran Bas, Fermín Calvo, Eduardo Carranza, Jesús Gonzáles, Joaquín León, PedroNavarro, Joseba Pinela, Antonio Resino, and Juan Carlos Robles. Girls played by Martina Campo and Celia Clemente. Jesús López Cobos directs The Madrid Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Jordi Casas Bayer). Set design by Emilio Sagi; costumes by Emilio Sagi and Pepa Ojanguren; lighting by Eduardo Bravo; choreography by Nuria Castejón; assistant stage direction by Javier Ulacia; directed for TV by Ángel Luis Ramírez. Released 2009, disc has PCM 5.1 sound. Grade: A
Read MoreLiszt Piano Concertos concert disc contains the following:
1. Wagner A Faust Overture
2. Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2
3. Wagner Siegfried Idyll
4. Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1
5. Liszt Consolation No. 3
6. Liszt Valse oubliée No. 1
This was performed 2011 at the Philharmonie Hall in Essen as part of the Klavier-Festival Ruhr. Daniel Barenboim is the pianist. Pierre Boulez conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin. Directed for TV by Enrique Sánchez Lansch; Director of Photography was Nyika Jancsó, Audio Producer was Georg Obermeyer; edited by Steffen Herrmann; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released in 2012, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling and disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: C-
Read MoreMassenet Manon opera to libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille. Directed 2007 by Vincent Paterson at the Staatsoper unter den Linden. Stars Anna Netrebko (Manon), Rolando Villazón (Le Chevalier des Grieux), Christof Fischesser (Le Comte des Grieux), Alfredo Daza (Lescaut), Rémy Corazza (Guillot de Morfontaine), Arttu Kataja (Brétigny, a nobelman), Hanan Alattar (Poussette, an actress), Gal James (Javotte, an actress), Silvia de la Muela (Rosette, an actress), and Matthias Vieweg (Inkeeper). Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Eberhard Friedrich). Stage design by Johannes Leiacker; costumes by Susan Hilferty; lighting by Duane Schuler; choreography by Vincent Paterson. Directed for TV by Andreas Morell; produced by Bernhard Fleischer. Sung in French. Released 2008, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MorePuccini Manon Lescaut opera to libretto by Domenico Oliva and Luigi Illica. Directed 2014 by Jonathan Kent at the Royal Opera House. Stars Kristine (Kristīne) Opolais (Manon Lescaut), Jonas Kaufmann (Des Grieux), Christopher Maltman (Lescaut, Manon's brother), Maurizio Muraro (Geronte), Benjamin Hulett (Edmondo), Nadezhda Karyazina (Musician), Robert Burt (Dancing Master), Nigel Cliffe (Innkeeper), Jihoon Kim (Sergeant), Luis Gomes (Lamplighter), and Jeremy White (Naval Captain). Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Vasko Vassilev) and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Master Stephen Westrop); designs by Paul Brown; lighting design by Mark Henderson; movement by Denni Sayers. Directed for TV by Jonathan Haswell. Sung in Italian. Released 2015, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master sound. Grade: B
Read MoreA Flight through the Orchestra: Brahms Symphony No. 2 concert. Performed June 2015 at the Rummelsburg Kraftwerk (Power Station) in Berlin. Tugan Sokhiev conducts the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester. Released 2015, music was recorded at 48kHz/24-bit sampling rate and the disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: D-
Read MoreRossini Mosè opera to a libretto (I believe) by Luigi Balocchi and Etienne de Jouy. Directed by Cecilia Ligorio and Tiziano Mancini in semi-staged version at Milan Cathedral. Stars Ruggero Raimondi (Mosè), Bogdan Mihai (Elisero), Filippo Polinelli (Faraone), Luciano Ganci (Amenofi), Giovanni Sebastiano Sala (Aufide), Christian Starinieri (Osiride), Maria Cioppi (Maria), Lydia Tamburrino (Anaide), and Isabelle Kabatu (Sinaide). Francesco Quattrocchi conducts the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano Orchestra and Choir (Chorus Master Emiliano Esposito). Costumes by Franca Squarciapino; lighting by Valeria Tiberi; visual designs by Unità C1; directed for video by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts audio. Grade: NA
Read MoreMendelssohn & Beethoven: Violin Concertos concert. Ricardo Chailly conducts the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Features violinist Nikolaj Znaider. The Beethoven concerto was directed for video by Michael Beyer in 2012, and the Mendelssohn was directed for video by Ute Feudel in 2014. Released 2016, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Includes the following program:
