Umberto Giordano Andrea Chénier opera to libretto by Luigi Illica. Directed 2015 by David McVicar at the Royal Opera House. Stars Jonas Kaufmann (Andrea Chénier), Željko Lučić (Carlo Gérard), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Maddalena Di Coigny), John Cunningham (Major-Domo), Basil Patton (An Old Gardener, Gérard’s Father), Denyce Graves (Bersi), Rosalind Plowright (Contessa Di Coigny), Peter Coleman-Wright (Pietro Fléville), Andrew Carter (Flando Fiorinelli), Peter Hoare (The Abbé), Adrian Clarke (Mathieu), Michael Kenneth Stewart (Orazio Coclite), Carlo Bosi (The Incredibile (An Incroyable)), Roland Wood (Roucher), Andrew Hobday (Maximilien Robespierre), Elena Zilio (Madelon), Ed Lyness (Madelon’s Grandson), Eddie Wade (Fouquier-Tinville), Yuriy Yurchu (Dumas), Basil Patton (Gravier De Vergennes), Irene Hardy (Laval-Montmorency), Judith Georgi (Idia Legray), and Jeremy White (Schmidt). Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus. Set design by Robert Jones; costume design by Jenny Tiramani; choreography and movement by Andrew George; lighting design by Adam Silverman. Directed for TV by Jonathan Haswell. Sung in Italian. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreVincenzo Bellini Norma opera to libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2015 by R.B. Schlather (after Kevin Newbury) at the Gran Teatro del Liceu. Stars Gregory Kunde (Pollione), Raymond Aceto (Oroveso), Sondra Radvanovsky (Norma), Ekaterina Gubanova (Adalgisa), Ana Puche (Clotilde), and Francisco Vas (Flavio). Renato Palumbo conducts the Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatro del Liceu (Chorus Master Peter Burian). Set design by David Korins; costumes by Jessica Jahn; lighting by D.M. Wood; video direction by Jean-Pierre Loisil. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreEngelbert Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel opera to libretto by Adelheid Wette (Humperdinck's sister). Directed 2015 by Adrian Noble at the Wiener Staatsopoer. Stars Adrian Eröd (Peter, the broom maker), Janina Baechle (Gertrud, Peter's wife), Daniela Sindram (Hänsel, the son), Ileana Tonca (Gretel, the daughter), Michaela Schuster (The Witch), and Annika Gerhards (Sandman/Dewman). Christian Thieleman conducts the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, the Bühnenorchester der Wiener Staatsoper, children of the Opernschule der Staatsoper, and students of the Ballettakademie of the Wiener Staatsoper. (If you want the previous sentence in English, here goes: Christian Thielemann conducts the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, the Stage Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, children from the State Opera School, and students of the Vienna State Opera Ballett School). Sets and costumes by Anthony Ward; lighting by Jean Kalman; videos by Andrzej Goulding; choreography by Denni Sayers; directed for TV by Agnes Méth. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBeethoven Symphonies 1-9 (or Beethoven Complete Symphonies) box set. Philippe Jordan conducts the Orchestre de L'Opéra National de Paris in all nine Beethoven symphonies. Other performers featured in Symphony No. 9 are Ricarda Merbeth (Soprano), Daniela Sindram (Mezzo-Soprano), Robert Dean Smith (Tenor), Günter Groissböck (Bass), and the Choeurs de L'Opéra National de Paris (José Luis Basso Chorus Master). Grade: NA
Richard Osborne in the December 2016 Gramophone at pages 51-53 condemns this box for weak sound quality. The presentation of technical information about this box seems confusing. Nobody seems to want credit for the video. One has to wonder if sloppiness in the cover also suggests carelessness in the recordings. Can you sometimes judge the book by its cover?
Read MoreVerdi Otello opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2015 by Bartlett Sher at the Met. Stars Aleksandrs Antonenko (Otello), Sonya Yoncheva (Desdemona), Željka Lučić (Iago), Dimitri Pittas (Cassio), Jennifer Johnson Cano (Emilia), Jeff Mattsey (Montano), Chad Shelton (Roderigo), Günther Groissböck (Lodovico), and Tyler Duncan (A Herald). Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo). Sets by Es Devlin; costumes by Catherine Zuber; lighting by Donald Holder; projection design by Luke Halls; video direction by Gary Halvorson. Music Producer was David Frost; Supervising Producers were Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park; Producers were Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreRoyal Ballet Collection Box set released 2016. Below are the discs. All of them have already been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:
- Adam Giselle. 2014. (Grade: A)
- Delibes Sylvia. 2009. (Grade: A-)
- Hérold La Fille mal gardée. 2015. (Grade: A-) This is a fine recording, but the 2005 version with Marianela Nuñez as Lise and Carlos Acosta as Colas is even better and, well, still indispensable.