1. Beethoven Violin Concerto in D major
2. Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor
3. Bach Sarabande from Partita for solo violin No. 1 in B minor (encore)
4. Bach Sarabande from Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor (encore)
Shakespeare The Merchant of Venice play. Directed 2015 by Polly Findlay at Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. Stars Makram J. Khoury (Shylock), Patsy Ferran (Portia), Nadia Albina (Nerissa), Scarlett Brookes (Jessica), Owen Findlay (Salerio), Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (Bassanio), David Ajao (Jailer), Jamie Ballard (Antonio), James Corrigan (Lorenzo), Eva Feiler (Citizen of Venice), Guy Hughes (Leonardo/Servant), Gwilym Lloyd (Tubal), Rina Mahoney (Portia's Servant/Duke on Venice), Ken Nwosu (Gratiano/Morocco), Brian Protheroe (Aragon), Jay Saighal (Solanio), and Tim Samuels (Launcelot Gobbo). Set design by Johannes Schütz; costume design by Anette Guther; lighting by Peter Mumford; music by Morc Tritschler; sound by Gareth Fry; movement by Aline David; fights by Bret Yount. Directed for the screen by Robin Lough; produced by John Wyver. Released 2016, this disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: NA
Read MoreBach Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) concert of 6 cantatas recorded 2012 in the Salle Henry Le Bœuf at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. Philippe Herreweghe conducts the Collegium Vocale Gent with soloists Dorothee Mields (soprano), Damien Guillon (countertenor or alto), Thomas Hobbs (tenor), and Peter Kooij (bass). Subtitles in English, German, French, and Japanese. Lighting by Johan de Vogelaere; sound by Walter de Niel, Lode Verschueren, and Johan Favoreel; vision mixer was Herwig Goorts; editing by Michel Vanderhaeghen. Directed for TV by Leonid Adamopoulos; produced by Els T'Seyen. Released 2013, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling, and disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: B+
Read MoreBach Christmas OratorioBallet. Music is the Bach Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248). Performed 2014 by the Hamburg Ballet at the Hamburg State Opera. Directed and choreographed by John Neumeier. Dancing stars are Lloyd Riggins (A man), Anna Laudere (The mother), Carsten Jung (Her husband), Karen Azatyan (A shepherd), Silvia Azzoni (Angel), Alexandr Trusch (Angel), Yuka Oishi and Silvano Ballone (Solo pair), Leslie Heylmann and Christopher Evans (Solo pair), and Vladimir Kocić (Street sweeper). Ensemble dancers: Lucia Ríos, Mayo Arii, Kristína Borbélyová, Yaiza Coll, Winnie Dias, Natalie Ogonek, Zhaoqian Peng, Madoka Sugai, Priscilla Tselikova, Miljana Vračarić, Marcelino Libao, Aleix Martínez, Konstantin Tselikov, Emanuel Amuchástegui, Jacopo Bellussi, Graeme Fuhrman, Alijoscha Lenz, Dale Rhodes, Lizhong Wang, and Eliot Worrell. Alessandro De Marchi conducts the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chorus of the Hamburg State Opera (Chorus Master Eberhard Friedrich). Singing stars are Julian Prégardien (tenor), Mélissa Petit (soprano), Katia Pieweck (contralto), Manuel Günther (tenor), and Wilhelm Schwinghammer (bass). Costumes and lighting by John Neumeier; stage design by Ferdinand Wögerbauer; video direction by Thomas Grimm; produced by Bernhard Fleischer. Sung in German. Subtitles in German, English, French, Korean, and Japanese. Released 2015, all music recorded at 48kHz/24-bit specs, and disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: A+
Read MoreThe Nutcracker ballet. Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to libretto by Vasily Medvedev and Yuri Burlaka after Marius Petipa. Choreographed by Vasily Medvedev and Yuri Burlaka after Lev Ivanov. Stars Iana Salenko (Clara/Sugar Plum Fairy), Marian Walter (Nutcracker & Prince Coqueluche), Michael Banzhaf (Drosselmayer); Arshak Ghalumyan (Mouse King), Elena Iseki (Young Clara), and Linus Schmidt (Fritz) supported by soloists and corps de ballet of the Staatsballett Berlin and students of the Ballettschule Berlin. This is a reconstruction of the original 1892 Mariinsky historical version. Robert Reimer conducts the Orchestra and Children's Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Stage design by Andrey Voytenko; costumes by Tatiana Noginova; choreography assistant was Stanislav Feco. Produced by François Duplat; directed for TV and video by Andy Sommer. Released 2015, all music was recorded with 48kHz/16-bit sound sampling, and disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: B+
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