- Liszt Mayerling. 2010. (Grade: A+)
- Minkus Don Quixote. 2014. (Grade: B-)
- Minkus La Bayadère. 2011. (Grade: A+)
- Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet. 2013. (Grade: B+) Again the older A+ version from 2007 with Carlos Acosta as Romeo, Tamaro Rojo as Juliet, and Laura Morera as the Head Harlot is still indispensable.
- Talbot Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 2011. (Grade: A+)
- Talbot The Winter's Tale. 2015. (Grade: A+)
- Tchaikovsky Swan Lake. 2010. (Grade: D) Just ignore this sadly obsolete title. This production is not competitive.
- Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker. 2010. (Grade: B) This production is also not competitive.
- Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty. 2009. (Grade: B+) This production is also not really competitive.
- McGregor Triple Bill. 2011. (Grade: A+)
- Ashton Celebration. 2013. (Grade: A)
- Ashton Rhapsody/The Two Pigeons. 2016. (Grade: B-)
Read MoreWagner Parsifal opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2015 by Dmitri Tcherniakov at the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater, Berlin. Stars Wolfgang Koch (Amfortas), René Pape (Gurnemanz), Andreas Schager (Parsifal), Tómas Tómasson (Klingsor), Anja Kampe (Kundry), Matthias Hölle (Titurel), Sónia Grané, Annika Schlicht, Stephen Chambers, Jonathan Winell (Squires), Paul O’Neill (First Knight of the Grail), Grigory Shkarupa (Second Knight of the Grail), Julia Novikova, Adriane Queiroz, Sónia, Gráne, Narine Yeghiyan, Annika Schicht, Anja Schlosser (Flowermaidens), and Annika Schlicht (Voice from Above). Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Martin Wright). Set design by Dmitri Tcherniakov; costume design by Elena Zaytseva; lighting design by Gleb Filshtinsky; dramaturgy by Jens Schroth. Directed for TV by Andy Sommer; produced by François Duplat. Sung in German. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBellini I Capuleti e i Montecchi opera to a libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2015 by Christof Loy at Opernhaus Zürich. Stars Joyce DiDonato (Romeo), Olga Kulchynska (Giulietta), Benjamin Bernheim (Tebaldo), Alexei Botnarciuc (Capellio), Roberto Lorenzi (Lorenzo), and Gieorgij Puchalski (Companion). Fabio Luisi conducts the Philharmonia Zürich and Chor der Oper Chorus Zürich (Chorus Master Jürg Hämmerli). Sets and costumes by Christian Schmidt; lighting by Frank Evin; choreography by Thomas Wilhelm. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer; produced by Paul Smaczny. Sung in Italian. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio output. Grade: NA
Read More"Cav and Pag" opera double feature directed and staged 2015 by Damiano Michieletto at the Royal Opera House.
- First plays the Pietro Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana to libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzeti and Guido Menasci. Stars Aleksandrs Antonenko (Turiddu), Elena Zilio (Mamma Lucia), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Santuzza), Dimitri Platanias (Alfio), and Martina Belli (Lola).
- Then follows the Ruggero Leoncavallo Pagliacci to libretto by the composer. Stars Dimitri Platanias (Tonio), Aleksandrs Antonenko (Canio), Carmen Giannattasio (Nedda), Benjamin Hulett (Beppe), Dionysios Sourbis (Silvio), Elliot Goldie (Villager), and Nigel Cliffe (Villager).
Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus. Set design by Paolo Fantin; costume design by Carla Teti; lighting design by Alessandro Carletti; directed for the screen by Rhodri Huw. Released 2016, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound (information on package confused) and Dolby Atmos sound. Grade: NA
Read More2015 Royal Ballet Dance Review (our title). Recorded at the Royal Opera House in 2015 in part to honor Carlos Acosta, who retired from the ROB after the performance seen on disc. Emmanuel Plasson conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House except for the Carmen segment, which is conducted by the arranger Martin Yates. Sergey Levitin serves as Concert Master in all segments. Directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Keepcase booklet does not give track information or playing times. The disc menu is confusing. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Here are the segments . . .
Read MoreFrom the New World symphony concert. In 2010 Andris Nelsons directs, at the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks) in a concert of pieces related to the New World:
- Charles Ives The Unanswered Question (American composer)
- John Adams Slonimsky's Earbox (American composer)
- Igor Stravinsky Le Chant du Rossignol (Song of the Nightingale) (Stravinsky lived in Los Angeles longer than in any other city)
- Dvořák Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" (inspired by Dvořák's experiences in America)
Perhaps you could make a case that all of these pieces explore "new worlds" of music as all of the composers lived in the 20th century (Dvořák just barely). Video director was Agnes Méth. Released 2013, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
Read MoreVerdi Rigoletto opera to libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Directed 2013 by Michael Mayer at the Met. Stars Piotr Beczala (Duke), Željka Lučić (Rigoletto), Diana Damrau (Gilda), Štefan Kocán (Sparafucile), Oksana Volkova (Maddalena), Maria Zifchak (Giovanna), Robert Pomakov (Monterone), Jeff Mattsey (Marullo), Alexander Lewis (Borsa), David Crawford (Count Ceprano), Emalie Savoy (Countess Ceprano), Earle Patriarco (A Guard), and Catherine Choi (Page). Michele Mariotti conducts the Met Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo). Met Ballet choreographed by Steven Hoggett. Sets by Christine Jones; costumes by Susan Hilferty; lighting by Kevin Adams. The English subtitles in this production contribute enormously to its success; I think the credit for this should go to David Rebhun. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreGiuseppe Verdi Rigoletto opera to libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Directed 2006 by Gilbert Deflo at the Zurich Opera House. Stars Leo Nucci (Rigoletto), Piotr Beczala (Duke), Elena Moşuc (Gilda), László Polgár (Sparafucile), Katharina Peetz (Maddalena), Kismara Pessatti (Giovanna), Rolf Haunstein (Monterone), Valeriy Murga (Marullo), Bogusław Bidziński (Borsa), Morgan Moody (Count Ceprano), Angela Kerrison (Countess Ceprano), Manuel Betancourt (Usher), and Martina Welschenbach. (Page to the Duchess). Dancers: Camilla Hoffmann, Megan Laehn, Julia Cheremeteff, Patricia Fässler, Eric Müller, Maurizio Tuozzo, Christian Altenburger, and Marc Meyer. Nello Santi conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Zurich Opera House (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger). Stage production by Aglaja Nicolet; set design by William Orlandi; lighting by Jürgen Hoffmann; choreography by Megan Laehn; directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Released 2008, disc features 7.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-
Read MoreVerdi Rigoletto opera to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Directed by Stefano Vizioli in 2008 (after the 1987 Pierluigi Samaritani production) at the Teatro Regio di Parma Verdi Festival. Stars Francesco Demuro (Duke of Mantova), Leo Nucci (Rigoletto), Nino Machaidze (Gilda), Marco Spotti (Sparafucile), Stefanie Irányi (Maddalena), Katarina Nikolic (Giovanna), Roberto Tagliavini (Count of Monterone), Orazio Mori (Marullo), Mauro Buffoli (Matteo Borsa), Ezio Maria Tisi (Count di Ceprano), and Scilla Cristiano (Countess di Ceprano). Andrea Battistoni conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Di Parma (Chorus Master Martino Faggini). Set and costumes originally designed (1987) by Pierluigi Samaritani and revised by Alessandro Ciammarughi; lighting by Franco Marri; directed for video by Andrea Bevilacqua. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-
Read MoreVerdi Rigoletto opera to libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Directed 2010 by Elijah Moshinsky at the Sydney Opera House. Stars Alan Opie (Rigoletto), Emma Matthews (Gilda), Paul O'Neill (Duke), David Parkin (Sparafucile), Elizabeth Campbell (Giovanna/Maddalena), Christopher Hillier (Count Ceprano), Jane Parkin (Countess Ceprano), Andrew Moran (Marullo), David Corcoran (Borsa), Gennadi Dubinsky (Count Monterone), Jodie McGuren (Page), and Clifford Plumpton (Court Usher). Giovanni Reggioli conducts the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (Concertmaster Aubrey Murphy) and the Opera Australia Chorus (Chorus Master Michael Black). Designs by Michael Yeargan; lighting by Robert Bryan; directed for TV by Cameron Kirkpatrick. Executive Producer was Chris Yates; Supervising Producer was Sam Russell; Audio Director was Tony David Cray. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
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